The sand park MMO ArcheAge claims to ban thousands of cheaters and hackers every day. They aim to combat inflation in the game by inviting crafters to craft.
In an interview with mmorpg.com, the new producer at the helm of ArcheAge, Mervin Lee Kwai, talks about cheaters and hackers. He refers to them as “Bad Actors” and reports that the fight against them is making progress in ArcheAge. They have developed better tools to track them down. They have now received better capabilities from Korean partner XLGames to log incidents.
It is Trion Worlds’ goal that no player is disadvantaged by hacks and cheats.
The devaluation of gold in ArcheAge
Kwai sees the second major problem as gold inflation in the game. This results from the fact that the most sought-after crafting materials are so rare that the corresponding items are hardly produced, making them incredibly expensive.
The solution: On one hand, they want to keep an eye on how much gold each server generates, and on the other hand, to curb gold selling. They also want to try other ways to introduce crafting materials.
The logic here is: Crafters can produce items more frequently, sell them cheaper, and this will improve the situation for everyone.
In Destiny, the voice acting of the flying AI Ghost by Peter Dinklage (“Game of Thrones”) is not exactly its strongest point. “What if we got Samuel L. Jackson to do it?” a Youtuber wonders in a humorous video.
Peter Dinklage, who played Tyrion in Game of Thrones, has had to endure a lot for his voice role as “Ghost.” He sounds somewhat disinterested. It’s the worst voice acting performance by a good actor since Bill Murray in the Ghostbusters game, points out the Honest Trailer. And generally, “Dinklebot,” as he is called, the companion of the hero who delivers exposition and endlessly opens doors, is not exactly a fan favorite.
But it might not necessarily be Peter Dinklage’s fault. The sentences and lines he is given do not lend themselves to great acting performances. Dinkle’s verbal eye-roll became infamous when he had to talk about a “wizard who came from the moon.” Bungie re-mixed it to be a bit more “enthusiastic”, but the reputation was cemented.
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It was not just the voice actor that was the problem, but also the texts. Both problems are now being tackled at once by the Youtuber t0nin0t. What if we used the best lines from Samuel L. Jackson’s movies (spoken by him) instead of the text of Dinklebot?
If you don’t know Jackson … here are some dialogues about Samuel L. Jackson (from the trailer for Ted 2): “Have you ever seen a movie?” “Yes.” “He was the Black one!”
In a swoop through Jackson’s long and diverse career, the creator of the video takes individual lines and places them in the right spots in Destiny’s story. Those familiar with Jackson’s work know this: It’s not always family-friendly.
Bungie gave a wink to the creator: While they can’t post it on the Twitter channel (family-friendly and all), they had a great laugh.
That Samuel Jackson video by @t0nin0t was hilarious but we can’t link to it in a Tweet because (you know) bad words and stuff. #m@#$%rf@#$%r
Blizzard’s new project Overwatch, a team shooter, is currently in Alpha. Initial reports are now surfacing.
PC Gamer shares their trip into the world of Overwatch. It confirms the impression one received from the game at Blizzcon: It is supposed to be a shooter for those who generally do not like shooters.
Just as Blizzard created a more accessible version of Magic: The Gathering with Hearthstone and a lighter version of Everquest with World of Warcraft, they now aim to tackle a new genre and apply known design principles. Blizzard’s designers want to make the team shooter appealing to a broader audience.
At the forefront is the aim to remove the “ugliness” and “mean-spiritedness” from the genre, Chris Metzen from Blizzard’s creative team is quoted. Everyone should feel like they can contribute to the victory without feeling like they’ve completely messed it up. It should be a positive experience. An experience for everyone. Never should metrics like the kill/death ratio matter.
They will approach the shooter genre with humility. They know how much PC gamers love it.
Overwatch: Design Goals and Ideas
Overwatch should be accessible, allowing players to jump right in.
It should be crazy, exaggerated, and highly stylized. They even started the presentation with Winston, a talking monkey. The characters often represent “cliches”, pop culture prototypes, and are designed accordingly: The cyborg, the samurai, the guy in a rocket suit, the modern knight.
The battlegrounds are also “exaggerated representations” of familiar places on Earth: In London, there is the typical red double-decker bus, in Egypt the Sphinx and dog-headed Anubis statues, in Japan the cherry blossoms. Overall, this design idea reminded the tester a bit of Street Fighter.
However, they do not want to be brutal or mean-spirited, but instead depict positive characters in a fight, without bloodshed. With humorous dialogue and a colorful aesthetic.
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The longest kill streak in the game will be shown to everyone again as a “Play of the Game” after the match ends.
The game aims to be spectacular and the individual combinations of characters should allow for synergy effects: In the payload mode (inspired by Team Fortress 2), it makes sense to place a turret on the payload to be protected by another hero through a bubble: Voilá. A mobile, armored turret.
As with Hearthstone, players should be able to tell stories about their matches afterwards.
According to Blizzard, the game lends itself to eSports, but the community needs to decide that. They definitely aim to make it fun to watch a match.
Currently, the game lacks much fine-tuning and balance according to the tester. The use of different weapons did not always feel satisfactory. Also, the lags cost a lot of the gaming experience. There is a lot to be done before the start of beta in 2015.
Blizzard knows this as well. As Chris Metzen says, they have years of experience in designing multiplayer PvP titles, but this is their first shooter.
There is still no release date for Overwatch.
For more on Overwatch, you can visit our topic page.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The upcoming Free2Play MMO Skyforge showcases Alakur as the next in a panoramic view.
The world of Aelion, where Skyforge is set, is plagued by constant invasions of alien and bizarre life forms. Alakur was once a paradise island and the home of one of the world’s most beautiful temples, dedicated to the goddess Ianna. Peace reigned until the flesh-eating Pyhtonides invaded. They have power over the local flora and command everything that grows and flourishes.
Wherever the mysterious strangers settle, everything quickly becomes overgrown. They have also taken the temple under green control. And in their wake are alluring Dryads and giant mushrooms.
What appears on the surface to be a paradise, untouched island reveals itself upon closer inspection as a deceptive, green hell. For beneath the blooming plants lurk thorns, fangs, and poisonous dangers.
The Guardians in Destiny come up with new tactics to make the raid Crota’s End more exciting. In this tactic, Crota dies with just one sword in under 45 seconds, but it requires preparation.
In Destiny, the value of Titans is currently recognized. With a Titan and his Bubble, it was possible to defeat Crota with two players. Six Titans with their bubbles could march through Crota’s End on normal, without using firearms. And now it is Titans who enable an innovative kill for Crota in Hard Mode.
Well, the real star is once again a Hunter. He has the honor of being the sword bearer and deals increased damage as the Super recharges repeatedly.
The Titans “bubble” the area where the fight will later take place for a few minutes before the actual battle. With each Bubble, two orbs, two spheres of light, are created. When the Titans wear the Mark of Alpha Lupi, even three. Only when the area is sufficiently bubbled will the crystal be activated and the fight begins.
We’ve already skipped ahead to the fight start, during the previous 2:30, plenty of bubbles are laid:
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The sword fighter, the Blademaster, later attacks Crota “normally” when he kneels, alternating between the Super and the regular slam. In between, he always collects large amounts of orbs to have the Super ready for the next round.
With this method, as can be seen, the actual fight is quickly over. It just takes a few minutes to first “fill the area with bubbles.” Of course, it requires tremendous firepower to quickly bring Crota back to his knees. Here, as seen in the video, rocket launchers like “Gjallarhorn” or similarly competent destruction weapons in Destiny are recommended.
Valentine’s Day is coming, and MMORPGs like Blade and Soul or World of Warcraft are using it for an event.
It’s quite a hassle with these annual events in MMORPGs. Halloween is fine, but what do you do with the Festival of Lovers, the flower and chocolate industry? Valentine’s Day isn’t really suitable for a fantasy world. How do two such different MMOs like World of Warcraft or Blade and Soul handle this?
World of Warcraft: Feasting, Achievements, and the Love Rocket
Rogue: Never gives up the Love Rocket!
In World of Warcraft the event “Love is in the Air” is celebrated – this means that you sign up for an instance dungeon, revisit the old Shadowfang Keep to hit Apothecary Hummel on the chin in a randomly formed, anonymous 5-man group as quickly as possible. Hoping that he might finally drop the Love Rocket, a coveted mount. If necessary, you take a 635 amulet with you, but that’s probably not much fun with the current equipment status.
Somehow sexy, right? Or?
Also in Azeroth: Some of the typical event quests, most hang on AVs. It’s about stuffing your belly with chocolate, bothering others with love arrows, or picking a bouquet of roses. Everything is quite modest in Azeroth. The main thing is that you eventually complete the meta-event “What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been.”
In WoW, the Festival of Love revolves around chocolate, AVs, and loot. And it might only differ from a festival like Halloween in that everything is pink instead of orange.
Sexy Nurses in Blade and Soul
Blade and Soul is an Asia MMO that doesn’t handle Valentine’s Day very decently. On the occasion of Valentine’s Day, the romantic aspects are overlooked, and they simply bring a “hot nurse” costume to the cash shop with accessories like glasses, syringes, and so on. Where agents from thrillers usually carry their gun in a garter, here they carry a syringe.
At least, and here the circle closes, it’s also somehow pink. The fact remains: Valentine’s Day just isn’t really suitable for a fantasy MMORPG.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Fresh wind from the capital: The free-to-play MMO Albion Online presents itself. And no, it is not an “old-school” MMO – or maybe it is?
The MMO is developed by Sandbox Interactive GmbH based in Berlin. Looking closely at the game features, they evoke nostalgic memories of the past “Ultima Online” and “Dark Age of Camelot” days. In massive battles, you can fight for territories with your guild that house valuable resources. These are needed for an extensive crafting system. Additionally, there is a trading system that is solely controlled by the players themselves.
Brick by brick to your own home or town
In Albion Online, housing is given special attention. You could say it is the trademark. You can build your own home and decorate it with love, but also construct entire cities and villages together with other players. Currently, there are 50 buildings, including blacksmiths, stables, and trading posts that serve the public interest.
If you want to gear up for battle, you first need to craft swords and shields in the blacksmith. Your home is quickly built. However, you need the help of other players for certain buildings, such as the weapon smith. Now here’s the catch: if you haven’t managed to build such a weapon factory, you’ll have to go through the warzone with your fists.
Playable on tablet, smartphone, and more
You control your hero from an isometric perspective in a graphical style that is somewhat 90s. The simple and straightforward comic look has a practical reason: Albion Online is a cross-platform MMO. Using a master server, players from Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android can log in and play together or against each other. This is to create technical accessibility.
People make clothes and vice versa
According to the motto “clothes make the man,” there are no predefined classes in the world of Albion. You can go into battle in fully armored plate armor and a magic wand or with wizard-like cloth rags and a two-handed sword. But without equipment, there’s no competition. You have to craft your gear for war yourself.
What is special are the different abilities that come with changing weapons.
You can assign different active and/or passive spells for each equipped item. When you then equip the weapon, your skills also change. But be careful: if you fall in battle, you can be looted down to your shirt by enemy players thanks to the full-loot system. Therefore, you should not only charge into battle thoughtfully, but also store a second outfit in your own four walls (or choose a different server type).
Currently, Albion Online is in the winter alpha. You can purchase access to this alpha with a founder’s package and support the developers with their sandbox MMO. For the contribution of $29.95, you get direct access, participation in the closed beta, 2000 gold, and 30 days premium status.
But the developers themselves can tell you more about Albion Online:
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Conclusion: First of all, I find it remarkable that “the Germans” are daring to tackle an MMO. I always thought they could only do Gothic – you can easily be mistaken. The features that Albion Online contains already sound promising. However, to picture a more accurate mood, one would need initial feedback from the winter alpha.
That I am a total fan of cross-platform titles and second-screen applications is already a plus for the MMO. In the 21st century, there should no longer be a systemism between Windows, Android, and others. If we could later dive into the world of Albion via tablet or smartphone, it would certainly be an ideal game for on the go. It’s free-to-play, after all. However, how this accessibility affects gameplay and controls remains to be seen.
Interested in further information? Then check out the official Albion Online site. The blog, which regularly reports on development and future features, is also recommended. We will keep you updated if you are interested in the title.
http://youtu.be/PtFSKlq70lA
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny, images of the new armor from the second Destiny DLC House of Wolves have appeared, which is set to release in the coming months. This includes 56 armors from the Vanguard and Crucible vendors.
Admittedly, DeeJ has taken some of the wind out of the sails of the leak: These are placeholders. And for the weapons, that’s certainly true, they were marked with the still unknown brand name “Union”.
However, we believe there is little reason to doubt that the shown armors will make it into the game. If not in terms of stats, then definitely in terms of appearance. Because they do look ready-designed, are on the level of the previous armors, and showcase individual styles that match each class. The skins will certainly be retained. It would be quite silly to alter them.
However, it is unlikely that they will launch with the light level of 39 displayed here. This has recently been ruled out by the raid designer Luke Smith. Vendor armors should not be stronger than the raid armor from the previous tier to not diminish the performance of the raiders.
Here are the various galleries with the “leaked” armors from House of Wolves. It’s not certain, but it seems very likely that these skins will remain.
Take a look at the Spring collection. What will the Vanguard and Crucible vendors offer in the House of Wolves DLC?
Vanguard Warlock Armor
Crucible Warlock Armor
Hunter Vanguard Armor
Hunter Crucible Armor
Titan Vanguard Armor
Titan Crucible Armor
What do you think of the images? Do you have any favorites? Do you prefer the mirrored dark look of the Warlock? Do you also think that the Hunter armor has a bit of Hannibal Lecter this time? And does the Titan look perhaps too functional and too much like a “mining worker with a bob hairstyle”? Would you like to hear more funny suggestive questions? Leave us a comment.
Evolve is launching a PR offensive before its release on February 10th, based on a version of “Ready or Not,” a hit from the late 60s that became popular again through the Fugees.
“Ready or Not, here I come”: “Ready or not, here it comes.” The phrase refers to the children’s game “Hide and Seek.”
The Fugees turned the song of the same name into a hit in 96, and now the phrase is the focus of the monster search-and-find game Evolve. In a live-action trailer, futuristic hunters and gruesome monsters engage in a game of hide and seek at night… and in another trailer, one might say: “I am a monster… and that is okay.”
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If you watch such trailers and go crazy because you absolutely want to find the song exactly in that version: “Ready Or Not” by Scala & Kolacny Brothers. Scala is a Belgian choir consisting of 60 women aged between 14 and 24, and the Kolacny brothers are the founders and directors of the choir.
Evolve will be released on February 10th for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. In the coming days, something about the new game will probably come out every day, as is the case with major releases. You can find more about the game on our topic page.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The main game has not been released yet and there is already a free-to-play spin-off of Evolve. The game can be downloaded cross-platform (on iOS, Android, Amazon, and Windows devices). But what exactly is in this game?
“Connect Four” with machine guns
The game mechanics have very little in common with the big PC counterpart. In the manner of “Candy Crush” or similar games, the goal is to create straight lines of matching colored symbols. The difference now is that the symbols are assigned to the four hunter types. While you are happily moving stones back and forth at the bottom of the game, the four hunters are firing from all cylinders in the upper half of the screen. But this has not only a visual effect!
The hunters have their own HP displays and are truly fighting against the creatures of Shear – whether against wild creatures or the big monsters. The enemies hit back, of course, and if you’re not careful to occasionally sprinkle in a combination of Medic symbols, you’ll quickly find yourself in the “Game Over” screen. However, those who manage to create impressive combinations on the board will be rewarded with special abilities that deal significant damage to enemies or heal the entire team.
Nice and good – what does it bring?
To give all fans of monster hunting another incentive to play this mobile game extensively, you can log into your My2K account in “Evolve: Hunters Quest”. Those who take this step can unlock small bonuses that can then be transferred to the PC game’s account starting from February 10th. So far, it is possible to reach up to 50% of a mastery level of any hunter – the faster you unlock the next hunter!
To achieve these unlocks, however, you need to invest quite a few hours into the game – the same progress can likely be made in the PC version over the course of an hour, provided the numbers do not vary too much from the beta. A nice distraction for a moment, but ultimately probably just a PR stunt for the main game.
For those interested: On the official website evolvegame.com there are download links for the different platforms.
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In Destiny, there will be a live stream on Wednesday night to Thursday from 4:00 AM to 6:00 AM, where one of the best PvE teams in the world will be hunted in the Crucible.
Invigorate Gaming – these are the Guardians whose scalp will be targeted that night. They belong to the absolute cream of the crop in Destiny, having secured World-First kills of Atheon in hard mode and Crota in normal mode. Now, a bounty is set on them for players to claim. Matches will be played on the PlayStation 4. Community Manager DeeJ is also participating – as he hints “as a target” – but asks for mercy. Unlike the other five, he has never achieved World First anything.
The whole thing works by the team simply signing up for the Control mode in the Crucible and facing the Guardians that they are matched against. If a team manages to unexpectedly defeat Invigorate Gaming, these heroes are guaranteed fame, glory, and this emblem.
So: Make sure to sign up for Control!
The stream starts – from our perspective at an absolutely ungodly hour – at 4:00 AM and is expected to last until 6:00 AM.
Update: The stream is now available as a recording:
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
H1Z1 has now set a date for the planned server wipe. It is likely to happen late Thursday, February 5th, or in the early hours of Friday, February 6th.
H1Z1 has scheduled the server wipe for February 5th. This means for us in Germany: It can refer to a time window between February 5th at 9:00 AM and February 6th at 8:59 AM.
It is likely to happen sometime between 9 PM and 4 AM. The exact time will be announced later.
Update: This has now been done, they will start early in the morning US time. The wipe process is scheduled to begin at 4:00 PM our time. It is expected to take about 4 hours. During this time, the servers will be down.
What does the server wipe in H1Z1 mean exactly? What will be lost?
They have also explained what the server wipe means for H1Z1. It is as if you are resetting the game to “factory settings”. All created characters will be gone, all cars, all player-built structures, everything the characters wore, everything hidden in the world, everything will be gone.
The only thing players will keep are cosmetic items or crates and keys that belonged to the account.
Players who own the premium edition will receive 3 air drop tickets after the wipe. Not immediately, but shortly thereafter.
This wipe is the first, but certainly not the last. Such actions belong to Early Access, they say, and wipes help to improve the game.
Many players have demanded a wipe, as there were still some “dupes” possible in the early days of the game . The dupes in H1Z1 have now been fixed, as far as known.
Update: After the wipe, a new patch will come. It will – as announced – only allow one character per server. In addition to some bug fixes, it also increases the stack size of some items. The patch notes can be found here.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
EverQuest Next is an upcoming MMORPG from Daybreak Game Company (formerly Sony Online Entertainment). It is not a successor to EverQuest 1 and 2, but more a reboot of the franchise. EQN takes place in a parallel world of Norrath, although with a familiar face or two – fundamentally, it is an independent story.
The developers have set high expectations and want to create a true next-gen MMO. An important component of this is the dynamic world. Through a partnership with the company Storybricks, there will be sophisticated artificial intelligence in the game. The NPCs remember what players do and respond accordingly.
Moreover, changes in Norrath will not be reset by the developers. If a race has taken over an area, that’s just how it is. If a city falls, it simply was not defended well enough. Players are therefore to blame and must live with the consequences.
How much they can ultimately uphold the promises remains to be seen, but just for the attempt, they deserve a chance. And who knows? Perhaps they will actually succeed, and we will get our “Next Big Thing“.
The dark fantasy and conspiracy MMO The Secret World is becoming easier. The starting levels are set to be redesigned so that players can more easily find their way into the game.
The Blue Mountains were mostly the final stop for tourists in The Secret World. This was revealed during an analysis by Funcom. This issue is now being extensively addressed, aiming to significantly reduce the initial difficulty level, as announced.
If a fight against an enemy lasts 7 seconds in the first zone, it rises to 25 seconds in the Blue Mountains, the third zone of the game. This makes the game feel dangerously difficult and drives some newcomers away.
Nightmare areas (suitable for groups) are directly adjacent to normal single-player areas: This is deadly. One wrong step and the tourists get torn apart before they can write “The Illuminati are definitely behind this” backwards in a secret language with their blood on a mirror.
Difficulty in the endgame of The Secret World remains challenging
The Secret World intends to address all of this in a patch that is set to come soon. They aim to preserve the nicely challenging difficulty that fans appreciate in the end areas. It’s just a matter of how this is achieved. Currently, the difficulty curve is too steep. It should become a ramp.
Additionally, TSW will get a “more normal fast travel” mode. Previously, players had to commit suicide using /reset to respawn at a resurrection point, an Animus.
This was evidently quite cumbersome and will soon be a thing of the past. Through /reset, players access a fixed point, the nearest one. If they want to go somewhere else, they will have to use fast travel.
With update #11, there will also be something: the Orochi Tower should be climbable in 512 different ways.
And since everything is going so well, they are adding stronger pre-built beginner builds, revising tutorials, and rewarding players with an epic weapon right after the end of the storyline quest in Transylvania.
Once all of this is settled, Funcom plans to start initiatives to attract new players to The Secret World.
Hello again… here we are. This week, it was exceptionally easy to find a topic to discuss a bit with myself. I would now like to present the fruits of this more or less exciting discussion. Let the stage be free for the boldest or dumbest company of the week: Nintendo!
What happened?
If you do a bit more on YouTube than just listening to music videos, you have probably heard about this. Nintendo is asking all Let’s Players to pay up who play games from the Japanese corporation in their videos.
Starting in May, all YouTubers who want to continue monetizing a “Let’s Play” with Nintendo content (i.e., displaying ads) will have to give up 40% of their earnings. And as if that weren’t bad enough, they have to sign up for an official “Nintendo Partner Program.” All financial gains from the video will first go to Nintendo before the “rest” is sent to the creators of the videos. How transparent this whole thing is, or whether we can even speak of transparency at all, remains to be seen.
Why am I getting upset?
Looking at it soberly: It doesn’t affect me. I don’t create videos and I rarely watch Nintendo games on YouTube. But I still believe that the implications of this approach can have serious consequences for the entire internet. If Nintendo gets away with this, it is only a matter of time before other developers (yes, I’m looking at you, EA!) will follow suit to take their share of the big pie of advertising revenues.
On one side, one could say that Nintendo has every right to do so. And fundamentally, that is true. Every game is first protected as intellectual property, and anyone wanting to make money from that property has to ask for permission or obtain corresponding licenses. This applies to music, films, and pretty much all other media.
So why do I see things differently when it comes to Let’s Plays?
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The best advertisement in the world – and still paid!
All of the above doesn’t apply to Let’s Plays for this simple reason: They are the best, free advertising in the world. Many successful games, like Minecraft or Hearthstone, would probably never have become so prominent if we hadn’t been able to watch the well-known stars and celebrities of the internet hosting streams or uploading videos on YouTube. I don’t want to know how much money Mojang would have had to spend to achieve a similar PR effect as the “Let’s Plays” have accomplished.
Of course, there are exceptions to this regulation. If games, for example, rely heavily on a dense story and offer little in terms of gameplay, I can certainly understand criticism of the videos – because then there’s no incentive to buy the game after viewing it once. However, this is not the case for ALL other games.
The worst part is actually that Nintendo is hitting the strongest supporters the hardest, if not in the stomach. Those who primarily produce videos of their games will naturally suffer the most from the drop in profits. It is also still unclear how the various networks to which YouTubers often belong will react to this announcement and how they will account for it. In any case, it’s a black day for the Let’s Play scene – and with a bit of luck, it’s the beginning of its downfall.
How do you see the matter? Is it Nintendo’s right, or a step in the wrong direction? Let me know in the comments!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The fantasy MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV receives a nod of recognition in Square Enix’s financial report.
The financial report of a multinational corporation with so many titles across numerous platforms is relatively difficult to decipher, but all the key figures are rising. In the last nine months of 2014, things look better for Square Enix than in 2013.
Even though not every business segment is performing well – slot machines are no longer in vogue – Square Enix earned several billion yen more from April to December 2014 compared to the previous year.
In particular, the annual report highlights several mobile titles and browser games. Smartphone games like “Schoolgirl Strikers” or “Final Fantasy Record Keeper” are a hit, and even a console game like “Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix” is doing well.
In the MMO space, Final Fantasy XIV received a pat on the back. It has made “favorable progress,” meaning it has developed positively.
Meanwhile, Square Enix conducts a large portion of its sales in North America. In Europe, they are selling fewer games than in their home country of Japan.
The English-speaking World of Warcraft site WoW Insider was shut down by AOL yesterday. Today it is back under a new name and with its own flag, having reached its first funding goal after 6 hours.
As part of a restructuring at AOL (we reported), the US WoW site WoW Insider, the MMO site Massively, and the general gaming site Joystiq were closed yesterday.
At WoW Insider, it seems they were well prepared for the step. They immediately relaunched as Blizzard Watch. Under a new name and on their own, part of the old guard wants to give it another try: “Free from the chains of the corporation,” as Alex Ziebart writes, who was editor-in-chief at WoW Insider and is now his own boss at Blizzard Watch.
Through Patreon, a crowdfunding site where patrons, known as backers, pledge monthly support, they had already gathered the 8000 dollars a month needed for a “full service” after just 6 hours. Just a few hours later, the extended goal of 10,000 dollars a month was already surpassed. The site will also be supported by advertising.
Blizzard Watch aims to become structurally more open, free from the tight structures and constraints of AOL, to choose topics more freely and perhaps also report on other Blizzard games.
The MMO gaming site “massively” is also set to be revived by former employees on their own. However, they are not yet at the point of presenting a new site.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
With the expansion Heart of Thorns, Guild Wars 2 aims to tackle the big issues in the MMORPG genre, drawing inspiration from Legend of Zelda.
In an interview with IGN, ArenaNet reveals its plans for Guild Wars 2 and the Heart of Thorns expansion, aiming to creatively solve some of the typical MMORPG problems. Players should not just rush linearly through a zone to the end. And players should not feel stronger just because a number goes up.
The zone should be multi-layered and non-linear
The new zone Heart of Maguuma, the jungle zone, will be designed to be experienced “vertically”. It will grow both upward and downward. It will have three levels:
The canopy – above the jungle, here you can see the remnants of the destroyed airship fleet and many vines and adventures.
The ground – here you get the typical jungle feeling.
The underground – and here players should be able to discover some dark secrets.
Guild Wars 2 does not want a linear zone that a game simply plows through, but rather multiple layers that open progressively.
But how do you ensure that it feels good for players that parts of the zones remain hidden at first and then open up?
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This is where the new “Masteries” come into play, the new progression system of Heart of Thorns. They do not want to make players “stronger” by increasing a number by a few points. A power creep, an increase of the level cap, or new weapon tiers is not an option for ArenaNet.
Players should truly learn new traits through the mastery system.
Just like back in Legend of Zelda, where Link received a new tool and could then eliminate an obstacle to open a new layer of the world.
Something similar is planned with Heart of Thorns. The player will get to know a new jungle tribe, the Itzel, learn their language over time, and see the jungle through their eyes. The player will be able to swing through new heights with the glider to reach extraordinary places.
With these new abilities, fights are also set to become easier. There will be mobs that you just can’t get past, because the counter to certain abilities is still lacking. And when you later receive new “tools”, new “abilities”, it will be immediately clear what you could use them for.
This is the goal they are aiming for: “I am now more powerful! But not because a number went up, but because I have this new tool!”
The team at Red 5 has now welcomed Chinese players to their MMO shooter Firefall in a truly bizarre music video.
Firefall is set to release in China at the end of March, and this video serves, as mmoculture writes, likely as their greeting for the Chinese New Year.
In the intro, someone with a panda as an avatar asks Margery Tran, a video producer at Red 5, if she can tell the colleagues at The9 what it is like to work at Red 5. Tran and the team at Red 5 actually have no time, but then have an idea…
And “What is it like to work at Red 5?” triggers a kind of “rap” attack from the entire development team in the video for Firefall.
The guys and gals are having a great time and the whole thing is filled with a massive amount of self-irony.
By the way, if you’re wondering, isn’t that Tony Rey, the community manager of WildStar, who can be seen at 1:46? Yes, it really is him. He was at Red 5 before Carbine.
After several weeks of beating the ogres of Highmountain in World of Warcraft, the new Patch 6.1 brings some variety. The new instance Blackrock Foundry will confront players with the Iron Horde. Who is expecting the raiders in the new raid content?
Everything new… not quite
Initially, the new instance will only be unlocked for normal and heroic difficulty levels. Long-time WoW players will also find the first boss familiar. While Gruul had his own cave in the Burning Crusade addon, this time he has to share his hideout with 9 other boss companions. By the way, the T17 set awaits brave heroes in the Blackrock Foundry.
Orcs and other creatures
After Gruul, you will face the Ironcrusher. A creature that seems rather cute but likes to throw acid around. With the Smelting Collective, a somewhat different encounter comes next – to be precise – 8 encounters. The raid lead is surely looking forward to explaining every ability of the individual Smelting members. After the orc group, Hans’gar and Franzok await the raid group.
Only the developers know why Blizzard relies on Old High German names here. Following the final boss are more orcs and a living figure like Kologarn from Ulduar. The creativity in designing boss types has once again been limited.
Didn’t I blow him up?
As a high-ranking representative of the Iron Horde, Blackhand awaits as the final boss in the Blackrock Foundry. Yes, Blackhand has, unsurprisingly, survived the explosion in the harbor of Shattrath. In 3 phases, the Grumpy Orc attempts to take you down. If this still seems too difficult on Normal mode, you will have to wait until February 17. Only then will the first LFR wing open. However, you can also pass the time with the new world boss, Rukhmar. Or you can play 100 characters at level 100.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
