In the fantasy MMO World of Warcraft, some things have changed overnight again. The daily fishing quest now gives 15 skill points instead of just a measly one.
Thank you, Blizzard! Just three days ago we wrote an article about needing a GPS to find the completely out-of-the-way reroll quest givers and a few days later you put them in the center of each capital next to the Apexis vendors.
Also on offer with the hotfixes: the fishing daily in the garrison, which previously only gave one skill point, now increases the fishing value of the diligent quester by 15 points. This is worthwhile even for fishing novices, as skill progression can be a bit tricky later.
In addition, it has been ensured that Apexis shards now actually drop in the daily quest areas in Draenor.
You can read the rest of the hotfixes (especially changes to the open PvP zone Ashran and in the BGs) here.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny, the riddle of the slot for third subclasses in the interface has been solved: It is a remnant of an earlier design idea.
The major US gaming print magazine GameInformer was a guest at Bungie and had a hearty chat with the decision-makers, revealing some information that had previously remained hidden.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, it seems to be only a matter of time until the third subclasses for Hunters, Warlocks, and Titans arrive, or until something else exciting happens with the ominous third slot in the subclasses. This is evident from an interview with lead designer Tyron Green.
“Leaks” regarding subclasses turned out to be fake
There are two subclasses per class in Destiny, but the interface appears to be designed for three subclasses. There is already a supposed third slot for a yet nonexistent third subclass. It must be coming soon, right? The space is already there, it just needs to be filled with life. It’s a bit like the blocked DLC areas in Destiny. They also look as if everything is already there and just needs to be activated.
This third slot for the subclasses has led to all sorts of fan speculation: Currently, the two subclasses of a class are each associated with an element, so it would be logical for a third subclass to have the remaining element.
There were also “leaks” from alleged developers, which now seem to have turned out to be fake.
But what does Bungie say about the third subclass and this ominous “third slot”?
Why is there a circle in the top left? The question drives Guardians insane… well, that and the offerings from Xur this week.
The third slot is a remnant of an earlier design idea…
Lead designer Tyron Greene told GameInformer initially that he couldn’t say anything about subclasses before then discussing everything there is to say. This “third slot” is there for other reasons; it has nothing directly to do with sub-specs.
It is leftover from an earlier design idea where players could store and define “builds”. In this idea, players would choose certain talents and then save them. Those decisions would have been “locked” and Guardians would have received a bonus for that.
If one had then created a new “build”, they would have first copied the old one and placed it in this “third slot” to then create a new one. This was the purpose of the third field.
… players should still be looking forward to it
Greene does not want this to be understood as a promise, BUT: the fact that Guardians could switch between the individual subclasses should give them reason to be happy and look forward to the future.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The superhero and supervillain MMO DC Universe Online is quite a success for Sony Online Entertainment. There are currently 18 million registered users. Recently, the trend is towards the Playstation 4. Console players spend more money in the Free2Play MMO than PC players.
DC Universe Online launched on PC and Playstation 3 in 2011, followed by the Playstation 4 a year later. There are now 18 million registered players in the Free2Play MMO. However, SOE’s president John Smedley does not reveal how many of them are really active in an interview with VentureBeat.
The superhero MMO has clearly become a console affair: 76% of the playtime is distributed between PS3 and PS4. And especially the Playstation 4 is on the rise.
Interestingly: Console players are also more generous than their PC counterparts. They spend significantly more money in the Free2Play MMO. In Smedley’s view, this is because console players are “hardcore gamers” and therefore more willing to buy something in a game.
In the future, SOE aims to develop its Free2Play MMOs for PC and consoles. Next up for SOE is the port of Planetside 2 to the Playstation 4, followed by the zombie MMO H1Z1 .
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny, the exotic engram vendor Xur will only occasionally have exotic engrams available. However, his offering will be more powerful next week than it is this week.
This was a shock for many Guardians today in Destiny. Not only the sight of Xur, who, with all due respect, would not win Mr. Tentacle, but also his offering: there were no exotic engrams left. For the last 15 weeks, Xur had either an exotic helmet, chest, or gauntlet engram and parting with it for 23 Light particles. Not today, instead the exotic shards.
This will happen more frequently in the future, but not always. This has now been confirmed by the community member DeeJ, who is responsible for Destiny, in the English forum reddit: “I can tell you two things,” it says there. “Exotic engrams will sporadically appear in his offering. And next week his offering will be more powerful than this week.”
It therefore seems to be the case as suspected, that starting next Friday he will sell the new edition of the exotic weapons and armors. This will then have a higher base value than currently fully upgraded items.
However, this sentence might also imply that Xur will start selling the numerous new exotic items that are coming to Destiny with “Darkness Lurks” starting next week.
Alt: Buuuuuh
Neu: Yeaaah!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The sandbox MMORPG Black Desert is now set to come to the West earlier than announced. Publisher Daum cites the enthusiasm and feedback of the Western audience as the reason for the haste.
Previously, it was said that Black Desert would arrive in the West in early 2016, that being a realistic date. Apparently, the plans were reviewed by Publisher Daum and it was determined that 2015 is achievable after all.
In a press conference at the Ritz-Carlton in Seoul, as reported by the “Koreatimes”, Hong mentioned that they are aiming for the “second half of 2015” and are hopeful to invigorate the “stagnant” market. Black Desert has been developed since 2010 by 100 developers and 100 additional staff.
The article from Koreatimes is quite critical and states that Publisher Daum needs a “big hit” to survive as a publisher of its own titles.
Also, in a conversation with a fan site, it was confirmed that Black Desert aims to launch in the West in 2015. The reason for this, the fan site speculates, is likely a positive response and an unexpectedly strong “hype”, meaning a mix of fan and media interest.
The statement comes from both the CEO of Daum Sean Hong and Brian Oh from Pearl Abyss, the actual developers. 2015 is the official target for a release in the West.
Last week, there was already a trailer for the combat system in Black Desert, here is another one that shows everything else: boating, sailing, a kind of sim-like housing, gutting carcasses, chopping wood, stone mining, super complicated potion brewing, cutting onions – what you do in a sandbox.
Update 8.12.: Stand down. It is now said that the Koreatimes mistranslated it. The fan site also received incorrect information from the press office. Now the release in the West is again planned for 2016.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In World of Warcraft, it seems that nothing is sacred to the developers. Now game director Tom Chilton has even brought up the idea of increasing the normal group size from 5 to 6. The reason is a surplus of damage dealers.
6-man Groups in WoW – for the sake of the damage dealers
There are few healers, tanks are even rarer, so the damage dealers, or DPS, in WoW often have to wait a long time for a spot to open in the queue so they can visit one of the 5-man dungeons via the LFG tool. Game director Tom Chilton has a solution for this: “We might increase the group size from 5 to 6, then we can bring 4 DPS instead of 3, adjust the dungeons accordingly, and let them scale so they are suitable for both 5-man and 6-man groups.”
So Chilton said yesterday in a large Ask-me-Anything on Reddit. He has not committed to the idea, but the fact that one can break such a “sacred pillar” of the now ten-year-old WoW shows how willing they are to carry the game into the future.
INV!
A lot of questions revolved around the future of the garrison and patch 6.1
The current drought of missions for players who have levelled all their followers to 100 is not intentional, a fix is expected soon. With 6.1, players will also be able to select and play their own music tracks in the garrison, a piece of sandbox. And with 6.1, it should be easier for twinks on the account to expand the garrison if dad or mom has already achieved something there.
The “Heirloom” interface is to be revised with patch 6.1, and it will then be account-wide, which has been in consideration for a while. In a later expansion, something similar could also be imagined for transmog gear, to make it a bit easier for players.
Players who level all their followers to 100 are currently facing some problems.
Perhaps a different final boss for Warlords of Draenor
The relaxed atmosphere at the AMA was also noticeable in the typical questions. One user wanted to know if a surprise could be expected regarding the final boss Gromm Hellscream, after all, they had just defeated his son in the last expansion Mists of Pandaria. “Of course!” was the answer. Players can expect a surprise. Who knows if it was meant that way. But perhaps they will pull another surprise out of the hat this time, just like last time when it got serious in Draenor.
And how the fight against Sargeras will play out in the distant future. Certainly, it will take 2 hours, have 10 phases, and in the end, there will be a 10-minute cinematic to say goodbye to WoW. “Take all of this and multiply it by 10!” was the developers’ answer to the questioning fan.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In World of Warcraft there will be no flying on your own flying mount with patch 6.1 in Draenor either. Instead, the flight routes are intended to be improved.
There will also be no personal flying in Draenor in the upcoming patch 6.1, Blizzard confirmed in a Q&A session on reddit. They are satisfied with how things are currently going in Draenor and that “Ground Travel”, the journey on foot or on any mount, has become important again.
Whether a player is currently looking for treasures, pondering how to get to a mountain peak, or simply finding their way around the world, this is something that is only possible because there is no flying.
The reasons for not allowing flying remain in place even with patch 6.1. However, with 6.1, the flight routes will change. Players will then be able to fly directly from point A to point B, even if they have already discovered stations in between.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO Destiny, Xur, the Agent of the Nine, is at the Tower on December 5th, selling a selection of exotic weapons and armor for Strange Coins. You can find out what he has this time in our article.
Last week, we wondered if Xur might lose significance with the DLC “Darkness Awaits”. What fools we were. Of course not. He will be even more important than before.
It’s Xur’s world in Destiny, we just live in it
Starting next week, he will have “Upgrade” options available, and he will continue selling the old Exotics, which will presumably be stronger; everything revolves around Xur. It’s his world in Destiny. We just live in it.
The dependence of the millions of players on the mysterious weekend vendor is shown in the influence he has on the gear of Destiny players. He has already offered the Suros Regime twice, which is quite popular.
A preview of next week.
However, the machine gun Thunderlord has so far been missing from his offerings, which is why not many have it. What armor pieces Warlocks, Titans, and Hunters have never seen, you can find out in our article.
Maybe it’s better to wait a week?
Today will be the last time before the DLC in Destiny that Xur appears in the Tower and sells his goods. Perhaps one should wait to purchase until he has his new offerings next week.
What does Xur have? What is his offer for Warlocks, Titans, and Hunters? Which weapon does he have with him?
For Titans, especially for fans of the Striker subclass, the so-called Punchbros, he has the exotic helm “Helm of Inmost Light” available for 13 Strange Coins. He has offered the helm twice before, quite a while ago, in the third and fifth week. This week, the helm comes with a strength of 95/102, which is an above-average roll.
In terms of telemetry, he has Pulse Rifles, Hand Cannons, and Machine Guns. Additionally, there are Synthesis for Heavy Ammo, a Stealth Drive, and a Void Drive.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Attention, fans of demonstrative high-speed driving: In the new open-world racing game “The Crew” from Ubisoft, you can hit the gas and speed through the USA since the beginning of the week.
In a “huge small edition” of the United States of America, you race from the east coast to the west coast or from one state to another. The open world offers plenty of space to accelerate with 5000 square kilometers and 6000 km of road network. Whether off-road or properly on the road – the entire terrain is freely accessible.
At every street corner, you meet other racers and therefore also potential crew members or opponents. Spread across the large map are hundreds of skill events and of course missions that need to be completed. The latter emphasize the racing with a story. In the process, you speed through the lively streets of the USA to expand your prestige in the underground racing scene or to sabotage the activities of gangs.
Role-playing on wheels
The Crew is a role-playing game on wheels, as each of your cars can be tuned in different directions through completed tasks and earned parts. Overall, you can expect five different types of cars, which are particularly suitable for different mission types. For example, so-called street cars excel in classic city races, while dirt cars perform well in open terrain.
Singleplayer fun included
Even though you can complete the entire campaign with friends, there is an attractive singleplayer mode. The Crew offers a singleplayer campaign lasting about 20 hours. Here, you acquire street districts or fend off hostile gang takeovers.
Also available for consoles
The Crew is available for Windows PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Xbox 360 for around €50-60. However, a version for PlayStation 3 will not be released.
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Additionally, Ubisoft relies on microtransactions, which can be compared to typical models of free-to-play titles. Those who wish can invest real money and gain advantages in the shop, including performance accessories. According to Ubisoft, it is not strictly necessary to spend money, as purchasable content can also be gradually unlocked with game progress. However, this requires a bit more time. Furthermore, the game requires a permanent internet connection.
In line with the launch, there is also a thrilling trailer:
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In the Weekly Update for Destiny, it has now been revealed that fully upgrading exotic items will be significantly faster and easier in the future than it has been so far. It will take much less material and time.
The Weekly Update for Destiny covered a lot of topics this week. The Iron Banner event is returning on December 16 and brings level 31 items, the raid “Crota’s End” can also be accessed before level 30, and Bungie is grappling with the upgrade shitstorm and is struggling with itself.
Iron Banner returns on December 16
The Iron Banner event in Destiny has proven to be popular and returns on December 16, just a week after the expansion launches. Lord Saladin will have “level 31” items this time, the Weekly Update states. It will start from “Rank Zero” this time. You will not need the expansion to participate.
No one probably expected an answer to the question: “When does the Iron Banner start again?” so quickly.
Normal raid starts immediately, you don’t need to be level 30
The raid Crota’s End starts “on normal” directly on December 9. Players do not have to meet any prerequisites, need no quests, no minimum level, nothing.
But: The leader of the fireteam must be level 30. So out of the 6 people, one has to be level 30. And: You will still need the expansion “The Dark Below”, without it the Abyss is blocked. http://youtu.be/WUEiKU0hkc0
Bungie feels the rough winds regarding upgrades
The dominating team in the Weekly Update was, however, the stress regarding upgrades of exotic armor. The discussion started with an article from GameInformer and overwhelmed Bungie a bit in the last few days.
This was not intended. They have also realized errors in their communication.
They never wanted guardians to look at their items and think that they are now worthless and that all the effort that went into them was in vain. The items are still effective at level 30.
Upgrading exotic items should go much faster
Internally, Bungie is heatedly discussing the topic and is leaving nothing off the table. The past has shown that everything can be changed with Destiny.
Until then, they want to tell the guardians that upgrading “old exotic weapons” is just one of many ways to become stronger. In addition to this “Xur-option”, there are many others. And they believe that when players get to know the new item system and see it in action, they will also find their friends involved.
And the new versions of the exotic weapons are also stronger than the previous exotic weapons when fully equipped, at least in terms of base damage:
Leveling up and upgrading exotic items, from “bare” to “fully equipped”, should go much faster, requiring less materials and time than before:
Exotic upgrade paths require much less time and material
It is also important for Bungie that guardians who do not acquire “The Dark Below” continue to be part of Destiny and also have opportunities to advance their guardians.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny, there is further confusion regarding upgrading exotic armors and weapons with Xur. It seems that “old” exotic items, which drop after December 9, do not require this upgrade and come into the world as a “new” version, so to speak. Therefore, players should probably refrain from completing exotic loot acquisitions for the moment.
This turns out to be quite complicated. Apparently, guardians who have accepted a bounty with an exotic weapon at the end should be cautious. If you hand in this mission before December 9, you will receive an “old edition” of the weapon, which can later be “upgraded” by Xur. Those who hand in this mission after December 9, when the DLC “Darkness Awaits” is active, will likely receive the “new” edition of the weapon and will not need to upgrade it.
It seems that also the exotic weapons and armors that are already available will drop in the “better” edition when the DLC “Darkness Awaits” becomes active in Destiny on December 9.
So in short: Do not upgrade exotic weapons and, if possible, do not “find” or receive exotic weapons as rewards at the moment.
Recently, there were some issues with the servers in the sandbox MMO ArcheAge. Now the promised compensations are known.
As announced, players will be compensated for the last days when they could not log into the servers. Patron players will receive more than non-Patron players.
Patron players receive: 5 days of Patron time, 15 labor potions with 500 labor points and 30 loyalty tokens.
Non-Patron players receive: No Patron time, 10 labor potions with 500 labor points and 15 loyalty tokens.
Both types of players also receive 3 candies each for 10% bonus EXP, 10% increased drop chance, and 3% movement speed. These will, of course, only last for a limited time.
All these items are not tradable. A Patron is defined as someone who had Patron status before the server outage. There is no distinction between EU and NA, nor does it matter which server one is playing on. Players who play in both Europe and North America are still entitled to only one package.
These packages are currently being assigned to accounts, and this should be completed by Friday noon our time. Emails will then be sent to players on how they can pick up these packages. Players in ArcheAge will have to decide which character they want the package for. This will likely proceed similarly to when players could assign the character-specific founder pack rewards.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Hearthstone, you won’t have to wait until December 9 to play a round with the fresh cards from the “Goblins vs Gnomes” expansion.
Surprise cuddle! A few hours ago, patch notes briefly went live in the USA, suggesting that you will be able to play the new cards in the Arena even before the launch of “Goblins vs Gnomes” next week. However, the 123 new cards will initially only be available exclusively in the Arena; they cannot be earned or purchased for now.
The patch is currently not live. They are apparently still working on it, having only revealed it beforehand, and the fans saw it.
We’re still working on the patch, but I’m glad people are enjoying the patch notes. 🙂 We try to make them interesting.
Not only the cards are expected to be playable in the Arena, but the new “Spectator Mode” is already active. When that will exactly come, is not known at the moment, but it looks like we might experience it relatively soon.
Without guarantee: As data miners found out, it could even be the case that the Arena run is free. Allegedly, they also found an event that gives away 3 free packs if you play during the opening. And: Anyone who plays Hearthstone on an Android tablet will also receive a free pack. It seems that the release of Goblins vs Gnomes is indeed accompanied by the release for Android tablets. But: As is often the case with datamined information, this is all still unofficial, although highly likely.
Update 21:25: The free round in the Arena with the new cards is already active and can be attempted now. This means that every player logging into Hearthstone will receive a free ticket for an Arena round. In the draft, when the player assembles their deck, cards from the “Goblins vs Gnomes” expansion will be available alongside the usual previous cards.
#GVG in the Arena is LIVE! Go get a free Arena run AND play with the new GVG cards! Go go go go go! I’ll see you there!
The official launch trailer for “Darkness Awaits,” the first DLC for the MMO shooter Destiny, is here.
Destiny has revised the trailer for “Darkness Awaits.” Two weeks ago, a version was “leaked” where Eris Morn, the new vendor in the Tower and key NPC, murmured darkly. A week ago, Dr. Crispy was featured in a special trailer.
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Now they seem to have gone back and added substantial gameplay scenes to the Eris trailer, clarifying what “Darkness Awaits” is supposed to bring. This makes the expansion seem quite a bit more appealing.
The fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online is still waiting for Update 6. It is expected to arrive on the test server in early January. The Imperial City will be left out for now in favor of the Justice and Champion systems.
Update 6 is taking significantly longer than fans anticipated. Until now, players were actually waiting day by day for Update 6 to become available on the test server, but that won’t be happening anytime soon. It is expected to be released shortly after New Year’s 2015: then it will come to the test server.
What will be included in Update 6 for The Elder Scrolls Online?
Therefore, not much is revealed about what it will bring. The details will likely only be available in the patch notes shortly before the test run.
It is already known that The Elder Scrolls Online will get a new inventory system, to better organize pets, costumes, and mounts. There will also be significant changes to the provisioning profession. The TESO columnist from mmorpg.com even mentions that new animations will be introduced to the combat system.
As mentioned in the Road Ahead by Matt Firor, Update 6 will primarily bring the third phase of the Champion system. Here, passive abilities of the Champion system can now be activated.
The Imperial City, the expansion for the PvP area Cyrodiil, will not make it into Update 6. It seems to require more time, and if it does come, its arrival should be well prepared.
Work is currently focused on Champion and Justice systems
A lot of work is currently being devoted to the Justice system, which will also be integrated into the game in several phases like the Champion system. It is still unclear whether the first phase will be included with Update 6. It seems likely.
In the first phase of the Justice system, players will already be able to commit crimes. However, they will only need to defend themselves against the guards, NPCs, and justify themselves before them. Other players, and thus an open-world PvP component, are expected to come to The Elder Scrolls Online in a later phase.
In the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, the release date for the console port to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One has officially been withdrawn. Although work is still ongoing on the port and good progress is being made, no specific date will be set.
In Matt Firor’s “The Road Ahead” letter, new information regarding the planned port of The Elder Scrolls Online to the current-gen consoles PlayStation 4 and Xbox One has emerged after a long silence. The previous release date of “late 2014” is now being withdrawn for the time being. Until now, “late 2014” was still relevant, after the planned port was postponed by half a year to “the end of the year” last summer.
Firor mentions in the letter that work on the implementation for the consoles has been continuously ongoing. They are also making good progress. However, it is still too early to provide an official release date.
At Zenimax, they want to tailor the console version of The Elder Scrolls Online for the consoles. They plan to replace the PC interface with a console UI, keeping in mind that console players want to play TESO comfortably at home on the couch with a controller.
Furthermore, Zenimax wants to make the console version fully compatible with Xbox Live and the PSN network, as well as integrate a voice chat feature. Players should expect to receive many more details about the console port by early 2015.
Mein MMO states: While the Champion System is coming soon, with Update 6 in January, the Justice System is actually something that was expected to arrive much later. It belongs to a series of new ideas and game systems conceived during extensive renovation works on the PC version. They aim to introduce these gradually: A lengthy process.
This system will also be introduced in “phases.” This means it will take several updates until it is fully implemented in the game. So this might still take a while. If one assumes Update 8, 9 or 10 as a likely date for the final phase of the Justice System, it would be around April, May, June 2015. And whether the console port will occur immediately afterward is another question.
There is, of course, no official timetable… not exactly good news for players waiting for a console port.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
New hotfixes have been applied in World of Warcraft. Players now need the final boss for the tavern missions.
Even experienced developers like Blizzard sometimes overlook something obvious: NPCs appear in the taverns of player garrisons, offering quests and daily quests. To obtain them, it is necessary to loot a specific item in instances, which is often found in the middle. But why should players who have looted the quest item stay further in the instance? There are no special rewards for completing the instance like marks or similar anymore. The 630, at best 636 items are not particularly lucrative at a certain item level. Well, 50 garrison resources… but one can also do without them.
Therefore, in recent days a picture has frequently emerged: After looting a quest item, players left the instance groups, leaving the rest behind who might still need items. This is now being changed with a hotfix: To complete the tavern missions, something from the final boss is required.
In addition, the infamous WoW legend Millhaus Manasturm will now always hang out in the tavern. He is moving in.
Many have searched for him in vain, and now we know what happened. After he distributed his tavern quest, for which there is Maestro “Doomsday” himself as a follower, the famous gnome mage took a break and disappeared for a while. It seems he wasn’t too urgent about completing the task. The yellow question mark that marks a quest turn-in appeared out of nowhere, and there was no trace of Millhaus: that has now come to an end. From now on, players will know where to find him: on the second floor of the tavern.
Also in the hotfixes: the first changes to the bosses in the Highmaul raid and numerous minor talent changes. Yesterday, the first raids struggled with Butcher and Tectus, but they should be a bit easier now. Tectus now has a 10-minute enrage timer on “Normal” and “Heroic.”
An NPC in the garrison, Borok Ironfist, had been mysteriously giving away leatherworking tents at the tannery for free, which are actually relatively complex to craft. Blizzard has now put a stop to that.
The spawn behavior of the two world bosses Tarlna and Drov continues to raise eyebrows. After it was said yesterday that only one of the two is active, and it seemed that Drov was up for Europe, both world bosses are now being spotted on servers.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, the “hard” mode of the raid “Crota’s End” will only start at some point in January, four to eight weeks after the release of the DLC “Darkness Awaits.” What is behind this decision to stretch the game content?
Yesterday, a lot of new information about Destiny and the DLC “Darkness Awaits” became known. So much so that one of the most important pieces of information was almost drowned in the sea of Destiny news: Destiny players will have to wait four to eight weeks before they can access the centerpiece of the new content “Darkness Awaits” in the hard mode of “Crota’s End,” which will only start “at some point in January.”
This decision by Bungie indicates that they were not entirely satisfied with how quickly Guardians had worked through “The Vault of Glass.” In the “normal” mode, hardcore players cleared it in just a week and were already nibbling at the endgame, which was supposed to last four months.
Meanwhile, other players experienced the raid for the first time in November and would only now be ready to see it in “hard mode,” but the new content is already on the way.
Bungie opts for a gating tactic: Content needs to last longer
Now Bungie is coming with a “gating” tactic: instead of unlocking the entire expansion from the outset, they are rolling it out in stages. This means that players are initially confronted with locked doors that only open after a certain period of time. Maybe the timing is not even set yet, or they may wait to unlock the hard mode until a certain player threshold is exceeded, which is now ready for it.
Such a gating tactic buys the developers time to create additional game content.
Guardians are supposed to thoroughly experience the raid in a first wave on “normal,” defeating it four to eight times, playing the story missions from Eris Morn, and maybe also engage in new events before the DLC takes the next step in January: a kind of “Darkness Awaits – Part 2 Electric Boogaloo.”
What is behind this tactic in Destiny?
Why is Destiny changing its schedule now?
This could indicate that they are taking a bit more time with the next DLC “House of Wolves” and thus buying more time for the subsequent game content. It is extremely difficult for an MMO to satisfy the growing hunger of players for new content: developers cannot create new stuff as quickly as players get bored of the old. This is one of the core problems of MMOs. Especially as players become more skilled and approach new raids and instances in a more methodical manner, the novelty wears off.
The advantage of such gating for the developer as well: players have a point to “re-enter” the game after a break. Too long breaks are difficult for MMO developers. If hardcore players are finished with the new content by the end of December and the next DLC does not come until April or May, some regular players might be lost. Therefore, they give them another entry point in January. Special events serve a similar function. And some players might check in with Xur at least once a week, even if they are not playing, to see what he has.
Destiny learns from World of Warcraft
These tactics in the MMO genre to stretch content are not new. The current World of Warcraft expansion “Warlords of Draenor” also employs gating. The raids were locked for 3 weeks, then the first raid was opened on “normal” and “hard,” and a week later it would start on “mythic.”
But it will probably take 2 months before the next raid, which is already in the game, opens up. In general, it seems that Destiny is picking up a trick or two from the father of the MMO genre. The idea of being able to complete the same game content, whether it’s a strike or a raid, at more than one difficulty level and thereby significantly extending the content is an established Blizzard idea.
And what to do until then? Nightfall? Old raid?
How Guardians will spend their time in December and whether there will be anything in the endgame besides the new raid “Crota’s End” is still unclear. It is already known that the weekly Nightfall strike will be raised from level 28 to level 30. It will therefore likely remain relevant.
Also, the event “Trials of Osiris” or new editions of “Queen’s Wrath” and “Iron Banner” could keep players engaged.
Perhaps they will also add a new difficulty level in the then old raid “The Vault of Glass” to entertain players. Dataminers have found hints in this direction. That would be an idea where they could surpass the grandmaster Blizzard.
Perhaps one can only reach the new max level in January
In the “hard mode” of “Crota’s End,” a number of particularly powerful legendary raid weapons are set to drop, all of which count as “primary weapons” and are therefore sure to be sought after.
Moreover, it seems that in “Crota’s End” a complete raid armor will drop, which is stronger than the “normal” version.
This could mean that one might only be able to reach level 32 with this new raid armor. There will certainly be reason to check back in January. One could almost say: The DLC “Darkness Awaits” only starts halfway on December 9; things will really get going in January.
This gating tactic for the raid is currently receiving little criticism, as most players are upset about the upgrades for exotic weapons. Only a “few” percent of players who have already completed the “normal version” of Crota’s End will probably be affected by the gating.
The Korean MMO with sandbox elements “Black Desert” emphasizes its tab-targetless action combat system in a new trailer for the open beta.
Black Desert is about to release in Korea and thus also shortly before an open beta. In Asia and now also in Europe, it is common to offer players a kind of trial period before the actual release. Aside from warming up the servers a bit, that probably has nothing to do with testing anymore, but is more of a PR thing to ensure everyone is excited for the launch.
While Black Desert also has quieter moments in gameplay, where you build relationship matrices with NPCs and send your own workers around, the game has two major “tempo” elements: One is the way you move through the world in a sort of “climb-and-jump” parkour style, and the other is the free action combat system. It does without tab-targeting, which we associate with MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, or ArcheAge. Instead, it relies on combos and flashy effects. Typical for newer Asian MMOs.
The combat system is presented in this almost 6-minute trailer for the open beta. They also emphasize the 60 FPS.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A Chinese teaser page from Shanda Games grabs the attention of shooter fans. Is there perhaps an MMO version of Borderlands coming soon, a Chinese Borderlands Online?
Borderlands established the “Shoot’n Loot” genre, in which Destiny is currently thriving. Rumors of a possible MMO version likely gained traction when Destiny took off. Additionally, many large offline franchises are currently moving towards “MMO,” as they can earn money in the long run: An MMO never really ends.
The Asia MMO specialized site “mmoculture” has now discovered a nebulous Chinese teaser page for a possible Borderlands Online; “BLOL” appears in the code, which could be a way to abbreviate BorderLands OnLine, if one wished. Moreover, some logos of 2k Games can be found in the code.
On the website: The silhouette of Claptrap. A countdown that goes until Monday, and the phrase “Earthlings, we will bring you hope!”
For us Europeans, this may not mean much yet. Asia is a strange market when it comes to licenses, as there has long been a “Call of Duty Online” there, which doesn’t have much in common with our Call of Duty.
Conclusion: On Monday, we will know more; those who are dreaming of a Triple-A Borderlands Online heading towards Destiny should urgently temper their hype.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
