Elite Dangerous: Little Shine, Much Being – A Look into the Beta of the Space MMO

MeinMMO MeinMMO Reading time 2 minutes

The space MMO Elite: Dangerous is currently receiving a lot of praise and attention from the international press and gaming community. Together with Star Citizen, it could revive the long-thought-dead genre of space simulation – this time as a game that certainly makes use of the means of an MMO. It’s truly high time we paid a visit to the game.

For a first foray into the world of Elite, we managed to enlist the YouTuber Shumbok, who specializes in quieter strategy and indie titles and is already neck-deep in the beta of Elite: Dangerous:

Good morning Commander, today I want to introduce you to a very special space flight simulation.

Elite: Dangerous is the fourth part of the Elite series, which originated in 1984 and thus founded a new genre. For the first time, economic simulation and space flight simulation were combined, making it one of the first “open-world” games with thousands of planets. Due to its great popularity, two more installments followed: Frontier: Elite 2, arguably the most successful part of the series, and the somewhat less popular Elite 3: First Encounters. The special features of the Elite games are their tendency towards realistic physics, very free action, a focus on the “Han Solo” feeling, and the constant sensation of impending death at your back.

Elite Dangerous

19 years after the release of the last version, David Braben, one of the creators and developers of the series, launched the fourth installment of Elite: Dangerous through a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Elite: Dangerous has now reached its first beta phase after spending about four months in a premium beta. The biggest modernization, besides the graphics, is probably the ability to experience Elite: Dangerous in an open or private multiplayer mode upon request, which seamlessly ties into the single-player game. In open mode, it behaves similarly to an MMO, where many players are thrown into different space instances with automated matchmaking, where they can pass the time trading, robbing, chatting, and completing missions together. But be careful! Here too, the police, pirates, and bounty hunters are on your tail.

Furthermore, we can already admire the first faction battles, the trading system, piracy, currently 6 controllable ships, and 55 of the planned 400 billion star systems. You can find more information about the current state of the beta in this little showcase about Elite: Dangerous.

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Hearthstone: Android and iPhone– Which port are more players waiting for?

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

The interest in a port of Hearthstone to iPhone and Android remains high. Apparently, fans are longing more for an Android port than for a Hearthstone round on the iPhone.

As the site product-reviews.net claims to have found out, the interest of Hearthstone fans in a port to the Android operating system is about 4 times greater than that of iPhone fans. Product-reviews believes that this is due to the fact that Android is more suitable for Blizzard’s card game. Since Hearthstone already runs on the iPad, it is believed that it is not as attractive for iPhone users. After all, the iPad with its larger display is more suitable for the card game, although some users complained that their hands hurt after a longer session.

We at mein-MMO.de also looked at the current trends on Google and it indeed seems that Hearthstone for Android is about 3 to 5 times more in demand than a port for the iPhone. At least if one believes the trend barometer from Google: The keyword “Hearthstone Android” has been searched significantly more often worldwide in the last 90 days than “Hearthstone iPhone”.

Hearthstone ports for iPhone and Android are expected to take place by Blizzard in 2014. Whether one system will be ready before the other, or if both will be able to enjoy Hearthstone at the same time, is unknown. Perhaps there will be new information at the next Blizzcon, which will take place on November 7th and 8th in Anaheim.

As Hearthstone has already proven to be highly profitable in its short time and there is an expectation that Hearthstone on Android and iPhone will generate even more revenue, one can assume that Blizzard is feverishly working to resolve the issues that are still hindering the ports. In doing so, the developers at Blizzard primarily cite the small display size of the iPhone as the main difficulty.

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

Expansion ‘Nightmare Tides’ arrives on October 8th

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

The expansion “Nightmare Tides” for the Free2Play MMORPG Rift is set to be released on October 8.

At PAX Prime, it wasn’t just about ArcheAge: Trion Worlds also announced a release date for the expansion of its Free2Play game Rift. “Nightmare Tides” is set to be released on October 8. This is a substantial expansion. While it has relatively few new zones, they are quite large and feature multiple layers. Trion Worlds prefers to tell “less” stories but delve deeply into them, rather than fragmenting the narrative into small bites.

For the storyline, they seem to have drawn inspiration from Lovecraft and his C’thulhu mythos – anything related to the sea, horror, and madness naturally evokes the master of nebulous phrasing.

Rift Nightmare Tides

With “Nightmare Tides” comes new raids, dungeons, features (minion system), item slots: a lot of new content indeed. We have already introduced the expansion to you here.

Since transitioning to a Free2Play system, Rift seems to be doing quite well. It is regularly praised for its fair Free2Play system and how much fresh content it consistently brings into the game. Accordingly, Rift has also made it into our top 7 best Free2Play MMORPGs.

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

Destiny has MMO Raids: Legendary Weapons, Set Items, and Lockouts

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

The MMO shooter Destiny will feature raids, and now there are the first details. What one hears sounds like classic MMOs.

Lockouts, a week to complete, loot, sets, boss mechanics, two difficulty levels – what sounds like a raid in a conventional MMO turns out to be the detailed description of Bungie’s MMO shooter Destiny. In a developer post, all possible questions about the raids in Destiny were answered.

Two difficulty levels for raids in Destiny: Normal and Hard

On the normal difficulty setting, one can best get to know the raids and the mechanics of the fights. Here, teamwork and communication can also be honed. Because once you set the slider to “hard”, there will be tough enemies that utilize their abilities in even quicker succession, leaving players less time to react.

Destiny

Moreover, Bungie speaks of penalties when one dies. The raids are intended to come without any information on how to complete them. Bungie wants players in Destiny to find out information online or puzzle it out themselves. They absolutely expect that guides, videos, tutorials, and diagrams will be available on the internet within a very short time. And they are already looking forward to it.

Raids do not have to be completed in one evening or extended afternoon, but players have a week to do so. The game saves the raid progress. Every Tuesday there is a reset. This also sounds very much like a typical MMO.

Shooter players struggled with the MMO raid in the test

Destiny

In a field test, 24 shooter players were put into four teams of six and confronted with a raid in Destiny. These players had no experience but a strong shooter background. None of the teams completed the raid entirely. Two of the four made it to the final boss. A third team of six also reached the final boss, but had to sneak past a previous encounter. And one team fell apart early and decided to abandon this MMO thing and continue playing shooters.

Loot, loot, and even more loot! – Destiny knows its genre

Like in a classic dungeon crawl, the opponents in the raids also have “shinies”. Each class has a set of equipment that drops in the raids and that players can work towards. Additionally, each of the nine weapon types has a “legendary” version, a Legendary – and this is true for each of the raids. There is more planned, but they are not revealing it.

Destiny Robot

These armors and weapons will have a unique skin, allowing everyone to see which bosses the Guardian standing in front of them has already defeated in Destiny.
The loot will be “individual”, that is, “private”, so there will be no item disputes. Each boss can only be looted once per week by each player, farming will yield nothing.

The raid size for Destiny is half as large as in conventional MMOs and is 6. The first raid will lead to Venus. A second one, which has not yet been confirmed, could send players to the moon. Here and regarding the details, Bungie remains tight-lipped.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Bungie
  2. VG247

World of Warcraft: 7 new rare spawn mounts are coming with Warlords of Draenor

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In World of Warcraft, there is an understanding for spawn campers of ultra-rare mounts. In Warlords of Draenor, seven new open-world drop mounts are introduced, but their drop chance is increased to 100%, and the associated mobs can be tagged by more than one player.

In rarity lies the spice: Rare spawns in the World of Warcraft

Many World of Warcraft players have had their little traumatic experiences in the game. Some achievement that took forever because they were always unlucky. Or some mount that just wouldn’t drop even after the thousandth try. Some hunters still suffer from the aftereffects of post-traumatic stress syndrome when they hear the name Loque’nahak.

Not even our new top WoW model has a TLPD in its collection.
Not even our new top WoW screenshot model has a TLPD in its collection.

The “Time-Lost Proto-Drake,” better known by its alias TLPD, was such a devil’s spawn during the blissful “Wrath of the Lich King” times. It shared a spawn timer with other mobs, was sighted less frequently than the Yeti (so, the real one, because you see WoW Yetis all the time), and when you encountered the TLPD, you usually arrived just in time to witness someone else delivering the killing blow.

7 new TLPD mounts scattered across Draenor, none as nasty as the original

A type of particularly rare mob, that spawns at the most absurd times and then drops a very special mount, is also making its debut with Warlords of Draenor. They have apparently been nicknamed after their ancestor by Blizzard.

Mounts of the “TLPD” variety are set to make a comeback in World of Warcraft. They only drop from rare spawns. Seven of them are said to be spread across Draenor.

One of the senior game designers of World of Warcraft, Blizzard developer Jeremy “Muffinus” Feasel, gives precautionary reassurance via Twitter: While there will be 7 of these mounts, they are all “much nicer,” far more humanely obtainable than the TLPD. The mobs might have a spawn timer ranging from “not so long” to “pretty long,” but everyone participating in a fight against them will receive a 100% drop.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Twitter
  2. MMO-Champion

The Elder Scrolls Online: 4-man raids in the new arena sound brutal

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, a new form of PvE gameplay content is introduced to Tamriel with the Dragonstone Arena. In a behind-the-scenes post, players are explained the thought process behind it.

“Transparency” is the magic word in today’s game development. Nowadays, everyone lets their mature fans look into the pots and shows how the sausage or the content is made. Zenimax has now recognized this as a strategy as well and explains the thought processes behind the new PvE challenge “Dragonstone Arena” in a blog post to the fans.

Two difficulty levels because even the testers were groaning

With the Dragonstone Arena, the intention was to give four players the feeling of facing the same challenges as 12 players in a raid. Therefore, a challenging difficulty level was chosen. It was known from the outset that the arena would have 10 levels, which would get progressively harder. In levels 9 and 10, they had even outdone themselves, and even the best testers sent into the arena were sweating profusely and barely made it out alive with a few scrapes.

The Elder Scrolls Online Update 4

As a result, the developers reconsidered and decided to offer the arena in two difficulty levels, “Normal” and “Veteran,” so that everyone can see the last two fights as well. Additionally, this way they have no bad conscience when they confront veterans with a “sadistically” high difficulty level.

Enemies are no cannon fodder in the new The Elder Scrolls Online Arena

For the arena itself, something special was devised to give players the true “arena” feel. The challenges change from round to round; the audience reacts with cheers and applause; among the enemies, there is no cannon fodder. Instead, they now have more and more abilities drawn from the players’ arsenal. This leads to amusing results.

“You should have seen the look on Creative Director Paul Sage’s face when an enemy destroyed his vampire with a silver bolt,” the developers joked in their post to the fans.

This feeling can be experienced by players of The Elder Scrolls Online right now: The arena is open on the test server, and the developers are asking for feedback. With Update 4 expected around mid/late September on the live mega server. Zenimax has yet to comment on this, but the regular schedule allows for content every 6 weeks.

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The Lord of the Rings Online: Contrabass, Serpent and Stage – HdRO improves Music System

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the fantasy MMO Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO), fans and developers love the music system in the game. Turbine wants to give it even more attention with Update 15.

Fans of the fantasy MMO Lord of the Rings Online have been in love with the music system in the game for a long time. This allows for cover versions of rock songs or the recreation of epic hero music. The system is easy to use but hard to master: with little talent and poor timing, any budding bard can manage a “Stairway to Heaven,” earning them a swift ejection from the “Prancing Pony.” True bards, of course, reach other heights.

Lord of the Rings Online: Hard Times

It is a system that is loved and maintained especially, but not only, by the strong roleplaying community that calls Middle-earth home. There are websites where the “LotRO” notations for just about every piece, whether fitting or not, are available. Singing groups with various instruments often perform concerts and serenades.

Lord of the Rings Online might get stage landscapes

This love of music and the charm that players bring to the world is now also acknowledged by Turbine. “It is a system with a positive influence on the game and the community. Therefore, it is high time that it also feels the love from the developers,” the team states. Therefore, with Update 15, they want to introduce two new instruments (the double bass and the serpent, a historical bass wind instrument). In addition, they will improve the options to alter the sound of the instruments through pitching or volume controls. And – roleplay fans will be particularly pleased – stages will be distributed across the land.

Lord of the Rings Online
Well, if that isn’t a reason to celebrate: The band is getting back together.

However, there is a downside: the two additional instruments and the stages are only a “stretch goal.” This means Turbine makes no promises here, but it is something they are trying to achieve. And they already state: if the double bass and the serpent make their way into the game, they will only be available for the notation system and will not be bard items.
For the future, after Update 15, Turbine intends to strengthen and maintain the music system. They ask fans for suggestions.

By the way: We have already dealt with the music system in this extremely listenable contribution.

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

Hearthstone hires Hearthstone heroes

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

Blizzard’s free online card game Hearthstone hires one of the most distinguished players of its own game, professional gamer Ryan ‘Realz’ Masterson.

For Masterson, Hearthstone is not the first tango he dances professionally. He has already made a name for himself in the scene as a Magic: The Gathering player and is a popular streamer on Twitch. In his Twitter account, Masterson announced that he would be starting a new chapter and will be working as an Associate Game Designer on Hearthstone in the future.

He sees his role as ensuring that players have a representative behind the scenes. He particularly wants to pay attention to the needs of competitive players (Ladder Grinders, as he calls them).

Ryan ‘Realz’ Masterson - Employee at Hearthstone
Ryan ‘Realz’ Masterson, now Associate Game Designer at Hearthstone.

It is not unusual for companies to hire their fans. However, they usually start at the level of a Community Manager if they have, for example, run a successful fan site or have recommended themselves for the job in the official forum. Many who now work as a voice between the fans and the developers once led large guilds, ran fan sites, or made a name for themselves with excellent forum posts – like Ramon Domke in Guild Wars 2.

Only modders, whose design talent is apparent and whose mods become so large that they attract the interest of companies, usually rise from the ranks of the players to the “programming” level.

It is relatively rare for companies to seek brainpower and expertise from people who only play the game at a top level, but it could also mark a new trend. Jimmy Whisenhunt, a former top Counter-Strike player, is currently working as a Game Designer on H1Z1, primarily responsible for the combat system and the weapons.

As the gaming industry increasingly relies on Twitch and similar video formats, it becomes ever more important for companies to find charismatic front figures who can represent the game and “click” with the fans. Pro gamers with strong social channels and Twitch channels are perfectly suited for such a role. They have, so to speak, the stamp of approval.

One can be curious how Masterson’s influence will manifest itself in Hearthstone.

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

ArcheAge is in a hurry: Open Beta next week, release on September 16th

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the Sandpark MMO ArcheAge, the data for the further process is set. Next week, on September 4th, the open beta will begin. The release is scheduled for September 16th.

On the night from Friday to Saturday, Trion Worlds held a press event in Seattle. They had invited to a hotel. Around 5 AM our time, the publisher of Trion Worlds revealed to fans and the press the schedule for the western version of ArcheAge from now until release. Surprise, it is even tighter than expected:

Tight Schedule – less than two weeks until the Founder Headstart

  • The Alpha and Omega servers will close this Sunday. There will be an event to say goodbye. Fans should keep an eye on the horizon and their mailboxes.
  • Next Thursday, on September 4th, the open beta will begin. It will last until September 8th, thereby matching the length of the previous closed beta dates.
  • After the end of the open beta, the beta characters will be wiped.
  • On September 12th, the headstart will begin for owners of a founder package. The servers will already be up, all systems hopefully running at full capacity, and those with headstart privileges will, as the name suggests, have an early start and go into the competition with a lead.
  • On September 16th, the launch will take place. The official release is approaching; the free-to-play MMO ArcheAge will be available for everyone to play.
ArcheAge Release

Mein MMO says: Okay, this is a surprisingly tight schedule. The September 16th date had already been expected, as it was circulating on Steam. The fact that it really comes down to such a tight schedule is indeed surprising. We had anticipated a longer open beta and a bit more time between the phases. Fans will surely appreciate that it kicks off so early. Now players can start planning more accurately, and some guilds will choose a server in the next few days to attack and conquer it.

More articles about ArcheAge can be found on our themed page for the game.

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

Guild Wars 2 attracts newcomers with improved leveling phase

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 3 minutes

In a literal sense, the developers of ArenaNet daily delight us with new information about the upcoming Guild Wars 2 update, which arrives on the servers in September.

Today, the focus has primarily been on improving the leveling phase, which will bring changes and improvements for new, returning, and veteran players, as we have summarized here for you.

An arrow marks the path

So far, players could wander more or less in any direction in Guild Wars 2, with something to discover lurking everywhere – however, there hasn’t been a clear directive on where to head next. Many players wanted to be guided a bit more, and not have to painstakingly search for their next destination on the map. To solve this problem, players will now be guided by an arrow on the map indicating which direction they should travel to face challenges appropriate to their level. However, this new system does not lead to the numerous hidden locations awaiting discovery in Tyria, for these, one must still embark on the exploration journey themselves – or consult the internet.

Easier introduction to game content

Guild Wars 2 PvP Screenshot

In the future, new players will be gradually introduced to game content so they are not overwhelmed or intimidated by too many new modes and play styles. For example, at level 18, access to PvP will be explained in the form of a tutorial, and a few levels later (22), the mechanics of World vs. World battles will be introduced.

Once these features have been explained, they will also be available to all other characters on your account, regardless of what level they have already reached. However, the corresponding interface options will remain hidden until they have been unlocked – but they can still be selected via keyboard shortcuts or by visiting the appropriate area; thus, there is no forced transition for veterans.

Leveling up should be understood as a reward

Guild Wars 2 Rewards

Speaking of leveling up: It is intended to feel much more rewarding, which is why players will receive significantly better rewards. All level-up rewards have been revised and improved so that the items obtained from them will almost always be useful. But that’s not all: Characters now gain a significant amount of attribute points at predetermined levels, rather than in small increments after each level-up.

No need to worry: Ultimately, new characters at level 80 will of course have the same base stats as already existing heroes. It’s also worth mentioning that the rewards will not be retroactively granted if your character is already at a high level – however, since they are intended primarily for leveling, this is not further necessary.

Chapters of the story will now be holistic

Guild Wars 2 Story Journal

Finally, chapters of the game story will now always be unlocked holistically upon reaching the corresponding level, meaning: Once a chapter has been made accessible, you can complete it without interruption or the need for forced “leveling up” in one go.

Of course, they have not skimped on polishing up the associated item rewards, so as of September, there will likely be no shortage of items for any warrior.

You can read the full developer post here. For more information about the game and the feature patch, check out our Guild Wars 2 topic page.

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

The Secret World: Funcom struggles with in-game sales, hopes for Lego Online

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

Funcom has some MMO titles in its repertoire, including Anarchy Online, Age of Conan, and The Secret World. They are all still in the green. However, the financial report shows no growth in the second quarter. There is hope for the Legos from Lego Online.

The financial report from Funcom for the second April/May/June quarter is here. Much has not changed since the first quarter. The trend continues downward, although there is no doomsday scenario. According to the site mmofallout, revenue has shrunk from 3.83 million USD to 3.13 million, while operating costs have risen to 3.67 million USD. The revenue dip is mainly due to declines in in-game sales, the so-called microtransactions.

lego
Funcom places a lot of hope on Lego Online, which is scheduled to be released in October.

At the beginning of the quarter, there was an advertising campaign to revive the horror/SF MMO The Secret World. This saw an increase in activity, which is certainly related to the new Tokyo content. The MMO oldies Age of Conan and Anarchy Online remain “relatively” stable. The summer months had been quieter for the MMOs and Funcom. As announced, many took their annual vacation here.
Funcom hopes for the Legos from Lego Online. Its release is set for October. With the game, they aim to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.

We have addressed the background of Funcom’s new strategy to focus on several small projects and to move away from individual triple-A MMOs in this article that was published with last year’s quarterly report: Make Legos, not Zombies.
If you want to learn about Funcom’s current flagship, The Secret World, you will find information on our topic page.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Quartalsbericht 2/14 Funcom
  2. mmofallout

World of Warcraft: Annual Pass was questionable in retrospect

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

The lead designer of World of Warcraft recently commented in an interview about the annual pass prior to the last expansion Mists of Pandaria. In retrospect, it seems it wasn’t a good idea.

The debate surrounding the Mists of Pandaria annual pass

The annual pass, offered to World of Warcraft players after the content end of Cataclysm, has been a hot topic of discussion ever since. The annual pass allowed players to play World of Warcraft for a year and granted them access to the then-upcoming Diablo 3. Many thought it was a great deal. However, most expected that new content in World of Warcraft would appear soon. They planned to pass the time with Diablo 3 until the expansion was available and then play it with the remaining time on the WoW annual pass.

These hopes and ideas from the players did not materialize. Mists of Pandaria took a long time to arrive. The World of Warcraft portion of the annual pass went unused for many, at least partially. New content only arrived when the annual pass expired. For many who entered the deal at that time, it remains a nuisance to this day.

How the lead designer of World of Warcraft views the pass now

Tom Chilton - WoW developer
World of Warcraft lead designer Tom Chilton

Blizzard seems to view the pass skeptically now as well. Lead designer Tom Chilton was asked about the topic in an interview with Icy Veins and stated that they thought it was a great idea at the time. They had this amazing game Diablo 3 in development and wanted World of Warcraft fans to feel they were benefiting from the deal and receiving a lot in return.

When they offered the deal, players were excited about it. Later, the reaction was more mixed. They also reflected on the annual pass and asked themselves: “Are our players now clearly happier with us as a company because of the annual pass?” It felt like it was up for debate and somewhat questionable: “And if that’s questionable, then we don’t think our players would want such a thing from us again,” Chilton continued.

Mein MMO thinks: In the interview, there seems to be the most cautious wording for “Yeah, it was bad. We shouldn’t have done that” in the history of mankind. When you talk to fans, the annual pass is still one of the biggest black marks on Blizzard’s otherwise fairly clean record even after two or three years.

The “mixed reaction” from fans is not without reason; the process had a strong dissonance. When commercial interests and content planning mix so intensely, it creates a difficult situation for everyone involved. Binding players to the game for 12 months (even at a significantly reduced price) led many fans to suspect that Blizzard already knew at that time that nothing would happen with MoP within the year. What would the numbers have looked like between expansions, during this long content drought, without the annual pass?

In our view, it is very commendable that Blizzard now distances itself from such actions, at least indirectly. Although, for our taste, it could have been a bit clearer.

What do you think? Did you take advantage of the annual pass back then? And did you regret it later on?

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

Hearthstone extends Naxxramas invitation by one month

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

Blizzard extends free access to the Arachnid Quarter in Naxxramas for the free online card game Hearthstone.

Actually, the Arachnid Quarter was supposed to be closed by now and would only open its doors for 700 gold or some euros with a squeak. However, Blizzard has had a change of heart and extended free access until the end of September. Starting October 1, players will have to pay for entry.

Hearthstone Boss Maexxna
Likely the only one who has something against this news: Now gets a visit from free ticket faces for a month longer than intended.

Blizzard is apparently trying to entice as many players as possible with free entry to the Arachnid Quarter and tempt them with a taste of fresh cards. The offer of free access to the Arachnid Quarter is also being heavily advertised on banners.

With Naxxramas, Blizzard decided to introduce cards via “adventures”. Players could snag between four and seven new cards each week. The next influx of fresh cards, it is already known, will not come through an adventure, but through a “booster pack”. There will probably be an additional one alongside the current standard card pack for 100 gold, which will contain the cards from the new expansion.

The theme of this expansion and the possible price for the new “booster” packs are still up in the air. At the moment, Blizzard is focusing on this new expansion alongside the port of Hearthstone to iPhone and Android. Fans are anticipating this release even more than fresh cards.

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

ArcheAge: Tonight we will learn how it will proceed

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the Sandpark MMO ArcheAge, the fourth beta has ended, fans will likely learn what the further schedule will look like tonight. Is there another closed beta phase, will there be an open beta, and when will the game be officially released? When is the release of ArcheAge?

On the night from Friday to Saturday, Trion Worlds will host a reception at the Penny Arcade Expo, PAX Prime, in Seattle. It will start around 4 am and end around 7 am (our time; there it’s a nice evening event). They promised a “very special announcement” for this. They discussed the possibility of streaming the event live, but decided against it. The important announcement will, however, be made available on the relevant homepages as soon as possible.

What is in the box? What is in the box?

It is likely to be an appointment and thus the further schedule for the currently hotly debated game ArcheAge. So far, no further date is known, and the ArcheAge forum repeatedly points out the appointment tonight. It is hard to imagine that the “very special announcement” could solely be about a Rift news or the recipe for Scott Hartman’s best noodle soup. While that is not excluded.

It is likely that either another closed beta phase will be announced or the open beta will be dated. If a date for the open beta is mentioned, a release date could be mentioned at the same time. It will also be exciting to see how long a potential open beta will last.

ArcheAge reading material on mein-mmo.de, until it continues

ArcheAge Glider

If you want to pass the time until the announcement with reading material, we have prepared a small list:

And in this summary of a stream, you will learn the latest about the further course of the game: When does the alpha end? How much will the patron status cost? What release date could be likely?

To conclude the news: There was also a small competition in the last beta. This time the best screenshots were awarded. See for yourself on the official ArcheAge site.

What will have happened tonight in Seattle, you can read about tomorrow on our site.

Update Saturday 0:40: The signs are increasing that it will definitely be about ArcheAge. The official Twitter account of ArcheAge repeatedly mentions the appointment tonight as the location of an important “ArcheAge” announcement. Previously, it was not entirely clear, but now it seems certain that a major announcement for the Free2Play Sandpark MMO is imminent.

Update 6:00: We have put in a night shift, here are the dates.

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

Destiny: And the missing secret ingredient is … beards?!

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

In the luxury MMO Destiny, you have everything except facial hair. No joke, as reported, beards are the most requested feature and the number one topic of conversation in the design team.

As reported by Kotaku.uk, Destiny is absolutely into beards. This becomes clear in an interview with the Director of Production Jonty Barnes: “No joke, beards are the main topic.” The number of inquiries about this feature is enormous. Fans want to give their characters beards in character creation.

Destiny Beard
Dear Bungie developers, we achieved this in 5 minutes.

In the studio, they had once tried beards, but then decided that they weren’t that important. Now they want to take another serious look at it. Currently, they are working on the technical details of how to allow players to choose a form of facial hair if they hadn’t previously had the chance to wear facial fuzz. The graphics team of Destiny is only talking about beards now. And, as Jonty Barnes says: “If we have no other problems, that’s great.”

Destiny also makes no compromises on the B issue. If it is the will of the people to wear beards, they will give them beards: “We don’t know when they will come. But I’m sure, ultimately there will be beards. A lot of beards.”

My MMO says: Three questions: Where are Jan, Hein, Klaas, and Pit? And second: How could one ever underestimate the importance of the beard? Does Bungie not pay attention to trends at all? Who is responsible, and when will he apologize? And third: If Destiny gets Peter Dinklage to voice a robot and Paul McCartney for the soundtrack, who is going to design the beards? Who is the most prominent beard stylist in the world? Who is the US equivalent of Udo Waltz? Can we somehow find out who designed the beards of the dwarves in The Hobbit?

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. www.kotaku.co.uk

The Elder Scrolls Online: Soon werewolves will be stronger

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

The fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online plans to empower those who walk in the footsteps of Hircine, namely the werewolves. They have been lacking a bit of bite since the release.

Werewolf: The misunderstood monster – a life in the shadow of vampires

Werewolves in Tamriel have a hard time. Not only do they constantly have to endure “Fiffy” jokes and are especially mocked by the nasty Khajiit. No, since the release, they are considered underpowered – quite weak. Additionally, a few months ago there was a bug that allowed them to be taken down in PvP by wannabe monster hunters with silver bolts, while their unloved cousins, the vampires, were having true blood frenzy highs and slaying entire hordes of enemies in God mode.

Werewolves across Tamriel howl: New abilities, better scaling, harder burst

The Elder Scrolls Online Werewolf
A werewolf in transformation. Spooky.

But the suffering of the werewolves in The Elder Scrolls Online could soon come to an end. Zenimax is considering buffing them. First, they want to lower the cost of transformation, then increase the burst damage, and adjust scaling a bit, so that abilities still make sense even with better gear. The bug that prevents werewolves in their transformed form from using their CC-break is also on the list.

Additionally, they are contemplating giving the werewolf three new abilities. A self-heal; an attack that knocks the opponent down; and an attack that hits multiple opponents at once. There is still no timeline for these abilities; for now, Zenimax is asking for feedback from the players.

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

President of WildStar resigns for personal reasons

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time < 1 minutes

Jeremy Gaffney, the president of the developer team Carbine, announced his resignation yesterday. In the WildStar forums, he was known as “CRB_Gaffer” and especially for his “No Bullshit” philosophy, which he passed on to the entire team – transparency and honesty towards players have long been one of Carbine’s great strengths.

Jeremy Gaffney WildStar
We wish Jeremy Gaffney all the best for his future.

Contrary to what one might suspect, Gaffney is not resigning because of the rather mediocre success of WildStar, but due to several family and health reasons.

His family lost six members last year, mostly to cancer, and he was also diagnosed with the disease – due to the stress of producing WildStar, but very late, as he did not take the signs seriously enough. However, his surgery went well and the cancer was defeated, but for Gaffney, this was a wake-up call: he needs a lot of distance and will only work in an advisory capacity on WildStar from now on.

He himself stated that he spent much of his energy on the game’s development in recent years and remains a fan of his work beyond this role, as he concludes: “My role is changing, but my voice is still there.”

The complete farewell posting is now also available in a German version and can be viewed here.

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

EVE Online: CCP closes US studio, has revenue losses

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The developer CCP, the minds behind EVE Online, is shutting down its branch in San Francisco and has laid off two executives from the Icelandic company.

As the gaming business site Gamasutra reports, CCP has parted ways with its development studio in San Francisco. The company’s revenue and earnings have steadily declined over the past few years. With this drastic cut, it is responding to the situation.

While revenue in the first half of the year remained almost the same compared to the previous year, profit shrank from 8.3 million dollars to 4.5 million dollars. High costs were incurred by CCP due to the cancellation of the MMO project World of Darkness. Contracts had to be terminated and severance payments made.

CCP’s manager, Hilmar Veigar Petursson, stated that the new focus of his company should solely be on the universe of EVE Online to help CCP remain strong.

Additionally, the company parted ways with Jon Gallo and David Reid by mutual consent. David Reid was the “Chief Marketing Officer” at CCP, and Jon Gallo was the “Chief Financial Officer.” Reid, as eurogamer.net writes, switched from Trion Worlds to CCP in 2012 and quickly gained popularity as a community manager. Eurogamer.net also does not know exactly what was being worked on at the San Francisco studio but suspects it was mainly in PR, sales, and marketing. The current separation from Gallo and Reid follows departures of other key personnel from CCP, such as EVE’s lead designer Kristoffer Touborg.

In July, CCP had already laid off 49 employees at its headquarters in Reykjavik as part of the cancellation of World of Darkness.

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

World of Warcraft: How the Content Drought of 2014 Came About

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Thirteen months will have passed since the fantasy MMO World of Warcraft had fresh content when Warlords of Draenor comes out on November 13. Lead designer Tom Chilton explains how this happened and what changes they want to implement in the future.

Interviews with lead designer Tom Chilton are currently circulating after Gamescom. This time he spoke with Icy Veins. They asked him about the significant content drought that will occur between the Siege of Orgrimmar and the new expansion. Blizzard has repeatedly stated that they want to introduce new content at least every six months, so that players never experience such a content drought again like before the Icecrown Citadel.

Warlords of Draenor was actually supposed to be released a few months ago

World of Warcraft Crafting
They increased the team by 50%, which did not result in faster development but rather slowed it down. Much had to be redone for Warlords of Draenor.

Chilton responded that the criticism is certainly justified. With Mists of Pandaria, they managed to deliver new content regularly during the expansion. They had also hoped to launch Warlords of Draenor several months ago. However, the team expansion led to setbacks and slowed down the development.

They increased the team by 50%, according to Chilton. Most of the new hires had no experience with World of Warcraft, and many had never worked on other MMOs. This made it difficult for them to start their work immediately. Ultimately, they had to redo some of the work on Warlords of Draenor to meet the quality standards they envisioned. Additionally, the Garrison took more time than planned.

In the future, they want to prevent content droughts

Quality remains Blizzard’s highest priority, according to Chilton: “When we have the choice between being finished two months early or delivering a great expansion in November, the decision is easy for us.” Chilton believes they are now in a considerably better position to avoid future content droughts.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Icy Veins
  2. massively

Guild Wars 2: Crafting, Twinking, Looting – GW2 polishes core areas

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

New information about the feature patch coming in September for Guild Wars 2 has been released again, this time a game designer named Josh Diaz speaks up and reveals news about the item adjustments that are coming our way.

New Armor for the Leveling Phase

Experienced craftsmen will soon be able to create improved gear for their second characters. These items will have slightly better stats than those found during the leveling phase, making the journey to level 80 significantly more relaxed.

Those who do not master a crafting profession will not be forgotten either; the new items can also be found as drops – and optionally sent to twinks, as they are account-bound.

Backpacks for Professions

If your character has learned a crafting profession, they will now be able to visibly represent this, in the form of new backpack skins. The backpack for each profession will have its own appearance and will further be divided into different categories, depending on how advanced you are. While beginner blacksmiths might just have a small lump of iron on their back, more experienced anvil enthusiasts could place half a forge on their back.

Guild Wars 2 Crafting Rucksack

More Useful Loot

The loot system of Guild Wars 2 is also being revised. If you play a Mesmer, enemies will drop armor and weapons much more frequently that you can actually use. Naturally, you can still loot items that are not intended for your class and can sell them well in the auction house – but this will happen noticeably less often, to provide players more often with gear that represents a real improvement.

You can view the official contribution from Josh Diaz here.

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