The SF-MMO Defiance has switched to a Free2Play model for PC. However, there were delays in changing the payment model for Playstation 3 and XBox 360. Now, it should at least be happening for the PS 3.
The MMO shooter Defiance was actually supposed to switch to a free-to-play model on the consoles PS 3 and XBox 360 a month ago. However, Trion Worlds had to postpone it because a new version of the game had made the MMO shooter too unstable. Players have been waiting for the promised transition since then, and information has been sparse.
It has now been announced that the switch of the payment model for Playstation 3 should occur this week. On Tuesday, the US servers will be affected; on Wednesday, August 13th, the EU servers are also expected to switch.
Existing Defiance accounts will receive a Patron status for 30 days and retain some of their bonuses.
The switch for XBox 360 will take longer. It is said that Trion Worlds is working with Microsoft on a solution.
In the sandbox MMO Landmark, players can now join guilds. At the SOE Live convention, more information is expected on how Landmark will proceed.
With the latest patch, Sony Online Entertainment has finally brought guilds to Landmark. With the newly introduced interface, player guilds can be created and managed, there are guild news, essentially the full package. SOE stated that they have kept the interface intentionally simple at the beginning. It is to be refined and expanded later.
At the end of next week, parallel to Gamescom, SOE Live will start, where fans of Landmark hope for more information about the game. Some expect that a date for the open beta will already be announced for Landmark. For a free-to-play game like Landmark, this would be equivalent to a soft launch.
The patch notes for the latest version of Landmark, which brought guilds as well as glass voxels and much more, can be found in the sources.
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The SF-MMO WildStar received mostly positive reviews from the press two months after its release. The general tone of the criticism is very positive, though some criticize the game for a lack of innovation.
Better reviews than The Elder Scrolls Online, but also fewer
The website Metacritic aggregates reviews from around the world and produces a nice score. For WildStar, it is 82 out of 100. This is significantly more than The Elder Scrolls Online (71 out of 100). However, TESO received much more attention from the international press than WildStar. The 64 listed reviews for The Elder Scrolls Online contrast with only 39 for WildStar.
The major sites praise mainly the pace and enthusiasm of the game
A selection of press opinions:
The major US pop culture and video game site IGN gives 87 points. Although some launch issues and technical difficulties are noted, they are considered islands in a sea of bubbling creativity. WildStar is described as loud, bright, and booming. Those who cannot handle it may find the game not suitable for them. WildStar is particularly worthwhile for players who are willing to invest a lot.
The British PC Gamer gives WildStar 90 points. They enjoy the clever quest and outstanding combat system.
The German Gamestar ranks the game similarly high, with Jürgen Stöffel scoring it 86 out of 100 points, describing his trip to Nexus as playing in a frenzy. Just the simple act of defeating monsters was so much fun for him that questing became secondary.
The German online magazine 4Players gives 85 points. The tester elevates WildStar from a hidden gem to a hit. They praise a colorful mix of new and proven elements.
Slight criticism for lack of innovation
At mmorpg.com, an online site focused on MMOs, after a test marathon, it lands at 84 points but restricts that the game brings little new. What WildStar does, it does with elegance and drive.
Strategyinformer, another English-language online site, strikes a similar note. With a score of 80 points, they note that it is not an MMO that advances the genre. However, it is well-balanced and mature.
The online magazine Polygon, which is rather oriented towards gaming culture, rates WildStar with 70 points. The tester indicates that he has seen too little of the endless ocean of content. Most of what he does in WildStar he has experienced before, but this time it feels somehow faster. At the moment, that is enough to please him.
With 82 points, WildStar ranks an impressive 12th place among current PC games.
We at mein-mmo.de also tested the game and agree with the general positive tone of the press. Our Cortyn gave WildStar a few more points than the global average. For us, the SF-MMO scored 89%.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The zombie MMO H1Z1 is being developed by Sony Online Entertainment in constant contact with the fans. However, not everyone at SOE handles this as casually as President John Smedley.
A report from the Baltimore Sun introduces SOE’s new concept of involving fans early in the game’s development. As early as April, the head of the studio, John Smedley, addressed fans with a lengthy post on the popular forum reddit to present this new approach of continuous exchange. By now, there is a subreddit only for H1Z1, where developers regularly make appearances.
Even the leading employees at SOE were quickly thrown into the deep end. They avidly read forum threads on reddit and participated in the discussions. But that was just the first step. Soon it was said to developer Jimmy Whisenhunt: Get in front of the camera, you’re doing a live stream now. The first broadcast of H1Z1 turned into a live demo. “I don’t know where this will go, to be honest,” Whisenhunt said at the time. Users saw the game and commented. Reddit was buzzing, and the devs have since been in constant contact with the fans. In a series of developer blogs, individual employees present themselves and their current work in detail.
According to Smedley, this type of interactivity could revolutionize game design. Although he admits that it was a shift for the team. For developers used to working in silence and presenting their game only when it is finished, this openness can also be exhausting. Smedley said, according to the Baltimore Sun: “I would say everyone carries the concept with them. But to varying degrees. Not everyone feels comfortable with a live stream on Twitch.”
The downsides of openness
Mein MMO thinks: In recent weeks, the model of openness that Smedley represents with SOE and which is praised in the presented article has also shown some weaknesses. Because when fans continuously participate in the development of the game, developers make themselves vulnerable and exposed. They cannot, like Blizzard or others, merely murmur a “When it’s done” and pacify players after promising transparency and continuous exchange.
The fans, who have been spoiled with information from the daily life of game development, have recently experienced a bit of withdrawal because the progress of H1Z1 has apparently fallen behind schedule.
However, there is hope that by the end of the week, with SOE Live, new information about H1Z1 will arrive. Especially the release date for early access is eagerly awaited.
Every MMO is actually dying constantly. Every game loses users over time, players are disappointed, everything is going down the drain. Whether it’s World of Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls Online, WildStar, or EVE – everything is doomed.
Actually, all MMO players should wear black. Always. Because their game is dying! From the very first moment it is doomed. Just like pretzels start to get soggy the moment you take them out of the package. You have to imagine it like the doctor just delivered the baby, proudly holds it up, and the nurse makes a face and says: “That’s nothing special. It’s bound to go free-to-play soon.”
You read in columns that everything is dying. Always. WoW – with 6.8 million players? Doesn’t matter. Almost dead. The trend is going downward. The Elder Scrolls Online significantly improved after three patches and blessed with fiery supporters? A fringe phenomenon! A few forever stuck in the past cling to the illusion, refusing to accept any reality. And WildStar? Pah, we don’t even need to talk about that. A bizarre niche game, doomed to fail from the start. So it is said in many corners of the internet.
Guild Wars 2: Many players said that the remaining MMOs would find their resting place here.
When Guild Wars 2 came out, I made the mistake of being the only one in my circle of acquaintances who continued playing World of Warcraft. I was constantly nagged about the superiority of the new one: “What? You’re in a queue? How 2006 is that! I’m in an overflow server!” – “What? You’re waiting for a tank? How 2006 is that? We don’t need that!” – Clearly: WoW was practically dead. Anyone still playing it was committing some sort of desecration – with a clothespin on their nose. That the game is still fun, those few players probably had to convince themselves in their delirium.
It’s well known that predicting the demise of WoW is one of the most popular pastimes in the MMO world, a sort of evergreen among self-proclaimed MMO experts. But even EVE Online, the little game that has grown and thrived against all odds for years, has been said to be dying for more than 10 years. EVE was nice for a while, but now it’s time for something new. And we won’t even talk about all the games that were predicted to switch to free-to-play two minutes after their announcement. It’s sad that some free-to-play games even ended up doing better afterward, but that’s another topic.
And who’s to blame? The Swiss! No, just kidding, actually everyone
What is actually causing all of this?
The Course of Events
On one hand: MMOs are indeed always dying. Almost every MMO goes up sharply and then down. Many more people buy an MMO than there are players who continue playing after two months.
Currently a popular topic in WildStar: More players at the release!
Is that a problem? Well, not really. It’s normal. The developers know about it and have models in place that assume that not everyone who buys a game will still be playing it in the second, third or eighth month. No one cares that there are such models and that the developers expect player losses from the very beginning.
Players believe that if an MMO’s curve is pointing downward, that’s a sure sign: It’s a total flop. But that’s simply the reality of games. A drastic collapse is something different. When a game falls so far short of expectations that a stable player count cannot be found, then it’s a problem. But usually outside the sacred halls of developers, people don’t know the numbers and calculations. They don’t know the player count a game needs. They can’t form a judgment. But does that stop anyone? Of course not. The idea is: “If a game is emptier in the second month than in the first, then it’s a flop.” It may seem that way, but it’s simply nonsense.
Whoever makes winter coats also has a calculation that anticipates they won’t sell that well in summer. Without knowing the budget and expectations of the companies, you simply cannot say if a game is “doing well,” if it is “dying,” or if it is “fading away.”
The business plans are more or less secret…
If you have the business plans and see the numbers, you have a rough idea; beforehand, you don’t. In most recent MMOs, no one really knows how they are doing and whether they are meeting expectations or not. It’s all just an impression that intensifies into a sort of “self-fulfilling prophecy.” An MMO is struggling because everyone says it is struggling.
And why does everyone think an MMO is struggling? Because they see fewer players in the game, in their guilds, in their friend lists, in the second month than in the first. Here the circle closes.
How much perception can deceive was recently shown by numbers about the profit of games that offer the option to subscribe or have a quasi-subscription. There, two MMOs, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Lord of the Rings Online, lively competed for the top spots, which have been considered dead for at least four years based on all predictions and expert opinions.
The Press
The second problem is the press, I must say. New titles are attractive, the publisher buys advertising, the game sells out on Amazon, there are discounts, special magazines are printed about the game, specials are written, internet traffic booms, and the interest is huge. For most titles, the press follows the “Barney Stinson” formula: New is always better.
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Most MMOs are only treated with indifference two months after their launch; PR news continues, but not much else happens. Because then they are already on the verge of the next game that has to be pushed. The testers who intensively cared for the game and wrote guides are now needed for something else. The normal coverage is taken over by news writers, who often have no relation to the game.
Interest in the MMO that was eagerly awaited three months ago has faded. This creates the very strange impression that everything that is coming is great. Everything that was already there must be old news. “Is anyone still playing that? No. No one talks about it anymore.”
Many games have more previews than reviews.
The Industry
And yes. Of course, studios are often partly to blame for the problems. They miss innovations, develop away from their players, make compromises where they shouldn’t, are only interested in their profit, and sometimes have a really bad idea. But most of all, they have a huge credibility problem.
At Star Wars: The Old Republic, fans became increasingly suspicious about whether everything was really going well.
No one publicly announces, “Our game is not doing well.” Lay-offs and departures from key positions are sold as “normal rotation.” The community managers smile outwardly as if they were models, flight attendants, or… community managers. The lead developers might be in deep trouble, but externally they present a confident demeanor and promise: We’re doing fine, everything will be okay, we’re working on the content, it’s great. Because these statements are often passed on to players, unaffected by the press, fans no longer trust such statements. The people involved seem like football coaches in a relegation zone, who have just been expressionlessly offered a handshake from the board, assuring them that they are “fully supported.” And some community manager or press officer would have assured the drowning on the Titanic that everything was fine and that cocktails would soon be served. The incoming floodwaters might be regrettable, but they’re working hard to have that under control soon.
How does a real “We are doing well” differ from a false one? If the person who says it is a professional (and they are): Then not at all. As a player, you simply believe no one anymore but rely on your approximate feeling and the echo in the resonant body of the forums, the trolls, the fans, and it screams: “The end is near!” So an MMO is practically always dying.
And this is indeed where one of those nasty vicious circles kicks in that people fear. Because if a game falls short of expectations and investors lose faith in the game, they turn off the money tap: Content becomes less frequent, servers get merged, communication with fans dries up – but still, not a single word is heard that the game is struggling. Therefore, MMO players no longer listen to what the industry is saying and assume that the sun-kissed beauty is actually coughing up blood, especially when she smiles particularly photogenic into the cameras.
The Players
And of course, the players themselves are to blame for every MMO always dying in perception. Today, there are far more games, even in the MMO niche, than anyone could ever play. You constantly feel like you’re missing out on something. Therefore, one somewhat justifies to oneself that the game everyone is talking about isn’t right for them. That it would be a waste of time to get involved.
And it’s also fun to see through things. An informed player and reader stands out by not believing everything they read somewhere.
You don’t have to be a prophet to give every single game the thumbs down, predicting that it will only reach niche title status at best. And if others get upset about it? The more the better. A bit of pessimism in MMOs is like predicting that the sun will rise the next day: “I predict that it will fall short of the highest expectations and will not reach the success of World of Warcraft.” Oh really? No shit, Sherlock? I predict that too.
Because just as there are pessimists regarding an MMO, there are also hopeless romantics who describe the game in the most beautiful colors. To say that they are wrong and that the game will never be as good as the fanboys believe – you don’t need to be the reincarnation of Nostradamus for that.
Just don’t mess with me!
And of course, there are also players who declare a game dead for purely selfish reasons. Because especially in MMOs, there is a competitive mindset among players like in Highlander. There can only be one MMO, to dominate them all. A game that as many as possible should play, to rule over the others, so that their games wither away and not their own.
By the way – I used to tell myself back during the times of Guild Wars 2 and World of Warcraft that my acquaintances just wanted to ruin WoW for me because they wanted me to play Guild Wars 2 with them. Well. No one is safe from false perception.
I have learned from experience, even if it sounds like a Sunday sermon: There are no dead or living games, only good or bad ones. And the most important thing is whether they are enjoyable or not. The rest really isn’t that important, is it?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The online shooter Warface advertises in Russia with the classic combination of a beautiful woman and guns.
World of Warcraft also once advertised with celebrities
Sometimes you have to smile when you look at what is being sold to you by marketing agencies, although in the MMO sector here it usually ends well. But World of Warcraft also once advertised with celebrities. And while it was somewhat believable that Smudo or Thomas D. might pilgrimage to Azeroth from time to time, it was much harder to imagine nature boy Chuck Norris or William Shatner doing so. But the advertising was mostly amusing and played with the image of the actors and the game, without being too blatant. After all, it is important for advertising not to insult the intelligence of the players. In other countries, they go a step further and consciously appeal to some baser instincts without hesitation.
Different countries, different customs
Warface, an online shooter from German developer Crytek (Farcry and Crysis), is not a big deal here. However, in Russia, the game seems to be thriving, as a press report states. Mail.ru, a huge corporation that is also trying its hand as a publisher, organized a tournament with a prize pool of 1.5 million rubles – about 31,000 euros.
The accompanying story to the tournament also mentioned the Russian starlet Lera Kudryavtseva. The actress, singer, and presenter has become so enthusiastic about the game “Warface” that she was more than willing to lend her voice to one of the characters there and even undress for the sake of the game.
The report then shows some photos, featuring a scantily clad lady posing next to various war apparatus. How do you get back to the game from that? Quite simply, the report then ends on a conciliatory note: She and her son are now said to be practically obsessed with Warface.
The tasteful and by no means clichéd photos can be found in the sources.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The US publisher of TERA, En Masse Entertainment, invites talented players to create extraordinary images that could then be featured in the loading screen of the Free2Play MMO.
With an unusual action, US-TERA is looking for new loading screens. Every MMO veteran knows that they wear out after the x-th viewing. And anyone who stared at the loading screen forever might have thought: “I can do better!” At least that’s what En Masse Entertainment is counting on, launching a design competition. The action runs until Sunday, August 17, where players, instead of securing loot through quick reflexes or endurance, can do so with their creativity. For five players, playing TERA after the competition will surely be a special experience. And in Teamspeak, you’ll hear them asking: “Hey, hey – did you just see the loading screen? That was me!”
Unfortunately, European players are left out this time. Gameforge held such a competition before – most recently for Valentine’s Day. Some impressive loading screens came out of that, but they remained available to players for only a few weeks. Player Neokeater from the Arcadia server was one of the winners, creating this cute Elin artwork fitting for “Lovers’ Day”:
Speaking of Gameforge and TERA EU. Today is the last day where you can get a special gift for logging in. Among other things, there are a weapon skin, the pet Voracious, and some useful rolls that allow you to reset the cooldown of certain instances.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Seven to ten new starships will be launched for Delta Rising. The expansion for the Free2Play MMO Star Trek Online is planned for October.
In a letter to fans, Stephen D’Angelo, the Executive Producer of STO, reveals what kind of hardware is being planned for the Delta Quadrant. It will amount to seven to ten ships of the new “Tier 6” class. The STO team is aware that this selection of new ships will not be enough to meet all the needs of a modern captain. Therefore, the current ships will remain fully functional and compete with the new ones.
After all, fans have put a lot of work into their current ships, and the developers do not want to diminish that. They also understand that some players may have become attached to their “baby”.
In the coming months, D’Angelo further reveals, there will still be much to test. Some of this will take place on the public test server Tribble, where players can try out the new content and features and provide feedback to the developers.
Before the expansion launches, they want to inform fans as much as possible. Only about the storyline of the expansion will silence be maintained, aiming to surprise the fans of the MMO.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Blizzard’s free card game Hearthstone, the influence of new cards from Naxxramas is noticeable. A player has now achieved one of the most wicked combinations in the history of the game: the sixfold Leeroy.
It was clear that the new cards would shake up the meta-game. However, experts like Trump saw the influence in the meta-game more in the direction that decks would shift even more towards minions and thus towards Zoo. At the level of game to game, completely different cards suddenly influence the match progression and create exciting game situations.
Thus, the magazine Polygon presented a video under the headline “Is this the most powerful combo in Hearthstone?”, showcasing brand new cards from the wings of Naxxramas in full action. They form a synergy with two existing cards, one of which has previously lived a shadowy existence.
The key cards of the combination are Baron Rivendare, who doubles deathrattle effects; the minion Leeroy Jenkins and two shaman class spells. With a double Spirit of the Ancients, Leeroy receives deathrattle twice, which resurrects the minion after death. The Baron doubles this effect. With the new shaman spell “Reincarnation”, Leeroy dies and is summoned back to the game with full abilities. Consequently, the original Leeroy has attacked normally during the turn, his death creates four clones, and he himself stands alive again on the board. Together with his 4 companions, he is immediately ready for battle thanks to Charge. The sixfold Leeroy is thus capable of dealing 36 damage across the entire turn. But see the video (of course with Epic Sax music) for yourself:
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The nasty thing about the combination is the 36 damage that hits the opponent in 6 small bites. So there’s still enough room to clear a pretty large spotter out of the way. But Polygon reassures: A very special hand is needed for the combination, and a lot of mana is required as well.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the SF MMO EVE Online, the rigid power structure between massive alliances becomes a problem. Is the universe heading towards stagnation without wars and conflicts?
Wars might actually be good for something …
The SF MMO EVE Online usually delivers some fantastic story on a quarterly basis that must seem like a report from a foreign world to uninitiated readers. Once, an alliance forgot to pay the rent for their star system – the resulting battles involved thousands of players who shot to pieces their ships that they had assembled over long weeks and months. In another story, the pilot of a giant space titan mistypes, enters the wrong course, and ends up with the valuable ship right in a space region claimed by another alliance: they do not invite him for tea but gather the troops. The unfortunate pilot is soon aided by his allies. A massive space battle soon sets the void ablaze.
There are other stories in which a band of space pirates tracks the behavior of a player for years, suspecting that he has hidden a valuable ship somewhere and will eventually have to log in there to cash it in. Then they would wait there, ready, no matter how long it takes. And there are intrigues, tales of misinformation, false accounts, spies in the enemy alliance, who – after years as a double agent reaching the top of the hierarchy – can finally fulfill their mole mission and severely damage the opposing alliance.
Is the universe of EVE Online heading towards stagnation?
But such stories have become rare lately. Instead, one reads thoughtful analyses of what could be the reason for the sudden lack of activity in the world of EVE Online. In a column by massively, the author addresses what seems to be the consensus of many observers: In null sec, the sandbox arena of the game, two such large power blocks have formed with N3/PL and CFC that no one can fight wars against each other anymore, lest they be crushed like a fly by their own alliance. And taking action against the opponent would trigger an unfathomably large conflict that no one wants, as they have too much to lose and too little to gain.
According to the observer, what used to be an anarchy with many skirmishes has become a rigid affair. He attributes this to capital ships and an excessive mobility of individual fleets. This has made it possible today to wage war at the other end of the universe without making oneself vulnerable.
The situation is particularly poignant as CCP, the developers of EVE Online, have repeatedly emphasized that they want to leave storytelling in their universe to the players and not interfere in these processes. So what to do when the situation seems so entrenched?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The fantasy MMO TERA has entered open beta in China. The numbers are good, and the developer even claims to be targeting the dominance of Blade&Soul.
200,000 players were reportedly logged in simultaneously at peak times on the first day, according to the Chinese publisher Kunlun. TERA also uses the established Free2Play system in China. They are actively promoting the game across all social channels. According to a report by mmoculture, social media is filled with TERA, relevant keywords, and hashtags.
The game’s developer, Bluehole Studios, even speaks of challenging the supremacy of Blade&Soul in China.
Recently, several MMOs have been pushing into the Chinese market, including the western title Guild Wars 2. The Japanese Final Fantasy XIV is also on the verge of entering China. However, the majority of the games entering this market, like TERA, come from South Korea, including Black Desert and Bless Online. The Chinese market is becoming increasingly important for the MMO industry, and many publishers are now also eyeing the Southeast Asian market.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
For several weeks, Horde players could follow the construction of a real motorcycle in the mini-series “Azeroth Choppers” in World of Warcraft – and even influence it! As a reward for watching closely, the Chopper Mount will be gifted once the new expansion Warlords of Draenor is released.
Loss of 800,000 Players
Although it has been declared dead countless times, it is still the largest MMO in the world by far. However, it cannot be denied that the game’s development is clearly heading in one direction: More and more players are leaving WoW, recently occurring in the second quarter of 2014.
10th Anniversary Brings Molten Core Back
At least one can rely on a lot of content being available at the beginning of a new expansion. Although the release date is still unknown, it can be assumed that the release will be sometime this fall. Around that time, the game will celebrate an anniversary: World of Warcraft will be 10 years old.
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The sandbox MMO ArcheAge offers a bounty on bots. Players can gain an advantage in the game by successfully reporting bots.
A player receives 25 labor points for reporting a bot that is confirmed to be a bot. However, reporting also costs 25 labor points, as Trion Worlds seems to want to prevent players from recklessly shooting around in light of the bounty. Upon a successful report, players get their 25 points back and receive an additional 25. In the case of a false report, the points used are lost. Labor points are a type of “energy” in the game, primarily used for crafting activities, and they regenerate slowly.
Bots are the scourge of modern MMOs. At the launch of the last two major pay-to-play titles, WildStar and The Elder Scrolls Online, both MMOs struggled with a flood of bots. They not only directly negatively affect the gameplay of players by camping mobs or harvesting resources but can also disrupt the important in-game economy. In some severe cases, they ruin PvP by signing up for battlegrounds where they become a liability for their team. Moreover, bots have a negative impact on the morale of “honest” players.
In a free-to-play MMO that relies heavily on the economy like ArcheAge, the threat posed by bots is even greater than in WildStar, The Elder Scrolls Online, or World of Warcraft. In the alpha of ArcheAge, 16,000 accounts were already banned for spamming and botting – access to the alpha was linked to the purchase of an expensive founder’s package. However, it seems that most of the bot accounts gained access using stolen credit cards.
During the last beta phase, Trion Worlds indicated that it was primarily used to test mechanisms that would later be used for detecting and eliminating bots.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, almost every design concept that was launched was thrown out the window. Is TESO looking good for Playstation 4 and Xbox One? And were the four months since the release on PC some sort of extended beta test? We take a look at the first four months in TESO and why everything will soon change.
Before Release: Much Hope, But Skepticism
The story of The Elder Scrolls Online is hardly understandable from the outside. Before players set foot in Tamriel, it was already a huge hit. An MMO in the Elder Scrolls universe existed only in the minds of players.
In the fantasies of optimistic fans, a Skyrim emerged that would never end. A Skyrim that would continuously receive new regions, new zones, and new characters. There would always be something to discover, always something new to experience. It was a dream for many players.
Even then, problems were apparent. Critics voiced their concerns. Skyrim had been a classic console success. And so, fans of the single-player series raised objections against the fundamental ideas of the MMO genre: “And am I really supposed to pay every month, even though I already bought the game?”
Skeptical players with MMO experience wondered whether Skyrim could even work as an MMO. How would one experience a unique story in a world where one was just one of millions of heroes? How should items be designed? How could such a beautiful world fit into the rigid structures of a typical MMO? How could one achieve the magical immersion, the feeling of losing oneself in a fantasy world, amidst the harsh reality of an MMO with chats, gold spam, and bots? How could one allow others, the strangers, the non-NPCs into their own fantasy realm? And so, some fans simply wished for the next Elder Scrolls game – and nothing online.
Even then, there were concerns, which grew louder with the beta events.
In the Beta: Fantasy Meets Reality
The majority of fans were only allowed into the game during a series of beta events. Later, Zenimax was criticized: During such “events,” when servers were only open for a few days, players could not really provide valuable feedback. It was merely a PR event.
The beta felt like a cold shower to many players. Overly high expectations were disappointed. Dreams did not stand up to reality checks. Quests were buggy and led to dead ends. NPC animations felt lifeless and waxy, the combat system felt like “air combat,” one did not feel the impact of their own strikes. On the other hand, there was praise for the graphics, the audio, and that the game felt like “Elder Scrolls.”
Upon Release: Incomplete, Mixed, Solid
The release of TESO was overshadowed by numerous problems and issues. Hardly a week went by without some corner catching fire. The Zenimax team seemed overwhelmed by the onslaught of fans and the multitude of difficulties.
Gameplay systems revealed conceptual weaknesses, exploiters ran amok. In-game mail was exploited for item dupes, as were guild banks. Cheaters took advantage of an unfortunate design decision with cave bosses to unleash an endless army of camping bots. Numerous quest bugs also caused frustration and annoyance. Players found themselves in dead ends.
The balance of the individual classes, critically important for a game focused on PvP, was completely absent. Vampires exploited a often overlooked combination of abilities and set bonuses to achieve a godlike status. Dragonknights were too strong, balance issues were enormous – fixes were delayed.
[quote_left]TESO had nothing in common with the polish of a single-player game.[/quote_left] Here there were problems, there were problems. Also technically, dark clouds were gathering on the horizon. Players struggled with account issues, with clients, fought for access to the server. Consumer protection advocates even complained that to utilize the first free 30 days, one still had to provide a valid payment method. TESO was being attacked from all sides.
For fans of the “The Elder Scrolls” series without MMO experience, this hit particularly hard. They were not prepared for such a turbulent start. With the polish of a single-player game that functioned out of the box, TESO had nothing in common.
Alongside Current Problems, Structural Issues Emerged
Experienced MMO players knew that a failed launch did not necessarily indicate long-term difficulties. After all: Most problems could surely be resolved with time. Eventually, every blazing flame would extinguish, eventually every balance fix would be implemented, account issues resolved, and every quest bug fixed.
[quote_right]The game tipped from a hero’s journey to tedious grinding.[/quote_right] But what about the deeper, structural problems? What was to happen with fundamental design decisions that were now causing difficulties? And there were many of those. After reaching level 50, TESO players entered the “Veteran” endgame. Many complained that the game shifted from a hero’s journey to tedious grinding.
Moreover, there were structural problems in the PvP campaigns and with the shallow item progression. Phasing issues ruined group play – to name just a few things that seemed so deeply embedded in the game philosophy that one could hardly expect them to be solved anytime soon.
Console Release Delayed
Around this time, when the future did not look very rosy, Zenimax announced that they would delay the release of the game for Playstation 4 and Xbox One, originally planned for June, by at least six months. The announcement that they would need six more months just two weeks before the release led to speculations about the reasons behind Zenimax (and a lot of anger from console players, but that’s not the point).
Although Zenimax cited “technical difficulties” in the porting process as the reason for the delay. However, some (including us) speculated that they did not want to burden console players with TESO in its current state and did not want to release the MMO in such a difficult atmosphere.
The Time After Release
Thus far, The Elder Scrolls Online has not truly emerged from its release phase. Three major content patches have been rolled out, bringing new zones and features. However, with each of the three patches, new technical problems have also emerged, frustrating those affected. After the second patch, for some, performance deteriorated for months.
However, the changes that have come so far are quite reasonable. The game looks significantly better after the introduction of new lighting conditions and armor dyes. Furthermore, efforts have been made to eliminate most balance errors and quest bugs from the game.
And they have become more accessible to player feedback. At the moment, they have almost every core criticism point from players on a list of things they want to change: The combat system, the PvP, the NPC animations, the veteran endgame, character development, rigid item progression, the introduction of more Skyrim elements, actually everything is on this list.
Fundamental decisions from the paper stage of the game, many core ideas, are now being questioned and actively addressed.
Is the Console Release in Sight?
To observers, it appears as though they are working full steam ahead to make The Elder Scrolls Online a game that resonates with the console community and can engage them.
Does the map show the way to a rosy future for TESO?
But the question remains: If so many great ideas are present now and one can improve criticism points like the waxy facial features of NPCs with few changes, why was The Elder Scrolls Online so obviously released prematurely in this form back in April? Wouldn’t it have been better to wait and avoid much hassle?
Why does TESO’s future look so much better than TESO’s present and especially its past?
When looking at the ideas and changes proposed and presented by TESO in recent months, they do not seem like the kind of things that required player feedback from the last months since release to come up with.
That the veteran system was never a good idea from the start, that players wished for arenas and battlegrounds, that the NPC faces were far too waxy, and that fans yearned for a justice system like the one in Skyrim – these realizations likely didn’t require the time since the release to arrive at.
[quote_right]A reborn and revamped The Elder Scrolls Online.[/quote_right] One can only hope that TESO’s future, with all the changes that are now receiving praise, will soon catch up with the present of the game. And one must hope that MMO players will grant the game another chance. Fans of the genre are not known for this, after all.
It is thus fortunate that with the upcoming release on Playstation 4 and Xbox One, a second wave could be launched, in which even some PC players will return to a reborn and revamped The Elder Scrolls Online. One can only wonder if the plan will succeed and if the coming months for TESO will be as turbulent as the last four.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the air combat MMO War Thunder, players can earn real money with their creations starting from patch 1.42.
Since April and patch 1.39, there is a CDK (Content Development Kit) for the free-to-play MMO War Thunder, formerly known as the editor. With this, players can create so-called “user generated content”, meaning their own creations. This includes missions, locations, or skins for planes and the new tanks.
While the destructive energy of players normally manifests in explosions in the burning sky of a virtual World War Europe, their creative energy should reflect on their bank accounts. If user creations make it into the game and are selected for patch 1.42, the developer Gaijin Software intends to fairly share the revenues with the players. Discussions are around 25% of the earnings that the developer makes within a certain period. There is even a website with prominently displayed small print.
At a major video game fair in Shanghai, ChinaJoy, one of the minds behind Blizzard’s free collectible card game Hearthstone revealed some insights. Hamilton Chu shared the design ideas behind Blizzard’s successful game.
Hearthstone as the Result of Pure Game Design
In an interview with the business magazine venturebeat, Hamilton Chu, one of the minds behind Hearthstone, discussed the details and considerations that went into the game’s design and why it became so successful. Hamilton Chu was for a long time one of only two people working on Hearthstone. The rest of their team was pulled off the project in the middle to work on larger releases from Blizzard. However, Chu and his colleague Eric Dodds saw this as an opportunity. This allowed them to make quick changes to the game. There was no politics, no fluff. Just game design in its purest form.
The Secret Design Tricks of Blizzard: First Just Pen and Paper, Then a Flash Game
The secret design tricks of Blizzard have nothing to do with voodoo; they all revolve around relatively simple and obvious concepts. They first played with cards and ideas for months, completely away from bits and bytes. They knew it would not be a problem to implement it technically, so “Team 5” focused solely on the pure design of the game for six to nine months.
Additionally, they made an effort to clearly articulate and convey the “core ideas” of the game so that no one worked on a feature that would later be dropped. Creating simple prototypes with Adobe Flash also provided important insights and simplified the work.
Hearthstone as a Mix of Depth and Simplicity: Which Ideas Blizzard Had to Let Go
They repeatedly questioned the fundamentals of the game and discarded elements that would have restricted the pace and fun of the game. An early version of Hearthstone initially planned a resource management system, which later proved to be too cumbersome. According to Chu, there was also a kind of “surprise attack” option in the game, but it turned out to be too powerful and was ultimately removed.
The principle of simplicity also means not reinventing the wheel. What use is it to confront players with new terms for “life” and “attack” when they could simply use the established names? However, they also utilized the digital possibilities of the medium. After all, they allowed for moves that would not have worked in a traditional card game.
However, they also ensured that the game was not oversimplified. It was important to maintain a depth that could make Hearthstone, like World of Warcraft, a game for eternity. Players needed to be faced with numerous important decisions.
Not One Big Win or Loss, but Several Small Ones
In a card game, there is always a winner and a loser at the end, which would quickly become boring or frustrating. Thus, they aimed in the design to transform the match into a series of small victories and small defeats. This kept the match attractive, it went back and forth, and players would keep coming back.
Furthermore, they leveraged players’ emotional connection to World of Warcraft and designed the game in such a way that Hearthstone would continuously provide new material for stories. Chu drew on his own raiding experiences in WoW. They had started out catastrophically but later provided great material for stories.
Clearly, Chu’s plans paid off. According to venturebeat, the game has been downloaded more than 10 million times. Although Blizzard has not yet disclosed profit figures, representatives from Blizzard recently mentioned that Hearthstone has exceeded all expectations.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Guild Wars 2 is hosting an All-Star tournament at Gamescom in Cologne. The schedule has now been revealed, and the participants are also confirmed. Surprise: A well-trained team from Europe is making its way to Cologne in full strength.
The results of the All-Star voting for Guild Wars 2 are known and should leave little doubt as to who is favored to enter the All-Star tournament.
In Europe, GW2 players had the choice between 16 PvP experts, and the five who emerged are already part of “Team Mist,” previously known as “TCG.” Thus, the Europeans are clear favorites going into the match, as team play is crucial – not to mention that even seasoned online warriors might suffer a bit from jet lag when traveling from the USA or China to Cologne.
Among the US players, GW2 players also chose five outstanding players, who, however, are not part of a common team. The big unknown is the team from China. Since the scene here is still very new and fans had little chance to get to know their favorites, the Chinese publisher simply selected five players.
The three teams will face off in three matches in a “round-robin” format. ArenaNet will broadcast the games live on Twitch.
On Thursday, August 14th, at 3 PM, Europe will compete against China.
On Friday, August 15th, at 5 PM, the USA will take on China.
On Saturday, August 16th, at 6 PM, the team from Europe will face the USA.
The All-Star tournament does not involve prize money; however, players will be provided with accommodation and travel, which – except for the Europeans – could incur considerable costs. As a reward for the winners, special armors as in-game rewards await them .
The representatives from the three continents are:
Europe: Denshee, Helseth, ROM, Sizer, Tage (all Team Mist).
USA: Kaypud (KPz), Phantaram (former Team Paradigm), Supcutie (It Ain’t EZ being KPz), Zombify (Sync), Zoose (Oil).
Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney contributes the title song for the luxury MMO Destiny. He plans to release it as a “single” by the end of the year.
The MMO Destiny truly spares no expense. For the voice of the in-game AI Ghost, they hired Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage; for the soundtrack, they secured Paul McCartney. With a rumored budget of half a billion dollars, quite a bit is possible. Even if the actual development costs, according to manufacturer Bungie, are said to be significantly lower. Nonetheless, they indulge in the luxury of hiring big names.
For the past four and a half years, McCartney has been working on the soundtrack of the shooter, according to information from the New York Times. McCartney is collaborating closely with composer Marty O’Donnell on the project. O’Donnell was already responsible for the highly acclaimed soundtrack of Halo, the shooter that earned Bungie the favor of those fans who are now awaiting the release of Destiny.
Destiny taps into the full power of Beatles and James Bond
Photo: Paul McCartney in Dublin 2010 / Fiona / CC BY-SA 2.0
Although Paul McCartney is not known as a gamer, not even as a casual player, he seems intrigued by the project. After all, a game is quite different from a film, and the interactivity is much greater. McCartney is familiar with films: He contributed the anthem “Live and Let Die” to the 1973 Bond classic.
Like back in the day with the Bond film, Paul McCartney also has the honor of composing the title song, the so-called “theme,” for Destiny. It is already in the can. In the legendary Abbey Road studio in London, it was recorded with a 120-member ensemble. The title of the song is still under wraps. So far, it is only known that it will be about hope. The song is set to appear as a single by the end of the year. The rest of the Destiny soundtrack is also expected to be recorded with an orchestra.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Soon the release date of the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion “Warlords of Draenor” will be announced, and to hype things up a bit, Blizzard is releasing a ten-page comic that can be downloaded for free.
Logically, the short story takes place in Draenor, at the crucial moment when the Orcs decide to drink the blood of the Burning Legion, which subsequently subjects them to bloodlust and incidentally is responsible for their green skin. You will find out why this event does not unfold quite as we know it from the tales of the old Warcraft games by checking out “Gul’dan and the Stranger” yourself. It is also strikingly clear here that comics have entirely different guidelines than games, as it is remarkably bloodthirsty.
The gaming market in Germany continues to grow. As announced by the Federal Association of Interactive Entertainment Software (BIU) on the occasion of Gamescom, the video game industry generated revenue of 798 million euros in the first half of 2014. That is 46 million (6%) more than in the same period last year.
While the gaming market is growing, the time for pre-orders seems to be slowly coming to an end. At least that is what Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, said during a conference call with investors.
This week, Twitch is once again making headlines. After months of speculation about a takeover by Google (now confirmed), the live streaming platform has once again entered the public spotlight.
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