In the fantasy MMO Guild Wars 2 , a favorable forecast for NCSoft has further fueled speculation about a possible GW2 expansion.
It is rumored widely, players are wishing for it, the trade press expects it, and the Korean investment firm Daewoo Securities also predicts it: An expansion for the Buy2Play MMO Guild Wars 2 is expected this year 2015.
Daewoo Securities expects increased revenue for the publisher NCSoft in the third quarter of 2015 from the yet unnamed expansion. They anticipate two million sales of the expansion at a price of $50. The basis for this calculation is the figures from Guild Wars 1, where expansions sold nearly as well as the base game.
Daewoo Securities does not provide exact sources for how they arrive at the assessment that such an expansion is forthcoming and also does not guarantee it. They are speaking, so to speak, from “usually well-informed circles”:
Information and opinions contained herein have been compiled from sources believed to be reliable and in good faith (…)
Since the 91 in the fifth line from the top, in the seventh column … that’s what it’s about!
We could all know more by tomorrow, on Tuesday, the 13th of November, when the next episode of the Living World is released. Perhaps hints are already hidden here about whether and in what form the world of Tyria will be expanded.
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In March, “House of Wolves” DLC is expected for Destiny. A user has now compiled everything found in the code into a collage.
Data mining is always a tricky business: The information is in the database, but it’s unsure if all of it is accurate and how it will actually come.
There is a huge collage (here in full size) with everything the data miners know about the “House of Wolves” DLC, and it seems like there’s a lot:
Two exotic weapons, nine armors
Brief summary: There are only two exotic weapons. One Exo shotgun Lord of Wolves, which ignites the enemy in flames with multiple hits. And a scout rifle 347 Vesta Dynasty, where guardians can choose what precision hits do. Maybe the Fate of All Fools, the fate of all fools, will come too, possibly along with the Trials of Osiris event. But that would make two exotic scout rifles. Or they might introduce other exotic weapons shortly, which wouldn’t be a problem and seems quite conceivable.
Otherwise, there are again 9 new exo-armors (just like in The Dark Below) with some really cool new perks – like triple-jump boots for hunters.
The new activities sound very much like The Dark Below, with 3 story missions, 1 strike, 1 raid – actually the scope of the entire DLC sounds pretty much the same as the package that was available in The Dark Below. The story will probably revolve around the House of Winter and the House of Wolves, a Fallen storyline from the main game that will continue in the DLC. This was also one of the stories that was rumored Bungie had already planned for release and then cut out, to bring them later.
The only exception to the “just like in the last DLC” rule might be the “new” Inferno mode, which will be a kind of “hardcore” PvP mode without skills and trackers.
Maybe it’s still a bit early to complain about lack of content
Many will surely complain about the scope of the DLC (which will probably be around €20, €35 if you purchased the season pass), but it’s still a bit early for that.
So one more warning: These “data” that have been evaluated and compiled here are not particularly fresh or current, and “EXACTLY LIKE THIS” is how it will come, nor does it pertain to a leak (it has nothing to do with that), but these are likely elements that Bungie had prepared a while ago. The “actual DLC” could turn out quite differently. After all, Bungie now had feedback and time to revise the plans. And they must have definitely heard the criticism that “this is too little for a DLC.”
Here is a video from ProNDC two weeks ago, which roughly presented what was known about House of Wolves at the time, it doesn’t differ much from the new image:
http://youtu.be/t_mGajxPwfg
Data mining is difficult
This data mining is always difficult and should be approached with caution. The data miners have the puzzle pieces, but not the context of how they fit together. They construct that – usually successfully, but not always. And changes can also come in short order.
Actually, everyone was sure up until a day before the release of the Dark Below DLC that the fusion rifle Murmur (the Murmuring) would start as a white item and then slowly be upgraded to a legendary. However, Bungie apparently decided otherwise at the last minute and changed this in the finished Destiny DLC.
Please consider this now as a kind of preview “collage” to look at and nothing set in stone. When the House of Wolves DLC is closer, we will present the individual exotic armors and weapons in greater detail.
Zombie-MMO H1Z1 will enter Early Access on Steam in three days, on January 15. The system requirements are now known, as well as what will be included in the Starter Package and the Premium Package. The prices for the two editions are not yet known.
H1Z1 will go into Early Access on January 15. Players can access it through two packages. The Starter Package includes:
Access to Early Access
3 event tickets
one key
Two crates
In the Premium Package, the luxury edition, the following is included:
Early Access to H1Z1
25 event tickets
3 airdrop tickets
4 keys
6 crates
The recipe to craft an exclusive hat
The prices for the two packages are not yet known. It is estimated that the Starter Package will cost around “20 dollars”; SOE was still uncertain about how it would be converted into euros. They didn’t know how this would be converted to Euros. Upon release, H1Z1 should be free-to-play and supported by a cash shop.
With the event tickets, players can purchase single access to certain server types, such as the Battle Royale mode that will be available at launch. What events will be expected at the Early Access start is still unknown at the moment. These special server types probably have only a limited duration. Once everyone is dead in the Battle Royale, the Battle Royale ends. This is, so to speak, a permanent death server.
With the airdrops, air drops of crates can be arranged. However, to access the contents of the crates, players must compete with others for what comes out of them. So it was announced a few months ago.
What the keys and crates are about, what is exactly inside the crates, and what the keys open (the crates are probably nearby), is still unknown at the moment.
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Processor: Intel i3 Dual-Core with Hyper-Threading (required)
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 275 series or higher
DirectX: Version 10
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Hard Drive: 20 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card
Recommended:
OS: Windows 7 64 bit
Processor: Intel i5 Quad Core or higher / AMD Phenom II X6 or higher
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 560 series or higher / AMD HD 6870 or higher
DirectX: Version 10
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Hard Drive: 20 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX compatible Sound Card
What is in the crates?
Mein MMO says: A big question that will probably interest anyone who has dealt with H1Z1 so far. “What is in the box? What is in the box?” – H1Z1 has repeatedly emphasized that they do not have any Pay2Win ambitions.
The airdrops have already been hotly debated by fans: Players could buy an advantage if they organize drops strategically and ensure with friends that they get the loot.
If there is anything other than pure vanity items in the “crates” that one may loot with these mysterious “keys”, there will probably be trouble. However, it doesn’t look like that’s the case. It’s likely that there are only alternate skins or “costumes” inside. We will see.
Sandpark-MMO ArcheAge has introduced new items that players can purchase for loyalty points. They receive five per day if they log in and have an active Patron status.
The highlight is the sloth glider for 350 loyalty points, which can be saved up over 70 days. This item is also presented with a .gif and has cult potential.
For 350 loyalty points, the sloth can be safely obtained on the back; otherwise, one must wait for a good roll with the “Treasure Chest of the Friendly Flyer.” This chest is not available for loyalty points but for 420 Gems, the cash shop currency.
The treasure chest can contain buff food for a group of up to 10 members if Sid is not inside. This is meant to help players overcome the “new and tougher” challenges that Trion Worlds and XLGames are planning for them now and in the future. This buff food should particularly support players who are not perfectly equipped. However, the chest will disappear from the game again.
For loyalty points, an “Archeum Thunder-Tree Sapling” can be purchased. It costs 35 loyalty points and has an increased chance of becoming a “thunderstruck” Tree.
A video recap for Destiny has been released, summarizing all the major moments in 2014.
Tomorrow, on Tuesday, January 13th, the new year in Destiny will really kick off. There will be a patch for Crota’s End, the Iron Banner is coming.
Even in 2015, the Guardians will experience new surprises and disappointments. But today it is still calm in the Tower.
Time to take a look back at 2014, thought a talented YouTuber. In a 5-minute video, he summarizes the entire year in Destiny. It really includes everything. The major franchise events, the important content patches, but also the many little things that made Destiny: The dancing on a Sparrow, the jump over the Hell’s Heart or the fate of the Loot Cave. Great video.
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No other thing in the MMOs is surrounded by such a mystery as the number of players. However, these numbers are highly sought after by fans.
Players are crazy about numbers for these 5 reasons
Players want to know numbers in MMORPGs. There are several reasons for this:
For many gamers, numbers are an indicator of the success and quality of a game. How “good” it really is. What many like must be good.
Numbers are great for discussions with fans of other MMOs. What? You play this niche game X? Mine has 5 times more players!
No one wants to play a game where they feel alone. MMORPGs need lively worlds to provide the full experience.
Numbers beautifully indicate how a game has evolved over the years.
Player numbers reveal whether the game will continue to be developed and supported in the future, or if it will soon go offline.
Unfortunately: No MMO, or at least hardly any, reveals its player numbers.
Player numbers are a state secret. This is due to the nature of MMOs, which always have losses after an initial hype. The numbers often drop, and continuously. With official numbers, publishers and development studios fear that they would give players the feeling that the game is in a downward spiral.
But it is exactly these numbers that players desperately want to know. What they search for on Google, what they pay attention to in articles about MMOs, what they ask about. So the gaming press must provide them with numbers. What happens then?
Numbers are circulating everywhere, but most of them lack meaningfulness.
We have the player numbers for you… approximately
Recently, when PC-Games took a bird’s eye view of the MMORPG world at the end of the year, the magical word “number of players” was neatly listed for each game. However, it was difficult to properly fill it with content. Lord of the Rings Online? No player numbers. Rift? No comment. Age of Conan? No statement.
Well, the skeptical reader might say: But those are also older MMOs that started as subscription models and have long since become Free2Play. They are likely struggling. What about new games? What about paid games? Yes, let’s have a look at that.
Player numbers in TESO and WildStar
Want to know the player numbers of ESO? I’m just showing them with my hands!
The Elder Scrolls Online remains silent
The Elder Scrolls Online is consistently silent about subscription numbers. In the summer, in July, a figure of 770,000 subscribers was mentioned. A market research institute wanted to ascertain that number. That figure probably came from the studio, they said they got all the numbers from there. But no one at Zenimax wanted to confirm or deny it.
The number circulated globally, and if Zenimax had been dissatisfied, they would probably have contradicted it. However, they say absolutely nothing about it. The number now circulates, looks quite decent. At least it is not damaging to their image, and since they have never commented on it, they cannot be held responsible for it either. Quite a tactic.
Assuming that this figure of 770,000 players (if it ever was correct) is still current six months later and still relevant today is rather naive.
Yet it is repeated time and again: it’s the only number we’ve ever had.
WildStar remains silent
We have more than 2 players! Oops, I wasn’t supposed to say that…
As much as the developers of WildStar would like to talk about their initial successes, apparently contracts prevent them from doing so. In such a puzzling situation, whether he is allowed to disclose numbers or not, Carbine’s president Jeremy Gaffney found himself shortly after the release. He was apparently only allowed to speak of server load, not player numbers directly.
Officially, neither TESO nor WildStar has published any numbers, aside from “uncontradicted market research figures” and “I let that slip out once.”.
“Yes, well,” the reader will now say. Elder Scrolls Online and WildStar have both somehow underperformed. What about the success stories this year? What about Final Fantasy XIV and especially WoW?
Final Fantasy – sugar-coated
At Final Fantasy XIV, there were new record numbers throughout the year. The game came to the PlayStation 4, it launched in China. The numbers kept growing, looking increasingly impressive at the end of videos.
To know the exact numbers, you have to look into my cards! But I had a lot of customers!
However: The talk was always of “registered” accounts. 2.5 million was the last count. This came right after the announcement that they were now offering free trial days (for which you also had to register, so the trials probably counted towards the 2.5 million in some way or another – there simply wasn’t space for the fine print under large numbers).
Then came the news: Final Fantasy XIV, the predecessor MMO Final Fantasy XI, and Dragon Quest 10, the three MMOs from Square Enix, together had almost 1 million players. Even though the lion’s share is likely to fall on FF XIV, this is still far from the registered accounts and doesn’t look so impressive anymore.
What was once shortly before “on par with WoW” has now become “probably globally about as big as TESO alone in the West” (if the TESO number were correct, which we also don’t know).
In FF XIV, another effect comes into play. TESO relies on mega servers, while FF XIV uses traditional single servers. It’s a bit like having the same audience in a giant Olympic stadium or in a small provincial arena. 5000 people get lost in a Bundesliga stadium but look like a huge crowd in a third-tier arena.
How do the 10 million subscribers fit in with the fact that, for example, a recent statistic on the AVs at mmo-champion recorded only 2.7 million accounts in NA/EU?
This is because that lighthouse figure “10 million players” is only partially composed of the WoW we know. The Pay2Play game, the subscription game, the one where you have to buy a box and a digital expansion to be up-to-date. In Asia, where WoW is also distributed, they have a different business model. There, players pay by the hour for a trip to Azeroth in internet cafes, the so-called PC bangs.
PC Bang Panda!
So does the person who logged in for one hour in China for 9 cents count the same as the player with a monthly subscription here in these 10 million, in this statistic? That would be absurd to equate, right? About that, the press releases that give out the peak numbers remain silent.
Only when you lose a few hundred thousand players in a quarter do they say: That was mainly due to Asia. Don’t worry about us; things are going great.
When you research what the fine print says, you read that the “10 million” WoW players are not all players with a subscription but that the 10 million actually also includes those players who logged in in an Asian internet cafe in the last month.
No wonder that pure subscription games prefer to keep the numbers secret without this “support from Asia,” as they are immediately measured against the 10 million WoW players and look quite shabby in comparison.
ArcheAge 3 million, Hearthstone 20 million, World of Tanks 100 million! Records!
Where are the 3 million players? The sun is blinding…
Things get a bit stranger with free-to-play games. They report things like “This has been downloaded so often” or “This many registered accounts exist.” This leads to crazy numbers that say nothing about the current enthusiasm of players for the game. They also count inactive accounts.
Live with it: There are no official numbers, only approximations
As a fan and also as a gaming journalist, you have to live with the fact that we do not receive any official, comparable, up-to-date numbers. As much as we would like to have them.
However: There are certainly ways to measure the success or trend of a game.
We at Mein-MMO, for example, use Raptr figures or certain trends on Google as a basis to see how active players were in a month in an MMO or how interest fluctuated in search engines. We look at quarterly reports and try to deduce conclusions from the revenues that some companies have to list for their investors. We see what traffic the game homepages approximately record and use that to determine a trend.
These numbers are vulnerable, relative, influenced, and not set in stone. Especially players who don’t like them often doubt them thoroughly.
However: these numbers are still the best we have. If you want insight into these numbers, then check out this post:
Maybe players should come to terms with the idea that it is not so important how many people play a game. As long as there are enough around to have fun.
What does it ultimately matter whether 120,000 or 1.2 million people are playing the game outside your own circle, and what the future may look like due to the financial situation? Much more important is that at the moment, you enjoy it. And you don’t need hundreds of thousands for that; often a dozen good teammates is enough, and sometimes just one.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny , a player dismantled their exotic weapons and armor collected over many hundreds of hours. The reason was a kind of “Then I will eat a broom” situation. And the man stands by his word.
Do you know these “Then I will eat a broom” statements? One should really be careful with that.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, a Guardian has fallen in insatiable love for hand cannons. Only: Hawkmoon just wouldn’t drop for him.
After 350 hours, he possessed 33 of the delicious Exotics spread over his 3 characters, including treasures like Thorn, the Last Word, and the Icebreaker, but the coveted Hawkmoon simply would not show up. Everyone in his Destiny clan had gotten it by now and constantly teased him with it.
Then the hand cannon friend made a fateful statement: “If the Hawkmoon ever drops, I will dismantle all my Exotics.”
It’s nice to have friends who remind you of such a promise. You can see the whole drama in this video: http://youtu.be/55V9vcC0rWs
Someone in the related reddit thread also wrote and posted a list of all ex-Exotics:
Type 44 in Offside
Healing Armor
Ruins Wing
An Unbeatable Skull Fortress
Helmet of Inner Light
Helmet of the 14th Saint
Thorn
Bad Karma
Hard Light
Universal Device
No Land Beyond
Infinity
Plan C
Mockery
Dragon’s Breath
Truth
Extremely Good Advice
Patience and Time x2
Icebreaker
The Last Word
Emblem of Alpha Lupi
Achlyophage Symbiote
Mask of the Third Man
Mida Multi-Tool
Starfire Protocol
Sunbreaker x2
Claws of Ahamkara
Light Behind Nemesis
Skull of the Terrible Ahamkara x2
Obsidian Mind
By the way, the reddit thread about the action is also very recommended. The Guardians’ reactions are along the lines of: “Oh my God, I couldn’t bear to watch.”
What do you think?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The asymmetric MOBA Evolve prefers players on the Xbox One.
As reported by the US magazine Polygon, Evolve prefers players on the Xbox One. Polygon suspects that 2k Games has a special deal with Microsoft.
We have already reported that the beta for the Xbox One is significantly longer and more extensive than for PlayStation and PC players. But that’s not all.
During the beta (starting on January 15), Xbox One players who have already pre-ordered the game digitally will immediately enjoy the third monster “Wraith” and additionally unlock the third tier of hunters. This offer is only valid if the game is pre-ordered through the Microsoft Store.
According to Polygon, players save approximately 10-15 hours of “work” this way. It takes that long to unlock monsters and hunters through playing the “base versions” otherwise.
In DC Universe Online, the next update, Amazon Fury II, once again focuses on Wonder Woman and the personnel of the Greek Pantheon.
The DC Universe has many facets. Batman often resembles a kind of crime novel or thriller, the stories around Green Lantern have a philosophical-spiritual side, Superman deals with the super big issues, and with Wonder Woman, the world of Greek myths unfolds.
The next update “Amazon Fury Part 2” places Wonder Woman in the spotlight, along with the whole naked, flickering grandeur of Greek myths.
In the second part, you will face Cerberus, the three-headed hellhound, the war god Mars (like a super villain in DC), and Hades, the lord of the underworld, is also involved.
From a gameplay perspective, Amazon Fury II brings the following new content:
Three Eight-Player Raids, the last of which is available in Elite mode after players have defeated it on normal: Labyrinth of Lost Souls, Halls of Hades & Throne of the Dead
Two Four-Player Missions: Return to the Nexus & Act of Defiance
One Single-Player Mission
Additionally, there will be new style gear in the Wonder Woman/Circe style.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny, the Guardians are on a record hunt. Two of them took on Crota and defeated him in 44 seconds.
The exact numbers in Destiny are always unclear. How much do raid mobs scale with the number of players? Do small raid groups have a significantly easier time than larger ones? Or is it the encounter design that allows a two-man team to do what 6 players fail at? Is the advantage that level 32 players have really that huge? Or what does it all look like?
The performance of these two Guardians once again brings the question of scaling to the forefront: they have defeated Crota, the final boss of the current content, together in the incredible record time of 44 seconds.
Timing is everything
With seemingly perfect gameplay, one of the two grabs his Gjallarhorn and forces Crota to his knees in seconds, his teammate is already ready and uses the sword to strike the kneeling Crota on the head. Timing is everything here. There is no margin for error. The sword bearer arrives precisely on time. Every rocket hits its target. There is no breathing space for Crota to regenerate health and jeopardize the tight schedule. Everything works together.
One sword phase is enough in this record attempt, Crota only needs to kneel three times, and then it’s over.
The two Guardians seem to be perfectly coordinated and possess enormous firepower:
Here is the video from the perspective of the sword bearer:
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You could view this kill either as another proof video of how incredibly strong the Gjallarhorn is (though such a video is probably hardly necessary) or as a sign that raids in Destiny do not conform to classic MMORPG rules. In that case, such a kill would be impossible, as mathematically different DPS values would be necessary to beat a boss within the enrage timer.
In any case, the video is proof that some players in Destiny have real skill and that it’s about time for the hard mode to come. Because from here, there’s no place left to go in normal mode. The raid has already been soloed with the weakest exotic in the game, the record times for full teams are already impressively low.
At Atheon, the record back then was 17 seconds and 6-fold Gjallarhorn massage, you probably won’t be able to push Crota down that low, the mechanics are in the way.
In World of Warcraft, Patch 6.1 has already been dissected by dataminers. Here are the highlights for pet hunters and AV hunters.
Dataminers have already taken a look at Patch 6.1 of World of Warcraft, which has been played on the test server, and it will bring a lot of content. This includes:
a new heirloom system
the Blackrock Foundry
the third world boss Rukhmar
new stuff for followers
relic missions
a jukebox for the garrison
garrison invasions can now be completed for platinum.
However, this is about the pet hunters among you in World of Warcraft. With 6.1, they will enjoy a dozen new pets from the old BC raid instances: Sunwell, Hyjal, and the Black Temple.
Will it soon be available in handbag format?
The thirteenth pet – a mini Naaru?
The third part of the raid pet AV is here. The pets return from the bosses in these raids. Among others, the offer includes: Abyssius, a shard of Supremus; a seduction sister, probably from the Felwood in the Black Temple; and a will-o’-the-wisp from Hyjal.
Whoever collects all 12 pets will receive a reward of a 13th. So to speak, “the thirteenth pet”, which is K’Tue. If you know how Blizzard thinks, you would probably guess it’s a mini Naaru.
Image source and backstory of this quirky creature (not the Orc): Venturebeat.
Pepe! You must have a bird?
AV hunters and birdwatching enthusiasts can look forward to even more time with “Pepe”. With the bird on their head (which can be found in the garrison), players should take on the various bosses of Warlords of Draenor. This includes the final bosses of the instances, then three world bosses (Rukhmar is new) and all the fel creatures in Highmaul and the Blackrock Foundry.
This will surely lead to players in World of Warcraft constantly wondering whether they really have this bird or not. What won’t you do for your 10 AV points!
Pepe was originally just a personal doodle by artist Jordan Powers, who drew the bird with googly eyes in his school notebook years ago (these artists always doodle). Later, it became a kind of trademark and Pepe repeatedly found his way into his drawings in remarkable ways.
When Powers was later hired by Blizzard, Pepe was smuggled into the garrison. Players discovered him, put him on their heads, and a flood of selfies (selfie with bird) hit social networks. Blizzard noticed this and decided to give this cult new life. Hence, the new success in World of Warcraft.
Long live Pepe, our beloved feathered new ruler!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The online studio Sony Online Entertainment sees great opportunities for Free2Play MMOs on consoles. With DC Universe Online already available on the PS4, Planetside 2 is set to follow soon, and a port of the zombie MMO H1Z1 is planned.
In a conversation with Gamasutra, the president of SOE, John Smedley, talks about the profits that the MMOs of his studio are making on the Playstation 4 and are expected to make in the future, the great potential of Free2Play on consoles, and the challenges associated with a port.
A DCUO player spends three times as much on the Playstation 3 as a PC player
DC Universe Online, a superhero/supervillain MMO, earns per player on the Playstation 4 three to three and a half times more than on the PC. On the Playstation 3, it’s still double.
With DCUO, being one of the first Free2Play games, they surely had advantages, so to speak, they were pioneers. However, Smedley believes that despite this, there is much potential on consoles and profit to be made.
Unlike “social games,” Free2Play MMOs have to offer real gameplay
Unlike so-called “social games” (such as on Facebook), studios need to provide real games to make money on consoles, not just “monetization machines.”
A port from PC to consoles comes with challenges. For instance, it’s essential to ensure that PC games work without a mouse. Planetside 2, the next project, which is on its way to the PS4, should be playable with a controller. A mouse/keyboard combo will not be supported.
SOE itself sees, even though Sony is closely connected to the Playstation, its own roots in the PC. Here, they established the identity of the current studio with Everquest.
I love reading the comments about the Gamasutra interview I did about F2P on consoles. People think we’re becoming a console first shop. NO!
Further challenges besides the port to consoles are seen by Smedley primarily in logistics. It is challenging to coordinate with Sony when the updates and patches for PS3 and PS4 might arrive. And this is said by SOE – the studio that is likely to be more closely connected with Sony than any other development studio in the world.
Smedley’s dream would be a kind of “Steam” for the Playstation 4. Smedley is a big fan of open development in constant contact with fans through a kind of “Early Access.” He would wish that something like this could also be possible on the Playstation 4.
The next SOE game after Planetside 2, which aims to make the jump to PS4, is H1Z1, which is about to launch on PC via Steam. And this is indeed as an Early Access game. A port to the Playstation 4 is also planned for H1Z1.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In ArcheAge , two-story houses are coming to Korea with patch 1.8. They can already be admired in a video.
A month ago, we took a look at 1.8 in Korea and showed you pictures of the two-story houses. Now a video has been released, and you can take a closer look at the houses.
This construction trend of using floors unusually can also be seen more frequently in densely populated cities: they grow upwards. There are roof terraces or roof garages and a pool in the basement. It works similarly in ArcheAge: The ground floor becomes the garden, and work is done under the open sky.
When patch 1.8 will come to Europe is still uncertain.
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The Dark Fantasy MMO The Secret World is set to become more accessible for newcomers in 2015. New content is planned for veterans.
A new letter from the producer of The Secret World has been released, looking ahead to the new year. One of the focuses for 2015 will be on the player experience for new players. They plan to overhaul the “tutorials” and also check whether the fresh conspirators are powerful enough to face the monstrosities that come swimming, crawling, and flapping into TSW. In addition, Funcom wants to see how they can improve the flow of information.
There will also be new content for players in the endgame. In the next update, they intend to conclude the story around Tokyo and also introduce a new instance or raid. The details are not yet entirely clear. Depending on what is agreed upon internally, they could also deliver this in two updates, the so-called releases.
Players who have not yet purchased access to Tokyo will at least be offered something with Venice and the subway, so they can see the AEGIS system in action.
The Skill System Needs to Be Explained Better
My MMO thinks: Yes, the issue with new players is really a key point that is being addressed a bit too late. The “main problem“, the hurdle for newcomers in The Secret World, is the quirky skill system. The “levels” do not increase directly, but relatively clearly: One invests in the ability to wear different tiers of equipment and gets bitten later when changing main weapons. But the skill wheel takes some getting used to.
Especially, players need to dive “deep into the system” early on to recognize which 7 active abilities and 7 passive abilities they want to play later, and how they want to move around. Then they have to figure out how to stay alive until they have these abilities together, and in what form they will provide synergy effects.
There are predefined “builds” that players can follow, but the feeling rarely emerges: Now I’ve played for an hour, and my character has really become stronger. And many MMOs live off exactly that feeling.
This is cold coffee for long-time TSW players. They understood this two years ago and may even be proud of the somewhat crude and quirky skill system that is so different from elsewhere.
Newcomers, who are confronted with the basics of the system after just 30 minutes, will probably see it differently. And to get into such a system, the love and enthusiasm must first be sparked. At that point, The Secret World will likely lose many newcomers. If they want to tackle this now in 2015 – one could have worse ideas. It’s somewhat puzzling why they took so much time with it.
On our The Secret World topic page, you can find more about the MMO. One of the few MMOs that takes place in “today’s” time, albeit in a pretty distorted version of it.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online has responded to criticism regarding the planned transition to the Champion System.
The old system: Communism! 30 points for everyone
30 Champion points – that’s how many accounts were supposed to receive if they had at least one veteran when Update 6 was set to arrive. These 30 Champion points were a sort of “welcome bonus,” each veteran received exactly these 30 points, regardless of whether they were a fresh veteran at VR 1 or a seasoned warrior at VR 14. It didn’t matter if they had one character or several.
The new system: Performance must be rewarding again!
In response to this criticism, Zenimax announced a new system. Veterans will receive 5 Champion points for each veteran rank after the first (which is automatically given), up to a maximum of 70 points. These points count account-wide like the old 30 and can be distributed per character.
This means: A player with a VR2 character receives 5 points. One with a VR 10 character gets 45 points. One with a VR 14 character receives 65 points. This applies not only in fixed values but also in “0.2” steps. A player with a VR2 character who has already earned 80% of the experience required to reach VR 3 will receive not 5, but 9 points.
The maximum of 70 points can only be earned until Update 6. After that, players will not be able to access this pool of 70 points anymore.
Fans are reacting very positively to this change and are happy that their ideas are being heard.
Psychologically valuable
Mein MMO states: This is, quite unironically, a wonderful example that it is not really about the “thing” itself, but about the psychological effect. With the new Champion System, 3600 new points are introduced into the game. Players are expected to take about 1 hour to earn one point.
Whether you start with 30 or 70 points does not really make much difference in the cold light of day. And a true hardcore player who has invested hundreds of hours into the game now gets “40 hours” more credited than in the old system. A complete newbie among veterans who only has a level 50 character has 30 hours less. For Zenimax, essentially nothing changes. Both the newbie and the veteran will still have a massive mountain in front of them to climb for a long time. One just saves the first 1.94% of the progression, while the other has to really start from zero.
However, it is important to players that they feel their “actions” count for something. And that they receive more than others who have invested less. This aspect is likely the key one: It is not the actual, objective advantage that counts, but the relative advantage over one’s neighbor and others. This is also the case in “real” life, as this article from Zeit mentions.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny, two major monthly events were planned. For PvE, the Queen’s Wrath, for PvP, the Iron Banner – a third, still secret event, the Trials of Osiris, has also already leaked. What’s the status of these events?
Queen’s Wrath
What is it?: A PvE event where players can earn reputation with the Queen by completing bounties.
How often has it occurred?: Only once, right at the end of September, early October. At that time, players primarily used it to buy legendary gear cheaply, which they then dismantled into Ascendant materials. When Bungie shut that down, enthusiasm for the queen with the bluish complexion noticeably cooled off.
How was it received?: Not very well. Players simply felt it was “just more bounties per day” without any real special feature.
What is the current status of the event?: Queen’s Wrath is currently undergoing a fundamental overhaul. It was said that it needed to “go back into the oven.” More has not been heard since. Perhaps as background: Bungie was unsure before the release if the Guardians would even take on the raids. They did, and massively. It could be that the PvE event suffers because of that. Perhaps it was planned as an “alternative” that has now become less important.
Iron Banner
What is it?: A PvP event where players complete bounties in the Crucible and can kill each other to earn reputation with the Iron Banner faction. As a reward, there are legendary armor and selected legendary weapons. The special part: Unlike the normal Crucible, player gear is weighted more heavily here.
How often has it occurred?: Three times – in October, November, and December. And a fourth time, the Iron Banner is coming to Destiny next week. On Tuesday, January 13.
How was it received?
The first event in October wasreceived relatively poorly because player gear didn’t count as strongly as expected. It didn’t feel “special” enough.
During the second time in November it went very well, as there was Light Level 30 armor right before the expansion, which many still needed. Also, player gear counted more strongly now, and a few design mistakes from October were fixed.
What is the current status of the event?: The Iron Banner in Destiny starts again on Tuesday, January 13. They are talking about “updated rewards”. We’ll see what that entails on Tuesday.
Trials of Osiris
What is it?: A PvP event on Mercury. A kind of tournament where players can buy in and get eliminated if they lose three times. The more they win in a row, the higher the reward is likely to be.
How often has it occurred?: Not at all yet. There has also been no comment from Bungie on the subject. The Trials of Osiris event is already in the database and looks quite finished, but Bungie hasn’t said a peep about whether and when they want to release it.
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What is the current status of the event? Bungie isn’t saying anything about it. It could be that it comes with “House of Wolves,” maybe in the summer, to bridge the summer drought. But it could also be that it comes earlier or not at all.
In World of Warcraft, starting with Patch 6.1, there will be an NPC who sells those followers that are available optionally through the outpost and that the player is still missing.
Those who are traveling in Draenor will repeatedly face the choice between two buildings that provide specific advantages: Prefer a mount that can be fought from its back or rather a war machine? Prefer a shredder or a formidable ogre that comes at the push of a button and beats up the enemies?
A side effect of the outposts is that players can recruit certain followers per zone while others cannot. Those who wanted to have all followers had to change the outposts – this has recently been made easier, but it is still quite a cumbersome and costly affair.
Therefore, Blizzard will introduce an NPC in 6.1 who will sell the missing garrison followers for gold. They are, regardless of what they say, indeed mercenaries. Also, the dear grandma of Thrall, Geyah.
Players can also hire other followers: If they had the choice between three in the introductory quest, the other two are now also available for purchase – or simply followers that one missed in a quest.
In The Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO), there is an addendum to the outlook for 2015. The European servers are set to move to Amsterdam, but will continue to be managed by Turbine. The new instances are not to be raids, but challenges for 3 or 6 players.
The Producer Letter of The Lord of the Rings Online raised some questions that have been answered in more detail. For European players, nothing will change with the server move, except hopefully the performance. It is expected to improve. The EU servers will still be handled by Turbine, and updates will be simultaneous with those in the USA.
There was also a discussion about the instances. The new instances in Osgiliath specifically refer to 3-man and 6-man instances, not a raid or an “epic battle.”
Regarding the server mergers, Turbine is aware of how important it will be for guild leaders to keep the group together. Turbine will strive to make that happen.
And it’s also important what is not said: No word has been given about a possible “big” expansion or that they would raise the level cap above 100. It seems Turbine is heading more in a horizontal direction, focusing on becoming stronger at level 100.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The SF MMO Star Trek Online looks optimistically towards 2015, in a letter to the fans Producer Stephan D’Angelo talks about growing numbers.
Growing player numbers in the fifth year: This is a rarity for MMOs, as STO’s Producer Stephan D’Angelo knows: Star Trek Online is not only healthy but is growing, he writes in an article on the homepage of the Star Trek franchise. Not many MMOs reach new highs repeatedly in their fifth year, so we are glad and thankful for such loyal fans and look forward to an eventful year in 2015.
What made us the most excited about 2014, however, is how STO is not only healthy, but is growing. Not many MMOs can set new highs repeatedly during their fifth year, and we’re very thankful for all the loyal fans who play and support the game. We look forward to another great year in 2015!
For this, we have set ourselves high goals. Last year was spent preparing the stage for the story; now we want to drive the story forward in 2015. A first major update is expected to come in 3 weeks. This will also revise the bridge officers.
My MMO thinks: It is indeed surprising. The sentiment around Star Trek Online was at least in the communities around the game rather negative. Delta Rising did not go over very well in gameplay details, especially the new tier ships and the “I have to upgrade everything to the new level” led to complaints.
But it is clear: A free-to-play MMO that has such a strong license as Star Trek Online can attract a steady stream of newcomers with some skill. In the lead-up to Delta Rising, we heard significantly more about STO than in the months before.
Newcomers must be consistently offered something as well. Graphically and in gameplay (for example, in ground missions), STO is in a race against time.
However, the game also has strong sides: The “Crew” missions, which for a long time were a kind of unique selling point, have now also been discovered by WoW as a garrison. STO is not a typical MMO, but also offers veterans something new and occupies a niche, probably appealing more to “older gamers” who grew up with the Star Trek series in the 90s. For true Star Trek fans, it is worth a visit regardless.
The Elder Scrolls Online never rests. Rumors are swirling. Is the console version being discontinued or will it be released in 6 weeks? Is TESO going Free2Play? What’s the buzz in the global Kinsterwald?
The Elder Scrolls Online is the target of several conflicting rumors. Let’s investigate them further.
The rumor mill for TESO is filled with bad rumors.
Rumor 1: The console version is being discontinued
It was specifically stated why this would be plausible: TESO does not meet Bethesda’s vision, they find the game somewhat uninteresting now and do not want to continue supporting it, but rather make room for The Elder Scrolls 6.
Supporting arguments: None.
Counterarguments: Unfortunately, Zenimax has been working intensively for 8 months to optimize The Elder Scrolls Online so that it can succeed on consoles again. They wouldn’t bother if they had already written off the game, would they?
Probability: 0%.
So … aha … yes … hm …
Rumor 2: The console version will come in 6 weeks
Now, the latest: The console version is expected to be released on February 24. The reason is: “It’s stated so in the Microsoft”-Store, where people can preorder the game.
Counterarguments: At the beginning of December, it was said that they still wanted to “complete the justice system and the champion system” before having a version that would be released on consoles. The first part of the justice system is now “maybe” coming to the test server soon. The idea of actually going to consoles in 6 weeks seems EXTREMELY unlikely.
Moreover, they recently tweeted that there should also be a beta phase with all the trimmings.
@3kWCircle8 Yes, we do still plan to conduct a beta for #ESO on Xbox One. As soon as we have more details, we’ll be sure to share them.
Rumor 3: They will switch Elder Scrolls Online to F2P or Buy2Play
This is a rumor that is currently getting the most traction. Two weeks ago there was the “revelation” (it was just noticed by someone) that TESO is no longer offering the 6-month subscription. Normal stuff, Zenimax stated. Not enough demand.
Supporting arguments: The implication of the rumor, switching to F2P or Buy2Play, would at least be strategically conceivable, as console players might struggle with a subscription model.
Counterarguments: But there is no signal from Zenimax in that direction, and hearing every little thing only makes sense to a limited extent. The fact is: There has been no word from the responsible parties. So it is not a “rumor” but rather a speculation that could make sense. However, some core fans on PC would likely not be very happy with a switch to Free2Play “without reason”. They consciously chose a Pay2Play model.
There is a saying: When you have a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail. If you are desperately looking for clues that your own assumptions are becoming reality, you will find evidence for it, even if you have to search in Australia.
