WildStar: New Housing Features in Content Drop 3

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

In today’s Nexus report, the developer “CRB_Lamenth” responsible for Housing in WildStar has addressed the community’s questions and provided an outlook on upcoming Housing features. Some of these are expected in the long-awaited Content Drop 3!

First things first: The decoration limits in Housing will be increased! In the current version, you can only place 800 items inside the house and 300 outside, both limits will be raised to allow 1000 furniture, decorations, and trophies to be placed both inside and outside. The storage limit of the box will also be adjusted accordingly, accommodating 2000 Housing items. With this increase, the light source limit will also be raised, which is currently a low 20, and both interior and exterior lighting are counted together; with Content Drop 3, both areas will have their own limit, which will be 40 each.

Wildstar Room

But many details will also be improved, almost all of the community’s wishes have been fulfilled: The terrain is customizable (for example, you can choose between grass, desert, and icy landscapes), the music can be freely selected, and interactive items, such as self-opening doors, will find their way into the game. Lamps and other light sources can be turned on and off, and chairs finally serve their purpose: You can “use” them and sit down on them. Those who want to design their house entirely on their own will also be pleased, as new “Building Blocks,” such as walls, floors, and stairs, will be added.

There were also some insights into the further future. Many players wish for glass and rounded walls to build windows or aquariums. The Housing team theoretically has access to all objects included in the game and plans to gradually implement these into Housing, so it is only a matter of time before everything you find in the game world can also be built on your property. You will also soon be able to team up with five other players to form a “Commune” – basically a neighborhood where all Housing areas are interconnected.

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

Hype: The Elder Scrolls Online and WildStar are losing momentum

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

The SF-MMO WildStar is going through a tough time three months after its release, it seems. It is also calm around The Elder Scrolls Online, albeit at a stable level.

MMOs have a certain cycle of attention. Marketing agencies work hard to ensure that interest peaks before the release when players are supposed to buy the MMO. Normally, interest in the game remains high in the first weeks, when everyone looks for information, magazines publish guides, and developers release more information to stir up interest in the game.

TESO started with Skyrim wind at its back, WildStar with its own momentum

We have observed these trend curves for WildStar and The Elder Scrolls Online in the past. Especially with The Elder Scrolls Online, the hype was enormous in the first weeks, probably due to the popular brand “Elder Scrolls” that players associate with hits like Morrowind and especially Skyrim.

Interest also rose steeply for WildStar – despite the absence of such a brand name.

TESO vs WildStar

Back then, we said for both games that it would be crucial how public interest would look like after a few months.

For both games, one can now say: Not so great. We chose the MMO “Guild Wars 2” as a comparison for the German market, which plays a good but not outstanding role in MMO interest here in Germany. Above all, Guild Wars 2 is very consistent and actually showed – as can also be seen in the graph – very few fluctuations from March to August.

After six weeks, interest in The Elder Scrolls Online and WildStar flattened

The Elder Scrolls Online
The hype around The Elder Scrolls Online was huge, many players expected a Skyrim Online.

In the graph, it can be seen that especially The Elder Scrolls Online reached an incredibly high peak around its release in April. Interest from Google users in The Elder Scrolls Online was at that time 5 times higher than that of Guild Wars 2. This value flattened over the months and sank below that of Guild Wars 2 around the release of WildStar in Germany.

WildStar had a significantly lower popularity boost upon its release in June than The Elder Scrolls Online did at its release – and this boost faded quickly. For both games, it can be observed that the initial hype only lasted for six weeks. After these six weeks, TESO was approximately the first time below Guild Wars 2 and after six weeks, WildStar had to position itself below The Elder Scrolls Online for the first time.

The Elder Scrolls Online now stable – WildStar … not

WildStar Raid
Whether the announced megaserver will bring WildStar back on track is uncertain.

The Elder Scrolls Online, however, was able to stop the loss relatively quickly. TESO managed to stabilize at a certain level. WildStar, on the other hand, has continued to decline in recent weeks. Whether interest is waning or will rise again remains open. With the release of Warlords of Draenor in the coming months, it seems unlikely that WildStar will recover too quickly. Warlords of Draenor is cutting into the WildStar target audience.

Currently, trends indicate that Guild Wars 2 is queried about twice as often on Google as The Elder Scrolls Online. And The Elder Scrolls Online is queried again twice as often as WildStar.

The trend in Germany corresponds to the worldwide trend.

Guild Wars 2

There are even more backgrounds to this topic in the State of Play column on WildStar, Elder Scrolls Online and Guild Wars 2

My MMO says: Well, the numbers are not an ultimate indicator of how a game is really doing, but they are a pretty good trend likely aligning with public perception. Both WildStar and The Elder Scrolls Online launched this year to prove that the subscription model for MMOs can still work. Both games are facing some homegrown difficulties and are currently in a rebuilding phase. At the moment, it looks like The Elder Scrolls Online can at least rely on player loyalty. Here, perhaps, a comfortable niche has been found.

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

ArcheAge: Start verschoben, zwei weitere Server angekündigt

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In the Sandpark MMO ArcheAge, the start time is moved back by one hour to 8 PM. Trion Worlds plans to bring two more servers online then.

It’s a bit of a good news and bad news situation. Good news: Trion Worlds is launching two new servers with Melisara for Europe and Enla for North America. Bad news: The start is pushed back by one hour to 8 PM.

However, the servers should be open for download since 7 PM. Free2Play players have not been able to download the client for the game in recent days and were actually supposed to be able to do this since 5 PM. But a hotfix got in the way, causing this delay.

If you want to pass the time in the queue with some reading, we recommend these two articles:

Update 8:10 PM: Still nothing happening. All Trion Worlds pages down. The rush must be tremendous.

8:15 PM: Servers are up!

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

Potential of Mounts in MMOs – All About Gaming

MeinMMO MeinMMO Reading time < 1 minutes

In the fantasy MMO ArcheAge by developer XL Games, after the first few levels, you receive a quest to raise a small foal. Depending on the breed, it can also be another young animal. You carry the little creature to the nearest farm, pose a bit along the way because it looks quite cute, and then prepare everything for its upbringing.

While you complete all these tasks, the foal continues to grow until it eventually becomes an adult horse that then stands by the player as a mount and later also as a combat companion. The entire upbringing process of the animal takes only about 5 minutes.

The approach of ArcheAge is quite nice, but that is just the first step along the way. Because mounts offer much more potential.

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

H1Z1: Those who shoot too much will be eaten

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the recent dev blog of the survival MMO H1Z1, the more technical aspects of the game were highlighted: What is a heat map? What happens to corpses in the game?

In a series of developer blogs for the upcoming zombie MMO H1Z1, experts from various fields share their insights. While previous issues focused on graphics, animation, or the combat system, this time it was about the hard facts with an AI and server specialist.

Those who shoot in the morning will be taken by the Z in the evening

“How can you prevent H1Z1 from just being a shooter where everyone shoots at everything?” was the first question to Mitch Evans. According to Evans, that’s what the heat map does. It ensures that zombies truly play a role in H1Z1.

Zombie_Horde_h1z1
What looks like ants here is something entirely different.

Anyone who kills players, animals, or zombies with firearms generates “heat,” or attention, and attracts the zombie hordes. In the video, a sniper appeared on a hill, calmly taking shots at the village below while the zombie hordes were already gathering behind him. Areas of the map where valuable items spawn are also said to attract a lot of attention from the hordes.

Additionally, there are currently considerations for a “karma system” in H1Z1. This could potentially come as an option on certain servers if players request it. This way, player killers and troublemakers can be easily identified, allowing players to react accordingly if they encounter one.

Corpse system introduced

Supermarket in H1Z1
There hasn’t been anything in the supermarket for a long time. Players will have to find other protein sources.

Another important point in Evans’ dev blog was the “corpse” system. In the world of H1Z1, when someone kills something, it doesn’t just leave a pile of pixels that disappears with a “poof,” but rather a corpse that is supposed to go through various stages of decay. And… in the harsh world of H1Z1, a corpse is also a source of protein.

They aim to show the different stages of decay for corpses. Players should be able to tell from the model whether something has already been “eaten” or if the corpse has been lying around long enough that flies are buzzing around it. Making a roast from a rotting deer might not be a good idea.

The zombie MMO H1Z1, sometimes referred to as Minecraft with zombies, still has no date for early access. However, this may change in the coming days.

Here is our topic page.

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Source(s):
  1. Dev Blog Mitch Evans

ArcheAge: Download starts at 7 PM for the launch due to hotfix *update*

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the sandbox MMO ArcheAge, F2P players can only download the client two hours before the game’s start.

Update 18:30: The download at 5 PM did not happen. A hotfix has been deployed at the last minute to unlock a currently buggy housing region and fix a few other issues. F2P players can start downloading at 7 PM.
Update 19:15: Here it continues.

Original message: The head start of ArcheAge ends at 5 PM. According to the Community Manager Scapes, Free2Play players will have the opportunity to download the sandbox MMO starting then. They have not been able to do so in the last few days. The download is 8.5 GB. This could be tight in the two hours until the server start – depending on the internet connection and the expected traffic.

Those gamers who have already participated in the beta and have not deleted their beta client are at an advantage. They only need to download a patch that is about 200 MB in size.
For the launch this evening at 7 PM, long queues are generally expected, especially for Free2Play players. Patron players (those who pay) will be prioritized in the queue.

Warteschlange_ArcheAge

This could be a lively evening: A rough night is expected for ArcheAge

If too many people try to download the game at the same time, the rush on Trion Worlds servers could already be enormous starting at 5 PM and lead to problems. During the head start, their launcher Glyph had issues and showed players the cinematic intro for hours without allowing them to skip or enter the game. To make matters worse, Trion Worlds has come under DDOS attacks in recent days.

So one could say that all the ingredients for a really nice evening in ArcheAge are now in the mixer. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for it to be 5 PM and someone to press the button.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Trion Worlds Forum
  2. Update

World of Warcraft: Names of old characters will be released!

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time < 1 minutes

These days, anyone starting with World of Warcraft has a hard time finding a unique name for their character without having to resort to as many special characters as possible. Many names have been taken for over nine years and a large part of the players from back then no longer play at all – so the names are unnecessarily occupied.

To address this issue, the big patch 6.0.2 makes many names available again. All names of characters who have not logged into the game since November 13, 2008, will be released. If one suddenly becomes nostalgic and wants to keep the names anyway, it is necessary to log into the game with each corresponding character before the patch is released. If this is not done, newly created characters can claim the name for themselves, the same applies to the renaming service.

But don’t worry: your characters won’t be affected otherwise, even if you decide to return to the game at a later time, in the worst case you will have to choose a new name for your avatar – but only if someone has snagged your old name by then.

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

Destiny: First raid goes online – be live in the stream

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the MMO Destiny the first raid “Vault of Glass” goes online today. A six-player group will take it on in a live stream.

So much has been said about Destiny in recent days. A lot of good, much less good. It seems there was a consensus: The game lacks variety, there is too little to do.

The impression could also be due to the fact that today the first raid “Vault of Glass” goes online. Raids are special challenges in games where a group of gamers measures themselves against the best that the developers can throw at them.

In MMORPGs like WildStar or World of Warcraft, no one would think of evaluating the endgame without having stepped a foot into the first raids. Maybe they will also bring the needed variety to Destiny.

A small step for a 6-man team, a giant leap for Destiny

In Destiny, it is six players who take on the mob hordes. For the first raid, Bungie has warned that players should reach at least light level 26. Going in before that is madness.

So far, it is known that the raids are on a weekly timer. This means: You have until next Tuesday to work on raid progress. Each player can receive loot from a boss only once per week. The loot includes legendary weapons of every type and one set of equipment items per class.

First raid at Destiny: Vault of Glass

Additionally, two difficulty levels for the raids have been confirmed. While the normal mode is still somewhat manageable, Bungie promises that the hard difficulty will demand everything from veterans. Previously, four groups of shooter players were sent into a raid for testing purposes: None of them managed to defeat the final boss. For the current raid, the Vault of Glass, Destiny states: It is perfectly normal if players do not complete it in one session.

The first raid of Destiny is highly anticipated and observed with keen eyes. However, not everyone will have the opportunity to be truly live in Destiny. Even if they have time, they might lack a well-equipped character or they may be short of five heavily armed friends.

Therefore, we have a live stream for you, showing how the 6-man group from “StreamerHouse” performs on Venus. If all goes according to plan and Bungie realizes their ten-year plan with Destiny, there could be many more of these raids.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Vg247

ArcheAge: Something big and wet is coming our way – Sea monsters

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In the Korean version of ArcheAge , one unleashes Krakens and ghost ships.

While we in Europe are dealing with queues and too few building spaces, the Korean version of ArcheAge is developing in a different direction and offers sea attractions. With patch 1.7, new boss monsters arrived right where it really hurts the pirate faction: on the high seas.

In a YouTube video, one can now marvel at both a giant sea creature, the Leviathan, and a ghost ship sailing on the sea. Although Trion Worlds has stated that they will do everything possible to catch up with the Korean version as quickly as possible, it will likely still take some time before these beasts reach the waters of the EU and US servers.

But it is a nice thought to know what one is actually waiting for.

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

Destiny: Is the Bladedancer the strongest class?

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In the MMO Destiny there are discussions after the first week about the strongest class and whether the Bladedancer should be nerfed.

To the question: “Who is currently the strongest class in Destiny?”, the unanimous answer seems to be: “The Bladedancer, man!” This is at least the opinion of the magazine Kotaku, which has published some impressive highlight videos of the Hunter variant.

All problems in Destiny can be solved with a knife

The mobility of the Bladedancer and its impact make it probably the strongest class in Destiny right now – at least in terms of one-on-one combat. Apparently, he can kill so many enemies that his combos stay up surprisingly long, and he moves with such speed that it seems he is simply invincible.

Especially in battles against multiple enemies, his strengths really come to the fore, and he can clean up like Bud Spencer in one of those movies that air on Kabel1 on Sundays.

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  1. kotaku

Hearthstone: Even without iPhone and Android, 20 million players

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

Blizzard’s free card game Hearthstone has surpassed the 20 million mark even without iPhone and Android.

Just in March, Hearthstone was released for PC, and in April for iPad. By then, the card game had already gone through an expansive beta phase, which hardly differed from the release. Around that time, Blizzard already announced that more than 10 million people worldwide had picked up the card game. Just five months later, the number has doubled: 20 million players have given Hearthstone, the strategic card game set in the Warcraft universe, a chance.

At Blizzard, they are celebrating this with a thank you card on Twitter and a “Jaws” reference. “We’re going to need a bigger tavern,” it says. In Jaws, they were asking for a bigger boat.

Hearthstone: 20 million players
On Twitter, Blizzard posted: “Thank you all for joining us in #Hearthstone! We’re going to need a bigger tavern!”

With iPhone and Android, Hearthstone could reach new dimensions

Surely the Naxxramas expansion has contributed to Hearthstone’s rising popularity. However, a real boost is expected from another corner. The demand for Blizzard’s card game on iPhone and Android is simply enormous: People want to enjoy this strategically demanding hobby on the go, during lunch breaks, in the garden, or comfortably on their sofa while expanding their collection.

If Blizzard succeeds in moving Hearthstone to iPhone and Android as planned this year, then the impressively high 20 million players they currently have could just be the beginning.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. twitter.com/PlayHearthstone

ArcheAge: New server Aier opened, intended to relieve pressure

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

The rush at the Sandpark MMO ArcheAge was overwhelming. Now a new European server called Aier is opening. This will be the fifth one. North Americans will also get relief with Inoch.

“Aier,” is the new beacon of hope for founders with head start advantages, who found that the first three days did not go as they had hoped or who simply need space, space, space. Since the open beta a week and a half ago, it has been clear that four European servers would likely be too few to handle the influx of players.

However, Trion Worlds refrained from providing new servers before the early launch on Friday: Players on the four existing European servers have been struggling with queues since Friday evening. Moreover, building spaces are scarce.

Queue_ArcheAge
Many experienced the same over the weekend: Queue.

To date, Trion Worlds has expressed concerns about increasing the number of servers. They had anticipated an influx at launch anyway. The risk of later facing empty servers if this influx subsides was initially too high for them. However, even after three days, no relief has been felt yet. Even today, on Monday evening, many players again complained about the long queues. Therefore, Trion Worlds has now decided to launch the new servers.

This means that roughly 24 hours before the actual launch, an additional EU and US server is available for founders to start on, until tomorrow at 7 PM when those players who did not purchase a founder’s package will join ArcheAge. Whether more servers will open tomorrow is currently unknown.

So: On your marks, get set, go! Building spots are scarce and wood only grows on your own trees, as we have all learned in the last 72 hours.

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

The Elder Scrolls Online: Update 4 is coming tomorrow – Brings new campaign, raids, and maximum level

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, the next major update, Patch 1.4.3, will be deployed on Tuesday morning. It brings a new level cap, new raids, and a new PvP campaign.

In the USA, Update 4 is already live, and in Europe, it will start tomorrow morning. Since this is a larger content update introducing several new instances and areas, a larger download is to be expected.

The Elder Scrolls Online Ends Veteran-Only Campaign, Increases Level Cap

The patch brings several new PvE areas, such as the Dragonstone Arena or Upper Kargstein, as well as a new PvP campaign that will last 30 days. The “Veteran-Only” campaign “Bow of Shadows” will be closed in its favor. It apparently could not attract enough fans. The experiment is coming to an end.

With Update 4, two new veteran ranks are also being introduced: it now goes up to 14. Furthermore, they aim to improve group experience and adjust balancing. You can find the full patch notes in German in the sources.

What fans of The Elder Scrolls Online will probably expect with Update 5 at the end of October is still unknown at this time. However, it is clear: The Imperial City will not be it. It still needs a bit longer. The frequency with which The Elder Scrolls Online brings out new updates is certainly impressive.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Patch-Notizen 1.4.3

ArcheAge: Everywhere towels lie – No land in sight

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

In the Sandbox MMO ArcheAge the race for the limited building spots was even fiercer than expected.

The Sandbox MMO ArcheAge will officially release tomorrow and suffers from a problem that other MMOs would kill for: Overpopulation. The four European servers are packed and struggled with queues over the weekend, with the Free2Play game being accessible only to players who purchased a founder package for at least 46 euros.

But it is not the queues that worry players, but rather the precarious situation in the real estate market.

Land Grab was as tough as expected, rather even worse

Many had anticipated that with the head start on Friday, there would be a rush for the most coveted building spots. The intensity of this rush was surprisingly high. On the four EU servers, newcomers are lamenting: There is simply nothing left to find.

The reason for this is a design decision in ArcheAge, which allows players to cheaply build the framework for their future property. They do not need to complete it as long as they pay taxes for it. The space is reserved.

This leads to a strange sight in many building areas: useless foundations line up next to each other, while small scarecrows are surrounded by a few trees, plants, or farm animals.

ArcheAge Farming

The tactic has emerged that individual players claim as much building space as possible with multiple characters. They mark their claims in such a way that they block as much space as possible with each object, to expand later.

ArcheAge Currently Has Something of a Beach in Mallorca

Theoretically, the servers are designed in such a way that every player could secure a piece of land if everyone was willing to settle for a share. However, there is no equality or fairness principle in ArcheAge. And that is fine. Fans appreciate this characteristic highly, and it is characteristic of sandbox games. Those who demand a free world governed by players must accept that it will be unfair. One cannot have one without the other, as shown by EVE Online.

Even so: At the moment, the situation resembles a vacation on a beach in Mallorca and the nations’ war for the best sunbeds on the beach in the morning. It’s just that in ArcheAge, it’s as if some are running to the beach with twenty towels and throwing them over the few spots in such a way that with each towel they occupy five lounge chairs.

ArcheAge Building Plots

Since the head start was accompanied by a DDOS attack and had some other problems, it was also roughly like mornings when only 200 made it out of the hotel on time. After that, the gate was locked and the rest were told to be patient.

What to Do When Everything is Full?

Well, the situation is annoying for many, but it’s also not a disaster or a reason to give up on ArcheAge.

In the in-game chats and forums, one can read that most of those who grabbed so much land probably do not intend to hold it permanently. Instead, it is suspected that they will either try to sell their land to latecomers or simply stop paying the taxes for their land. Then building spots will become available.

ArcheAge

Moreover, as some report, in remote places or in PvP areas there are still building spots available, though the question remains whether it is really worth it.

On the servers that are already open, the situation should at the latest calm down when the northern continent Auroria opens. This is expected in about six weeks.

And What Will the Release Look Like?

Players who have not purchased a founder package and fear standing in front of occupied spots at the release can be somewhat reassured.

At the release tomorrow, further European servers will likely open, which will be untouched by players and have free building spots (at least in the first few hours). New servers have not been officially confirmed yet, but anything else would be surprising.

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

Destiny breaks the Watch Dogs sales record in Great Britain

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

Sales figures for Destiny are rolling in. In the UK, Bungie’s MMO shooter is selling like hotcakes – or cucumber sandwiches.

Last week, figures were already revealed, indicating that Destiny had come to market with games worth 500 million dollars, but it was still uncertain whether gamers would actually buy the game from stores. The answer is: Yes. After figures from Japan came in this morning, now the UK follows.

From there, Chart Track reports that Destiny has broken the sales record of Watch Dogs for new releases that are not part of an existing series. Furthermore, Destiny became the largest video game launch of this year.

In total, 16 games have launched even bigger than Destiny, but all were part of a series like Call of Duty, FIFA, Battlefield, or Grand Theft Auto.

Destiny especially successful on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

For the calculation, the sale of console bundles was taken into account (both Microsoft and Sony use Destiny as a system seller), but no digital downloads.

For the sale of Destiny in the UK, Next-Gen consoles are particularly successful, according to eurogamer. Of 100 units sold, 46 were bought for PlayStation 4 and 36 for Xbox One. 14% of the games were sold for Xbox 360, and only 4% for PlayStation 3. Thus, Xbox and PlayStation are exactly at 50:50.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Eurogamer
  2. vg247

Final Fantasy XIV continues to expand, this time to Korea

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In the fantasy MMO Final Fantasy XIV, good news seems to keep coming. After China, they now want to conquer Korea.

Somehow, lately, there have been rather depressing news from many MMOs on the market. Shortly after release, the previously mostly positive news gets overshadowed by negative ones. One only receives a positive vibe from a handful of games.

This handful of MMOs includes Final Fantasy XIV. Because everything is going smoothly there. They have made it to the Playstation 4, the China expansion went well and now they have agreed on a deal with a Korean partner to bring the game to the South Korean market, which is one of the most important in the world, as South Koreans are crazy about client-based MMOs.

Similar success stories in the MMO sector are only released by Wargaming with its “World of Tanks” franchise.

In Korea, Free2Play is usually played. The question is whether Final Fantasy XIV will deviate from its Pay2Play model or adapt it accordingly. With an expansion into these important markets and the planned port to other platforms, the future of Final Fantasy XIV seems to be bright. Final Fantasy XIV is expected to be playable in Korea starting in 2015.

You can find more about the MMO in the world of Final Fantasy on our theme page.

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

Hearthstone Bots: Here are 7 signs that you recognize a bot

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

Hearthstone has a bot problem, that’s no secret. But how can you identify the mechanical friends or foes?

The gaming magazine PCGamer had the opportunity to speak extensively with a bot user and questioned him about the methods he uses and his reasons for using a Hearthstone bot.

The 7 Signs that You’re Playing Against a Bot in Hearthstone

During the conversation, it becomes clear that you can identify a bot in Hearthstone by the following indicators:

  • The bot does not hover over cards and highlight them, nor are there action arrows, instead, the actions come out of nowhere. That’s the surest sign.
  • Most of the time, it will have a golden hero portrait, which you get for 500 wins with a class; of course, “real” players can also achieve this, but especially when you encounter someone with a golden portrait in the rather higher or mid-ladder range, this is already a clear sign.
  • Bots typically play Warlocks (Zoo decks), but they also manage well with Shamans and Druids. Anything that emphasizes minion trades with value against value can be easily calculated. At the moment, a Shaman deck with Sea Giants is popular. They struggle with more complex decks like Miracle Rogue.
  • There is always the same interval of time between the individual turns and actions of the botter.
  • The bot does not react to emotes like greetings but remains silent.
  • Sometimes, the bots simply give up at the beginning of a round for seemingly no reason, to keep their win/loss ratio low, so that Blizzard does not catch on to them.
  • The bots primarily come out at night when their owners are asleep.

I bot because I can

As motivation for botting, the interviewee from PCGamer states that he is expanding his collection, farming golden portraits for the heroes, and avoiding the tedious ladder climb. The bot manages to get up to rank 5, after that he takes over, shuts down the bot, plays himself, and gets Legend. His bots have problems with the new Naxxramas effects like Deathrattle. They overwhelm them to some extent.

Hearthstone - World of Warcraft
You are the bot!

He is not afraid of being caught. In the last month, the bot has won him about 2000 games and earned him three golden hero portraits. Once, he says, he let the bot run for 72 hours straight and didn’t hear anything from Blizzard. Their blue posts in the forum, stating that they would find and harshly punish botters, are merely a tactic and result in no consequences. No one he knows has ever been caught.

Botting is widespread, although he does not believe that players do it out of profit greed to sell strong accounts with golden heroes and full legendaries on eBay, but more because they can simply do it.

PCGamer also spoke with Blizzard. They are aware of the problem and say it has high priority and they are working on it. Botters are a problem in all their games. There are so many highly intelligent people out there. Blizzard is coming with a fix, and they are coming with new versions. If you catch them, it results in severe penalties, including account bans.

The botter who spoke with PCGamer does not seem to be afraid of that. If he loses everything, he says nonchalantly, it wouldn’t be too bad. It’s not like he has really done much for it.

More about Blizzard’s free online card game can be found on our Hearthstone theme page.

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

Destiny only has to be defeated by Super Smash Bros. in Japan

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

The first sales figures of Destiny from Japan are here and look good.

As reported by dualshockers, Destiny has performed well in the markets of the Japanese retailer Tsutaya. They have already published their sales lists every Monday. Destiny on the Playstation 4 has debuted at number 2, ahead of the Playstation 3 version of the game. In Japan, Destiny was released exclusively for Playstation. The lead of the PS4 over the PS3 is remarkable because more Japanese own a PS3 than a PS4.

dualshockers described the figures as a clear success, as Destiny managed to surpass such an established franchise as Naruto – and that as a Western game. The reason Destiny didn’t quite make it to the top has a name: Super Smash Bros. was released last week in Japan for the 3DS. Even Destiny can’t compete with that.

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

WoW: Pre-Addon Patch brings massive UI modernization

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 3 minutes

The great World of Warcraft patch 6.0.2 is currently on the public test realms and is being thoroughly tested there before players can enjoy it in a few weeks. In addition to the long-awaited transition event to the expansion “Warlords of Draenor”, it includes numerous improvements, especially regarding the players’ inventory. We have summarized the most significant changes for you here.

Toy Box – For all heroes who remain young at heart

World of Warcraft Toy Box
Source: mmo-champion.com

Over the years and across four expansions, a lot of clutter has accumulated in the heroes’ inventories, especially many unique “toys” that are hard to part with. Whether it’s the “remote-controlled Zeppelin”, “Dartol’s rod” or the “orb of the Sin’dorei”, there are countless items that don’t serve any real purpose but have a cool effect, are filled with nostalgia, or are simply no longer obtainable in the game.

To ensure that you don’t have to part with all these beloved items, there is now a toy box in World of Warcraft, where all these items can be stored and can be used by any character on your account from now on – making the inventory much tidier!

reagent bank – Farewell, my bank alt

World of Warcraft reagent bank
Source: mmo-champion.com

When Blizzard cleans up, they do it right: All crafting materials can be stored in a new bank slot, where you have a whopping 98 spaces free to store ores, plants, enchanting materials, and more.

To make sure that’s enough, most items can now be stacked up to a count of 200 – just “farm until the inventory is full” is now going to be a very lengthy affair. At the same time, there will no longer be a need to rummage through the bank for a long time when you want to craft something: As long as it’s in the reagent bank, it will be automatically consumed when you want to craft something with one of your professions.

Bag sorting made easy

World of Warcraft Backpack UI
Source: mmo-champion.com

What remains of your inventory can now be easily sorted. You can assign specific functions to individual bags, such that bag A only contains consumables like potions and flasks and bag B only contains equipment.

With a simple push of a button, you can have the bags automatically sorted. New items in your inventory will be specially marked so you can recognize them immediately – gray “vendor trash” now has a gold coin symbol so you can see at a glance what you can throw to the NPC.

Many minor improvements

But other aspects have also been simplified and made clearer in World of Warcraft ; for example, interface addons can now be toggled on and off while playing without the need to log out. The quest log and map are now connected and provide quicker and clearer information about where to go and what needs to be done.

The void bank has been expanded by 80 slots, and finally, the dungeon journal has already been filled with entries for Warlords of Draenor, so you can get a glimpse of the bosses you need to defeat if you wish.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. www.mmo-champion.com
  2. us.battle.net

Elder Scrolls Online: TESO as eSports? TESO as F2P? Who comes up with this?

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

Some media are now reporting that The Elder Scrolls Online may potentially head towards eSport. Our author Schuhmann shares his thoughts on this.

Strange things are happening in TESO, but for now, perhaps not enough. At MMORPG.com, a major English MMO site, columns about the game are regularly published. However, at the moment, everything that can be said about The Elder Scrolls Online has already been said: The fourth content patch is coming next week. What’s next on the agenda is already known. The game is slowly recovering from a rough launch, waiting for the next patches, and there is little to report.

In The Elder Scrolls Online, assumptions quickly turn into rumors

The Elder Scrolls Online map
Let’s see what’s in the newspaper today?

The columnist at mmorpg.com is quite legitimately speculating: The new arenas, which are supposed to be introduced into the game, might potentially attract eSports players to The Elder Scrolls Online. Perhaps this is a way for Zenimax to win over new groups.

A German news site is now turning this into the information: There are rumors that Bethesda and Zenimax are considering opening The Elder Scrolls Online towards eSport.

Um, no? A colleague was merely contemplating and speculating. And just because you don’t feel like naming that as the source, you turn it into a “rumor” that is already semi-official and imply that an MMO company has some strategic considerations. As if the whole internet and the community were talking about nothing else, as if the sparrows on the rooftops of Tamriel were already tweeting it. As if there were numerous forum threads and discussions solely on this topic.

By the way, this is the same site that periodically claims that The Elder Scrolls Online is about to switch to F2P. Because… fans demanded it. If that were the case, cannabis would have been on the verge of legalization for 15 years now. Fans are demanding that too.

MMORPGs have a hard time with eSports

Of course, eSport is an interesting idea for many MMO companies, simply because they want the x gamers who play League of Legends and DOTA 2. And since MMOs are currently lagging behind a bit compared to MOBAs, such a new influx of players would be highly welcome. But they are not coming.

The Elder Scrolls Online dungeon
Arenas are not yet eSport.

How difficult it is to steer an MMORPG towards eSport, was recently seen with WildStar and Guild Wars 2. In WildStar, the war bases, one can say quite harshly, have failed, because not enough people were there. And one hears horrifyingly little about the arenas. Only stories about an exploit are circulating.

And in Guild Wars 2, which would actually be more suited for eSport in substance, much work and energy is being put into this idea. However, it does not seem to take off.
The arenas in The Elder Scrolls Online are, this has been clearly communicated, created because we wanted to give visitors at conventions the opportunity to quickly glance at the game. And since it was well received, they will likely be firmly implemented. But just because something is “instanced PvP” does not mean it will automatically become an eSport hit. MMORPG companies have had to learn this again and again in recent months and years. It is not so easy to jump on the eSports MOBA bandwagon. And whether Zenimax is seriously considering this, is highly doubtful.

In our own matter

How quickly something turns into a rumor, we experienced on our site just last week. Our speculation that H1Z1 might announce its early access date at a Nvidia event landed on four German gaming sites. But our article did not appear there as: A colleague reported on this and he has his ideas about it and restricts it. No, no, it became a rumor and steadily grew. With each time, the message became a little bigger, and the restrictions found in our article faded. A rumor was born, and everyone can do whatever they want with it.

How boring are any articles that speculate, see things from one side and the other, and make it clear that they are merely expressing their own opinions. All concerns are set aside, and the label “rumor” is placed on it, making it much more appealing.

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