In the MMO shooter Destiny, with the new Iron Banner, it will also be possible for non-raiders to come very close to the maximum level, the light level 30.
Actually, Friday is reserved for Xur, otherwise there’s not much happening in Destiny. There’s enough excitement, when the old noodle face shows up. But that will change from now on: Bungie has moved the “Weekly Update” forward by one day. There, they talk with the community once a week. The blog will now no longer come (according to our time) in the night from Friday to Saturday, but now already from Thursday to Friday. The reason is that they have now become “global”.
Between the lines, one could suspect it’s because gaming sites were already into the weekend by the time the update came, and the results of the Weekly Update were usually not available on their sites until Monday. However, the Iron Banner could already be followed on the relevant pages on Friday morning.
Anyway: Iron Banner 2.0 is coming.
The new Iron Banner should be as it was meant to be.
What has happened so far: The Iron Banner ran at the beginning of October as a week-long event. It was designed as a highlight for PvP players, a counterpart to the raid, so to speak. In the Crucible, the Guardians’ armor should now fully count, it was said. But that was not the case. There were difficulties in the event, and the equipment only played a slightly more significant role in the normal Crucible. Moreover, what equipment was available was not very appealing. Additionally, the Iron Banner suffered from several process issues: Players who thought they would lose simply left a match and started the next one, as they received no reputation for a defeat but also had nothing to fear in terms of negative consequences.
Bungie then decided to put the event on hold – just like the other major event in Destiny The Queen’s Wrath. They announced extensive changes, which they must have been working on in recent weeks. Actually, the Iron Banner should have returned last week but it was mistakenly active for 3 hours. However, they probably needed a bit longer to make the changes.
The Iron Banner and You: The most important questions about the new Iron Banner in Destiny
When is the new Iron Banner supposed to come? Data for it should be uploaded on Monday. It should start maybe on Thursday, the 20th of November, or Friday, the 21st of November. So far, it has only been mentioned as “by the end of next week”. And only if everything goes smoothly.
Equipment counts this time: Like a boss
Does armor count this time? Yes, they promised. A more heavily equipped player should feel like a “boss” to a weaker one. However, even the less well-equipped players can deal damage. It’s important to bring fully upgraded weapons to the Iron Banner. Players below level 20 can only participate in the mode if they team up with a player above that level (in a fireteam).
What about reputation?
What’s happening with reputation? The reputation from the last time carries over. However, there are now five reputation ranks instead of three. A 12-hour bonus can be activated. During this period, players gain significantly more reputation. The bonus should be used as late in the week as possible, as it brings more, it is said. The bonus is still quite a puzzle, regarding how it will work.
Attention, important: After this event, the reputation will be reset again. One should “forge the iron while it’s hot.” This could cause disappointment and frustration for some.
Running away doesn’t count in Destiny
How does Bungie want to prevent players from just leaving a match when they lose? For a defeat in the Iron Banner, there’s no reputation but a “medal.” In the event of a victory, up to 5 of these medals can be redeemed. Therefore, a defeat can still provide some reputation after the next win. Quitters get nothing.
And now the most important thing? What gifts await? Where’s the loot?
Is it worth it this time? According to Bungie, yes. However, players need to reach higher rank levels. It will therefore be something for frequent players of Destiny or for frequent winners. At a higher rank level (probably 5), there will likely be legendary gloves and boots that, when fully upgraded, will reach the light value of 30. Only exotic armor parts or legendary parts from the raid previously achieved this. Whoever has all 4 armor pieces at light level 30 reaches the light level 30, the current maximum level. This player will deal significantly more damage to level 30 mobs (important for the raid) and their drop chances will improve as well.
In the old system, players had to rely on luck in “The Glassed Chamber” to score some raid gear. This is likely to change now.
After the new Iron Banner: To reach 30: An exotic helmet or chest, 1 raid helmet or raid chest, and then boots and gloves from the Iron Banner.
All items will, of course, need to be upgraded with upgrade materials.
Almost to 30 without a raid, but just almost
This means: You still can’t make it without a raid. But whoever has the raid chest and an exotic helmet from Xur (that should be possible), can likely reach “safely” level 30 with the Iron Banner through effort. Depending on how the new items are distributed, whether randomly or available for purchase – that is still uncertain. It’s also hard to say how long it will take. Up to rank 5 could be quite a long way.
Besides the two armor pieces, there will likely be shaders, emblems, maybe ships, and also some legendary weapons.
Important: Legendary weapons have random “perks,” i.e., attributes. In the new Iron Banner, you should be able to reset them repeatedly until you are completely satisfied with a combination of these attributes.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Last weekend, the 10th anniversary of World of Warcraft was celebrated at BlizzCon in Anaheim. In addition to spectacular highlights like Overwatch, there was plenty of time to chat.
The colleagues from kotaku.com had the opportunity to speak with some Blizzard employees about the future of the Warcraft series.
World of Warcraft Lead Game Designer Ion Hazzikostas once again promised that future expansions will be released faster than before: “I know we have been saying this for years. You can find quotes from 2008 where we talk about how we want to release one expansion per year.” Blizzard wants to avoid long droughts in content, yet the planned rhythm for the last expansion was once again pushed back by a year to ensure the usual Blizzard quality.
Ion Hazzikostas, however, remains optimistic: “We have expanded our team, and I think we are able to work faster than before. Our goal is to get expansions into the hands of players faster.”
They are also already working on a new expansion for World of Warcraft. However, a makeover of the shattered world is not to be expected. WoW has evolved significantly over time, and the shattered world serves as a sort of “contrast program”.
Warcraft IV in development?
With Warcraft III, a new era of the RTS scene (Real Time Strategy) was ushered in. Looking back over the past 10 years, World of Warcraft would thus provide enough material for a Warcraft IV expansion, right? “There’s a lot of cool potential. Everyone from the WoW team sees Warcraft as an inspiration,” said Hazzikostas. Even though the Lead Designer does not want to comment further on Warcraft IV, Blizzard remains “interested”.
Regarding the question of Warcraft IV, they also asked Blizzard’s real-time strategy team. However, they are currently busy developing the last Starcraft II expansion “Legacy Of The Void.” Thus, the focus is clearly on completing the Starcraft II trilogy. After all, next year assets from Warcraft 3 will be added to the mod tools of Starcraft 2. This will allow Warcraft fans to implement their own scenarios in Starcraft II. However, Lead Game Producer Tim Morten added: “A return to the Warcraft universe would be awesome. I wish this would come true.”
If not Warcraft IV, then at least WoW 2?
We probably won’t have to wait for a WoW sequel. In a functioning MMO that’s been running for a decade, you can’t just reinvent or throw out basic game elements. A WoW 2 could be interesting if Blizzard wanted to implement something completely new that couldn’t be realized in World of Warcraft.
Conclusion: Fans have known for years that Blizzard would like to release new content and expansions at shorter intervals to bridge the drought around content. Despite the increase in the team, it doesn’t personally bother me if more time passes between expansions. After all, quality comes before speed.
Warcraft III is still a hit at every LAN party and is what it is: perfect. Sure, I would be very happy about a Warcraft IV, but let’s be honest: If Blizzard had a Warcraft IV alongside Overwatch – even I would find that too much anticipation.
WoW 2? Never! World of Warcraft not only has cult status but has also gone through a 10-year development process. Every player or former player can fill hundreds of books with stories from the past in WoW. If Blizzard were to simply come out with a… They would never do that!
Or what does your crystal ball say?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, Xur, the Agent of the Nine, has once again appeared in the Tower. What exotic goods does he bring for the weekend of November 14th to November 16th?
Xur is the most important man for equipping Guardians in Destiny
The most important man in Destiny for the lives of the Guardians is indeed Xur. This was recently revealed by a survey, where Guardians voted on which exotic weapons they possess. The result clearly showed how much players in Destiny rely on the Tentacle Man, the Black Market Dealer, and Weekend Worker: Ice Breaker, Patience and Time, Suros Regime – all of these weapons he had offered before for 17 or 23 strange coins – and lo and behold: Numerous Guardians reported owning these weapons.
Other exotic weapons that may either be random or from Xur, such as Thunderlord, the Mida Multi-Tool, or The Last Word, were searched for in vain by the Guardians in their pockets. They are significantly rarer.
It is clear: If the weapons appear today or on one of the next Fridays in Xur’s showcase, the soundscape in Destiny will change once again.
Exotic armor pieces can determine who will reach level 30
Besides weapon enthusiasts, each week those players wait for him who may have three armor pieces from the raid and hope that Xur has an exotic armor piece this time that they still lack. It is worth noting that Xur offers six items per class: 3 for a helmet, 2 for a chest piece, and 1 for gloves. There are no exotic boots. What he has exactly changes every week. With the right piece, Guardians can advance here and reach the coveted Light Level 30.
Oh, and for those who are frustrated that Xur doesn’t have the right items for them, you can take comfort in this: Mathematically, that’s completely okay.
All about Xur on the weekend of November 14th to November 16th
When does Xur come to the Tower and how long will he stay?
Xur, the Agent of the Nine, arrives on Friday, November 14th, at 10 AM German time in the Tower. He will stay there until Sunday, November 16th, at 10 AM.
What does Xur accept as payment?
Xur takes 13 strange coins for an exotic armor piece, 17 for an exotic secondary or special weapon, and 23 for an exotic primary weapon. An exotic engram costs 23 Motes of Light. Where is Xur in the Tower?
The location of Xur, or for our English-searching friends Xur’s Location, is: by the Speaker. So when you enter, it’s immediately to the left towards “Tower North.” The guys from Ziro.TV have made a video for you with the German names of the items, the current stats, and Xur’s location and everything else:
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What does Xur have this time? Which exotic weapons and armors are available?
For Titans, this week he once again offers the Armamentarium – this probably won’t please them. You can get the chest piece for 13 strange coins.
Also for the Hunters among you, there is a chest piece for 13 strange coins, the Crest of Alpha Lupi.
And for the Warlocks, there is also a chest piece, the Voidfang Vestments, which Xur offers for 13 strange coins.
The exotic hand cannon The Last Word is definitely the highlight this week. Xur has it for 23 strange coins. It’s likely that The Last Word will significantly change the dynamics in the Crucible of Destiny in the coming days and weeks.
And probably especially sought after this week: an exotic engram for the helmet slot. But be careful: 9 different helmets can drop. It’s therefore not very likely that the one you’re looking for is among them.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
With the launch of the open beta, we had the opportunity for an interview with the lead artist of Trove, Brian Clarke. The voxel MMO adventure is a sandbox title with RPG elements and a blocky engine in a comic style. Players can let their creativity run wild in Trove and interact with the environment in various ways – together with other players.
That’s enough about Trove. Let’s start with the interview.
Please introduce yourself briefly to our readers. What are your tasks at Trove?
I am Brian (also known as GrumpNTu online) and the lead artist on our team. This means that I take care of the overall visual presentation of the game. I am responsible for areas such as character design, lighting effects, colors, and oversee pretty much everything that your eyes see, including the UI. Additionally, I also lead the Trove Creations on Reddit, where players can create their own content for the game.
Hello Brian. Since November 5th, Trove has been in open beta and accessible to everyone. What timeframe are you aiming for the release and what do you want to expand by then?
We haven’t set a timeframe for the release. Our goal is to leave beta status when we believe the game is ready and mature. Of course, we will continue to work on the game for a long time afterward – the beta is mainly there to get the core elements of the game, which should feel relatively complete, running smoothly.
Looking at the updates, Trove has been enriched with many new features and content in recent months. Does the voxel adventure hold a higher status internally at Trion now than at the beginning?
Trove has always received great attention within the team, and Trion has done a wonderful job giving the project all the opportunities it needs to thrive. It’s always been the team’s biggest goal to release new and exciting content regularly. Since the beginning of the project, we’ve had interesting updates almost every week. And we try to outdo ourselves with each patch. I think the company as a whole recognizes the importance of this and therefore shows great support.
In the market, there are three other sandbox games with Minecraft, Cube World, and Landmark. How do you differentiate Trove from the others, and what target audience do you want to reach?
I believe that Trove surpasses all others in terms of support. The game itself is incredibly entertaining and has grown tremendously in a very short time. However, that doesn’t prevent us from being very engaged with the community. The entire team checks the forums, Reddit, emails, and more every day. So it’s not just our community team that is amazing (which it is). The game developers genuinely want to create something that players are asking for. We offer many aspects of building and exploring, and lots of ways to experience adventure. We add new ones every day, but we really listen to our player base and involve them everywhere. I don’t think you would find such an intense player-developer collaboration elsewhere.
Why did you choose a comic and blocky voxel engine? The world and the art design are quite abstract. Were there initial discussions about a more realistic graphic style?
We never intended to make Trove realistic. We knew it was going to be fantasy and something fun, but we experimented with a lot of different varieties and approaches to the art style. The idea of using voxel to remove barriers from building became a necessity. The team was very small at the start (yes, even smaller than our current team of 12 developers), so we needed something that allowed us to be flexible with both concept and graphic changes. We also wanted a unique look that set us apart from others, which is why we decided to go with a very colorful and crazy setting. I prioritized a cartoon style first and voxel second. I feel we’ve done a good job so far while continuously growing and developing new techniques that aren’t typically found in voxel games.
According to the definition on the official website, Trove is an MMO. How “massive” is Trove really and what makes it an MMO?
Trove allows all our players to play together; if they are on your friends list, you can instantly switch to the world they are in. No character transfers, no ensuring that you are really on the same server as your friends, or anything like that. Once you are in Trove, it is very easy to play with your friends and find new ones. The entire game world is regularly enriched with community-created adventures and dungeons. These are randomly assembled, so your gameplay experience never feels exactly the same. There are also many classic MMO gameplay elements in Trove: professions, crafting, leveling, and more. Based on that, we’ve introduced a few fun things that can be experienced alone or with friends. It is also very easy to create a club (our version of a guild) and design an entire world according to your ideas just among club members. There is something for everyone in Trove, and more is always on the way.
It seems that many players are longing for sandbox content or are at least curious. There was quite a hype with ArcheAge recently, with hours of waiting times. Did you benefit from the influx caused by ArcheAge?
I think so. I feel that many of the points that attract players to ArcheAge are also present in Trove at a beginner-friendly level. The freedom to take your own path and gradually improve your character through new skills and adventures. You create a very unique and immersive experience when playing ArcheAge. I believe that Trove satisfies many of those needs as well. You receive your own “cornerstone”, a piece of land where you can build whatever you want. To realize that, you only need to gather resources. All sorts of loot and crafting resources can be obtained during your adventures in the world. This also makes you a better fighter. Whether building or shadow invasions (note of the editor: dynamic events with intruders), alone or with friends, in a small or massive scale – so much is possible. Whatever you are looking for in a sandbox game, I am convinced that Trove can deliver it.
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Trove contains relatively many elements of online role-playing games, which is unusual for a sandbox game of this kind. Which do you consider to be the most important at Trove?
I would say personally, the community. There are many great things that Trove offers that other games of this type do not. But for me, it’s special to play with friends or meet new people – that’s not usually offered by sandbox games. Most sandbox titles are single-player or allow only a very limited number of players. Trove gives you all these exciting elements from the sandbox genre and combines them with the online experience that I have come to love from other MMOs. Respectfully, Trove has some great features, but in the end, it’s the people who make an MMO so special, and I find our community to be amazing.
Currently, players have 5 different classes to choose from, each with their own skills. Why did you introduce them? Are they simply to provide a different gameplay experience or do they play increasingly significant roles in game design?
Each class is packed to fulfill a fun fantasy role. We have the tricky wizard, the steadfast knight, a transforming dragon magician, and so on. Our aim with all classes is that they play as you envisioned during the class selection.
Right now, you are totally focused on PvE. Will PvP content also be added in the future or are you intentionally excluding that area?
We are very focused on PvE. We like the community that has formed and think that PvP promotes a player behavior that currently doesn’t fit the game – not for the Trove we are creating.
With the last patch, you introduced a new profession called “Gardening”. What can players expect in Trove?
Gardening is all about investing time to create new resources. You plant your plants and wait for them to sprout! It’s also our first profession, a type of crafting that unlocks new recipes. This happens by creating products that come from recipes of the previous tier in the progress tree.
Do you have plans to expand group content in Trove? Would raids for, let’s say, 12 players be conceivable?
We already have group content! Up to 8 players can participate in the “Shadow Arenas”, which is essentially our endgame. We have further plans for this, including expanding it into content that can also be created by the community.
Building, exploring, and fighting can certainly be fun, but long-term incentives must also be created. What features or systems will ensure that players remain loyal to Trove and always have goals ahead of them?
I believe that the “Mastery System” is very well suited for this. There are many other ways to obtain the best gear, craft the best rings, collect everything conceivable in the world, but the Mastery System ties all this together and offers even more. Each class has its own, individual level that gradually increases. As a player, you also have the mastery level. This level increases by pursuing all the content that Trove offers as much as possible. Collecting recipes, leveling classes, claiming weapon skins, and much more increases your mastery level. With each new level achieved, you receive something new, such as an increased number of health potions, improved stats, credits filling your wallet, and new mounts as well. The mastery system will continuously be expanded, as we plan to add a large amount of content to the game. There are many reasons to keep playing, but personally, I love the mastery system.
Do you have a personal favorite among the player-created content?
Choosing a favorite is always dangerous for me because I edit all the reviews and decide which player-generated items make it into the game. I want them to still like me after this interview. As long as they understand that I still care about them, I can reveal that we are adding a new dungeon soon, which I think is very well made. This comes from our players Uniquisher, Stedms, and Brolycia. Awesome job!
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What major features can we expect in the future? What’s on the “Wall of Crazy”?
Fishing! Ice Wizards! Pet Eggs! Festivals and Seasons!
Trove is free-to-play and thus relies on an item shop and supporter packages. What advantages can players purchase in the shop?
I have a feeling that the shop designers have done a great job introducing items that are worth buying but leaving out those that would offer too many advantages. Trion is generally very much against the whole “pay-to-win” concept, and we take great pride in that. We want to give players items that they would like to have but don’t necessarily have to buy – like cool-looking mounts. Players can get everything they need to have fun and improve by playing Trove. We are interested in enriching the shop with unique items that are meant to bring fun, but aren’t necessary to play the game.
Last but not least: How do you want to convince our readers, who haven’t played Trove yet, to give it a try?
I believe that Trove offers a lot for many different types of players. We have adopted known and popular features from classic MMOs, but we also offer everything you would expect from a sandbox game. It is by far the most unique and exciting project I have ever worked on; the only one where the team collaborates so well with the community. We not only take suggestions every day and respond to player feedback, but we also let the community participate in shaping the game. Each of us on the team is very connected to Trove, and I think you can see that passion in Trove. We will regularly add updates with new content and fix issues to provide the best possible player experience. What’s great about Trion in general is that they strongly support their products and listen to their player base. Our team believes in that. I think all these things make for a great experience for our players.
Thank you for the interview, Brian.
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Those who would like to take a look at the sandbox game Trove after this interview can sign up on this website, download the client, and play for free: http://www.trionworlds.com/trove/
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The most popular servers in World of Warcraft are suffering under the influx of fans for Warlords of Draenor. Now Blizzard is opening the emergency valve and offering free server transfers.
On the most popular servers, Warlords of Draenor is causing significant issues. Server outages, eternally long queues, unstable zones (especially Frostfire Ridge), frustrated players. The player distribution is indeed highly uneven among the World of Warcraft servers and a disproportionately high share of players is on the large servers: The 25 smallest servers fit into Blackhand, the largest.
Time to move away from Blackrock, Blackhand, or Thrall?
Therefore, Blizzard has opened the emergency valve for such occasions and is offering free server transfers for players to the following realms:
Blackmoore
(PvP) -> Nazjatar, Nefarian
Antonidas
(PvE) -> Arygos, Netherstorm
Blackhand
(PvE) -> Arygos, Netherstorm
Thrall
(PvE) -> Arygos, Netherstorm
Aegwynn
(PvP) -> Nazjatar, Nefarian
Eredar
(PvP) -> Arthas, Nazjatar
Blackrock
(PvP) -> Arthas, Nazjatar
The server transfers (or character migrations or character transfers) now apply to both factions and not just the “dominant” one as before.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The fantasy MMO Guild Wars 2 has earned significantly less in the last quarter compared to the previous year. The publisher NCSoft announces very softly that they may soon say something about a possible expansion.
Currently, quarterly figures are coming in from various companies, including the Korean publisher NCSoft, which is mainly associated in the West with Guild Wars 2 and WildStar. For Guild Wars 2, a 19.6% decrease in revenue compared to the previous year and 8.5% less than in the second quarter of 2014 is reported. This means Guild Wars 2 has recorded the lowest revenue to date in the last quarter. Nevertheless, NCSoft is satisfied with the developments in the West, although they expected more from the expansion to China.
In the future, they plan to advertise more aggressively and initiate some marketing campaigns to attract new players to GW2.
A sensitive topic among fans is an expansion. They desire a lot. Here, NCSoft has only a weak statement: “The game is now two years old. Therefore, we think that in the not-too-distant future, an opportunity may arise to present our plans for expansion packages.”
Overall, NCSoft is doing well, mainly due to the strong presence of the corporation in the Asian market. Here, older and rather unknown games in the West like Aion, Lineage 1, and Lineage 2 continue to generate revenue.
For hardcore fans of the numbers, here are our two articles on NCSoft’s first and second quarter reports this year:
In the MMO shooter Destiny the new expansion, the DLC “The Darkness Awaits” is set to arrive in December, and players have already been given a glimpse of what to expect through concept art. YouTubers, however, have already made excursions to these places a month ago, which were still considered “secret” at that time.
Long before the first bits and bytes come into play, artists and designers sit down and create a vision of the characters, items, and places that players will see on their screens years later. These designs are known as “concept art.” This can refer to character sketches, images of weapons and armor, or locations, dungeons, abandoned ruins, and mysterious structures that give a moody game that sense of space, time, and atmosphere that is so important.
The next expansion, the DLC, for Destiny, “The Darkness Awaits,” will not bring new planets or Saturn or Jupiter, but will open new parts of the world. Bungie has now provided a look at the concept art for it.
Four Concept Art Pieces for “The Darkness Awaits” in Destiny
Deep beneath the abandoned structure of the Cosmodrome lies the “Seraphim Vault.” An ancient crypt of power and knowledge lies in wait for the seasoned adventurer.
With “The Darkness Awaits,” the “Jovian Complex” in the Cosmodrome also opens, promising exciting action. The Hive has taken over the building – and you can see that.
Under the sands of Mars, the Hypogeum awaits the Guardians, created by the Vex ages ago, where a powerful and watchful Guardian lurks.
And in the deepest inner part of the Moon, the Guardians gain access to the “Chamber of Night.” Terrible rituals of the Hive are said to take place here.
From “The Jovian Complex,” it is already known that it will be the next official strike for all Guardians – another one remains exclusive to players on PlayStation. In the Complex, a monstrous adversary named Omnigul awaits the Guardians. The “Chamber of Night” will likely be another story mission dealing with the Hive and will then lead into the raid “Crota’s End”. The other two locations could also play a role in the course of the new story missions.
Due to glitches, the locations in Destiny are already visible
Most of these locations are already accessible in the game, but only through “glitches,” through exploiting. They are currently still empty. There isn’t much to see yet. These are the places that drove everyone crazy a few weeks ago with “Oh my God, here’s a secret area!”, “Oh my God, here’s another one!” Back then, everyone thought they were for strikes; today we know: Most are probably intended for story missions. We’ll show you a few videos – but be warned: There isn’t much to see.
This will probably be the new strike “Jovian Complex”:
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The sand park MMO ArcheAge has drawn the ire of numerous fans due to a change in the cash shop. Now, Trion Worlds states that it didn’t go as planned.
If there was still something like a house blessing between players and the publisher Trion Worlds, it has not only been askew since the weekend, but even more so. A new limited-time chest was introduced in the cash shop. The content: seedlings for special trees (Rumbling Archeum Trees), from which there was a 10% chance to become a “Thunderstruck Tree”.
That had been one of the most valuable resources in the game, fetching prices of 400 gold (depending on the server). “Successful” players had previously made great efforts to acquire these “Thunderstruck Trees”, created massive forests that were farmed, saved up every coin, prayed to the Karma gods, trusted their luck, robbed and plundered. It was also a valuable speculative commodity. Now prices have plummeted. They could be found – with a bit of luck and effort – directly for some euros from the chests.
Some cheered: Finally, the trees had become affordable and the “Farm Cart”, with which one could more easily complete trade runs and become rich faster, was within reach. Others were visibly upset, as their efforts turned to ashes overnight. And why did this change come out of nowhere? Was it an attempt to make a quick buck with ArcheAge? Did they want to snatch away the retroactively accumulated 10% bonus from patrons?
A dangerous trend was observed, many said: Trion Worlds intervened from the outside, through the cash shop, in the economic cycle of the sandbox ArcheAge, which should actually be determined by the players. The excitement was great. Pay2Win accusations circulated. The discussion went back and forth, tempers were heated.
The blame for the tree fiasco in ArcheAge was a misunderstanding in the communication with Korea
Now Trion Worlds has commented on the issues: It didn’t go as planned.
The fault was once again the apparently difficult communication with the Korean developers XLGames and Trion Worlds’ own difficulties in explaining clearly and timely what they were doing to the fans. XLGames proposed changes to the cash shop and intended to introduce the new chests to ensure that more players received their “Farm Cart”.
At Trion Worlds, they agreed to the request but did not know how high the chance of the trees actually would be to become a “Thunderstruck Tree”. They did not realize that the changes to the shop would bring so many new trees into the game. They thought they would be significantly rarer and harder to obtain. Here, a misunderstanding in communication occurred. In the future, they want to pay more attention to ensure that this does not happen again.
They want to test changes to the cash shop more thoroughly and broadly, also regarding their long-term effects, and tell players exactly what they are planning.
Currently, it happens that they meet with XLGames twice a month, talk, make suggestions, and agree on what they want to change in the cash shop, then the Koreans program that and it gets inserted into the game. It is the sole responsibility of Trion Worlds to explain this to the players correctly and in a timely manner. That went wrong here.
They will now first remove the chest from the game, as they had already planned with XLGames, and then consider how to reintroduce it into ArcheAge. Since the chest was introduced, they have noticed an increased volume of trade and more activity in the game. They find that good.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the free online collectible card game Hearthstone , three new cards from the expansion “Goblins vs Gnomes” have been revealed. One of them continues the trend of attacking too strong decks in the game with new cards.
The Clockwork Giant, an 8/8 creature for 12 mana, already targeted the currently popular “Handlock” deck with its ability to become cheaper the more cards the opponent has in hand. In this deck, a Warlock plays few of their own cards in the early rounds, draws cards to hand faster with their hero power, and then destroys the opponent with cards like the Mountain Giant or the Twilight Drake, which benefit when the player has a full hand. Of course, Blizzard is aware of this but does not simply want to nerf the Handlock and other similar decks but rather “balance” them in the game with new cards.
One of the new expansion cards, a 2/3 creature for 3 mana (above), is supposed to counter this. Its damage increases by four points if the opponent holds more than 6 cards. A 6/3 creature for 3 mana is quite nasty. The second new minion (right) that has been revealed will please rogues. It is their class card and a 2-mana drop with solid 3/2 stats, granting +1 to the weapon.
In the near future, Blizzard plans to reveal more Hearthstone cards from the expansion, allowing players to vote on which one it will be. To start, they’ve shown this gnome (left), which gives the hero 4 health points per turn as long as they have a secret active. “Secrets” is also an exciting topic: they have become significantly stronger with Naxxramas, especially some Hunter and Mage variants rely on them. Here, Blizzard hints that there might be a new “Gnomes vs Goblins” card in Hearthstone that makes it a bit harder for secrets. However, they do not provide specifics.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The SF-MMO WildStar reduces the price for full versions of WildStar on its homepage by up to 33%.
Carbine has lowered the prices for full versions of the SF-MMO WildStar. They are now available at a cheaper price on the homepage. The digital standard edition is available for 29.99€, and the digital collector’s edition for 44.99€.
Now that the new content drop is finally live after a long delay and the mega-servers are making the worlds feel more populated, they are reducing the price by up to 33%, likely to attract more players to the world of Nexus.
On the trial front, it is still quiet, but it is also expected that trial actions will start again soon. Signals for this were given some time ago in the Nexus Report (may it rest in peace). With such trials, players could at least get a taste of the world of WildStar for free.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In World of Warcraft, the NPC Khadgar has remarkably multiplied. You need to speak to him to enter the new expansion Warlords of Draenor.
How do I get to Draenor? Now many Khadgars lead there
The poor archmage Khadgar was incredibly popular last night in World of Warcraft. The crowds gathered around him, he was the center of attention. Because everyone had to talk to the NPC in front of the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands to go through that very Dark Portal and reach Draenor. That’s where the new expansion “Warlords of Draenor” takes place.
The rush was too great, everything concentrated on one zone, it felt a bit like the blissful “The Gates of Ahn’Qiraj” days. Zones were overloaded, players frustrated, crashes occurred.
Blizzard is countering this by simply deploying four more Khadgars per server. One in Orgrimmar right at the mission board in the Valley of Strength, one in Stormwind in the Trade District also at the mission board, which normally sends players to their level-appropriate area. And then two more Khadgars in Mists of Pandaria. One in the Shrine of Seven Stars for the Alliance and one in the Shrine of Two Moons for the Horde.
And how do you explain that lore-wise? Well … he is an archmage! Mirror image of course!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Shortly before the launch of the new expansion for World of Warcraft, Warlords of Draenor, Blizzard releases one last hint: You do not need to relog. Also: How do I get to Draenor? And when does Warlords of Draenor (WoD) actually start?
In just 90 minutes it begins. At midnight, the Dark Portal will open. There are now three questions on everyone’s mind. And Blizzard wants you to know the answers, so they are issuing one last blue post.
When exactly does it start? At midnight.
Do I need to relog to see anything? No.
And how do I get to Draenor? Speak to the NPC Khadgar in the Blasted Lands, he is just outside the Dark Portal.
Attention: It is NOT necessary to log out of the game to activate the #WoD content at midnight: http://t.co/dIKLOvSNzz
Mini-ticker for the launch of Warlords of Draenor on the night from Thursday to Friday
Update 0:20: As almost expected, Blizzard is having difficulties guaranteeing a consistent service. Players are having issues logging in – there is indeed a large crowd. Blizzard is aware of the problem and is working on a solution. Well, it’s somewhat impressive that 10 years after the start, there is still such a huge turnout at midnight on a weekday.
[EU #WoW] We are aware of the connection issues & our technicians are on the case. Updates to follow when we have more info to share. — BlizzardCS (@BlizzardCS) November 12, 2014
Update 0:55: The problem is that thousands of people want to click on the poor Khadgar at the same time, they seem to have now temporarily erected a sort of invisible barrier around him to prevent the clicking hordes from standing on the NPC. Nevertheless, the good Khadgar is proving to be a bottleneck … Update 2:20: … – just like some quests later on in Frostfire Ridge. Meanwhile, the first players are said to have reached level 100 through relatively complicated exploits with ghost pets in Jade Forest – or by turning in turtle meat. 2:30: A player who reportedly reached level 99 and 40% by turning in turtle meat at a repeatable quest was reset by Blizzard to level 90, and his account is apparently suspended for now. Ouch. Here’s the rather monotonous stream about it – at 25 minutes in, he gets wrecked (for the very clever ones: they probably also disabled the quests).
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
It’s Wednesday again, and of course, everything today has to revolve around a topic related to the past BlizzCon. While Blizzard’s in-house fair generally excited me, there was a clear criticism that I could raise about the new shooter “Overwatch“.
They have decided to outsource the story and only tell it outside of the actual game – for example, in the form of forum posts and short films.
Overwatch – Lots of Fun, Little Story?
Is the background story conveyed through this location?
The team shooter already looks outstanding, and there is no doubt in my mind that this game will likely be my time sink in 2016 – especially if I manage to recruit five more people from my friend circle.
The only real downer came from the statement that the background story is practically nonexistent in the game and is only told through the locations and small dialogue snippets. Surely, it is difficult to incorporate story into a pure team shooter – but to virtually banish it entirely, that simply can’t be the right approach.
Back to the Past
If Blizzard has always been able to do one thing well, it’s telling stories within their game worlds. You don’t have to look long for examples, whether it’s the campaigns of the Warcraft and Starcraft games or the more complex quest lines in WoW, Blizzard has always staged epic stories incredibly well within their game worlds. I can already hear the objections like: “But Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm don’t have a great story!” While that is superficially true, it is fundamentally incorrect. It is true that these games do not have a great individual story, but they are based on the incredibly rich backgrounds of long-established worlds.
Yes, looks cool, but why do you exist and what do others think of you?
“Overwatch,” on the other hand, is completely new and loses a lot of its appeal for me with the statement that the story is only available externally. While I look forward to devouring the (surely forthcoming) books and immersing myself into the world, I would have liked to learn something in the game itself – a game without a story simply isn’t complete. The story is the absolute heart of what excites me and makes me develop a passion for a game world. Above all, it is incredibly important in discussions with friends when I want to get them hooked.
If I can only respond to a “What’s it about?” with “Oh, it’s a shooter in the future… the rest can be read on the website,” then the likelihood of getting my environment to also dive into the addiction drastically decreases. The times are gone when I played games solely based on their mechanics – the background story has simply become an obligatory aspect for me, especially when set in fantasy universes.
So, dear Mr. Blizzard, please at least incorporate the background story of the characters into the game – it greatly disrupts the immersion when I first have to go to a website for that. And while you’re at it, please invite me to the “Family & Friends Alpha”… I’ve heard rumors.
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The Honest Game Trailer for World of Warcraft takes a look at the WoW phenomenon. What really lies behind the world’s most successful MMORPG?
Smosh Games runs a series on YouTube called “Honest Trailer.” In this satire series, they show their own version of bloated Hollywood trailers or the hype-inducing teasers dripping with PR-speak of popular games. And in the biting original creations with footage of the respective target of ridicule, they explain what really lies behind the game.
On the occasion of the current WoW expansion, the voice-over artist with a distinctive voice takes on “World of Warcraft” and goes where it really hurts.
For raids, you need more nerds than for a space program, it is said. Blizzard is the company that hasn’t found a game it hasn’t postponed. And World of Warcraft has revolutionized the way we think about Everquest. And that terrible moment when you check your /played…
The amusing, perhaps a bit malicious trailer awaits you here – a warning… true hardcore fanboys and girls might want to skip this. Humor is needed for this, a very specific kind might even be better.
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There has been a lot of negative reporting about the SF-MMO WildStar lately. Now, two of the responsible parties are speaking out.
In a conversation with eurogamer.net, two of the heads of Carbine Studios, Chad “Pappy” Moore and Mike Donatelli, discuss the negative headlines that WildStar has accumulated lately: The departure of prominent figures, complaints about bugs, allegedly declining player numbers, negative reports from former employees, and most recently, the layoff of 60 employees by the publisher NCSoft.
A lot of sales at launch, but then likely a significant decline
It all started so well. The launch of WildStar went excellently. They had no clear idea before the release of how often they would sell the game. Donatelli never thought, “Sure, we’ll hit a quarter of a million players.” Then they actually reached that number and exceeded it by far. But after that, the conversation about WildStar, the hype surrounding the game, faded and disappeared.
Neither of the two wanted to comment on the current numbers of how many players WildStar still has. In a conversation a few weeks ago, they spoke vaguely about “several hundred thousand players,” so at least 200,000. NCSoft did not want to specify this number when asked by the US magazine massively.
271 employees before release – now 60 have been laid off
Recently, Mike Donatelli sat down and talked with the publisher of NCSoft. They are experts and specialize in MMOs. They believe in a future for the game and want to continue supporting WildStar. Carbine wants to hold the Korean publisher to that word, as stated in the conversation with eurogamer.
The layoffs at Carbine by NCSoft were confirmed by Donatelli. No official numbers were known before. According to a source from the US site Polygon, 60 employees of Carbine have been laid off. The number seems correct according to Donatelli: “So in that range, yes.” Before the launch of WildStar, they had significantly increased the team, at its peak employing 271 people. Even now, hundreds are still working on WildStar. Layoffs are tough, but they are part of the business.
Negative employee reviews were the result of frustration over layoffs
The negative reports from former employees on the “Employees rate their company and management” site Glassdoor are, according to Chad Moore, also the result of these layoffs. They have nonetheless addressed each individual criticism, taken it seriously, and learned a lot from it. Overall, they have become a different, better studio since the launch of the game.
With the current update, they have primarily addressed the numerous bugs. Fixing them was a priority. Looking to the future and with the next content drop, they have set the goal of continuing to work on the game and, above all, offering more to solo players and smaller groups in the endgame. This is currently seen as the biggest challenge. Players should also be rewarded richer in WildStar.
On our WildStar topic page you can find a lot of information about the MMO, although – lately – often rather bad news. These have been dominant in recent months, as can be seen from the course of this conversation. Hopefully, happier times will come again soon.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The launch trailer for the World of Warcraft add-on “Warlords of Draenor” has been released: In the Age of Iron, the conflict between Azeroth and the Iron Horde of Draenor begins.
Blizzard is making a big splash a few hours before the release – it is supposed to start at midnight in Azeroth. In the launch trailer “Age of Iron,” the characters of the upcoming expansion once again have time to mark their territory. You see the Warlords in action, there are strong quotes, and the Draenei also get their appearance, although their Slavic accents in the German voice-over can still be a bit confusing.
The farming of upgrade materials in Destiny such as Helium Filaments, Relic Iron, Ghost Flower, and Spinmetal is supposed to change, likely becoming more action-oriented.
It must have been a bit like shouting your frustration about the world into the forest, and then someone answers: “You’re right, I’ll take care of it.” In the Destiny subreddit, a user explained their issues with the game: they can no longer see any chests. That would be the only thing that could still advance them in the game.
User complains on Reddit about the monotonous farming of materials in Destiny
Every day, PolygonMan wrote on Reddit, they log in less frequently. They have weapons, they also have the ascendant materials, they have XP, they have everything that they can usually achieve in the game through shooting: “The only thing I need now can only be obtained by running in circles for hours and opening chests.”
Investing hours into the same monotonous task is not fundamentally a problem. They have nothing against grinding, but the chest farming is so mind-numbingly boring that they can’t bring themselves to do it anymore. And all of this just for these materials? Who even thought of this! Running in circles forever in a shooter without shooting. For such a sacrilege, heads should roll.
The community on Reddit shared their frustration. It’s also not really clear what the purpose of farming the materials is. In every other part of Destiny, the gunplay, the shooting, comes to life; during material farming, though, there’s just endless running. Farming planetary materials (Spinmetal, Helium Filaments, Ghost Flower, and Relic Iron) remains a necessary evil, if you want to upgrade your items and progress further in the endgame.
More hunting, less gathering – will the boxes soon face the axe?
Well, that wouldn’t be anything special. Everywhere on the internet, there are long discussions and reasonable complaints about weaknesses in the game mechanics. But then came the surprise. The complaints from the community were heard. Bungie’s community manager DeeJ floated into the thread and said: “We will have you hunt more than gather in the future.” They listened to the thread starter and people who think like him and heard their complaints.
Apparently, Bungie realized that the pacifistic farming of upgrade materials in Destiny was somehow the wrong idea and is now steering against it. One can only guess what Destiny is planning exactly; perhaps we can soon say goodbye to the chests, and then the upgrade materials will drop – like everything else – from enemies. That upgrading is supposed to become “more interesting” was already stated in the last Weekly Update.
By the way, there’s a bunch of videos on the best “farm runs” to the chests, we’ve compiled a few:
Helium Filaments on the Moon
http://youtu.be/PCpa0IcShF0
Spinmetal on Earth: http://youtu.be/zEdiV7gRRF8
Ghost Flowers can be found on Venus: http://youtu.be/O2KF2-zjMlQ
And the Relic Iron then from Mars: http://youtu.be/YGOL6TNLVhY
The Collector’s Edition of Warlords of Draenor is in the hands of a YouTuber. She is working on the expansion of World of Warcraft in an unboxing video.
Unboxing videos are somewhat like watching other people eat. Still, or probably because of that, they are surprisingly popular. We have dug up an unboxing video of the Collector’s Edition for Warlords of Draenor – so of the box, digital would be quite silly. By the way, our favorite unboxing is the last five minutes of “Seven.”
The lady in the video is Michele Morrow, who according to massively was also a co-host of Blizzcon. Have fun watching her unpack (not what you think). If you want to read about what’s included in the Collector’s Edition of Warlords of Draenor, click here. At midnight, WoD will seamlessly transition to the live servers.
http://youtu.be/O63hFmWz37A
And here’s another little picture:
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The long-awaited Western port of the Korea MMO Blade and Soul (Blade&Soul) is slowly taking shape. Now they are looking for key staff for the West.
There has been trouble surrounding NCSoft’s Korea MMO Blade and Soul for some time. The port to the West has been delayed. Recently, there was a sign of life, when an employee from NCSoft dropped some hints at Gamescom in Cologne. After that, there was another “ping” on the EKG, when it was said at an Nvidia event, they really want to release it (unfortunately, they had incorrectly translated the Korean original in the video subtitles, an announced release still in 2014 turned out to be a serious mistranslation).
So far, fans have not really trusted the situation, having been disappointed too often in the past.
However, another sign has now emerged that NCSoft is serious about it, even though things haven’t been going so well in the West lately. NCSoft is advertising two important positions for the office in California: They are looking for a Brand Manager for Blade and Soul and also a Publishing Producer.
These seem to be exactly the people needed to create hype for Blade and Soul in the West. A port and a soon-to-be release seem to be secure.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The Korean MMO Black Desert is a feast for the eyes. This is once again shown by screenshots of one of the classes, the female Ranger.
The Korean MMO Black Desert has released new screenshots of the Hunter class “the Ranger” or better said “the female Ranger” – the Korea MMO is known to have a gender lock. The screenshots look fantastic once again.
The MMO has such impressive graphics that a video about character creation was enough to make MMO players worldwide gasp in awe. Black Desert has completed the third Closed Beta phase in Korea and is expected to release there soon. Here in the West, at least that’s the plan, the beta begins in early 2015, and the game is supposed to be released in 2016.
If you want to have something to look at, but also want to learn about the gameplay, we recommend our preview of Black Desert.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
