In the fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online Update 6 has received a release date. Wednesday is set to be the day.
What has been a long time coming is hopefully finally good: Update 6 is ready to be deployed to the live server after a few months and a delay . The servers are set to go down Wednesday morning at 4:00 AM, and the work will then begin. In the USA, they are already 14 hours ahead; they once again play the canary in the coal mine for us Europeans. We will know on Tuesday afternoon or evening whether they are still chirping.
There are no official live patch notes yet; however, in principle, the PTS notes count for the features, which are here. Update 6 is set to launch in version 1.6.5.
The major changes that Update 6 brings to The Elder Scrolls Online are:
In the dark fantasy MMO The Secret World, one of the mission designers shares insights into his unique relationship with the creepy quest “The Black House” and dreams of a grand haunted house.
The Secret World has long been praised for its deep, atmospheric, and brilliantly written quests. In a Q&A session with mission designer “Ebon”, he opens up about his experiences. Especially the question about the quest he likes the least gets him chatting. “The Black House” is both one of his favorite quests and one he struggles with. It’s a classic ghost story about a cursed, completely burned-down house – heavily inspired by the Ocean Hotel from Vampire: The Masquerade.
Here is a video from the Ocean Hotel scene in the cult game Vampire: The Masquerade that inspired the designer (Explicitly: The gameplay is not from The Secret World):
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The Black House: Difficult to Add Horror Multiplayer
It was one of the first missions where he experimented with “non-combat” oriented gameplay. The problem, however, was that the multiplayer aspect was not manageable. If two players entered the bathroom, both would see the door slam shut with a bang, but only one would have the hallucination of the room reverting to its pre-fire state. The other does not see this hallucination.
The mission designer explains that he is a big fan of horror movies, which usually adapt well into games, but rarely with multiplayer in mind. He wishes he had more money and time to create a large “Haunted Mansion” where groups of players have a different experience than single players, constantly wondering: “What is real? And what am I just imagining?”
We found a playthrough of the mission on YouTube; the “Black House” is located in the second area “The Savage Coast”:
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In Destiny, the Nightfall, the weekly dusk strike, for the week of March 3rd, leads into the Devil’s Cave. It’s against Sepiks Prime.
Yep, no surprises: It’s actually Sepiks Prime Arc Burn, once again the predictions were correct. That’s why we could prepare the article early and are 25 minutes faster than usual.
The Nightfall in Destiny is so popular because it grants a 24.5% bonus on all earned experience and reputation. Therefore, many players start their Destiny week on Tuesday at 10:00 AM with it.
The following five modifiers are active in the Nightfall from March 3rd in Destiny
The following 5 modifiers are active:
Nightfall – this is always active and ensures that it returns to orbit when all Guardians die
Epic – also always active, gives the extra bite, the enemies are slightly stronger due to this modifier
Angry – the enemies cannot be stopped even by heavy damage
Lightswitch – the enemies deal significantly increased damage in close combat
Arc Burn – weapons that deal Arc damage do significantly increased damage
In the heroic weekly, Lightswitch is active and no burn.
Which arsenal should one prefer?
This week is once again a “typical” Nightfall with only one burn. There are clear recommendations:
As a primary weapon, Thorn or the raid scout rifle Ir Yût’s Fang are suitable.
As a special weapon, a sniper rifle with Arc damage such as LDR 5001, Patience and Time, or an Arc version of Efrideet’s Spear, the newly randomizable Iron Banner weapon, is usually recommended. However, since the last patch shotguns and fusion rifles have become significantly stronger. It makes sense to experiment with an Arc version here, although in the Nightfall, it’s usually preferred to leave as much space between yourself and the enemy as possible.
As a heavy weapon, the exotic machine gun Thunderlord stands out, or legendary Arc machine guns like The Swarm or the raid machine gun Ir Yût’s Song are available.
Tips, tricks, safe spots, and guides for the weekly dusk strike Devil’s Cave?
The Arc Nightfall against Sepiks Prime is considered a fast strike, not particularly easy in difficulty, but also not extremely hard.
The tip is always: Don’t let yourself get hit more than once, better play cautiously and regenerate HP first. The fewer players you go in with, the more important it is to play cautiously.
It has almost become a tradition: NexxosGaming is always the first German-speaking channel to tackle the Nightfall. And he always explains it well and has an eye for the best cheese spots. That’s kind of his thing. This time going in as a three-player team. The perspective bearer uses Ir Yût’s Fang, the new scout, then the Light of the Abyss, the raid fusion rifle, and as a heavy weapon, the Thunderlord. A nice, easy run, well explained, not too stressful with three people.
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This speed run by three Guardians comes without commentary. The perspective bearer uses Thorn, LDR 5001, and the Gjallarhorn – yes, it ends as quickly as it sounds.
http://youtu.be/hJszios3i9M?t=34s
And here is a solo walkthrough in English that explains a lot, with various tricks for the whole raid and safe spots for Sepiks Prime. The player uses an Arc variant of the rocket launcher Radegast’s Fury, the scout rifle Ghealeon’s Downfall (an unusual choice), and the exotic sniper rifle Patience and Time. Especially the rocket launcher performs surprisingly well.
World of Warcraft will introduce the WoW Token, a way for players to purchase game time for gold and buy gold for real money.
It is not free-to-play, but it’s close for some.
It was announced a week before Christmas along with a truckload of changes, most of which went live with 6.1: The “real money trading” in WoW is supposed to become legal very soon. However, this only works through Blizzard. It’s the same principle that games like Eve Online, ArcheAge, or WildStar use.
Price regulated by supply and demand
A player who has little gold but many euros can buy a “WoW Token” from Blizzard for a price that will be determined later. They can place this token in the auction house in WoW, in a special category there, for a price that they set themselves. It is regulated by supply and demand. So it may be that thirty days of WoW cost 40,000 gold on Tuesday and 60,000 on Wednesday, depending on how prices develop.
A player who has many euros but little gold can buy this token from the auction house and “redeem” it. Then the token disappears, and they receive thirty game days in return.
Win-Win-Win; only gold sellers are left empty-handed
The advantages for all parties involved are clear:
Players can acquire gold for euros without violating the EULA and risking their account getting banned.
Other players can play WoW for free and only pay with what they generate in-game – and all this can be done without any illegalities.
And Blizzard sells the WoW Tokens and continues to collect the full amount of money for every player. Maybe some WoW players who are “rich in-game” but “not so much in real life” will also extend their subscriptions, and even from those, Blizzard gets money through a roundabout way. A different player pays for the free players.
The only losers here would be illegal gold sellers, who live off exchanging gold for euros and euros for gold while making a profit. However, experience in other games shows that they don’t really disappear but rather feel significantly more price pressure.
When the WoW Token will be released is still not entirely clear at the moment. But it is supposed to happen “soon.” Players should already pick the goblin they trust the least, advises Blizzard.
Mein MMO thinks:Probably many will start yelling “free-to-play” again in the next few days … although it is actually not, while for very rich players in-game, it turns out that way or even better. A similar trade was already possible in the past with a specific pet, the “Guardian Pup,” which could also be purchased in the real-money shop for euros and then sold for gold in the auction house. Basically, this is the next step, only that the other side does not just have a pet but game time.
In other, much smaller MMOs, this form of triangular trade has been long established. Now that the giant World of Warcraft is introducing this, it will be interesting to see what effects this has on such a long-established system where so much gold is in circulation. Surely there will also be lucrative gold sinks, like the black market AH, making it more attractive for Blizzard to give players an incentive to spend gold and get this trade going.
A player has now achieved the perfect Crota kill in normal mode in Destiny. He only needed one sword phase for the final boss: the crucial part of the fight was over in less than 45 seconds.
One can see in the video at the beginning how many unsuccessful attempts preceded it. He is a bit annoyed, highly concentrated during the fight, and at the end of the video, the joy is even greater when Crota is finally down.
The method to defeat Crota with just one sword and alone requires, as you can see, perfect timing and quite a bit of courage to manage it all so that Crota goes down on his knees at just the right moment. Great job.
The predominant reaction to the video from many is: Man … and we sometimes wipe there even with six people.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
This week in The Elder Scrolls Online (TESO), Update 6 and the new Champion System are coming. Details can be found in a video.
Just a few more sleeps, and the biggest update in the not-so-quiet history of The Elder Scrolls Online is upon us. The goal has been set to finally get the MMORPG to where the fans deserve and want it after a rather mixed start 11 months ago.
Endgame has been the weak point of TESO from the beginning, but it will now be improved
From the start, the endgame has been a thorn in the side of the developers and players: Not only did the strange “Oh, you are done and the great hero? Then play through the story of the other two factions as well!” turn out to be a weak point, but also the character’s progression beyond level 50 caused … what is the opposite of excitement? Ah yes, disappointment.
Hardly a review of TESO did not criticize the serious weaknesses in the endgame, which mutated into a barren grindfest after level 50, where the character hardly became any stronger and nothing exciting happened.
In the summer, a large meeting was organized, the Guild Summit. As was later reported, a large hall was filled with developers and the most dedicated fans of TESO from North America and Europe. Creative Director Paul Sagte asked the question: “Who among you is satisfied with the endgame system?” And two people raised their hands … both developers. The rest of the people in the hall, die-hard, passionate fans of the game, kept their hands down. That was a clear sign.
With Update 6, the endgame progression is finally set to be revised. The whole situation is complicated by the fact that while the new Champion System is coming, remnants of the old Veteran System will still remain. This will likely be the status quo for a while: Time is short, and now the transition to Buy2Play is coming, the consoles will then take the bulk of the attention.
This hybrid system has some special rules. The allocation of points in the individual areas is not that simple. We have prepared this in writing before, and now our friends at ProNDC have a video straight from the test server, which hopefully makes it clearer:
http://youtu.be/J6QZnFtY3Jg
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
As every month, there is a new card back to earn in Hearthstone, and March is naturally no exception. As already extracted from the game files a few days ago, it is a really hot thing…
THE FIRE WILL PURIFY YOU
As can be easily seen, the latest card back is inspired by Ragnaros. The edges and corners around the center “Hearthstone” symbol come from the weapon “Sulfuras” – perhaps already a hint at a potentially new card from the upcoming expansion? Since it is expected that there will be an announcement of the next adventure at PAX this weekend, this back fits excellently with the players’ hopes. Anyone who wants to play with this hot card design in the future just needs to log into Hearthstone within March and reach at least rank 20.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Undoubtedly, the latest WoW Patch 6.1 hasn’t brought the biggest innovations. While there are a few bits of content here and there for bored afternoons or screenshot enthusiasts, there is no real enrichment for long-term motivation. Quietly and secretly, however, one of the oldest bugs has been fixed, which has driven players mad since Classic!
The camera in World of Warcraft finally works!
The minor error, while not game-breaking, has caused excitement and frustration among a number of players – including me. In rare cases, clicking too quickly would reset the cursor to its default position in the middle of the screen. This caused the camera to align in a very unfavorable position, or the mouse cursor would suddenly hover over one’s character. The healing intended for the tank has thus disappeared a few times into the body of my perfectly healthy priest. The cheers in the forums and on Reddit are, of course, loud now.
It only took about eight years to fix this error, but better late than never. It’s just a shame that Blizzard never officially acknowledged it as a “game bug.” It would truly be a shame if countless people and a demon had bought a new mouse over the years just to get rid of this bug…
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Now at H1Z1 they are providing insights into the motion capture process intended to refine the animations.
At the end of last year, there was news from what was then SOE (now: DGC) that they had spent two days in Sony’s huge motion capture studio, where many blockbuster titles are recorded, and had captured all the “new” animations there. Previously, they had used different methods. In this XXL setup, data for movement sequences can be collected incredibly quickly; they gathered the necessary sequences for 600 actions in those two days. This action can now be admired in a video.
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Stuntman Christopher Robbins is a former college football player who didn’t quite make the jump to the pros, as he describes. To make a living, he chose a career as a motion capture stuntman and is successful and in demand there. He has recorded animations for The Last of Us, numerous other top titles, and returned to his football roots for the Madden franchise.
For this, real people have to be choked, but don’t worry: They are paid for it.
In the dev talk, the stuntman performs various stunts and movements in a strange outfit full of sensors. Every movement is precisely measured here and later serves as a template for the final animations in the game. If an animator had to fabricate all this from memory, it would be significantly more labor-intensive.
But the motion capture method is also time-consuming and strenuous; the worst, says Robbins, are the movements in a squat. If you do that for a day, moving the next day doesn’t go too well. The elaborate combat and falling scenes are also exhausting but incredibly fun.
In his experience, the gaming industry has moved away from specialists in recent years and oriented more towards athletic “normies” who are not highly trained, and whose movements are decent, but not as refined and elegant as, for instance, a martial arts professional. A typical action-hero style with more power than finesse. That’s also the look that the developers of H1Z1 want.
As a “non-profit” project, they wanted to avoid legal difficulties until then. That was probably a bit too optimistic, one could also say naively. The Kickstarter campaign has now closed – due to copyright disputes, as can be read on the Kickstarter page.
The developers themselves present it a bit differently: The reaction of the community was probably not as enthusiastic as hoped. That’s why they ended the campaign. They do not want to watch the project being torn apart, as can be read in a statement.
We apologize for the inconvenience, but rather than sit here and watch as the game be torn apart along with the community we will be closing it down and choosing a different route.
At least outwardly, they remain optimistic: The project is not dead, it says in the forum of the Harry Potter MMO. They will not be financing it through Kickstarter, but will negotiate with Warner Brothers. Well.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The MMO shooter Destiny is plagued by some errors that prevent players from accessing the servers. While Bungie is working on it, players have already found a fix.
Today, complaints are increasing that players on Playstation and Xbox cannot access Destiny’s servers. Error codes like “Marionberry” or the musical “Drum” and “Banjo” are frustrating.
On reddit, players have now found a fix for “Marionberry.” They change the DNS setting.
Changed the DNS setting to OPENDNS 208.67.222.222 208.67.220.220 left all other PS4 settings at default = signed in
The value can be changed via “Settings -> Network -> Advanced settings -> DNS settings“. This should work for both the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One (and also for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, as we now know). However, if you have no idea how to do this or feel uncomfortable, it’s probably best to stay away. We certainly take no responsibility for anything and wash our hands of it as always.
Meanwhile, Bungie is also working to officially fix the problems. However, it’s currently still the middle of the night, so it may take a little longer.
It’s come to our attention that players are receiving banjo, marionberry and drum errors. Please stand by for updates as we investigate.
Investigation into banjo, marionberry, and drum errors is ongoing. Thank you for your patience while we work to resolve this issue. — Bungie Help (@BungieHelp) March 2, 2015
Update: According to Bungie, they have now managed the problems:
Issues causing players to encounter banjo, marionberry, and drum errors have subsided. Please try again, and thanks for your patience!
The Free2Play MMO Skyforge is considered one of the most promising MMORPGs of the coming years. Time for an extensive preview.
There was a large-scale one-hour live stream of Skyforge, in which the developers presented the game. We at mein-mmo have been following Skyforge for a year now and have reported on it repeatedly. Now, with the start of the closed beta in a few weeks, we want to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the game and its many design ideas. Some of these are relatively ambitious and demonstrate that the game is taking its own path.
The Basics
Skyforge is a Free2Play MMO being developed for PC. It is being created by the Russian team Allods in collaboration with Obsidian Entertainment. Obsidian is responsible for ensuring that it works in the “Western market.” The publisher is my.com.
The production effort is extremely high. Many people are working on the game; at one point, it was said to be over 500, and this has been the case for a long time. Therefore, Skyforge can be considered an AAA game.
The game will run on mega-servers, similar to The Elder Scrolls Online.
The Backstory: Vacancy in Olympus
Skyforge takes place on the world “Aelion.” Like other worlds in this cosmos, it was protected by an “Elder God.” However, he disappeared some time ago. Since then, other deities with their servants, followers, and believers have been trying to seize control of the world. Those are the villains.
The player takes on the role of an “Immortal” to prevent this and has the long-term goal of perhaps becoming such an “Elder God” who then watches over Aelion.
The Aesthetics: Somewhere between an optimistic Blade Runner and a truly depressing Lord of the Rings
The Free2Play MMO will not be purely fantasy or purely science fiction, but a mix of both. There are already different areas with various themes to admire in the individual zones. It is a colorful mix: from the green hell of a bio-nightmare to technologically advanced sterile science-fiction worlds or quite intense “We hit Ratmen on the pumpkin” steampunk-fantasy regions.
Items will not be visible on the characters; the hero or heroine can be customized freely, and “costumes” can be equipped as desired.
Skyforge is being developed for PC, but it incorporates some gameplay ideas that are more commonly known from console games. There is a large globe that can be rotated, serving as a kind of world map. Here, players can directly jump to individual adventures and then end up on instanced maps. The offerings on the globe will change every 40 minutes.
The adventures can be repeated and will adapt to the player’s strength and also scale with the group size.
So far, few “larger, more open” areas have been sighted in the first builds. The Allods team wants to provide players with a wide selection of “content.” They should be able to choose what suits them: PvP, Large-Scale PvP, Quests, Group Content.
The Progression System: No Levels, but Prestige
The player’s power increase in Skyforge does not occur through levels or tiers, but through “prestige,” which increases with every possible form of activity in the game.
The “Ascension Atlas” is a kind of extended skill tree. It can be reduced to the individual “branches” of the respective classes. There are various nodes that are interconnected. To become stronger in a class, the player must invest one of three resources. These correspond to what are skill points in other games. They can earn these through activities.
Depending on the nature of the ability to be unlocked, they require “destructive” (red), “creative” (green), or “balanced” (blue) essences. Additionally, players need “evolution points” in the respective class they want to upgrade. They earn these by playing that class. This prevents leveling a class that a player is not actively playing.
With the nodes in the atlas, players can unlock either new skills or passive bonuses to various stats. Some of the bonuses apply not only to the class currently being played but also across other classes.
At the beginning, the class “skill trees” are linear; later, the paths split, and it becomes significantly more complex.
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Skyforge features a multi-class system like Final Fantasy XIV. This means: A character can switch through different classes at the push of a button; no twinks are necessary. At the beginning, the player can choose between Tank (Paladin), Support (Lightbinder) and DPS (Cryomancer).
To unlock more classes, the Immortal must first make progress in the base classes to then take a path in the Ascension Atlas that unlocks the “advanced” classes. This is supposed to take some time.
Skyforge has already mentioned plans to introduce more “prestige” classes. Playable classes include the Berserker and the Gunner, who plays an important role in the live stream.
We have already written a huge special about the combat system in Skyforge once before. It is essentially designed to feel like an “action” game without exhausting players. They should be able to chain abilities together using mouse buttons. There will be combos that require the right button to be pressed at the right moment to trigger bonus effects. However, it’s not just about the mouse button: Certain skills are activated via hotkeys.
Ranged classes are expected to primarily use chargeable skills. The classes will feature different “resource” systems to add more complexity; for instance, the Gunner is supposed to build up heat when his weapon overheats during continuous fire, which can then be reduced through other abilities.
It’s not a purely “free combat system” but rather a hybrid. It still features tab-targeting. Players can log in targets for their abilities, so to speak.
While there will be a tank, there will not be a “pure” healer. This role will be taken by the supporter, essentially a “healer with offensive qualities.” When enemies take damage, they have a chance to drop a “Healing Orb.” Players can collect these orbs to replenish lost health.
Overall, they aim to achieve a fluid, fast-paced arcade gameplay without major downtime.
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From Giant Rat to Ultimate Villain: The Enemies in Skyforge
The enemies feature icons that symbolize their role. There will also be supporters, tanks, or DPS among the enemy packs that players have to respond to accordingly.
Enemy abilities are indicated by the “telegraph” system: before an area becomes “dangerous,” there is a red area above it that warns the player in advance. This principle is already known from numerous games.
Skyforge will present both the typical “large, rather weaker mobs at once” groups so that players can feel really powerful, as well as individual strong boss mobs that can challenge groups. For the selection and variety of the boss mobs and their abilities, they have already received positive feedback from initial testers.
Boss fights should be varied and interesting, even in the low-level area
In the live stream, you can observe a fight against a kind of “Rubik’s cube” that has an incredible amount of HP. One player must always enter a turret and shoot the boss, while the others must prevent trash mobs from taking him out. After a short time, the player in the turret then attracts the boss’s aggro and another must take over the turret.
The bosses, by the way, as far as we could see, do not have a massive health bar (essentially a uni-bar) that decreases extremely slowly as it goes along, but several “HP layers” that the under-immortals need to blast through. So it’s about making that “x12” health bar go down to “x11” first.
Equip and Stats
How stats work in Skyforge, we have already introduced extensively in this article. The equipment is relatively sparse. The classes get a primary weapon and a “secondary item” (e.g., the Paladin receives a shield). These are class-specific. Additionally, there are four rings that can have various stats. There is no armor in the traditional sense.
A God Needs Followers! – The Browser-like Mini-Game
Removed from the actual combat gameplay, there is a kind of mini-game within Skyforge – somewhat like the minions in Rift or the garrison in World of Warcraft. Here, players can gather followers, send them out, recruit new ones, make them work, and even let them pray.
Guild System: Because it would be lonely at the top
There is also an extensive guild system. This is called “Pantheon” in Skyforge. The guilds can grow, wage wars, and expand their influence here. This is one of the newer systems; it was introduced only a few weeks ago.
However, it appears that they are taking an interesting approach that draws on established MMOs without merely copying from a single source, thereby creating something new.
Godlike – The Ultimate Goal in Skyforge: Divinity
At the end of the Ascension Atlas, there is a very special reward called “Divine Status” for immortals. This is a kind of “ultimate ability” that is supposed to be significantly more powerful. Players can temporarily enter a “Godlike” mode (suits it).
As endgame events invasions, server-wide event chains, are planned.
What comes next? Will Skyforge also be available for consoles Playstation 4 and Xbox One?
The first closed beta will start in a few days. Players can purchase founder packages here. There is no exact schedule for what happens next. However, the game is definitely set to be released in 2015.
In Destiny, the last patch accidentally nerfed the PlayStation-exclusive shotgun “4th Horseman” and improved rewards in the Crucible are promised.
Last Friday, a Q&A session took place in the Destiny forum. Readers could directly ask for information from the responsible experts of the MMO shooter. Ridiculously little new information came out, most of it was actually clear. Bungie is keeping all options open; should they see a need for action, they will act, but no drastic improvements have been announced.
Typical responses were given regarding special modes in the Crucible, which are rare so they remain something special. Regarding “No Land Beyond,” whether it would become stronger soon, a similar vague response was given.
They created a niche weapon that is not for everyone, and it is difficult to balance it now. That’s how they see it with almost all exotics; changes could come, they are watching everything carefully, but promise nothing.
4th Horseman nerfed, Necrochasm not buffed
There were issues with the last patch, as you know, with the Vex Mythoclast. They included the new bug right in the patch notes. The PS-exclusive shotgun “4th Horseman” is also plagued by bugs. They have tested the “correct values” there, but they were incorrectly integrated into the game. They are working to restore it to its former strength as soon as possible.
The Necrochasm has not been buffed, even if some players feel that way. They would probably be getting better with the weapon.
Crucible rewards too weak, could be improved soon
That the PvP rewards are rather on the weak side is also known at Bungie. They plan to change this in a future update.
The rewards are, by the way, random, even though many believe otherwise. Neither the weakest of a round nor the strongest are favored, so that not only the “winners” benefit from it.
In The Division, the PvP areas, the Dark Zones, will receive a special flavor through a unique game mechanic.
No, no panic, the old PK times are not returning when players dropped all their gear after being taken down by an opponent. Just like it’s currently happening in the short-lived zombie MMO H1Z1 . That would probably be a fatal design decision for “The Division,” a game that clearly aims to target the same audience as the current MMO shooter Destiny and thus relies on long-term motivation.
Otherwise, it would be like poker without a stake
But there should be an appeal in PvP, as the developers revealed during a podcast. Otherwise, it’s a bit like playing poker without stakes. Players can find valuable items in the PvP zones, but they are initially fleeting. The survivors of “The Division” must first extract them from the zone and then undergo a specific process: “The Extraction.” Only then are they securely in their possession.
As long as that hasn’t happened, the items are lost when players fall in the PvP zone. The items are designed to represent something you wouldn’t want to lose, but at the same time not something whose loss you couldn’t get over.
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In “The Division,” there is a clear intention to focus on PvP and emphasize this aspect. It is known that many gamers declined PvP because it can be a bit toxic. Therefore, efforts are being made to implement mechanics that never truly punish players but rather motivate them for PvP.
The thrill of being attacked by opponents at any time in the zones should provide excitement – especially when one has just found a coveted item, the “found it, lost it” mechanic presented here will surely provide an adrenaline rush.
That’s just how it is in the post-apocalypse: as soon as you’ve found something great, others want to take it from you.
Tom Clancy’s The Division is set to be released in 2015 for PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4. And every week there are new false reports from various clickbait sites about it because it’s a really big blockbuster that many are looking forward to: Recently, there were supposedly system requirements circulated by a small US site that also German gaming sites reported on. “Bullshit,” as Ubisoft told a fan page.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In ArcheAge, a date has now been found for the next update. March 10 is the date.
A few days ago, there was an extensive live stream about ArcheAge. They have been doing this more frequently lately to improve the strained relationship with the community and to fulfill the promise of open communication.
During the live stream, a date was also mentioned for the next content expansion. On March 10 it is to happen: Then the Diamond Coast will open, the library, a new dungeon, and the level cap will rise to 55, each skill line will receive a new skill at the new maximum level:
Battlerage: Behind Enemy Lines
Witchcraft: Fiend’s Knell
Defense: Fortress
Auramancy: Mirror Warp
Occultism: Death’s Vengeance
Archery: Snipe
Sorcery: God’s Whip
Shadowplay: Throw Dagger
Songcraft: [Perform] Grief’s Cadence
Vitalism: Whirlwind’s Blessing
The March 10 date is not set in stone yet; it could still change, but it looks like they will stick to the date.
Trion Worlds is satisfied with the results on the test server. There have been up to 70 groups simultaneously in the library. For the future, they aim to catch up further and reduce the lead that Korea still has. So patch 1.07 is expected to arrive two months after the current patch. The “catching up” is going quite well so far; they are bringing content here faster than XLGames in Korea can deliver, despite the extensive localization work for three languages.
This is what the entrance to Ayanad looks like in the Korean version:
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MMOs must be designed so that players can brag about their achievements in them. We will explore this steep thesis using three examples: Destiny, World of Warcraft, and WildStar.
In our special feature, we address three questions that resonate in the MMO scene:
Why do major US magazines write about seemingly trivial player achievements in Destiny?
And what on earth is Blizzard thinking with the tweeting in World of Warcraft?
The drama surrounding Everquest Next has its silver lining: The head of the entire EQ franchise, David Georgeson, the guy with the ponytail from the Landmark video, found himself suddenly without a job. By itself, that’s nothing great, okay. But Georgeson used his free time to write a series of articles for the US site mmorpg.com about how an MMO must be structured to succeed. And it’s not just anyone writing, but an industry veteran who really knows how things work.
MMOs must be designed so that players can brag
The most interesting among many theses: An MMO must be structured so that players can brag about their achievements. That they tell their friends about their performance in the game and gain respect for it. And for that, it is essential that those they tell about their successes know the game.
With “I was the first to solo kill the big Pumuckl on our server”, only someone who has been thoroughly beaten by the big Pumuckl before will be able to relate and understand what a dangerous bastard the big Pumuckl is and what a feat it is to defeat him. Okay, Georgeson wasn’t talking about the Pumuckl, that’s my addition, but the idea hopefully is clear!
Now, “players play to brag” is one of those theses that players understandably first reject: Much like Porsche drivers reject the idea that they must compensate for something.
No, one plays for the community, for the story, for the great design ideas, the social components, one isn’t easily manipulated by a little trinket, the ego is fully under control – and they drive the Porsche because it’s a really good car. At most, one might say: “Yeah, there’s some truth to that idea, but that applies to others, not to me.”
Let’s take a look at this thesis using three games. How is it with “successful” games, where everyone knows the big Pumuckl, how does it work with not-so-successful games, and how is it with WoW. And one might have to agree, perhaps gritting their teeth, that there is something to the idea and that it even explains why some games are so successful and others are not.
The current Pumuckl: Crota in Destiny
Destiny is currently a game that is so big and played on so many levels that the biggest triumphs are duly recognized. When, for example, the US site Polygon, which would much rather talk about sexism in video games, the indie boom, and Amiibos, now reports that a player solo completed the final boss Crota, readers may ask: “What’s up with that? Isn’t anything happening in other games? Aren’t there any extraordinary achievements?”
And the honest answer is: Sure, but it’s just less interesting.
Almost every player faces Crota in Destiny. In the 6-member group in normal mode, then later on “hard”. Even the “normal” player is aware of the difficulties that Crota presents. And therefore, they can assess the achievement of doing it alone on “Hard” when they themselves are struggling nicely in the significantly easier “Normal” mode in the 6-member group.
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Here, the pursuit of glory works wonderfully. There is a massive player base that can accurately assess what lies behind an achievement. And the idea of being that one who is at the center of such a story once motivates and drives players. And it’s not just for the glory that there is acknowledgment. Anyone who takes Crota down in a particularly creative or funny way can expect a global pat on the back.
This holds true on a smaller scale as well: Those who share a really good Crucible round in Teamspeak or how they carried their team in the Nightfall earn respect. That feels good. MMOs do not take place in a vacuum, but in a social structure and for that, other players are needed.
The nostalgia Pumuckl: In World of Warcraft, EVERYONE tells you what they have achieved
I’ve often encountered the phenomenon in World of Warcraft myself. There, it almost always had a nostalgic component. Most players don’t tell you what they’ve done recently or even in the last two years in WoW, but they talk about what they achieved in the golden days.
Six years ago, one told me about what he had achieved four years earlier in Classic WoW, at a time when you had to pull a wagon through Azshara and practically kite a skyscraper-like end boss to death over hours with a cotton ball to complete such a legendary, epic quest that Blizzard, after thousands of players lost their minds over it, graciously decided to nerf or better yet, remove from the game.
Otherwise, it’s common in WoW to argue about how long one has been there and how long one has played a class to project authority.
This likely stems from the fact that very few in WoW can actually show something and most of it comes down to how patient and persevering one has been. Many achievements in WoW result not from skill, but from patience.
Blizzard has established and ritualized the “showing off” to such an extent that it’s no longer fun, and one has to go to great lengths to still be something special: Everyone has their pets, mounts, titles, was there for some special kill, has seemingly achieved something.
The problem lies in the fact that many “important titles” and “mounts” are still easily obtainable years later. Cross-realm play has dissolved the classic structures that forced players into the confines of a server and a community. In the past, you knew who was at the top on your server, but not anymore.
“Glory” and “achievement” still play a role in World of Warcraft: even if a “World First Kill” in WoW today doesn’t receive the same recognition as it did when it was the Lich King. Back then, the names of those involved in the top guilds were known, and they enjoyed a sort of “celebrity” status. We seem to have moved away from that today. Streamers now take on that function, not necessarily the best players anymore.
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Maybe WoW is a good example of what happens when developers try too hard to force bragging in a game so that everyone feels they have achieved something. The success, however, undoubtedly vindicates Blizzard.
The no-name Pumuckl in WildStar: When a boss falls that no one knows, is the MMO dead?
The glory system was likely the downfall of the MMO WildStar. Many pondered (including us for hours) why the game had so little success and indeed, Georgeson’s thesis could be responsible for that.
WildStar wanted hardcore players. More than anything else, they want their achievements to be recognized. What good is achieving a World First if no one cares? On the fan site readycheck, there was an open chat during WildStar’s early days where you could eavesdrop on the conversations of players. For months, two raiders who had switched from WoW to WildStar enthusiastically discussed the hardcore approach, then increasingly disillusioned about WildStar’s raid scene. And the death sentence could be read in one of the last chats.
They wanted to go back to WoW and were looking for a strong raid guild. But the raid achievements in WildStar over the past months were of no interest there.
A blow to the ego. Being one of the few hundreds who were tough enough to take down a boss in the sci-fi MMO means nothing when no one cares, even though it was incredibly hard.
If you look at the subreddit for WildStar today, you find plenty of kill videos of bosses. Here, not just the first “special” kill counts, but players simply post a neat achievement of their guild.
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It’s understandable to crave recognition: While the World First video by Paragon in the last raid tier reached 770,000 clicks on YouTube, the World First of Ohmna, the final boss in WildStar, was viewed by merely 24,000 souls.
So we are ego monsters… what’s the big deal?
It’s undeniable: There’s more truth to Georgeson’s thesis than any of us would like to admit. But it’s not so bad. Humans are driven by a desire for recognition.
And if MMOs are a mirror of our society: Why should it be any different here?
Perhaps, critics have alleged for years, they make it too easy for us to gain recognition, reward us generously for minimal effort, and shower us with the successes and gratifications we so often seek in the real world but fail to achieve.
And perhaps, one might say, there’s a danger in that: That the constant bombardment with small successes and triumphs, as WoW practices, feels so good, appeals to us so much. But it indeed feels good to us and we like it so much – who could resist this lure in a world where a “well done” is so rare?
Blizzard, at any rate, seems to believe in its successful model: With 6.1, every player can now tweet their achievements.
Destiny is orienting itself to the WoW success model: Why not introduce player titles for special achievements alongside the Grimoire cards? The path from “natural bragging with rare achievements” to the sense of accomplishment for everyone seems to be laid out. Although even now, the constant rewards with special items or the prospect of them explains the extreme addictiveness of the game.
And WildStar? It’s currently undergoing a transformation and wants to reward players much more often and frequently. When WildStar was being developed, the developers listened to the players. They demanded brutally tough performance checks, and only the toughest should have a reason to brag about their accomplishments. If they had been honest with themselves, they might have said: Give us something to brag about, but… don’t make it so hard.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Exactly four years ago, Trion Worlds opened the portal to the fantasy MMORPG Rift. To celebrate the 4th anniversary, the chosen ones from Terlara are throwing a carnival party with new masks, companions, treasures, and much more.
Anyone who still can’t get enough of the carnival can now participate in the festive celebrations of the chosen ones until March 18. Whether in Sanctum or Meridian, there are numerous festive activities for a joyful atmosphere during the anniversary.
Here are the features at a glance:
A ton of vouchers
Fill your stock of carnival vouchers through daily instant adventures and impress the crowds in Sanctum and Meridian with tales of your heroic deeds.
Discover new carnival piñatas in instant adventures in Goboro Rift. Each one is packed with loot including special piñata prize bags!
Need more vouchers? John Titan is always looking for exotic materials from the Plane of Water for his trade in Telara. Collect Translucent Garments, Legendary Furs, Thalasite Crystals, and more to earn vouchers for them.
Additionally, a new mount, the Twisted Carousel Sheep, is available in limited edition in special treasure chests!
New festive loot for the 4th birthday
4 masks and a Sea Leviathan balloon
Companions: Wind-up Horse Valmera Whelp and Party Duck
Cape for the 4th birthday and carnival weapons!
Alaf!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Final Fantasy XIV the new area “Manderville Gold Saucer” was opened with patch 2.51, but how do you get there?
Right now with the free week for veterans, many players are surely logging back into Final Fantasy XIV after a long time and want to visit the “entertainment island” Gold Saucer to try Chocobo races or take a chance atTriple Triad. But at first glance, it is not so easy to find your way there, and many are asking: “Where is Triple Triad? How do I get to the Chocobo race, where is the fun island?”
With these three steps, you should have no problem finding it:
Portal to the desert capital Ul’Dah in Nald’s crossroads.
Near the portstone, there is a level 15 quest giver “Wealthy Young Man” who gives you the quest “On to the Fun”.
Now you can simply take the lift up to the airship, redeem the quest, and you’ll be in Manderville.
For this to work, you need to be level 15 and have completed one of the three main scenario quests. By the way, the free week for veterans in Final Fantasy XIV lasts until March 9.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
At first glance, Aura Kingdom appears to be a colorful anime-style game. However, it has more to offer than one initially perceives. Thanks to impressive landscapes and diverse stories, this MMORPG can appeal not only to anime fans but also to MMO lovers.
We managed to convince Aura Kingdom expert Alice to introduce us to the free-to-play MMO in the following guest post.
Those who follow the story of the non-player characters (NPCs) and read the dialogues will quickly realize that the developers of X-Legend have placed great emphasis on loving design. Quirky as well as striking characters, including the Black Knight Reinhardt or Lady Scuddy from Skandia, are just an example of the complete localization by the official publisher Aeria Games.
The variety of classes in Aura Kingdom offers everyone the opportunity to explore the game world of Azuria in a very individual way. As in many other titles, choosing the first class is a tricky matter; however, players can choose a second class for their character starting at level 40. Apparently opposing combinations like Paladin and Bard are not uncommon. Who wouldn’t want to be the tank of the group while having self-healing abilities?
The selection between 12 different classes, each with characteristics like melee and ranged combat, healers and mages, or summoners and swordsmen, proceeds smoothly during character creation thanks to additional videos and descriptions.
The player is never alone
Another feature is the number of different companions that players can constantly have with them. These include pets, available in both animal and human form. They either increase the healing rate or complete the player’s little family. Some classes can also summon additional helpers. The Necromancer, the newest class in the game, can use his scythe to permanently deploy three of his six companions in battle. The Bard, on the other hand, can summon a powerful fire elemental to assist him in combat.
The powerful Eidolons also accompany the player and represent the flagship in Aura Kingdom. They assist adventurers in battle and grant them very useful bonus stats starting at a certain level. There are 40 different Eidolons, many of which can be permanently obtained, for example, through a guild, instances, or by means of “Archaeology”. Over half of the available Eidolons can be earned solely through achievements in Aura Kingdom.
The diverse regions of Azuria
During the leveling phase, players traverse 15 different and equally interesting areas. Thanks to the NPCs on-site, one learns many background information about the respective zones and what tasks await there. In each area, there is at least one instance with 4 difficulty levels, primarily used for leveling. In addition to the ever-present search for advancement opportunities, players in Aura Kingdom also have the option of learning to fish or digging up the areas as an archaeologist to collect valuable archaeological coins with some luck. Refining new equipment and brewing potions is also available to players during the leveling phase.
http://youtu.be/625UkMQMPSM
Those now on the way to the endgame and towards the current highest level 80 can let loose in four additional instances, invest their achievements in improved stats, or conquer the challenging but popular Sky Pillar with friends! There, 20 floors need to be climbed within 2 hours to unveil secret treasures. As the floors are continuously expanded throughout the game, the Sky Pillar has already earned the reputation of the “100-floor high pillar”.
Aura Kingdom therefore offers significantly more than its anime aesthetics and invites every role-playing enthusiast to take the plunge into the game at no necessary cost.
Curious players can receive a starter package worth €30 under this link, which makes starting in the world of Azuria much more pleasant and equips the player with numerous valuable items.
Many thanks to Aeria Games for providing us with this package.
By Alice “Manique” Schonert, Level 72 Dervish/Nayar
To improve Manique’s talents and strength, all my stamina is required, as information on the best equipment is not that easy to find. Now, I can take down several enemies at once with a single blow. Her skills and my sense of justice help defend the villagers of Azuria!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, a change in weapon balance means that the previously unloved shotguns are now fully in vogue.
Orange is the new black and shotguns are the latest craze in Destiny. They deal 100% more damage in PvE. Against anything that is not another Guardian, as Bungie puts it. It was known that the change would come for almost a month. How much it would change the gameplay, was only known since Wednesday evening. Guardians everywhere are rummaging through their vaults, pulling out their shotguns, blowing off the Mars dust, and joining the shotgun hype train.
Universal Remote, Felwinter’s Lie and Swordbreaker
This was further intensified by the fact that on Friday Xur had the “Universal Remote” on offer, a shotgun that fits in the primary slot, while all other shotguns occupy the special slot. This means: Players can roam around with two shotguns.
In fact, it had already been a good month for shotguns in Destiny before the buff. In the Iron Banner, “Felwinter’s Lie” was available to earn and it already came from the vendor with such intense traits and perks that experts were raving about it. The raid shotgun “Swordbreaker” is now also quite popular after the buff.
The Vanguard weapons“The Comedian” and “Secret Handshake” are also regarded as alternatives worth a look.
Now it gets personal in Destiny
The special thing about the new playstyle is how close you get to the enemies. Previously, most Guardians in Destiny preferred a long-range style with Icebreaker, Black Hammer and other strong sniper rifles. With the new shotgun craze, everything is done up close and personal. This creates a new gaming experience.
