The Chinese publisher KongZhou remains in the black numbers, also thanks to Guild Wars 2, World of Tanks and World of Warplanes.
The Chinese publisher KongZhou recorded strong growth of 33% in the second quarter of 2014 compared to the same period last year. The main reason for this is the release of Guild Wars 2 in China. KongZhou distributes the game there. More than 1 million CD-Keys have been sold or activated since the Open Beta. A larger marketing campaign is planned for September. They also want to benefit from ArenaNet’s marketing for the new feature pack in September. Additionally, they aim to further develop the eSports/PvP area of the game.
World of Warplanes, the sister game of World of Tanks, also helps the publisher to remain in the positive range. Here, they benefit from strong synergy effects with World of Tanks. About 25-33% of current World of Warplanes players come from the tank MMO.
The quarter, shares CEO Leilei Wang, exceeded expectations. With these titles, along with World of Tanks and the War Saga series, they plan to establish themselves long-term as a provider of MMOs on the PC in China.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, options for character customization after creation are still lacking.
In The Elder Scrolls Online, there is consideration for allowing players to change their character’s hairstyle, perhaps to undergo a makeover or even to give them a new voice. When this will happen is still unknown.
The Elder Scrolls Online had character creation issues at launch
Character creation can sometimes go wrong.
Character creation is a sensitive topic, especially in an MMO like The Elder Scrolls Online that heavily focuses on immersion. It was particularly unfortunate that during the server rush in the first days, not only chaos threatened to ruin character creation, but also a bug occurred that prevented zooming in on the firstborn character. Additionally, some players may simply get tired of their character over time and regret not choosing a different hairstyle or voice.
Will players perhaps become barbers themselves?
Especially in The Elder Scrolls Online, which strongly binds players to a character and allows them to spend much time with it, this is a sensitive issue. Zenimax is aware of this and has repeatedly expressed the possibility of introducing some form of “hairdresser” or “barber” into the game, as is already standard in other games. However, how far this service will go and whether it will also extend to the removal or addition of scars or tattoos, or whether other character parameters can even be changed, is still unknown.
Perhaps there will soon be a trusted “guild hairdresser”. Who wants to walk around with a ruined hairstyle?
In the past, Zenimax also considered not offering this through an NPC service in the game, but to introduce it as a type of “profession” or as skills within a profession, allowing players to style or alter each other.
A detailed schedule or a corresponding method is still unknown, according to current statements. The latest forum post simply reaffirms that something like this is supposed to come. However, no timeframe has been given yet.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The survival MMO H1Z1 is to be developed first for PC and later for PlayStation 4. Players on different platforms will end up on different servers.
In an interview with joystiq.com, H1Z1 designer Jimmy Whisenhunt explained the plans for the PC and PlayStation 4 versions of H1Z1. He admitted that H1Z1 is currently not playable on PlayStation 4. The development of the game for PlayStation 4 will only begin once the PC version is in a stable condition. The H1Z1 team also makes the release of the game in Early Access dependent on this stable condition.
Every PC hotfix should also come immediately for PlayStation 4
Whisenhunt considers it pretty unlikely that PlayStation players will meet PC players on cross-platform servers. This is partly due to the frequency of updates. If the team wants to quickly bring a fix for PC, they would also have to do it immediately for PlayStation 4. Two versions of the game could not run on the same server.
Perhaps the cross-platform method will come later, but for the start, they are developing H1Z1 separately with different servers in mind.
Would PC players have an advantage over PlayStation 4 players thanks to mouse and keyboard?
“Also, there’s the issue of keyboard/mouse versus controller,” Whisenhunt said.
This is a debate that always takes place with cross-platform ideas. It revolves around whether players with the combination of keyboard and mouse have advantages due to more precise control compared to their console competitors. Especially in a game like H1Z1, which heavily relies on PvP and confrontation, this is a sensitive topic. However, Whisenhunt does not mention which controls he sees as advantageous. Typically, the mouse/keyboard combo is considered preferred.
On the sidelines of SOE Live, it became known that the delayed port of H1Z1 to PlayStation 4 is also related to the fact that SOE is waiting for the Team behind Planetside 2 to resolve the technical issues of the port. Both Planetside 2 and H1Z1 use the Forgelight engine, and they would benefit from the “in-house” know-how. Planetside 2 is currently being ported to PlayStation 4 anyway.
Those interested in H1Z1 can find more about the survival MMO and DayZ competitor on our topic page.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
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.
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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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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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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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.
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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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?
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
