Today, Blizzard released the third part of the “Lords of War” short film series! After the previous two episodes featured the warlords Grommash and Kargath, this time it focuses on the leader of the Frostwolf clan: Durotan.
It should be noted that the Orc Durotan was already well-known beforehand, as he is the father of Thrall, the former Warchief of the Horde, and the starting area of the Orcs “Durotar” was named after him.
The World of Warcraft film shows that the members of the Frostwolf clan, unlike the other Orcs, try to suppress their rage and constantly roam with the wise (and white!) wolves to sustain each other. Whether this always succeeds, what burden Durotan had to bear even at a young age, and how he came to have his iconic wolf pelt, you will find out in this video:
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In the Sandpark MMO ArcheAge the demand for the servers is, as expected, huge. Fans are waiting in long lines and fear that someone will snatch their building plot or that early starters will gain too great an advantage.
Queue times during the launch of an MMO are nothing unusual. And anyone launching an MMO during prime time in Europe at 7 PM on a Friday night can expect maximum attention, even though the head start is regulated by a founder’s package costing at least 46 euros. But the hype around the Sandpark MMO is great: After all, Archeage is arguably the most important F2P title this year. Some have been waiting for the launch for years.
So it was to be expected that the wait times in the queues would be longer. So why are some fans so upset about it?
Three reasons:
They paid money to receive a “premium” service that entitled them to log in before free-to-play players. However, since no one is participating in the head start, it is of no benefit to them now. Logically, this makes sense, but psychologically it is difficult to reconcile. While some in World of Warcraft might say, “Why am I paying 13 euros a month if my class is the only one that always gets nerfed?”, right now you hear, “Why am I paying 135 euros just to sit in a queue?”.
Something seems to be going wrong with the classification of “General” and “Patron”, leaving some fans feeling disadvantaged.
ArcheAge is launch-heavy, there’s a rush on the building zones, players in the queue feel significantly disadvantaged compared to those who are already making progress.
Fans are demanding more servers in the forum. However, a game like ArcheAge relies on each server being well populated to ensure there is action – even months after the release. MMOs have not always had good experiences in the past with opening new servers to handle the initial rush.
Therefore, Trion Worlds actually stated that no new servers are planned for the head start. Maybe that will change in the coming hours.
Update Saturday 02:00 AM: The launch began quite rocky but was far from the disaster some referred to in the first excitement.
Most founders have not yet received their rewards. This is likely due to server load interrupting the delivery. The issues of misallocated founders in the “normal” queue should be resolved by relogging and closing Glyph, according to a recent statement from Trion Worlds. They also want to keep fans updated on the fixes during the head start. We have linked the forum post in the source.
Update 10:00 AM: There was another update overnight. They are working on the issues with Patron status and the founder packages that have not been delivered. Further servers are not ruled out, but they wanted to be cautious at the beginning because they expected a large influx initially. They also plan to implement a buffer to allow players who are kicked from the game to log back in immediately without having to wait in the queue.
Basically, Trion Worlds says: We are aware of the issues, and we are working to fix them.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the sandbox MMO ArcheAge, everything is a bit different. This also applies to the classes. Which skill lines work well together? How do you become a tank, healer, or DPS? Which class is the strongest, and can all this still change?
There are 120 classes in ArcheAge. That’s something to deal with. However, these are not like in World of Warcraft or WildStar really “fixed classes”; rather, the system is a bit different. It relies on a modular approach.
Each character can choose three skill lines from a pool of ten.
The first skill line is chosen at character creation, the second at level 5, and the third at level 10, at which point you also receive a class title that results from the combination of the chosen lines.
These lines can later be swapped out, so no one is fixed on what they have to play. During character creation, every hero can choose from one of six skill lines.
These are individually:
The six main skill lines
Battlerage : A classic melee tree for melee DPS. Here you’ll find abilities you’d expect from rogues, warriors, ninjas, or samurais in other games.
Sorcery : These are caster DPS, specialized in area damage. A bit of crowd control is available as well. A mage in other games.
Archery : Range DPS for archers. Quite a standard line. Those who enjoy playing hunters, bounty hunters, or rangers in other games can access this.
Vitalism : This is a classic healer with healing skills, resurrection options, buffs, and some tricks.
Occultism : Caster DPS focused on curses and debuffs. It has some temporary pets and mind-control abilities, leaning towards theurgist, warlock, off-support caster DPS, mesmer, necro.
Shadowplay : These are the movement skills of rogues and assassins, all situated in the melee DPS area. It provides considerable movement radius. Currently incredibly popular for anything related to PvP. And since ArcheAge is basically a hardcore PvP game: the first choice for many.
The four support skills
These are called support skill lines because you cannot start directly with them, and there are fewer DPS abilities included. This means that in class composition in ArcheAge, you cannot mix 3 of these 4 skill lines with each other, but one of the upper six lines must always be included.
Auromancy : This is a defensive skill line that aims to protect primarily against magic damage. So it’s a counter against sorcery and occultism. Essentially an anti-mage tank.
Defense : Defensive skill against melee damage. Typical tank skill line against melee DPS.
Witchcraft : CC abilities that allow you to control enemies and dictate the outcome of a battle. In earlier MMOs, there used to be pure CC classes; today it’s hard to find comparisons.
Songcraft : A support line that primarily shines with buffs.
When looking at this from a conventional perspective, one would immediately come up with eight ideas about what class they could actually play: a totally offensive rogue, for example. Or a hardcore healer with vitalism, auromancy, and defense. Or something totally crazy with sorcery, shadowplay, and songcraft or so. Yes, others have come up with such class ideas before you.
According to a survey on reddit, shadowplay is extremely popular for patch 1.2 (1.2 is the patch with which ArcheAge goes live here). More than half of all people who participated in the vote plan to incorporate shadowplay into their character. The reason is surely the high mobility that this skill line grants the class. Many builds also include either auromancy or defense to benefit from physical or magical damage.
For melee DPS, rogue variations are popular. They work with battlerage, shadowplay, and protect themselves either from physical or magical damage. Or one can go “all-in”.
Darkrunner (battlerage, shadowplay, auromancy) – This is a type of assassin that protects himself from his typical predator, the mage, with auromancy. The idea is to get to enemies as quickly as possible to burst them down and then escape before things get complicated. A PvP killer and a pretty good all-rounder.
Blighter (battlerage, shadowplay, defense) – Also an assassin, but more focused on surviving direct enemy contact. More vulnerable to magic than the darkrunner.
Shadowblade (battlerage, shadowplay, witchcraft): A bit riskier, a bit more vulnerable, but can pull off some impressive feats with the additional CC abilities if he stays alive.
Class Archetype: Range Damage Dealer.
Among range DPS, shadowplay is currently valued as the primary movement element. Particularly for range DPS, having combat initiation on your own side is essential, and the mobility line is very helpful for that.
Reaper (sorcery, shadowplay, occultism): A range DPS glass-cannon, focused entirely on damage and deception. Shouldn’t be caught.
Spellsinger (sorcery, shadowplay, songcraft): A type of caster DPS with mobility and support capabilities.
Primeveal (archery, shadowplay, auromancy): A pretty classic ranger type who tries to get to a good position protected to make trouble there. With auromancy, he protects himself against magical damage.
Stonearrow (archery, shadowplay, defense): A tanky archer who isn’t as dependent on keeping enemies away as primeveal.
Trickster : (archery, shadowplay, witchcraft): The offensive version of the archer, who gains mobility through shadowplay and CC abilities through witchcraft. Considered a pretty potent PvP class.
Class Archetype: The Tanks
For tanks, defense is mandatory, and in most builds, auromancy is also included, depending on the situation. Here, rather ‘conventional’ builds dominate, as tanks have a clear task, a job description. Anything that only includes “defense” to give a DPS a bit more padding would be classified as an off-tank.
Skullknight (defense, auromancy, occultism): A strong combo, a CC tank so to speak, who is fully dependent on team play but can achieve impressive results.
Paladin (defense, battlerage, vitalism): More offensive than the skullknight, focuses more on self-healing than on blocking opponents.
Abolisher (defense, auromancy, battlerage): Another seemingly logical combo – a well-protected, classic bash-tank.
Class Archetype: The Healers
Healers need vitalism, and then it’s a question of whether they completely isolate themselves and focus on their own security, choose support with songcraft, or opt for other options, perhaps even play a bit more aggressively.
Templar (vitalism, defense, auromancy): Essentially a logical combo. A turtle healer, so to speak. Almost unbreakable, not very mobile, not very dangerous.
Necromancer (vitalism, witchcraft, occultism): A stark contrast to the Templar. The necromancer is fragile but can dictate battlefield strategy with his CC capabilities if left undisturbed.
These are just some of the class ideas circulating on English sites.
Basically, it’s important to understand which skill line does “what” and then consider how to piece them together. The modular approach should ensure that interesting combos are possible and that your character doesn’t become boring.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the Sandpark MMO ArcheAge , the first real estate agents have appeared. They promise to reserve plots… if the price is right.
ArcheAge, the game with the real estate dealer
In the official forum of ArcheAge, a thread has now caused a stir. An aspiring real estate shark announced that he and other players who listened to his command would rush to buy, grab, and block as much land as possible with the head start of ArcheAge. He and his minions would be ready to sell it afterwards. So, anyone who arrives late for the head start can reserve a piece of land from them. Orders and requests are being accepted.
Opinions on this behavior are naturally divided. While some are upset about such greed and see it as a decline of gaming culture and blatant grief play, others find these options in ArcheAge exciting and see nothing wrong with it: After all, land trading is intended in ArcheAge.
How do you handle the land grab?
This “land grab”, the urgent acquisition of as much land as possible, causes some excitement before the head start, heating up the players and leading to strange consequences. Never before has an MMO been as “start-heavy” as ArcheAge seems set to be.
Players have precise plans on how to reserve precious space with the first 50 Gilda Stars obtained through quests. Some even plan to create twinks afterwards and spread out on the most attractive land, making it difficult for others to build nearby. It could be a long night for many – or a long week.
We have already addressed the topic of “real estate” in ArcheAge in this article. How it will actually be at the head start and whether “real estate agents” or power gamers can gain as much influence as they claim is, of course, uncertain. The housing areas are large, there is plenty of building space, although acquiring a contiguous piece of land in a prime location can be challenging.
How about you? Excited for the head start? Do you have a plan for the “land grab” or are you just going to let it come to you?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO Destiny the first cheats have appeared, although some prefer to talk about mods, as they intervene in the gameplay in an unfair way.
As reported by the gaming site vg247, the first cheat has now reached the MMO Destiny. Whether you call it a “hack,” “mod,” or “cheat,” it amounts to the same thing: a player gains an advantage over others. With this cheat, the player no longer has to worry about ammunition and reloading the weapon is eliminated. So it’s a typical FPS cheat of the “unlimited ammo”, “no reloading” variety.
Such cheats or hacks are not unknown in shooters and have a long and infamous tradition. However, in an “always online” game like Destiny, they are not as widespread, even though the latest MMOs, like WildStar or The Elder Scrolls Online, had to deal with such issues in their early days – and certain speed hacks in titles like World of Warcraft are almost legendary.
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Recently, a discussion has arisen regarding how graphic the survival MMO H1Z1 might become. A designer has now spoken out.
The majority of the discussion about the survival MMO H1Z1 takes place in a specific subforum on reddit. The H1Z1 homepage explicitly links to the English-language forum. The community there is said to play a key role in the development of the zombie MMO H1Z1.
Can H1Z1 be a proper zombie game without zombies missing a leg?
A side comment during a stream seems to have caused quite a stir. Suddenly, there was the suggestion that H1Z1 could somehow become too tame. There is no blood, no “gore” (that’s what they call bloody effects, like protruding intestines or similar), and no severed limbs.
And all these elements are urgently requested by parts of the community for a proper zombie game. The discussion became heated and eventually called upon a developer from SOE, the Technical Lead Tom Schenck. He was able to provide answers and engaged in a detailed discussion with the fans. However, it wasn’t about morals, age ratings, or similar topics, but about bits and bytes. After all, Schenck is the Technical Lead and is concerned with what is feasible.
For H1Z1, it’s not a matter of morals, but of resources
Regarding blood, according to Schenck, it is merely a graphical effect that is not too complicated to program. Just cosmetics. If players are currently missing it, it’s only because they haven’t started to implement this design and the effects into the game yet.
With gore, it is a bit more difficult. These often involve animated objects that consume more resources during development. They might be gradually implemented into the game later, but these effects could also lead to performance issues, so caution is required.
With severed limbs or amputations, there are many factors to consider, which is why no work is being done on that at the moment. It requires complex animations. It’s a multifaceted problem: What do you do with amputated animals or zombies or people who remain alive (or undead) despite losing limbs? Animations and movements would have to change for the different models when limbs are missing – that would be extremely labor-intensive to program.
Schenck stated that it currently makes more sense to focus on a stable game for early access and only introduce features that can be guaranteed to work. Especially such complex and relatively minor aspects, like amputations, require significant work from the team; at the moment, there are more important systems that need attention.
Anyone who wants to follow the discussion, which became more technical and detailed afterwards, can find a link to it in the sources. Schenck posts on reddit as “CyclesMcHurtz.”
More about the survival MMO H1Z1 can be found on our theme page. An early access date is not yet known.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In ArcheAge, the head start is just a few hours away. It starts at 7 PM. The last built is now also finished: The laboratory potions have returned to their original value, and Archeum is said to be easier to obtain now.
ArcheAge brings back the old laboratory potions, addressing criticism of P2Win
The patch notes for the final release patch have been published for ArcheAge. The laboratory point potions have reverted to the original value of 300 credits with a 12-hour cooldown. Trion Worlds had already announced that they would try to implement this change, but could not guarantee it. Now we know it has been accomplished.
Additionally, the “Archeum” drop rates are said to have been significantly increased. During the beta, much criticism was directed at these: The low drop rates compared to other versions of the game and two newly introduced cash shop chests from which players could obtain Archeum led to accusations of Pay2Win.
Now monsters are supposed to drop “Loot Bags” more frequently. And from these loot bags, ArcheAge players are expected to obtain “Sunlight Archeum”, “Moonlight Archeum”, and “Starlight Archeum” more often. Also in the loot bags of the mobs: Equipment that can then be converted into Archeum.
Good news for Patrons: They are supposed to be prioritized even more in queues, meaning they will get onto the servers sooner than Free2Play players.
The costumes available for purchase in the cash shop will eventually lose their stats; they are to be purely cosmetic and no longer provide any advantages to players. Trion Worlds and XLGames are currently working on that and a better spam filter.
How are the auction houses related?
Just before the start, it has now become clear which auction houses will form a cluster in ArcheAge, meaning they will be linked together. In Europe, the servers Shatigon and Kyprosa will share an auction house; Eanna and Dahuta the other. In North America, Aranzeb, Naima, and Kyrios are together; also Ollo, Thayang, and Salphia.
A link will lead you to the complete patch notes in English in the sources.
The Crucible, the PvP arena in the MMO Destiny, proves to be robust. The gameplay holds up in a first test to the demands of true Halo pros and FPS masters.
A team of top FPS gamers and YouTubers faced off against a team of Destiny developers from Bungie for the opening. A kind of first endurance test of the “Control” map for esports suitability.
YouTuber “Drift0r” competed alongside five other players against a team of Destiny developers. Beside Drift0r are the Suddoth twins, two Halo pros and gamers, but the Bungie team is better than expected, much better than normal “developer” teams, as Drift0r says.
Most developers are quite okay at their game, but they could not possibly compete on a professional level. Top shooter players who stream all day and work on their skills usually play in a whole different league than developers. The Bungie guys are different.
They utilize their experience and worked as a team. While he and the pro gamers relied on the mobile Hunter and the Warlock and mostly ignored the Titan, the Titan, especially in his Defender subclass, played a key role in Bungie’s strategies. Again and again, the developers would retreat behind the shield to take advantage of the synergy effects the Titan provides them.
The first Destiny match under competitive conditions
In a video on YouTube, Drift0r analyzes Destiny’s suitability for “competitive gameplay,” for ambitious playing with some level of ambition.
His conclusion is rather positive: The game has a good balance, nothing is truly overpowered, it takes many hits to take down an opponent, which makes the game more skill-based. However, 30 FPS is really not his thing, and he notes that the test took place under “optimal conditions” against great opponents and with strong teammates. In good company, he states, everything is just more fun, even a round of Monopoly.
For a first glimpse into what might be the first Destiny match at “top” level, you can watch his video clip:
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There are indeed balance changes coming to Hearthstone. Leeroy Jenkins and the starving Buzzard will become more expensive.
Blizzard confirms balance changes to two Hearthstone cards on September 22nd. They were mistakenly active, then reverted, and are set to return on September 22nd.
This is happening with Leeroy and the Buzzard
Leeroy Jenkins, the feared finisher for 4 mana, will cost 5 mana.
The starving Buzzard, an important part of the currently played Hunter decks, will receive a much more extensive remodeling. The cost will increase from 2 mana to 5 mana. However, its stats will change as well: instead of 2 attack and 1 health as before, it will have 3 attack and 2 health.
Important cards in the current meta-game
Leeroy Jenkins, with its stats of 6/2 for 4 mana cost, is one of the most defining cards in Hearthstone so far. It is primarily used as a finisher, where it can hit multiple times with certain tricks. It is one of the most popular win conditions in numerous decks, a combination of cards that leads to victory under certain conditions. Particularly in the trendiest meta-deck before Naxxramas, the Miracle Rogue, it shone as the finisher of combinations. Leeroy Jenkins regularly appears in best-of videos and his appearances are quite spectacular.
The starving Buzzard, a Hunter class card, is usually used in conjunction with “Release the Hounds”. This combination allows the Hunter to draw a card for each opposing minion on the board. Thus, it was able to offset one of its biggest weaknesses, “Card-Starve”, a situation where a player cannot draw enough cards to maintain their aggression. Since Naxxramas, so-called Mad-Hunter decks have dominated the meta-game and the ladder. Especially against so-called Zoo decks, which flood the board with many small creatures, this combo proved to be too strong.
This is how Blizzard justifies the nerfs in Hearthstone
As Blizzard informs through community manager Christina Sims, Zeriayh, the changes to Leeroy were made to make the game more minion-heavy and thus more fun. Receiving twenty or more damage in a turn from Leeroy in certain combinations is not so fun. Zeriayh mentioned problematic combinations including Faceless Manipulator, Release the Hounds, and Shadowstep.
The number of cards that a Hunter could draw through the starving Buzzard proved to be too strong for the low cost of the card. With higher mana costs, both the Hunter and their opponent would have more time to react to the situation.
The fantasy MMO Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is flying relatively under the radar in Germany, but it has some fascinating design ideas that would work well in other MMORPGs.
Final Fantasy XIV is overshadowed in Germany among the top MMORPGs. Maybe it’s because Germans have a problem with the Asian look, or maybe it’s because Final Fantasy is more of a console thing, and MMORPGs and consoles haven’t really gone together in Germany. Or maybe it’s because many have already written the game off after a disastrous launch and are only interested in “new things,” not in “it was terrible, got better, is now slowly becoming fantastic.”
About me: I am not a Final Fantasy expert. I heard about the game a while ago, but I was skeptical. I don’t even know why. After Dawid wrote a review of the game that spoke to me, I gave the game a chance over the past three months and have to say: It is a polished MMORPG with great and unusual ideas. It is not perfect, but it is damn good and has some fresh ideas that I would love to see in other MMOs too.
So: What can other MMORPGs learn from Final Fantasy XIV?
1. The recommendation system in dungeons
This is a very logical and simple system: Once the last boss in an instance is defeated, each player can give one of the three companions a “recommendation,” meaning they can choose one of the other three and virtually pat them on the shoulder and say, “I liked you the most of the three.” And when that player gets a shoulder pat 50 times, they can somehow get a teddy bear or some other in-game reward, but what they receive is not really that important. The main thing is that they get something.
This simple system leads to people being nicer to each other. Either that or every unpleasant player runs away screaming after being called “Kupo” eighteen times in the first three minutes by a fat flying Moogle that only they can see. Maybe they do something to the Final Fantasy drinking water, but people are incredibly nice to each other, and I’ve heard that from many.
In the three months I’ve played Final Fantasy XIV, I’ve made mistakes, but I was never yelled at or given passive-aggressive hints about what people think of me; instead, I was simply explained the situation. That such a thing is still possible is just amazing!
The recommendation system seems to be so logical that it should be used in many more MMOs. A similar system has even somewhat normalized the completely crazy community at League of Legends. And for that, someone should be given a statue, or the person who had this idea should be made a special ambassador and sent to the regions that always appear in the news.
A small fix with a big impact: Reward kindness. It helps so much! People are so incredibly nice in Final Fantasy XIV that it would really be mean to be unkind to someone. Amazing.
2. The multi-class system
This is the design decision in Final Fantasy XIV that has fascinated me the most from the very beginning. Even when I read about it, my first thought was: “What?!”
The character’s class is determined by the type of weapon: Pick up a bow, and you are an archer; grab a wand, and you are a mage; take a cooking spoon, and you are a cook. You need to unlock the classes beforehand, but a visit to the trainer is all it takes; it’s not a big deal.
I don’t have to twink, but I have everything on one character. And if I wanted to twink, I could ignore the system and just create twinks. But I don’t have to mule items, I don’t have to log out, I don’t have to be in eight guilds with six different characters, or repeat the starter area twelve times, pretending to be interested in a Tauren druid or anything else. I have my character every time, to whom I slowly develop a connection, until I actually identify with this “main character,” rather than a family of characters where I sometimes play dad, mom, and sometimes the hairy uncle (again Tauren).
This is a design decision that seems kind of “crazy” at first glance and takes some getting used to, but after a while, it appears very logical and natural. One wonders: Why is this so rare? Why am I so limited to a specific class with each character in other games?
Now with Skyforge and ArcheAge – and certainly other games – the trend is moving towards this new system and breaking out of the narrow parameters of classic roles. I think it’s a good thing.
3. No /played in Final Fantasy XIV
You cannot display the /played. I don’t know how it is for you, but I always flinch when it has been said in any game, “What is your /played?” the first thought is: “Oh my God!” and the second: “Yes, but… I was afk most of the time and was doing totally meaningful things!”
In Final Fantasy XIV, this number cannot be displayed. Thank God!
Do you have any ideas about what other MMOs could learn from Final Fantasy XIV or other games? Are there particularly great systems and design ideas in an MMO that you would like to see in other games?
Presumably, everyone is familiar with the issue, even outside of World of Warcraft: After many years, one might not be fully satisfied with the appearance of their main character. Back then, it would have been better to spend a little more time on character creation rather than rushing directly into the world of Azeroth. Those who wanted a different facial shape had to bit the bullet and reach into their real wallet to give their character a makeover.
With the upcoming major patch 6.0, this will now come to an end! In the future, players will be able to change their character’s facial shape for gold at the barber in World of Warcraft!
Source: mmo-champion.com
There is no official explanation for this move yet, but it can be assumed that they want to accommodate players with this change, should they not like their revamped face in “Warlords of Draenor,” as all character models are graphically enhanced there. If someone is unhappy with the new look, they can change it at any barber in the game for a few gold pieces – but don’t ask us when the friendly goblins got retrained as plastic surgeons.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The sandbox MMO ArcheAge is about to launch its Head Start for founders. We have summarized the ten most important things everyone should know when logging in.
1. Never delete a character
Everyone participating in the Head Start is a founder. The founder’s package grants specific bonuses and items depending on its cost. The special items, like the chest, are only available for the first character created. Bonuses apply to the first six. So if someone creates a character, plays for three minutes, and then realizes that they don’t like the walk or that their hair doesn’t look great, or that they are allergic to cats, they should really avoid deleting the character.
2. When does the Head Start for ArcheAge start, when can the rest join the servers?
It starts at 7 PM tomorrow evening, on Friday. Free2Play players will start four days later, on Tuesday, also at 7 PM.
3. Who is eligible to participate in the Head Start and can I still join?
Everyone who has purchased a founder’s package from Trion Worlds is eligible. Anyone wanting to join the Head Start should act quickly. As the nice lady from buffed correctly said in a podcast recently: Experience shows that the publisher’s site crashes at release. Then it will be too late. Theoretically, one could still buy a package a few hours before the release and participate in the Head Start.
If someone buys a founder’s package not for the Head Start but for the other benefits: The packages will later be available as “Starter Packages”. They might be cheaper then, but that’s still uncertain.
4. Choosing a server
ArcheAge is launching with four European servers. They are all the same, there is no “PvE” server or anything else.
There is also no German server, neither officially nor unofficially. An official one was planned, but it seems that did not happen. Unofficially, there were a lot of polls. As the fan site ArcheAge-Online.de reports, nothing came of it. At least there are two unofficial roleplay servers, with the international one being Dahuta and the German one possibly being Eanna.
Perhaps Trion Worlds will launch additional servers at release if the influx is huge and if the waiting times become too long. These “fresh” servers would be a good choice for players without Head Start advantages.
5. Character creation in ArcheAge: Classes and races
ArcheAge features two factions: The ones on the map to the west, Nuia, are more “western” oriented (our medieval/baroque), while the ones in the east, Haranya, are more “far eastern”. The racial advantages are explained via tooltips, but they should balance each other out. You can choose based on personal preferences (no furry gags!).
Otherwise, during character creation, even if it’s hard, take your time and pay special attention to the appearance (if you don’t already have a skin saved from the beta). ArcheAge, as typical for Asian MMOs, has some features we don’t usually see here. For example, you can change the size and position of scars or tattoos. That’s quite nice.
We will try to bring an article about class selection tomorrow during the day. It’s quite complicated: In ArcheAge, there are no “typical” base classes, but everyone can initially choose three from six skill lines, later ten, and thus become one of 120 classes. The initial selection can also be changed relatively easily in the game (however, new skill lines then need to be leveled). Tomorrow we will likely present some of the most popular combinations.
6. What happens to the alpha and beta characters at the Head Start?
Beta characters are deleted, they are gone. Alpha characters are also not playable, but they will likely be saved and might be resurrected on a test server later. The characters that are created now at the Head Start will remain with the players when it also starts for the rest on Tuesday. Otherwise, it would be nonsense.
7. When do I get my stuff from the founder’s package?
It’s planned for the Head Start. Keep an eye on your mailbox.
8. And does the Head Start really start from the beginning?
Yes and no, basically yes, but for a considerable time the northern continent “Auroria” will remain locked. There, guild endgame PvP takes place. They can conquer fortresses there. At Trion Worlds, they say they want to wait until stable structures are in place, until several guilds are ready. In other countries, it took about six weeks for the action to really begin with the PvP continent “Auroria”. This could also happen in Europe.
9. How many characters can I create?
Two. Additional slots can be purchased for 1000 credits. A total of six can be created per region (that is, all of Europe). As I said: Don’t delete any character.
ArcheAge has been playable somewhere in the world for more than two years now (first in Korea, later in Russia). Many gamers here have also been in the alpha for months, learning the game, devising plans for the launch, and forming alliances. Keeping up as a newcomer will likely be almost impossible.
ArcheAge is a complex game, there’s a ton of information on it, with dirty tricks and guides (the tricks are dirty, the guides probably not).
In ArcheAge, knowledge is indeed power. The best thing would probably be, if you are after “power” or “success”, whatever that means, to join a guild with experienced players and slowly grow into the game. Of course, it should primarily be fun.
Anyone generally planning to do their own thing – should perhaps reconsider. In ArcheAge, forming and maintaining social contacts is even more important than in typical theme park MMORPGs.
If you have any questions or tips, please write them in the comments. More about the sandbox MMO can be found on our ArcheAge theme page.
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The success of the MMO shooter Destiny is now receiving congratulations from what is likely the next big franchise – and a challenge.
Activision proudly announced yesterday that it has launched the most successful new franchise in video game history with Destiny. Games worth 500 million US dollars would have already gone on sale on the first day. With Destiny, they are confident that they have launched another billion-dollar franchise and will benefit from it for years to come.
At Gamescom in Cologne, the game “Evolve,” an asymmetrical shooter, made waves. A team of 4 hunters takes on a constantly evolving monster. Many experts attributed immense potential to the game there. And so they are now considering chances to become the next “big thing” in the concert of top games.
And so Evolve proves confidence and humor by making its claims known. With a pic on Twitter and Facebook, they congratulated Bungie on their success and stated that they would definitely take on the role of the hunter. In this case, “hunter” refers both to one of the potential classes in Destiny and, of course, to the role of a pursuer. With Evolve, they want to challenge Destiny for the record of the best launch of a new franchise.
Evolve is developed by Turtle Rock Studios, the team behind Left 4 Dead, and is set to be released in February 2015 for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In World of Warcraft, you won’t immediately jump into raids or arenas at launch. They will only be available starting December 2nd. This seems to be Blizzard’s way of preventing the stressful race to the new maximum level 100.
This might appeal to him: Try to relax.
Oops, it seems there is a change of heart at Blizzard. The rated battlegrounds and arenas will only start on December 2nd, three weeks after Warlords of Draenor is released. The raids will also kick off on December 2nd. This is to ensure all players have the opportunity to reach the new maximum level of 100 at their own pace. Unrated PvP battlegrounds, skirmishes, and other PvP activities are reportedly immediately available, according to Blizzard. However, the rated season in World of Warcraft will only begin on December 2nd.
On this day, the normal and heroic difficulty levels for the first new raid Highmaul will also open. Players will have to wait longer for the raid finder and mythic difficulty. These will only be released in the following weeks.
World of Warcraft tries to relax
Mein MMO says: Wow, so … we didn’t see this coming. Since most “casual” guilds take quite a while for everyone to recover and decide to play World of Warcraft and raid again, this might not hit them so hard.
What progress guilds have to say is a whole different story. For them, the first weeks of a new expansion are usually the time they really play World of Warcraft. If this is now “stretched out,” it might lose some of its appeal.
For die-hard PvP players, who see leveling to 100 more as a chore than a joy, this change shouldn’t be too terrible.
In World of Warcraft, you actually celebrate your tenth anniversary when it is due, and not when it would fit into the concept.
It was announced a few weeks ago how World of Warcraft would celebrate its tenth anniversary: In a bombastic and retro style. It will head into the Molten Core, for a 40-man retro raid. With a special battleground, they want to revive the charm of the PvP battles for Hillsbrad Foothills. Additionally, there will be a Lava-Corgi as a pet.
Fans have speculated when these events would begin. Wouldn’t it be best to have them before the release of the AddOn Warlords of Draenor? Then players returning to prepare for the new WoW with the pre-patch would have plenty to do. And the most loyal souls, who are enduring a content drought, were certainly craving something new.
Secretly, some had presumably hoped that Blizzard would move the birthday celebration forward. But that is not the case.
Only after the launch of Warlords of Draenor, when there will be plenty to do anyway, will they celebrate the birthday of World of Warcraft with the announced events. The celebrations will take place from November 21 to January 6, 2015.
At the moment, the preparation patch for Warlords of Draenor (the so-called pre-patch) is on the public test server. It is generally expected to go live in early to mid-October. From then on, players will have plenty to do with the new abilities, new skins, and the event, the invasion of the Iron Horde.
In the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, the story team from TESO visited reddit. There, they received an abundance of praise.
In the English-speaking forum reddit, AMAs or Q&As are very popular. In these “Ask Me/Us Anything” forum sessions, which last a few hours, stars or experts take the time to answer questions from fans or interested parties. Last night our time, it was the story team’s turn from Zenimax, and – quite unusual for developers – they were almost overwhelmed with praise on reddit.
Sheogorath: This flamboyant NPC is also credited to the TESO writing team.
The fans joked with the developers, almost every question started with a compliment. The writers and designers of Tamriel’s background story seemed open and took a lot of time to answer the fans’ questions. Whether it was the quirky messages of the apprentices or the lengthy in-game books – the fans took the opportunity to thank the authors for all of this. In return, the authors reciprocated to the reddit users: Posts in this particular subforum often made the rounds in their offices and sparked some discussions.
Mein MMO says: No matter how much criticism TESO had to face in the technical area or with gameplay, almost everyone praised the dialogues and storylines; they complimented the world of Tamriel, the attention to detail in the “written” word, and the ear for details. Especially the often tongue-in-cheek approach to side characters and how much there is to discover was highlighted by many.
Especially among active players, the number of lore fans is likely to be significantly higher than the average MMO gamer. Here, The Elder Scrolls Online could occupy a niche and excite people who enjoy reading, discovering details, and following stories in an MMO.
Microsoft has fallen behind in the console war with Sony. The system seller Destiny is now expected to reduce the lead of the Playstation 4 over the XBox One.
System Seller: Titanfall was nothing, now it should be Destiny
Approximately 5 million units of the XBox One have been sold, reports nasdaq.com. In contrast, the Playstation 4 has sold 10 million times. The problems of the XBox One, writes nasdaq, are partly due to the fact that “Titanfall” was not the breakthrough success it was designed to be in March. The shooter for the XBox One sold only 2.1 million copies, too few to become the next Halo.
Destiny, perhaps the biggest launch of the year, is not an exclusive title for either of the two systems, but Sony treats it like one. However, Microsoft does not want to leave the field to its competitor and goes on the offensive with an offer that is impressive. With a $399 bundle of the XBox One and a game, they aim to sell consoles in the US market, even if they do so below manufacturing costs.
Microsoft incurs loss with current bundle
Nasdaq.com cites the results of the company IHS. They estimate that the manufacturing cost for an XBox One without Kinect is $396. With the games that Microsoft includes for free in the bundles and for which they must pay fees to the manufacturers, they are willing to sell the console below the manufacturing price. Microsoft pursues this strategy to expand the customer base, which then buys third-party games on the XBox One (allowing Microsoft to collect licensing fees) or acquires an XBox Gold Pass.
According to Nasdaq, this strategy pays off to some extent, as XBox One owners have purchased an average of 3.3 games for the new console while Playstation 4 owners have bought only 2.6.
As Nasdaq suggests, in the war between the two console giants, the gamers are the real winners, as both Sony and Microsoft compete fiercely for their favor with strong offers and discounts.
Players in Europe also benefit from the price war of the giants
Amazon.de currently offers the Xbox One bundle with Destiny for 399 Euros. You can find the promotion, which ends on September 23rd, here.
In the US market, the price war is particularly fierce. But even here in Europe, Microsoft is using Destiny to sell consoles. The current MMO shooter Destiny is currently available in a bundle with the XBox One at Amazon for 399 Euros. The promotion runs until September 23rd or while supplies last.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Destiny, a curious trick is making the rounds: If you have emptied your weapon and do absolutely nothing, you receive bonus ammunition in the magazine.
As kotaku.uk reports, a trick from the beta still works. There’s little to do, you just have to completely empty the weapon and then stand still for a few seconds until the ammunition fairy flies in and refills the magazine. (Of course, the fairy is invisible.)
Kotaku advises using this trick when you are running low on bullets and then picking up scattered ammunition packs. If you don’t believe in the wondrous ammunition multiplication: In a video, you can see the ammunition fairy at work. Or not … it’s invisible after all.
Starting today, access to the two WildStar raid instances has been slightly simplified, though that might be an exaggeration. At least it’s faster, the biggest time wasters have been somewhat contained.
For one step of the questline, you previously had to kill all world bosses – but only after accepting the quest. If you had already sent the big opponents to the afterlife during the leveling phase, this was not counted; from now on, the game will retroactively count those kills.
Silver medals are no longer required for raid access.
The required amount of primal patterns per player is also reduced, namely to a third – where previously you had to collect 300, now only 100 per person is sufficient. As mentioned earlier, the dungeon step in WildStar has also been simplified, with a bronze medal per instance being sufficient to complete this stage. But even complete latecomers can rejoice, as “Ohmna”, the boss of the Genarchive, will soon drop an item that allows you to skip the entire prequest, and this item is tradeable!
Those who have overcome the torments of the access quest in its old state will be rewarded with an achievement in the next major patch, as a reminder and honor for the work done.
Looking Ahead and Many Changes
Warbases are currently unfortunately not utilized. That should change soon.
The developers have also looked into the future plans of WildStar, such as making the PvP sign-up a bit more attractive, as many players completely ignore this part of the game. The second area of concern, the warbases (also PvP), is also scheduled to undergo some changes soon to attract more players to the cheerful skirmish; however, more details will be revealed soon.
Future content patches will no longer focus on the theme of war between Dominion and Exiles, instead, they want to advance the other stories in the game (like Drusera and the entity).
Additionally, questing in a group will receive some improvements, as currently, some tasks have to be done multiple times depending on how many group members you have – thus, playing with friends is currently often a frustrating time sink instead of an enjoyable enhancement.
Regarding other points, unfortunately, no binding statements were made; the developers are aware of the issues with 40-man raids (currently there are 7 raid groups in the data zone worldwide, around 150 in the smaller Genarchive), but they still want to continue providing content for this number of players in the future. We will keep you updated as soon as there are new developments.
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The free-to-play martial arts MMO Swordsman Online is getting its first expansion.
In a interview a few weeks ago it hinted: Swordsman Online will receive its first expansion “Gilded Wastelands” this fall. The level cap will increase to 94 and new zones will be added to the world of the Wuxia spectacle. Since these regions mainly consist of deserts, some “It’s about to get wild” word plays come to mind, which we would like to spare you.
In addition to the new zones, the publisher Perfect World promises in a press release that new instances and items will also make their way into the game. They want to revise the companion system in Swordsman Online and the leveling experience should also become more enjoyable.
If you are interested in the game, you can find out more about Swordsman Online on our topic page.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
