3 Reasons why you should start with EVE Online

Nico Saborowski Nico Saborowski Reading time 3 minutes

EVE Online has been suffering the same fate for more than 10 years that WildStar is currently experiencing: “It’s dying“. True to the motto “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” EVE has always evolved and, to the surprise of many, remains the prime example of a sandbox RPG: Unlimited freedom instead of dull “Kill 10 monsters here and there” quests. But there are also other reasons to dive into the EVE universe.

Freedom – A Double-Edged Sword

As already mentioned: In EVE Online, there are no quests per se and there is no linear story. After the start, you choose between different directions, but you can abandon or pause them at any time. Career missions give you a small insight into what is possible: Miner, mission runner, producer, trader. You can also join an alliance and engage in PvP or gank unsuspecting beginners in seemingly safe areas, or be a miner and mine minerals in space, or…

Price Development EVE Online
As a trader, you monitor price development

Anyone starting EVE Online should say goodbye to terms like role or class. Anyone can do everything as long as they have the right skills. The skill system in EVE Online operates in real time. You reach level 2 of a skill in a few minutes, but some skills may take up to 30 days to master. You can always add or remove new skills from the queue. This and the endless possibilities that arise in the sandbox are also the reason why EVE is often considered not beginner-friendly. In fact, seasoned MMO veterans have difficulties with the options at the beginning. But once you come to terms with the freedom of EVE Online, it is more of a blessing than a curse.

CCP – The Developer with Humor

Blizzard, Carbine, NCSoft: These developers and publishers dominate the MMO world. However, EVE Online comes from the Icelandic company CCP Games. For a long time, this science fiction MMO was the sole project of the Icelanders. Accordingly, a lot of love goes into how they engage with the community. Once a year, the EVE Online Fanfest takes place in Reykjavik. Here, fans and game creators meet to exchange ideas about the current status or simply to celebrate a wild party. At the Fanfest, new content is presented and workshops are held. For example, the professional trader learns how prices for Titans have developed or how much inflation has risen in the EVE universe. The Fanfest is just one example of the customer proximity that CCP demonstrates. The developers and game masters also don’t shy away from rapping for the community.

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A statue that CCP has placed in Reykjavik has caused quite a stir. The monument is engraved with all player names! So, if you expect more than just the weekly Blue Post, EVE Online is the right place for you.

EVE Tutorials – Now Also for Beginners!

I already mentioned it: EVE Online is not very beginner-friendly. However, this reputation is no longer entirely justified. In recent years, CCP has done everything to ensure that newcomers can quickly integrate into the universe. The tutorial at the beginning and the career missions are just part of it. EVE has its own wiki where almost everything about the game is documented. There are also dedicated chat channels that are suitable only for beginners in EVE Online. Here, you can ask any question without being judged. MOBA players will believe they have landed in community heaven.

Beginner Help EVE Online
In the rookie channel, you’ll get help around the clock

It is also advisable to join a beginner corporation. There, you will be assisted and every question will be answered. If you ask nicely, the members will even fly missions with you or invite you to the dangerous 0.0 area. The German-speaking contact point is the EveGer Forum: Here you will find numerous threads, posts, and corporation requests.

EVE Online – It’s Worth it!

A sandbox where you can’t distinguish between good and evil, a deep connection of the developer to the players, and a helpful community that probably doesn’t exist anywhere else – all of this and much more is EVE Online. Not everyone likes the science fiction setting or unlimited freedom, but if you even just like a little bit of Star Wars and don’t want to kill wild boars anymore, you should at least try the 21-day trial!

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Destiny as a system seller: 399 Euros for MMO + PS4 or Xbox One at Amazon

Dawid Hallmann Dawid Hallmann Reading time 2 minutes

The MMO shooter Destiny will be released on September 9 and is already a real blockbuster: Never before has a video game with an unknown franchise been pre-ordered so often. But to fully enjoy Destiny, shouldn’t a next-gen console be gracing the living room?

Amazon is also thinking along these lines and is making an attractive offer to fans, which will surely entice some: For only €399, you can currently get the Playstation 4 or Xbox One, not alone, but in a bundle with Destiny. A good time to switch to the new console generation.

At the moment, the entire gaming world revolves almost entirely around Destiny – even some major newspapers are extensively reporting on the system seller, which is said to be the most expensive video game in history. It makes sense for Sony and Microsoft to bundle the MMO with their own next-gen consoles to benefit from the game’s attraction. This way, they want to boost sales of the Playstation 4 or Xbox One.

We at Mein MMO have been following the hope-bearer for quite a while. If you want to delve deeper into Destiny before landing on Venus, Mars, or the Moon, you can do so through the following articles:

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Destiny Amazon Xbox

Update: Microsoft has since caught up and is now selling the Xbox One console together with Destiny for only 399 EURO. You can reach the offer page on Amazon through the image.

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  1. PS4 und Destiny im Bundle bei Amazon

World of Warcraft Garnisonen: Invasionen, Handwerksvorteile und Questreihen

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

On Twitter, two of the leading developers of World of Warcraft, namely the Lead Game Designer Cory Stockton and the Lead Narrative Designer Dave Kosak, took the time to answer a lot of questions from the community about garrisons on Twitch; we have summarized the most interesting statements for you here.

Crafting Benefits of the Garrison

It is already known that garrisons will play a more important role than originally planned. Crafters benefit in several ways from them. If you equip your garrison with a crafting building that you know how to use (for example, you are a tailor and build a tailor shop), you will have access to particularly powerful recipes, and the daily cooldown of your special resource will be reduced.

Garrison Crafting in World of Warcraft

However, if you construct a building for a profession you do not master (for example, you are a tailor and build a blacksmith), you will be able, with the help of your NPC companions, to craft all items of that profession, except for the highest quality ones – logically, because you would need to be a blacksmith for that.

Long-lasting Questline

Your garrison has its own questline that will be unlocked gradually, presumably on a weekly basis. For about the first eight weeks, you will meet characters and be able to recruit them, before ‘the more interesting things’ happen. What exactly that is, of course, has not yet been revealed, but so far there are enough quests to keep the system running for 16 weeks – so 4 months until a possible patch continues the storyline. Although the quests can be completed alone, it should not be a problem to tackle them with other players.

Fight Back the Invaders – Invite Your Friends!

World of Warcraft - Garrison Horde

Occasionally, your garrison may be attacked; the game will ensure that this happens a little differently each time. The enemies will try to break your walls and capture your NPCs, and you must prevent this, of course. Depending on how well you perform, you will receive a medal at the end: bronze, silver, and gold, each with varying rewards. If you don’t get ‘gold’ right away, it pays to invite a few friends next time, as they can help you in battle – an important social component of the garrison.

Death Knights Get a Special Treat

All Death Knights can look forward to a small additional feature – if the undead knights are revered with the “Order of the Ebon Blade”, they can replace all their garrison guards with Death Knights. With that, nothing stands in the way of the dark fortress!

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Source(s):
  1. twitch.tv/wow

State of Decay as MMO? – Will DayZ and H1Z1 face more zombie competition?

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

The signs are increasing that the zombie franchise “State of Decay” might be planning an MMO spinoff. With Patrick Wyatt, one of the founders of ArenaNet, they have brought a multiplayer specialist on board. Are DayZ and H1Z1 soon to face even more competition?

Undead Labs hires MMO veterans

Techtimes.com reports that State of Decay is planning to enter the big multiplayer business after a deal with Microsoft. At the moment, zombie MMOs are trending. With DayZ and H1Z1, competition is on the start line.

Undead Labs, the studio behind State of Decay, has secured a real MMO expert in Patrick Wyatt. Wyatt has worked for Blizzard, co-founded ArenaNet, and also contributed to En Masse, the publisher of Tera. In a blog post, Wyatt wrote:

“I can’t talk about what I’m doing here … not yet. But … I’m a bit specialized in developing really big multiplayer games. So I guess I’ll be working on something in that direction as soon as I get one of those cool lab coats that everyone is wearing around here.”

Techtimes believes that Wyatt’s MMO expertise could already manifest in the State of Decay “Year One Edition” in 2015. However, it is also possible that they are planning their own MMO against the backdrop of the State of Decay world.

My MMO thinks: How much truth there is to the rumors is still unknown at this time. With the new generation of consoles being even more connected to the internet than previous ones, a trend seems to be emerging where the Xbox One and Playstation 4 are clearly opening up to MMOs. However, these often turn out to be hybrids or models in which only certain classic features of an MMO are implemented.

Even if this term will be defined more broadly: In the coming years, many well-known franchises could plan their own MMO spinoffs or at least heavily steer their current games in this direction.

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Destiny actually only starts at level 20 – but “WoW in space”

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the recent blog post, the developers reveal their plans for the endgame in Destiny. MMO veterans will recognize many familiar gameplay principles: reputation farming with factions, item level, heroic difficulty.

In the last blog post, Bungie addresses the fans’ question about what the endgame in the MMO shooter should look like. The clear answer: “Destiny actually only really begins at level 20.” From this point on, players could collect better equipment, become more powerful, and face tougher challenges. Last week, Bungie confirmed, that there would be legendary weapons and set items in Destiny.

After level 20, levels continue to increase with better items

Destiny Jump

From level 20 onwards, players will continue to rise in “light level”, a sort of “level after the level” as they collect better equipment. For this purpose, players might choose to represent one of three factions. Participation in PvP (in the Crucible) or PvE (in strike missions) will be rewarded with a special in-game currency. With this, they can then purchase equipment from the factions that fits their play style.

After level 20, players will also gain access to new game modes with weekly heroic strikes and daily heroic “story chapters”. For the weekly “heroic strikes”, there will be three modes – the first one is designed for a level of 22.

The first raid remains closed in Destiny for a week

Destiny

The heroic game mode is Bungie’s way of sending players back to familiar terrain, but this time under significantly harder conditions. In addition to these “general” parameters (like heroic), there will also be specific ones. For example, a certain weapon type may deal much more damage in a particular strike. And since this applies to both enemies and guardians, these strikes will require new combinations and play styles week by week, providing variety.

The first raid on Venus, the “Vault of Glass”, is designed for a “light level” of 25. It will remain closed for the first week. Meanwhile, fans have already found methods to bypass the missing raid finder in Destiny.

Where have we heard this before?

Mein MMO states: These are all classic elements from MMO design. The “light level” is basically a type of gear-based endless leveling that will increase with new content and DLC. With daily and weekly “quests”, players, who have hardly anything left to do, are also sent out into the world in World of Warcraft. And the system of factions, special equipment, and items that can be purchased for specific tokens sounds somehow familiar…

Destiny will be released on Tuesday for Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3, and Playstation 4. We have an article on the suspected start of the servers.

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The Secret World: New mission pack “The Last Pagan” presented

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

The horror MMO The Secret World, the game with the conspiracy, returns from its summer break and presents a new mission pack.

For the last two months, there has been little news from the Buy2Play MMO The Secret World. This was also planned: The team reduced activity during a summer break. Now the Game Director returns and introduces a new mission pack: “The Last Pagan.”

The missions will involve a Japano-Rockabilly gang – sort of an Asian version of Dick Brave & the Backbeats. Now, The Secret World wouldn’t be The Secret World if everything were really as it seems.
The six missions also include an explosive sabotage mission and two of the highly feared investigation missions.

In other news, Funcom has successfully integrated a feature that allows the awarding of emotes as rewards. Those who manage the sabotage mission in “The Last Pagan” without being detected will be rewarded with a dance emote.
Additionally: A notification system through which players should never miss a call from their faction again, and two fresh AEGIS abilities come with the update into the game.

More about the game can be found on our topic page for The Secret World.

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Source(s):
  1. TSW

Skyforge gives out beta keys for the 20 best class ideas

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

The fantasy/SF MMO Skyforge, the game with built-in hubris, is now raffling off keys for the closed beta to players who design a god.

In the Bible, it is the other way around, but Team Allods now wants us to design a god. Oh, that sounded a little blasphemous than intended: The Team-Allods is announcing a “Design your own class” competition and tempting with beta keys.

Skyforge Cryomancer
The Cryomancer had a good idea already.

After the big presentation at Gamescom on Twitch, it has become quiet around Skyforge: Now, with some beta key events, they are making themselves known. First, they distributed them on social platforms. Now they appeal to the creativity of the players. A while ago, they could already design an enemy in the game. Now it’s on the other side, and they can submit their ideas for their own class, a god or goddess.

To do this, a name for the class, a category, and a short description of one or two A4 pages are required. The twenty best designs will then be rewarded with beta keys. Submissions should be made simply through the official Skyforge forum. There you will also find more information about the competition.

The MMO Skyforge accompanies immortals on their way to god status. A “god” is a particularly powerful form of the class. You can find out more about Skyforge on our topic page.

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Source(s):
  1. MMO Site

Destiny: When do the servers start in Destiny? In less than 24 hours

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the luxury MMO Destiny, the servers will go live on Monday at 2 PM our time. Anyone who has managed to get a game by then can start playing.

As vg247 reports, the servers for Destiny will be online on Monday at 2 PM our time. Then the international date line will be crossed. This means: somewhere in the world it is Tuesday. And it is often said that globalization does not bring any good things. The “server unavailable” message will disappear faster than one might think. Destiny will be playable almost a day earlier.

Anyone who has managed to get a game by then can look forward to this early start.
As Destiny recently mentioned in a tweet: “When you can start playing is a matter between you and the retailer you ordered from.” People are already celebrating online who had the game in their mailbox over the weekend. Players who have purchased the game digitally and have completed the pre-load are fiddling with their device’s region settings, hoping to achieve something by getting as close to the date line as possible. Australia is the preferred setting for many.

The major gaming sites have already received their review copies and are ready to jump in, some with multiple players taking turns to play “the launch of the year”. The press can start streaming the game, publishing images, or showing videos as soon as the servers go live. There are no embargoes in this regard. Therefore, it can be assumed that starting Monday at 2 PM, almost everything will revolve around Destiny. And the poor souls who cannot play by then because they are waiting for the package delivery will be eagerly longing for YouTube and other sites. Or maybe it’s better to take a break from those sites for the day.

According to vg247, Activision requests that the press do not publish early reviews. They should wait until Tuesday at 9:01 AM our time.

Destiny is an MMO shooter, which is produced with high effort by Bungie. It is set to officially release on September 9 for Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. But if you haven’t heard anything about it by now, you have probably been spending the last few weeks on the moon, which by the way will be one of the game’s locations. A PC version of the game by the Halo creators is likely but not yet officially confirmed.

More about Destiny can be found on our thematic page about the game.

We also have the live trailer in English for you:

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ArcheAge: Trion Worlds CEO expresses himself about Shitstorm

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

Currently, a shitstorm is brewing around the sandpark MMO ArcheAge. The reason for the fans’ anger is some last-minute changes in the game’s cash shop. Now, the CEO of Trion Worlds, Scott Hartsman, has commented. He finds the discussions passionate, showing how much players care about ArcheAge.

The sandpark MMO ArcheAge has gotten into turbulent waters in the last two days. With the launch of the open beta, two new items were introduced in the game’s cash shop that can contain high-quality crafting materials. Additionally, the cooldown of a potion was reduced from 12 to 4 hours, allowing players to acquire 1000 “Labor Points.” Labor Points are a type of “crafting energy” in the game and a limited resource.

Community Divided on ArcheAge

ArcheAge Harbor
Everything was still calm then. We have outlined the background to the current discussion here.

The discussion about these changes has been ongoing for two days and is making waves in the official forums, on reddit, and elsewhere. As with any shitstorm, there is no unanimous opinion.

Some players are upset, others are upset about the outrage, while others say, “And here is where you draw the line; it was already bad before?” Still, others say they said it right away. Some defend the developer’s position, stating that economic interests must be considered and not just one’s own. And as for the outrage, F2P is always also Pay2Win. The opposing extreme accuses Trion Worlds of squeezing the game in the first months because they do not believe in the long-term success of the game. And the overwhelming majority of active players remain silent for sure.

Hartsman Finds the Discussion Passionate

The CEO of Trion Worlds, Scott Hartsman, has now commented to mmorpg.com on the current state.

You can find the statement in English on mmorpg.com. We have translated it approximately:

“Changes in a cash shop and regarding resources are often controversial. We are very pleased that the debate is being conducted so passionately. As the western producer of ArcheAge, it is our responsibility to advise the developers as best as possible on how ArcheAge can succeed in the West. Well-formulated opinions from the various positions greatly assist us in this task.

We appreciate everyone’s passionately expressed opinion on these topics. It shows that players truly care about the game, are concerned and interested. We are closely monitoring the statements and paying attention.

We all share the same goal: an exceptionally successful ArcheAge that will be played by the largest number of players for years to come. We will strive to further intensify the conversations between players, us, and XLGames to ensure that the shop runs to everyone’s satisfaction.”

More about ArcheAge can be found on our topic page.

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The Elder Scrolls Online: Many job offers for former employees over Twitter

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, parts of the workforce were laid off a few days ago. On Twitter, they are being offered jobs by Rockstar Games, Bioware, Trion Worlds, and other large and renowned software houses.

A tweet put it succinctly:

“Being fired from a gaming studio is probably the best way to get hired by a gaming studio.”

For people who have been trying to break into the industry for years, it must be sensational to see the doors opening for those laid off at Zenimax.

Only a few hours after it became known that there had been “large layoffs” at Zenimax, job offers started pouring in publicly on Twitter – usually with a short message of regret. However, these are not personally tailored offers; they are not that public, but rather links to their own “Careers” page.

The Elder Scrolls Online
The laid-off TESO developers will be helped immediately. Nice!

But those who are publicly looking for new employees read like a “who’s who” in gaming. Under the hashtag #Zosjobs, encouragements and job offers flooded in. Rockstar Games (the GTA franchise) is looking for someone, Trion Worlds (Rift, ArcheAge) even has President Scott Hartsman personally weighing in, Naughty Dog (Uncharted, The Last of Us) is also in need of help, and the Talent Acquisition Manager from Bioware (Mass Effect, Dragon Age, SW:TOR) tweeted about her company’s job page.

Game designers and “talents” in this area with MMO experience seem to be in demand. While some games today shy away from the MMO label (Destiny avoids the abbreviation like the devil avoids holy water, so as not to conjure up clichéd images of a tedious MMORPG life among shooter fans on consoles), many actually classic single-player games are experimenting with expanded multiplayer options. As consoles, which have long been limited to the living room, will be fully integrated into the internet in the coming years, many studios are now looking for “talents” with MMO experience for their game series.

Those in customer support are definitely facing a tougher situation, as they are not likely to be in high demand. The gaming industry is tough and demands a high degree of flexibility from its employees. Many make it clear in their tweets: “I am willing to move anywhere I am needed.”

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SMITE: Arachne and Odin revised, Kukulkan replaces Ao Kuang

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 3 minutes

The new SMITE patch has just been deployed to the public test server, and the patch notes are exceptionally long this time, which the developers justify by stating that they have worked on this patch for three weeks instead of the usual two.

Arachne – More Assassin, Less Trap Setter

The first spider, Arachne, has been completely reworked. Previously, she played less like a viable assassin, instead, she was forced to lure opponents into her traps and then overwhelm them with her broodlings or towers.

Her new abilities primarily grant her enhancements to her basic attack, such as increased attack speed, higher damage, and a short stun. Additionally, she is now able to place two net barriers that act as traps: enemies that walk into them are slowed, attacked by broodlings, and are also revealed on the map. Her new ultimate allows her to run on the ceiling of the map and jump down onto her enemies – while she is crawling over the battlefield, she is untargetable and can activate her self-buffs.

Odin – The Allfather Becomes More Warrior-Like

Smite Odin

Odin’s abilities have been adjusted to suit his role as a warrior. His passive ability grants him a stackable strength buff when enemies die within his ultimate. His group buff has been replaced with a shield that protects Odin from damage for a few seconds – the shield can be detonated early to deal area damage. With these changes, he should be able to handle the minion waves significantly easier than before. His ultimate has also been slightly changed; allies can now leave and re-enter the spear circle, whereas enemies cannot be healed within the area.

Kukulkan Replaces Ao Kuang

The previously teased new hero “Kukulkan” is unfortunately just the new version of Ao Kuang. The latter is being removed from the game for the time being. Kukulkan will receive all the abilities that Ao Kuang previously had, and his ultimate will get a graphical update and look even more impressive, fitting much better with his new form. Owners of Ao Kuang’s premium skin/voice pack have nothing to fear, as they will receive corresponding compensation in the form of the same content for Kukulkan.

Ao Kuang will be reintroduced into the game in the “near future” with a completely new skill set.

New Premium Skins, Voice Packs, and Emotes

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For the hero Bacchus, which you can see in this video, there are new premium skins and voices.

That the developers had more time this time is mainly evident from the many little features that have made their way into the game. In addition to the new premium skins and voices for Bacchus (in the Elvis style) and Freya (a 2D hero), new voice packs for Neith (Ms. Diagnosis) and Kukulkan have also been added to the game. Additionally, a large number of heroes have received emotes, such as dancing, waving, or a special pose – however, not every hero has every emote, which will take some time to complete.

The patch will be available on the test server until Monday morning, and if no new bugs appear, it will be available to all players the day after, on Tuesday.

A detailed list of all changes can be found in the sources.

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Source(s):
  1. Smite Patchnotes

World of Warcraft: New short film shows Grommash’s story

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time < 1 minutes

As announced at GamesCom, Blizzard releases small videos about the main antagonists of the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion “Warlords of Draenor” every few weeks.

In turn, the various leaders of the Iron Horde are introduced, and players who have not been able to relate to Orcs will be atmospherically introduced to the background story, but all others should also take a look.

After Kargath Bladefist and his dramatic past were revealed the first time, this time we deal with the origin of Grommash Hellscream and why he is so loyal to the Warsong Clan. You can see for yourself what Grom’s “iron will” is all about and how he resisted captivity in the hands of the ogres here in the second part of the “Lords of War” series:

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Destiny: Get it now for PS 3 and Xbox 360, upgrade later to PS 4 and Xbox One

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

The MMO Destiny offers buyers of a version for Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 an enticing offer: They can later upgrade and take their Guardian with them.

The news about Bungie’s MMO shooter Destiny keeps coming. Late Friday evening, the latest news came in and it really packs a punch.

Anyone who buys a digital version of the MMO Destiny for the previous generation consoles, for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, can later switch for free to the next generation, to Playstation 4 and Xbox One.

Players who do not yet own a Playstation 4 or Xbox One but are considering getting one no longer need to hesitate: They can buy Destiny for their Xbox 360 or their Playstation 3 and later switch for free to a digital edition of the game for the next generation.

Destiny even lets you take your character with you

The offer only applies within the respective systems: From Playstation 3 to Playstation 4 without additional cost and from Xbox 360 to Xbox One. The offer is limited to players who own a digital edition of Destiny, and is valid until January 15 of next year. Players retain the right to play Destiny on an “old” console even after the switch has taken place. The player can take their Guardian with all stats and gear to the new console.

On the Destiny homepage you can find out more.

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H1Z1 removes the starting axe from players

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

The survival MMO H1Z1 takes away the axe that players started with. This aims to place more emphasis on player survival.

Observed many people during the first hours in H1Z1

Jimmy Whisenhunt, the developer responsible for the combat system in H1Z1, delivered the news to players: The starting axe is disappearing. Thus, players began each time anew after every brutal death. They could use it to chop down trees and defend themselves against zombies and other players.

H1Z1 Gameplay

According to Whisenhunt, the decision to take away the axe from players came after contacting many players at SOE Live and Pax Prime. The combat system in the early phase needs more excitement and the crafting progress could be steeper – these two aspects were taken home as feedback after observing x people during the first steps in H1Z1.

The removal of the starting axe emphasizes the elements that made H1Z1 appealing to the SOE team: Surviving in the world, scavenging for loot, and the crafting system.

Small items spawn indoors, larger tools in the open world

They are also changing the spawn logic in the world.

Axes and other typical tools like crowbars or machetes should be found by players in the open world. They should not be overlooked. If a zombie horde is chasing the player, the survivor should be able to spot a crowbar or an axe from a distance and grab it. As classic “loot”.

H1Z1

From now on, crafting materials should almost exclusively spawn “inside” of items. This aims to prevent the player’s view from being too obstructed by a multitude of small items.

Introduced a rudimentary combo system in combat

The combat with the axe is now being replaced in H1Z1 by fist combat. Here, they want to allow combinations that increase damage when the player initiates another attack within a certain time window. Such a “combined” attack inflicts higher damage and has a different animation than a normal punch. This aims to bring more action into the world of H1Z1 and make it clear to the players that in H1Z1, they need to refine their strategies if they want to survive.

With grabbing and clinging zombies, they want to spice up the combat additionally. Although it looks terrible at the moment, according to Whisenhunt, it will surely be great.

Find out more about H1Z1 on our dedicated page.

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Source(s):
  1. H1Z1

Destiny: Pre-load starts now on Playstation 4

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In Destiny, it is now also possible for owners of the PlayStation 4 to download the game. Fans of Destiny on Xbox One had the opportunity to do so last week.

Since around 7 PM our time, reports on reddit and relevant forums have been increasing that one can already start with the pre-load of the MMO shooter Destiny. Initially, only about 200 MB would be downloaded twice, later a bit more than 18 GB would be needed, users report. Those who have downloaded it end up on a countdown page.

Some assume that Sony does not want to overload the servers as it did with the release of Minecraft, by waiting until the scheduled date and then creating a huge load. If there are any changes to the situation, we will inform you.

Destiny officially releases on September 9 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox 360. Bungie’s policy seems to aim at allowing anyone to start playing as long as they own the game and the servers go online on Monday.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Reddit

Phantasy Star Online 2 still planned for the West

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

A release of the fantasy MMO Phantasy Star Online 2 for the West is still on the table, it’s just facing delays, according to Sega.

As reported by Gameinformer, Sega still stands by the commitment to bring Phantasy Star Online 2 to the West. According to a tweet from the official account, it is merely “delayed,” but not canceled. PSO 2 was released in Japan in 2012, and it was originally planned for 2013 in North America. That did not happen. However, SEGA continues to work on the game’s release for the West and will inform fans if there are any updates.

In English, PSO 2 has actually been playable for a while now, but on Southeast Asian servers. Phantasy Star, along with the “Shining Force” series, is the most popular RPG franchise in SEGA’s lineup. The first Phantasy Star made a name for itself back on the Sega Master System – that was a long time ago.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. GameInformer
  2. Massively

Destiny: Halo soundtrack too epic for the toilet

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

The production of the MMO shooter Destiny took on epic dimensions. Activision CEO Hirshberg even drew comparisons to The Lord of the Rings. However, such epic proportions are not always appropriate.

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs crossed paths with Bungie

A major feature from Wired outlines the history of the game studio Bungie, which is launching a huge project with Destiny and has previously succeeded as the creators of the cult shooter series Halo. Names like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs come up multiple times in the report. They crossed paths with Bungie. Bill Gates is said to have asked, “Who is your Mario?” when Halo was being secured for the Xbox. Gates understood the power of a front figure – from his own experience.

Steve Jobs was reportedly annoyed that Bungie struck the deal with Microsoft. After all, Halo was one of the prestige titles that was supposed to demonstrate that the Mac was also suitable for gaming.

How do you build Destiny for eternity?

Destiny

The current deal with Activision, who is the publisher behind Bungie but grants the team freedom, is also mentioned. At Activision, they are aware of the epic dimensions that Destiny takes on. CEO Eric Hirshberg told Wired: “Bungie does not think short-term. They plan on a ten-year scale. They are thinking about a narrative arc in Lord of the Rings dimensions. About something enduring. But how do you plan something like that from day one?”

Bungie’s entire approach to Destiny differs from the way companies develop other “franchises,” large series with their own universe. There, they often think from episode to episode, following the momentum.

“Epic” is not appropriate in every situation

The massive work that Destiny requires, demanding unusual means and taking on colossal dimensions, has recently been discussed by The Guardian in a report, which we presented. Wired now provides further details.

A large portion of Bungie’s staff had returned from a vacation after finishing their work on Halo: Reach. After the vacation, they saw their massive new workplace for the first time – a converted multiplex cinema. Here, a small core team, which had previously worked on the concept of Destiny in top secret, outlined what lay ahead for them in the coming years.
One developer reportedly said, “Look at the space. You need 400 people to fill it somewhat!” Today, 500 are working on Destiny. Almost all the rooms are occupied. In the last still-vacant room, Wired knows, Halo action figures were stored.

Destiny Robot

The working conditions sometimes had qualities of a “cathedral.” The restrooms were enormous and quiet. Every clap could be heard. To give employees some privacy so that everyone didn’t hear the toilet noises, Bungie played the Halo soundtrack in the restrooms for a while.

However, that turned out to be a bad idea. Employees complained: The epic soundtrack gave the bathroom visits an “unintentionally urgent” feel.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

ArcheAge takes a sip from the Pay2Win bottle

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 5 minutes

In the sandpark MMO ArcheAge, the operator Trion Worlds has changed the rules for the cash shop and directed the game towards pay-to-win, angering the fans.

The cash shop in ArcheAge was okay before the changes

The cash shop in free-to-play games is watched closely by fans. What is available for purchase? How powerful are the items? What impact do the items have on gameplay?

ArcheAge
The cash shop has been pretty well-received by players so far.

In the sandpark MMO ArcheAge, the cash shop was thoroughly scrutinized beforehand and ultimately deemed satisfactory. There were only a few items that had a significant impact on gameplay. Most of them just facilitated the start without influencing much beyond that. Thus, fans were able to accept it.

Although ArcheAge was also a game for which you needed a sort of subscription (the patron status) and it still had a cash shop, since the patron status could be acquired in-game and the cash shop was not overly pronounced, most players could live with it. Trion Worlds would profit from the game without squeezing them too hard or selling significant advantages directly for money.

A bit of suspicion was cast on the labor point potions, but since they were tradeable and could only be used every 12 hours, they were largely accepted as well. The only somewhat hesitant agreement came from warehouse expansions purchasable via the cash shop, but in the realm of free-to-play, there were only a few pay-to-win clouds on the horizon.

Trion Worlds changes the rules before launch

This changed with the start of the open beta. Although the changes were partly marketed as if the fans had been waiting for them. The reaction has been different. Players feel deceived and have the impression:

“Now, after Trion Worlds has my money for the founder’s package, they are tightening the screws on the cash shop.”

The changes alone would already be a reason for concern; the timing adds to it: Such changes right before the release are delicate. The players are not getting what they signed up for.

The changes in the cash shop

What has changed?

First, the good news: Some craftable items have been removed from the shop. This is intended to keep crafting professions attractive.

Now the (depending on perspective) rather bad news: The purchasable 1000-labor-point potions now only have a 4-hour cooldown instead of a 12-hour cooldown. This means players can consume 6 per day per character, totaling 4000 points more per day.

ArcheAge Crafting

Since these labor points are extremely important for crafting and have so far formed a kind of “hard progress” limit—determining how far players could advance their crafting abilities per day—critics fear that having 4 more potions a day would drastically reduce the game’s playtime, essentially devaluing the difficult-to-achieve mastery in professions. Essentially, Trion Worlds would be selling the integrity of the game.

Furthermore, it is now less essential to work together in a community where one does this, and another does that. For example: If there is limited labor (and that is ultimately what labor points are for), multiple characters are needed to produce certain products. If labor is multiplied, it weakens this necessity. An intervention in the balance.

However, it is noted that the labor potions are tradeable and should not be too expensive. Trion Worlds claims to have evaluated surveys where 85% of respondents wanted to see more of these potions in the auction house. Critics doubt this claim.

Especially dicey: There are two newly introduced “chests” in the cash shop for a relatively high price that drop important materials for higher crafting tiers. These archeum particles, as the criticism in the beta went, had dropped too rarely in the game before. Closed beta players urged Trion Worlds to increase the drop rate. That these items are now found in the cash shop is a tricky situation.

Fair to say: These chests are also tradeable in-game – theoretically, they can be acquired in-game without spending real money…

ArcheAge View

At Trion Worlds, they are now feeling the backlash. It is said that the “archeum” chests were poorly named. Naturally, they should not be the “main source” for archeum. They have already adjusted drop rates and will continue to do so, as they are in contact with the Korean developer. XL-Games is extremely cautious about changing drop rates, as they understand the economy as the lifeblood of the game.

Pay2Win crisis: Creating frustration and then selling the solution

Mein MMO says: The difficulty with pay-to-win is that the operator artificially creates frustrating elements and offers the player a chance to relieve this frustration at a cost. In the pay-to-play model, the classic subscription model, the operator is primarily concerned with the enjoyment and motivation of the player in the long term because they want the player to maintain their subscription. In pay-to-win models, other components come into play and it can be beneficial to deliberately make “wrong” design decisions to entice the player into saving themselves from this frustration.

That these changes are implemented now when founder packages are no longer the main source of income, and the cash shop has become the dominant source of revenue, leaves a very bad taste. ArcheAge, like many free-to-play games, essentially relies on players completing a quasi-subscription with the patron status, meaning they pay their 13 euros in-game. When frustrations arise that can be managed through the cash shop – or when the balance of the original game is threatened by interventions, it can lead to significant backlash. And that is currently escalating across all channels.

ArcheAge
Some players are already threatening to leave ArcheAge, even if it should hurt. Trion should pay attention to maintaining balance.

For a cash shop, larger changes are typically designed to only affect high-level players, who have invested a lot of time and energy into the game. Through the odd conversion into a “fantasy currency”, here the crystals, it becomes difficult for players to accurately see how much an “archeum” chest actually costs in euros and cents.

[quote_right]Now really critical pay-to-win?

We have examined the cash shop of ArcheAge twice during the closed beta and have concluded that the game is not pay-to-win, at least not to a critical extent.

With these changes, after players have already invested triple-digit amounts into a founder’s package, we must revise this assessment.

If Trion Worlds had started with the current cash shop from the beginning, the game would likely have been viewed much more critically from the start. Some founders may have thought twice about supporting the game. With Trion Worlds, there is the additional factor that they have repeatedly advertised fair play, no traps and no tricks. This principle has lost credibility since yesterday.

UPDATE: The CEO of Trion Worlds, Scott Hartsman, has released a statement regarding this debate. What he has to say, you can find in this post.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. forums.archeagegame.com

Aion improves performance, plans birthday party

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

The fantasy MMO Aion is preparing the release of patch 4.6.2 and is combining it with birthday celebrations. Additionally, performance improvements have been made.

The patch 4.6.2 for Aion is set to launch on September 24. It aims to further refine class balance. Moreover, there are plans to celebrate the anniversary around that time. Players should keep an eye out for numerous “in-game events”. The originally Korean free-to-play MMO Aion was released in Europe on September 25, 2009.

As reported by massively, Aion has already given players a great gift: The network performance has been improved. This should immediately reflect in the gaming experience of Aion fans.

You can find the community post here.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Massively

SMITE: New Hero “leaked”

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time < 1 minutes

It can happen so quickly! Actually, the discussion was supposed to be about the upcoming changes to the heroine “Arachne”, but at the last moment, they accidentally show the login screen from the latest game version and lo and behold: A new hero awaits us.

The flying monster is called “Kukulkan”, comes from the Maya pantheon and was revered as the god of resurrection, while also being a ruler over the four elements. From this knowledge, it can be inferred that Kukulkan is either a supporter with healing abilities or another mage representing the perfect counterpart to Ao Kuang, which is already in the game. Presumably, players will be able to try out the new god, along with the changes to Arachne and Odin, on the test servers this weekend.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. www.smitecentral.com