Blizzard’s long-held prestige project Titan has failed. Blizzard does not want to be just an MMORPG company; it wants to try its hand in other fields, but hopes to continue operating World of Warcraft for a long time.
In an interview with Polygon, Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaine was almost a bit poetic, although the reality was rather mundane. They got entangled with Titan. It simply didn’t come together, the spark didn’t ignite, it was a head-heavy stillbirth, as the interview reveals.
Titan: A Brainchild Without Passion
Titan was planned as the next “right step,” conceived on the drawing board as a logical evolution of World of Warcraft. The next big MMORPG from the company that knows better than anyone how big and how MMORPG can be. Yet, they never found the fun in the project, never discovered the spark, nor the passion. A few good approaches, certainly, yes. But nothing beyond that. They eventually asked themselves: “Do we really want to be this? Do we want to be the company that makes MMORPGs? Do we want to start this with our lives and careers?”
Apparently, they found the answer, and it is “No.”
For Blizzard, the era of big MMORPGs is over; World of Warcraft should continue to live on
For years, the project “Titan” haunted the media world as a massive endeavor. Everything that bears Blizzard’s name is three floors larger than elsewhere. Websites for Titan have been reserved for years – one could say a brilliantly made investment. Much more than a bit of speculation and mumbo-jumbo will likely be read on those pages.
What has not been interpreted into Titan? World of Warcraft 2 was often mentioned. The WoW that was supposed to replace WoW when Father Time would finally win, and people would have enough of Azeroth. “World of Starcraft” circulated as a not particularly innovative alternative theory through the forums.
Officially, there were snippets: Next-Gen, broader target audience than WoW, post-apocalyptic, historical, science-fiction-like, would take place in the near future, and then maybe would rather be free-to-play. At times, it was incredibly fun, then it was just the shell of a game. Eventually, Blizzard decided to restart development completely to see what could be salvaged.
And what was it then? Polygon wasn’t told that either. Only that the time for such a large MMORPG prestige project is probably over. Smaller games in other genres like Heroes of the Storm or Hearthstone are expected to shape Blizzard’s future.
In the MMORPG sector, they stick with World of Warcraft. “Personally, I would hope that we can continue WoW forever,” says Mike Morhaine in the interview.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The God MMO Skyforge is currently being developed only for PC. However, a port to other platforms is not ruled out.
The fantasy/SF MMO Skyforge, currently one of the largest MMO projects that few people are talking about, already seems at the moment as if it is being designed for consoles like the Playstation 4 or the XBox One: The controls are primarily based on combos and alternating pressing of the mouse buttons, the menus look organic and clear, and the combat system is arcade-like and action-oriented. Actually predestined for a console port. And MMOs are trending on next-gen consoles.
However, as announced in a recent Q&A session, a potential console port is still a distant prospect. At the moment, the game is being developed exclusively for PC. However, the developers can imagine a port to other platforms. Skyforge is set to enter closed beta by the end of 2014.
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In Tera, the BAM Kill Event has ended. 5 million of the creatures caught the players.
Do you remember the video from some time ago, in which En Masse Entertainment called for a Kickstarter-like initiative to gain control over the allegedly completely out-of-control Big-Ass-Monster population in Tera? The event is now over and was a great success. 5 million BAMs had to face their fate.
In a video, En Masse now thanks the fans. And as can be seen from the Community Manager, Bob “Tonka”, and the staff in the outtakes, not only did the players enjoy it, but the employees at the US publisher of the Free2Play MMO did as well: “It reminded us all how great it is to work at a video game company. And it’s just *beep* fantastic.”
This was the first event of its kind, but surely not the last.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The League of Legends World Championships are currently taking place. With enough promotion and a high prize pool, it is one of the eSport tournaments of the last few years. A stadium from the 2002 FIFA World Cup has been booked for the finals. It’s time to take a closer look at the buzz surrounding LoL and the eSport industry.
The Development of League of Legends
Now in Season 4, Riot has already held 3 championships. In 2011, this took place as part of DreamHack in Sweden. The audience could be counted on one hand and the total prize money was “only” 99,500 dollars. In 2012 and 2013, it was already 2 million dollars that were awarded as prize money. Also noteworthy was the location chosen for the championship in 2013. Nothing less than the Staples Center in Los Angeles was rented for Worlds 2013. For the finals, 32 million viewers tuned in via stream. Here, Riot already showed where the journey would go.
This year, the preliminary rounds of the World Championship are taking place in Taipei and Singapore. The finals will be contested at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, which accommodates around 65,000 spectators. With 2.1 million dollars, the prize money has slightly increased again.
Riot – Establishing a Brand
Riot has long made it clear that League of Legends is more than just a bit of eSports and a pastime on Sunday afternoons. Through professional videos, both about the history of LoL and for promotion, Riot aims to establish a brand. A fan culture is to emerge, teams are elevated, and, as in professional sports, there are feuds between individual regions, teams, or players. Before the Worlds, Riot released a three-part documentary – “Road to the Worlds” – which stands up to professional coverage from the sports world. With Imagine Dragons, an original soundtrack was even created.
Additionally, it was announced that the lore, that is, the story surrounding League of Legends, will be polished and filled with new content. This is intended to create a stronger bond between the player and the game. Riot is doing everything to ensure that League of Legends continues to define the tone in the eSport industry for years to come. Not entirely selfless, as this will allow new players and thus paying customers to be generated.
Professional Casting with Experts
What continually surprises me is the pre-reporting before the league or world championship games: adult men discussing the tactics of a computer game for hours. And very professionally, without saying “lol”, “wtf” or “rofl”. No nerds, but at the level of a sports journalist, recruited among others from the participating teams themselves.
This year’s expert team includes Mitch Voorspoels, alias Krepo. The Belgian usually plays for the team Evil Geniuses, which, however, did not qualify for the Worlds. He now shares his opinions on certain game moves with other professionals like Doublelift, gives insights into the world of a pro player, and is happy when former teammates win. It’s enjoyable to listen to the expert team and the commentators during the games, and it shows that eSport has also made significant advances in this area.
Creating a Fan Culture
Of course, loyal fans are also part of the sport, who cheer even in defeat. Some of the teams competing at a professional level in League of Legends have existed for quite some time. Fnatic, for example, has been around since 2004 and established its LoL team in 2011. Thus, a certain fan base already existed. With epic game moves, teams or individual players gain significant reputation and thereby attract new fans.
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During the league games, which are divided across the continents, one follows a team with excitement and hopes that it qualifies for the LoL World Championship. During the Worlds, I must admit that I am more excited when a European team shows the Koreans what’s what. Individual players are also in the spotlight of the coverage and become prominent figures on the top, mid, or bot lane and in the jungle, who often earn 600,000 euros a year – thanks to merchandise and Twitch streaming.
Excited for the Future
I look forward to the further development of the LoL scene in the eSport sector, as there is still more potential here. Season after season, the game is improved, and more players are pushing into the professional level, which ensures even more competition. Also, the sponsorship of individual teams is reaching new heights, as impressively shown by Samsung Blue or Samsung White. Other brands will follow suit and also invest in this area of eSports. This can only be positive and other games like Dota 2, Starcraft 2, and the shooter genre can benefit from League of Legends’ professionalization. Unfortunately, MMOs are still struggling with implementation.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO Destiny, the first player has reached the maximum level of 30.
A few hours after the release, it was already said: Someone has reached max level. But that only referred to level 20, which is, as we all know today, really not a big deal. The real stress starts later when it comes to getting the best gear to increase the Light levels.
While you can already see some “well-equipped” players at levels 26, 27, or 28 in raids and in videos, there hasn’t been anyone who has made it to the current maximum, the Light level of 30, in Destiny. Until now.
The first to reach 30 in Destiny: 107 hours of playtime
As reported by eurogamer.net, American Mark Edward Neace Jr., known as N3AC3Y in Destiny, managed yesterday to be the first in the world to break this sound barrier and reach the highest peak. He equipped an exotic and eight legendary items for this.
His playtime: 107 hours. Of that, 13 were spent in the Glass Tower, Destiny’s new raid. A quarter of the time was spent by the now highest guardian in the world in the Crucible.
He completed the rush to maximum level as a male Exo Hunter on Xbox.
Second and third hunters also present
And as a small side note: He has a total of three hunters on his account. The “lower” ones are level 20 and 21.
So it could be possible that in-game trading has taken place. Although players cannot trade with other accounts, it is possible within their own account. Normally, one uses this to share the wrong loot with twinks, but it could also go in the other direction: It is conceivable that if one hunter has already exhausted the lockout, one goes out with the second or third hunter to see if fortune favors them. Or at least, that one has this option for later raids. In other games, top guilds also use their twinks to achieve the best loot with their mains, albeit with slightly different methods.
According to reports from his guild Tier 1, Neace has managed to set this record for eternity without having received an early copy of Destiny and without completely giving up his social life.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, the “Queen’s Wrath” event has started today and will run until October 6. We have all the items and missions for you.
Bungie wants to offer players variety and new experiences with Destiny regularly. Two weeks after the release, the “Queen’s Wrath” event has started, giving players the opportunity to gather new items, earn reputation with the Queen, and take on some bounties, indulge in a brief bloodlust, and complete them.
The bounties are not drastically special, but more or less tasks that you would generally do in Destiny – in the service of the Vanguard. The weapons also do not exactly blow the heads off the battle-hardened and well-equipped veterans. More rewarding are the rewards from the story missions that appear as soon as a bounty is completed. Here, guaranteed legendary items await.
The Missions of “Queen’s Wrath”
Vg247 has compiled the individual missions:
HER WILLFUL GAZE | +100 QF +5000xp | Defeat 20 Guardians with Scout Rifle headshots
BY THY HAND | +50 QF +2500xp | Defeat 20 Guardians with Hand Cannon headshots
ARCHON SLAYER | +100 QF +5000xp | Defeat Riksis in the mission Restoration on Earth
LAST DAYS OF WINTER | +100 QF +5000xp | Defeat Draksis in the Scourge of Winter on Venu
The Items of “Queen’s Wrath”
And you can find all the items under this link, that you can collect in this new event. The vendor for the items is located in a previously inaccessible area behind the former Bounty vendor. Now the curtains have been lifted, and the Tower has become a bit larger, as it is said on reddit.
You will need reputation rank 2 with the new faction for the weapons and armor items, while rank 1 is sufficient for emblems and shaders.
We have already gathered the first videos and clips from the internet for you, which show among other things, where the vendor is exactly located. Because let’s be honest: What do you ask first when something new comes to an MMO? “Where is the new vendor, and what items are available?”
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This video is about the guaranteed legendary items, that can drop during the event if you complete a bounty first and then finish a level-24 story mission. The trick here is to select weapons that match the enemies waiting for you in the mission:
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ArcheAge had a rocky start. In an interview, Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman discusses the background.
In a conversation with the US MMO site massively, Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman talks about the reasons for the rocky start: They were simply overwhelmed by the players.
“We will have the second million players much earlier than we thought”
In conversation with massively: Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman.
Based on their own games, participation, and interest, they had predicted how many servers they would need. They had absolute access to this data. And until the head start, the forecasts had always proven correct.
In addition to these internal data, external factors might also play a role, such as the overall situation in the MMO market.
During the Open Beta, there were no queues. And they had “overflow servers” ready and brought them online immediately when it became clear that they would be needed.
When asked if he could provide exact numbers on how many players ArcheAge had, Hartsman said: “Of course, we will be able to announce the second million significantly earlier than we expected.”
ArcheAge Queues: It is unrealistic to secure against such a case
It was not the existence of a buffer, but its size that was the problem. In the lead-up to the launch, they had spent millions of dollars preparing for the start. It is not realistic to turn that into ten million dollars just to secure against a highly unlikely event. If the technology in cloud computing develops further and can provide a viable alternative for MMOs like ArcheAge, he looks forward to it. They had considered the technology, but it was not a viable alternative.
In other games that had a higher influx than anyone expected, it took weeks and months for new servers to go online. At Trion Worlds, they reacted quickly and immediately contacted vendors to order more hardware. The servers were on the way, and ArcheAge remained playable despite the problems.
They were also still cautious about opening too many servers so that they wouldn’t later face the problem of ghost servers. Here, it is important to find a balance between long-term healthy servers and short-term wait times.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A new patch has been released for Destiny at the start of the week. What looks like a nerf is, according to the pros, a nerf of Glimmer farming opportunities.
In Destiny, the week starts on Tuesday, then the ID and any earned bonuses expire, and there is an opportunity for a patch in Destiny. The current one, 1.1.0.4, seems like a minor instance nerf. “Nerf” refers to weakening (from “not even remotely fair”). However, some are surprised that these missions, which were hardly mentioned, are now the target of such a weakening.
In the Destiny subreddit, they believe in a farming nerf
The pros on reddit have a solution for this contradiction: It’s not a nerf, it just aims to stop a trick in instances through which players could farm Glimmer, the currency.
Players went into these missions on Mars and Moon, farmed Glimmer, and then committed in-game suicide to respawn and start the game over. With these changes, Bungie aims to put an end to that:
Instances
Shrine of Oryx: Reduced difficulty by removing majors from Heroic tiers
Sword of Crota: Reduced difficulty by removing majors from Heroic tiers
Exclusion Zone: Reduced difficulty by removing majors from Heroic tiers
Additionally, the newly opened raid, The Glass Chamber, will be the target of a fix. This should prevent unfair wipes at the end of the raid.
Raids
Dropping the relic at the end of the raid will no longer result in a team wipe. This will prevent players being stuck at a black screen after the raid.
You will remain dead if you were dead when the mission ended. That will be addressed by a future patch.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The sandpark MMO ArcheAge lowers the price for the one-month Patron status.
They wanted to align with the Patron prices of Rift and are now doing so.
Before the launch of ArcheAge, it was always said: If one wants to know how expensive the Patron status will be, one should refer to Rift. Rift is another free-to-play game from Trion Worlds. The launch brought the surprise and also disappointment: 14.99 euros cost a month of Patron in ArcheAge, which was two euros more expensive than in Rift.
As expected, this led to some complaints from players, who pointed out to Trion Worlds that they did not adhere to what was promised. And Trion Worlds has responded. They have figured out where the misunderstanding lay and want to ensure that such things do not happen again in the future.
ArcheAge stands by its word, brings prices to Rift level
To show that they stand by their word, Trion Worlds is now adjusting the prices for the Patron subscription to Rift level. There is barely any change for the three-month and six-month subscriptions. However, the one-month subscription drops significantly:
One month of Patron previously cost 14.99€ and now only 12.99€.
Three months of Patron previously cost 35.99€ and now 35.97€.
Six months of Patron were previously available for 59.99€ and now for 59.94€.
Players who previously purchased the one-month Patron status at the “more expensive” price will receive a compensation of 450 credits in ArcheAge. This is the in-game currency.
The Patron status grants an increased labor point regeneration in ArcheAge (which is a type of energy needed for crafting tasks). Additionally, only Patrons are allowed to own land and pay taxes for it. Upon logging in, they are also given priority treatment and get through the queue faster than free-to-play players.
Trion Worlds has not yet commented on the price for APEX. It costs 10$ or 10€, although euros and dollars do not have a 1:1 exchange rate.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The well-known YouTuber Angry Joe now reviews Bungie’s MMO shooter Destiny and comes to a rather negative conclusion.
Angry Joe, a YouTube entertainer with a short temper, has taken Bungie’s MMO shooter Destiny into account in his latest video review. Angry Joe’s videos are known to be polarizing. They are presented passionately and have a high entertainment value: The speech is repeatedly interrupted by scenes from the game, and pop culture clips are also used.
He has created a character called Cobra Commander, a villain from G.I. Joe, to clearly illustrate and symbolize the “commercial side” of video games. And this character appears several times in the review of Destiny. This is not a good sign. Angry Joe believes that the publisher Activision has pressured the developer Bungie to hold back some great elements of the game now to make a business out of them later as DLC. For him, there is no other explanation for why Destiny, despite the huge budget, feels so empty and unfinished.
Therefore, the biggest criticisms are the story, which in Angry Joe’s eyes seems unfinished, and that there is simply so little to do. Bungie has primarily laid the groundwork with Destiny to sell paid DLCs. In doing so, they have overlooked the enjoyment of the base game. This is a dangerous path that game developers are treading. One must be careful that this does not become the norm.
The unfair drop distribution (which leads to one of the mentioned outbursts of anger) and some repetitive quests disturb Angry Joe’s enjoyment of the game. Peter Dinklage’s lack of enthusiasm as the exposition-provider Ghost also provided reason for complaint.
On the positive side, he highlights the graphics and sound of the game. Moreover, the gunplay is fantastic, and he also enjoys the PvP. He seems to have a hard time letting go of Destiny, just like many others.
In the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, the next patch is already on the horizon. 1.4.4 focuses primarily on PvP and balance.
It has been a week since the fourth update reached Tamriel. On Tuesday morning, players on the European mega-server are expected to enjoy the next patch, which aims to fix some of the difficulties encountered in Cyrodiil, the PvP zone.
The cause of an issue that led to client crashes in Cyrodiil has been identified; they are addressing castle doors that remained locked, and modifying a save behavior that caused problems.
Furthermore, balance adjustments are being made in many areas. Fully charged attacks now return either stamina or mana. And the annoying “head bobbing” while running is also to be reduced.
The full patch notes in German can be found here. The patch will be deployed tomorrow morning as usual, unless Molag’Bal shows up and causes an unreasonably out-of-date apocalypse.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the free online card game Hearthstone, two dominant cards are being nerfed. The starving buzzard was no fun for the opponent and caused a Hunter boom. An era is coming to an end with Leeroy Jenkins. But what is really behind the nerfs?
Leeroy Jenkins will cost five mana instead of four starting tomorrow morning. “Starving Buzzard,” an important class card for Hunters, is being completely reworked and raised from two to five mana, receiving only slightly improved stats in return. We have already presented the nerfs here.
Professional card player, Brian Kibler, who created the WoW Trading Card Game, gained fame in Magic: The Gathering, and is also a legendary player in Hearthstone, discusses the backgrounds of the nerf in a blog post that is also being discussed on Reddit.
Buzzard had to be changed, was a fun killer
Kibler believes that the buzzard made it onto the nerf endangered species list because it promotes a play style in Hearthstone that Blizzard does not want to see. The buzzard instills fear in the opponent to play their own minions on the field in combination with “Unleash the Hounds!”. For every enemy minion on the board, “Unleash the Hounds!” summons a 1/1 beast. The “Starving Buzzard” in turn gives the Hunter a card for every summoned beast. Those facing a Hunter hesitated to bring out too many of their own minions for fear of the mana-efficient yet powerful combo.
Blizzard wants to make Hearthstone a game of minion against minion, Kibler states. Hunters disrupted this idea. It became especially frustrating for Shamans and Paladins to face them. They could not even safely use their hero power.
Some players had called for the “Unleash the Hounds!” card to be nerfed instead of the buzzard. After all, it was part of the problem. But Kibler sees it differently: The card is strong in conjunction with the hyena, but still within acceptable limits and can still be played well in the future. The problem is the “engine” card, the buzzard. This was where action needed to be taken.
Leeroy a wrong approach to nerf in Hearthstone – is just a symbol, not the cause
While the buzzard nerf found favor with Kibler, the situation is different for Leeroy. He serves as a finisher in complex combinations that require 3 or more cards, previously acting as a kind of closing stone. But it is not these combinations (among others with Shadowstep or Faceless Manipulator) that are the problem, but the ability of Rogues and Warlocks to easily draw their entire deck, the so-called “cycling”.
Therefore, Kibler is more focused on the Auctioneer, who lets you draw a new card with every spell, and on the Warlock’s hero power. Leeroy as a card serves more as a symbol for decks that get the right card combination into their hands quickly through card draw to win swiftly. But it is not Leeroy that is crucial, but the cards that allow for that draw.
The future after the nerf: Hunters dead, Handlock dominant
Leeroy can also be replaced by cards like Al’Akir with Rockbiter weapons or other finishers. Last week, a tournament took place where Leeroy and the buzzard had already been banned, Kibler notes. The result: Hunters were hardly played at all. Instead, there were a lot of Handlocks who dominated the tournament with their hero power and superior card draw.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the fantasy MMO Final Fantasy XIV, there has been a real trailer overload for the upcoming Patch 2.4. Four trailers have been presented in Tokyo.
The Patch 2.4 cannot come soon enough in Final Fantasy XIV. Not only is the housing market situation in Eorzea almost as bad as in this other game, but too much cool stuff is coming to FF14 to wait any longer. We introduced you just a few days ago to what awaits you in 2.4, and now we have the corresponding trailers. And they’re impressive: Ninjas in action, new dungeons, and a first look at Shiva.
Here is the official trailer:
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In the MMO shooter Destiny , a farming spot for legendary engrams has become well known. The spot, affectionately dubbed “Treasure Cave” by fans, proves to be an inexhaustible source of enemies and thus items.
It is a kind of holy grail in every fresh MMO: a spot, a location in the game, with infinite respawn, that is easy to farm and promises rich loot . In Diablo, the cult around a secret spot with the cow level has been commemorated. In the past, true mysteries arose around such spots; they were only shared among friends or guild members so that no one else could benefit from the precious source of endless looting or EXP.
In every game, treasure hunters have been searching for such an El Dorado since the beginning of MMOs, a land of milk and honey where loot grows on trees. Whether it came about through the developers’ mistake or as a result of a deliberate design decision.
Such a spot has now been found in Destiny: a cave from which an unending stream of mobs emerges, bringing engrams and drops with them.
When decrypting these engrams, with luck, either legendary items come out right away or at least a bunch of green items. Additionally, you can level up the Cryptarch with engrams in Destiny, and he will then send legendary items by mail.
Normally, one would refer to such a spot as a “secret tip,” but after the video from Force Strategy Gaming, which we are presenting to you subsequently, has already garnered over 130,000 hits, US sites like Polygon or Kotaku report on it prominently, and there is even a code of conduct for the cave on Reddit, this secret tip has probably run its course. Destiny is simply so big that nothing remains secret.
What is the “Treasure Cave” in Destiny?
The Treasure Cave in Destiny is a spot from which waves of low-level mobs continuously stream. If they are shot down immediately upon spawning from a safe distance, they fall down, and the next wave spawns.
On your own, the spawn is hardly manageable, but that doesn’t matter: due to the popularity of the cave and Destiny’s fame, someone is always camping there. If the spawn is unexpectedly off, it only means that mobs have escaped and are wandering in the open field. They need to be taken down.
Important for the Treasure Cave: Everyone must be behind the green marker, which can also be seen on the left side in the video; otherwise, it blocks the spawn. Therefore, it should be agreed not to loot too often but only when enough stuff is lying around and it’s worth it. Then it’s best to move forward as a group.
More tips have surfaced in the English-speaking subreddit for Destiny. It is ideal to use a weapon that deals explosive damage and to pick up the ammunition you shoot. This automatically collects all the loot, allowing for uninterrupted farming. The use of a scout or pulse rifle is especially recommended.
As seen in the video, you don’t even have to kill mobs yourself to loot; you can also benefit from the kills of others. At the moment, this cave really seems to be the El Dorado in Destiny: the stuff legends are made from. Until the fix. It is already expected. It can’t be that Bungie leaves such a thing in the game, they say. Some suspect that Bungie intentionally designed this cave to create legends around it that will live on long after its collapse. Somewhat poetic.
How to get to the spot, where to position yourself, and what loot you can expect is explained in this video:
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10,000 botters have been banned in the sandbox MMO ArcheAge, new EU servers might come as early as Tuesday.
There is another status update fresh from the sandbox MMO ArcheAge. On Sunday night US time and Monday morning our time, the CEO of Trion Worlds, Scott Hartsman, spoke out. The whole weekend, Trion Worlds has been working hard to deliver the best possible outcome for the players.
EU servers are set to clear customs on Tuesday
“On the internet, an hour feels like a day, and a day feels like a week,” Hartsman said. Therefore, he understands how impatient European players are waiting for the new servers. At the moment, the new hardware for the European servers is still in customs.
It is expected to clear customs on Tuesday. Technicians are already on standby to bring the hardware online as quickly as possible. Hartsman cannot specify exactly when the servers will arrive. A community manager mentioned in another post “before next weekend.”
Daily restarts are expected to relieve clogged servers in ArcheAge
The issue with “clogging” AFK players blocking valuable capacity on the servers is being addressed with daily restarts. This should at least temporarily alleviate the congestion. Additionally, players are also being manually removed from the game.
According to Hartsman, a fix for these AFK problem players could arrive as early as Monday or Tuesday our time, which should significantly reduce the long queues. During peak times, too much space is currently being taken up by AFK players.
Furthermore, according to Hartsman, Trion Worlds has already banned about 10,000 botters and cheaters from the game in the past few days. Over the weekend, the servers in North America were also victims of a DDoS attack, but it ended without major issues and the game continued running all the time. According to Hartsman, Europe was not affected by this attack.
Regarding the possibility of compensation, Hartsman stated that they have already credited the Patron players last week to compensate for the head start, where many lacked Patron status. They have now expanded this so that the Patron status has only been calculated since last Saturday.
Update 9 PM: For a change, some good news from Trion Worlds, the servers were able to clear customs a day earlier than planned and are currently being prepared. The schedule could therefore be moved forward.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Wargaming, the developers of the tank MMO World of Tanks, provide a taste of the promised “fun mode” with a gameplay trailer. This is called “Tank Rally” and will be open to WoT players from September 29 to October 12.
On a modified version of the map “Port”, teams compete on an obstacle course to be the first to cross the finish line. The tracked vehicles not only drive alongside each other but also make life difficult for each other with rocket fire and ramming tactics. But not only projectiles make the race an explosive experience. The creators also promise additional interaction possibilities, such as spectacular jumps that are supposed to bring a whole new dynamic to the free-to-play online shooter.
Unlike Formula 1, all participants of the rally are given the same competitive conditions. Without exception, the pilots only have access to the tank model “M24 Chaffee Sport”.
Mein MMO says: Wow, this strongly reminds us gaming nostalgic ones of the famous Mario Kart or even further back to the Amiga classic Super Cars. It’s a shame that the Tank Rally is of limited duration. The video looks like a very fun event that has been carefully crafted.
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The plan for the next week is now set for ArcheAge. On the overcrowded server Kyprosa, no new characters can soon be created, new servers for Europe are on the way, and inquiries have also been made in Korea regarding server transfers.
Surge ten times greater than expected
The queues at the fresh sandpark MMO ArcheAge are still large. ArcheAge used the values from the beta as a reason to conclude the interest of players at launch.
Thus, they provided enough servers and then a few in reserve. However, the surge was ten times greater than expected, as Community Manager Scapes states in the official forum. And the reserve servers had to be brought online soon.
ArcheAge and the sleeping jury
The queues are due not only to the surge but also to tricks that allow players to stay on the servers even when they are not at the computer. This way, they avoid the AFK check, bypass queues that occur when relogging, and also increase their labor point regeneration. This leads to some absurd situations like this sleeping jury, as can be seen in a screenshot posted on reddit:
In the ArcheAge forum and also on reddit, accusations against Trion Worlds are increasing, stating that they left some loopholes open, allowing players to remain logged in indefinitely even if they had not been active for hours.
These loopholes include, for example, sitting AFK in a courtroom or hitting a training dummy for hours.
As a comment on reddit states: “People have known all the dirty tricks since Korea and every single one still works here.” Some therefore demand to increase labor point regeneration even when players are offline to at least curb this incentive.
This is what Trion Worlds plans to do next week
Trion Worlds wants to solve the issues with long queues primarily through three measures:
When the new servers arrive, the creation of new characters will no longer be possible on the largest server Kyprosa, which has a higher capacity than the rest. Trion Worlds reserves the right to prohibit character creation on other European servers as well. In the USA, such a ban already applies to four worlds.
At XLGames, the Korean developer, inquiries have also been made about whether a type of server transfer can be offered. Currently, Trion Worlds cannot do that yet. If this service comes that allows players to move from overcrowded servers to new or low-populated worlds, it will probably happen without land ownership.
In the MMO shooter Destiny, the Guardian’s power increases through equipment starting at level 20. What tricks are there to increase the Light Level with Marks, Coins, and Materials ?
Those who rely on luck in Destiny are left behind
In Destiny, many players become frustrated with the Light Level. Progress can only be made with better gear. Those relying on Engrams and hoping that a legendary Engram yields a legendary item are often disappointed.
The tiny chance for useful random rewards after Strikes or rounds in the Crucible leads to frustration. Even if something great comes out, it may not fit the player’s class or has poor stat distribution. Is it therefore impossible to level up in Light? And does it all depend on luck? No, it doesn’t. That’s what the pros say in the English-speaking forum on reddit.
Marks, Coins, and Materials – the three Ms of Destiny
Instead of hoping that the Cryptarch or the RNG God takes pity on the poor Guardian, they should take matters into their own hands and rely on the three Ms: Marks, Coins, and Materials.
Engrams and RNG, the pro advises, should only be seen as a “nice bonus” and players shouldn’t invest too much hope in them. Players can earn guaranteed legendary items every week if they just know how. That’s the real opportunity to get a higher Light Level. According to a current guide, players should do the following each week:
collect the weekly maximum of Crucible or Vanguard Marks. This is easier than it seems by trading materials for the marks and participating in public events or patrol missions.
increase their reputation with factions. This is also facilitated by trading in materials. Those who reach rank 3 with a faction are guaranteed to receive a legendary weapon from the faction’s arsenal as a bonus.
earn Strange Coins. These become easier to obtain as you grow stronger. Either through the grind with blue Engrams and as mission rewards or when completing the heroic weekly quests at levels 24, 26, and 28 – then you get three coins each time.
With the Marks, players can stock up on guaranteed legendary items from the faction traders and can even get an exotic weapon or armor piece from the vendor Xur every weekend with the coins. Sounds much better than relying on chance.
It’s important for frustration-free achievement of the weekly caps on these Marks to actively pursue those activities that yield these Marks.
Materials as a key resource in Destiny
According to the guide creator, it is not widely known that the yields from planetary resources double after a Guardian achieves a certain amount of kills on a planet. With this bonus, 50 Materials per run can be obtained solely from chests and farming natural resources.
There are further bonuses of this kind that reward diligent work permanently. Those who complete 25 VIP patrol missions receive higher rewards for city tasks. By effectively utilizing these bonuses, players can save themselves a Strike or a round in the Crucible.
The heavy stuff is really worth it
Lucrative opportunities to use time effectively in Destiny also include patrol missions or public events. The materials can be exchanged for Marks at various merchants, and the Marks can ultimately be exchanged for items.
The stronger a Guardian becomes and the more the challenging missions and tasks open up for them, the less they have to rely on luck or grinding. Particularly the missions on the Nightfall difficulty in Destiny, designed for Light Level 28 and above, are repeatedly mentioned in every guide on reddit as an essential component to obtain excellent drops and unlock XP bonuses for the week. Destiny gives players the choice, as is common in MMOs, between doing an overwhelming amount of simple tasks or tackling fewer but harder challenges.
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For missions of this caliber, a full team of well-equipped and coordinated Guardians is recommended.
The point is: There are systems in place that significantly ease and shorten the path to increasing the Light Level.
500-800 Reputation gathering per hour
Also on reddit, there is an unusual method for quickly accumulating reputation. Here, three Guardians team up and divide the Cosmodrome among themselves. Each of the three takes a third of the area and clears it out as quickly as possible, keeping an eye on VIP missions.
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Founders are now receiving 30 free days as Patrons in the Sandpark MMO ArcheAge to compensate for the issues of last week.
After several attempts to restore the founders’ status and privileges, it seems to have finally succeeded on Saturday evening our time. After a night shift by Trion Worlds staff with the Korean developers of XLGames, who develop the original Korean game, they managed to solve the pesky Patron bug. This bug caused founders, who were supposed to receive benefits, to not get them in-game.
First, the 30 free days will be consumed
Those who log in as founders now and find that they only have 30 days of Patron status instead of significantly more, because they purchased a more expensive package, need not be alarmed. This is intentional. As the community manager Scapes informs, founders have received 30 free days as a “bonus” as Patrons.
First, the time from this bonus will be deducted, and only when the 30 days are up will the actual Patron game time begin. These bonus days should also apply to players who are not founders but have already purchased Patron time.
As seen in forum posts, not everyone has received this bonus time yet. However, this should happen gradually. Those who are still missing Patron time, which they are entitled to, should contact customer support.
ArcheAge has solved a problem, now it’s time to tackle the queues
Next, Trion Worlds is targeting the still long queues. While the USA has received two new servers, Luzius and Ezi, and a block is in place on the four largest servers to create new characters, the necessary hardware for additional European servers is on its way to the data center in Amsterdam and must pass through customs first. At least for Sunday, new EU servers are therefore ruled out.
Currently, Trion Worlds is working hard to improve the AFK check system and ensure that the queue advances faster until they can open new servers.
They likely do not want to increase the capacity of existing servers further. This has already been done – the servers have been increased by 20% since launch, with the most popular server even by 30%. Thus, Kyporsa is the largest ArcheAge server at least in the western hemisphere. According to Trion Worlds, further expansion would have negative effects on gameplay. There simply are not enough resources for such a server population, leading to technical issues.
Update Monday 10:30: In a statement, Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman now speaks of compensation for the Patron players, but not of 30 days, but rather that the Patron status will be calculated only from Saturday, September 20. This would be a credit of 8 days and a bonus of 4 days. Because the head start, which was originally not supposed to be counted towards Patron time, has indeed been accruing since September 12.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the survival MMO H1Z1, players – like soldiers – must watch out for prominent objects, such as water towers, if they want to meet up with friends.
The zombie MMO H1Z1 is supposed to be different. They have proclaimed “realism” as their goal. If there ever is a zombie apocalypse, it will unfold just like in H1Z1, fans and developers agree. Just as high-ranking US military officials once said that if attacked by giant combat robots, the US Army would respond just as in the Transformers movies, which were authentically researched.
Now, in a “realistic” zombie apocalypse, it would probably be hard to log in next to your friend or magically “sense” him on the mini-map. And in H1Z1, it is supposed to be part of the adventure to find each other in this world. Because it is expansive. And since the first areas of the world are modeled after the Pacific Northwest of the USA – which is a pretty sparsely populated region on the border with Canada – everything might look a bit bleak and monotonous. Many forests, farms, small villages – very little flickering neon light or cool water slides.
Therefore, players should prepare to meet up with friends based on distinctive landmarks, and those should also be clearly visible from afar. Phrases like “Meet me at the house with the doghouse” or “I am at the intersection where three zombies are lying in front of a pickup truck” make it difficult. Hence, well-visible water towers should serve as landmarks. They were recently introduced in a blog post, and to the delight of fans, they were all presented in multiple colors.
Well, saying it is the delight of fans might be a bit exaggerated. On Reddit, the announcement was rather met with gallows humor. There – as everywhere else – people are waiting for a date for early access. It seems that nothing will come of it in September either. SOE is not sending any signals in that direction. And at the Nvidia event, a delegation from H1Z1 was present, but unfortunately, nothing was announced.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
