In Guild Wars 2 new content is coming. With the third new story episode “In the Grip of the Dragon (Part 1)” the action shifts to the home front.
The third episode of the second season of the Living World for Guild Wars 2 is coming. This new and improved form of storytelling in Guild Wars 2 has been running for several weeks and is receiving positive feedback. Compared to earlier, when the individual events seemed rather scattered and arbitrary, a red thread can now be recognized, guiding the narrative like in a television series from point A to point B to point C.
The plot of GW 2 shifts inland
This time, another trick from television series is employed, declaring a two-parter, with the first part supposed to go live on Tuesday evening to Wednesday in Germany. After exploring the area “Dry Top” in the first two episodes and players gradually understanding the threat that awaits them here and what lies behind the mysterious events in the desert zone, this episode goes back to the home front. To prepare for the fight against the new “big bad”, old disputes must be settled, acute problems eliminated, and the buried powers recalled. But we don’t want to spoil the tension with careless chatter. We are not Asuras.
Guild Wars 2 cleverly leverages advantages in storytelling
But as an example of how ArenaNet has improved in narrative techniques: A player has been meticulously noting over the past weeks how the vines continue to crawl towards Ascalon. Every few days, they come a little closer. They move along the ley lines and crawl towards the waypoints. When a waypoint is reached, the vines attack it and render it unusable. The NPCs around these attacked waypoints also react to the vines. A great idea from ArenaNet, we think. What happens in the new area affects the whole world of Tyria. An interesting concept that we could also imagine and wish for in other MMOs. With the episodic narrative along events, Guild Wars 2 has an advantage in storytelling, and ArenaNet seems to be increasingly understanding how this advantage can be utilized.
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In an interview, game designer Adam Clegg commented on the Playstation 4 version of the upcoming survival MMO H1Z1. Apparently, there is currently no focus on it.
In a conversation with gamingbolt, Clegg addressed the question of what the status of H1Z1 for the Playstation 4 is at the moment. The game is also announced for the console. Clegg’s response: “Right now, we are focusing on the PC version. No one on the team is currently working on the PS 4.”
What do players want and what do they expect?
There have been numerous rumors regarding the Early Access of the game. Articles and predictions have repeatedly surfaced claiming the game would soon be playable in an early version on Steam. Clegg also commented on this. The Early Access for PC has been postponed after the team sat down and realized they were not able to meet the expectations of the fans.
On one hand, it is about what players wanted: they wanted a large, a huge game, with many features. That is something to work towards during the development. But the other aspect is what players expected from H1Z1. And there, it was realized that they were not yet ready. They would have disappointed player expectations if they had launched this early version in Early Access.
Once they have a polished alpha with the things fans expect, they will go into Early Access, according to Clegg. Therefore, there is no date until then.
Microtransactions a sensitive topic
A sensitive topic for a free-to-play game is the marketplace, the in-game shop. For H1Z1, according to Clegg, only “consumables” should be sold here. Additionally, they have started a thread on reddit to ask players for ideas. They absolutely do not want to offer anything that would have a direct impact on players’ survivability. So, no backpacks with more space or anything that protects against the cold. Such items will not be available for real money.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Details about the fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online have emerged regarding the Imperial City, the upcoming PvP dungeon in Cyrodiil. The PvP dungeon will primarily be used for PvE purposes. Nevertheless, its influence on Cyrodiil is expected to be immense.
Access to the Imperial City granted only to one faction
Although there will be three separate entrances through the sewers to the Imperial City and a large intersection in the middle, access will always be granted to only one faction. The faction that controls most of the 18 strongholds in Cyrodiil will gain access. This faction can invade the Imperial City and push back the currently dominant opposing faction to focus on plundering, raiding, questing, crafting, and other PvE activities.
In our last article, the question of access remained open because the layout of the sewers with the crossroads had suggested that multiple parties could simultaneously gain access rights to the Imperial City. However, this is not possible.
The process is reminiscent – as confirmed by Zenimax – of the Dark Age of Camelot PvP dungeon Darkness Falls. Brian Wheeler, the PvP lead at Zenimax, hopes that the introduction of the Imperial City will lead to greater power fluctuations and dynamics.
An example of a day in Cyrodiil when the Imperial City is present
If everything goes ideally, each of the three factions has something to do. Let’s assume a scenario where faction 1 has held the Imperial City for a while. Faction 2 has now captured the crucial stronghold, while faction 3 has been disadvantaged in Cyrodiil, suffering only dents in their armor.
Faction 1 is currently in the Imperial City doing PvE with increased rewards. Most players want to do PvE peacefully and hope that others will hold off the new intruders from faction 2. Then it happens: Faction 2 attacks. Faction 1 either gets massacred one by one or puts up a fight. In the long run, it will be a lost battle as more and more players from faction 2 gain access to the Imperial City, while faction 1 can only decrease in numbers.
Faction 2 has just captured the decisive last stronghold in PvP and is now pouring into the Imperial City. There, they will first encounter players from faction 1, whom they want to get rid of quickly to quest in peace. The question is: Will there be players who stay behind in Cyrodiil to hold the line and buy time for their fellow players in the Imperial City? Otherwise, the strongholds and thus access to the Imperial City could be lost quickly.
Faction 3, which has no players in the Imperial City, should now be in the majority in Cyrodiil and needs to capture more strongholds to gain access to the Imperial City. Unless faction 1 loses access so quickly that they are already back in Cyrodiil to reclaim it. Or faction 2 has left enough defenders behind. If faction 3 successfully captures the majority of the castles or faction 1 makes a comeback, each faction will shift positions and the cycle will start anew.
By the way, players can log out in the Imperial City and log back in later, even if their faction no longer holds the Imperial City. When the new PvP dungeon will be released is still unknown at this time.
Mein MMO states: Today, without the Imperial City, the power dynamics in Cyrodiil are relatively static. Factions only thin out when they own more and more strongholds, thus needing to defend more land. In contrast, PvP with the Imperial City will be significantly more dynamic. Factions will shrink within minutes from being an “overwhelming force” to “scattered remnants while the rest greedily loots the Imperial City.”
The key will be that the PvE activities in the Imperial City are so lucrative that these mechanisms take effect.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The next wing in Hearthstone’s expansion Naxxramas, the Plague Wing, will open on Tuesday night at 23:59. We take a look at the cards that will be available as rewards there.
Now it gets tanky – Boss Rewards in the Plague Wing
For the normal rewards for the boss kills, it will get tanky.
Noth, the old necromancer, leaves you:
Stoneclaw Gargoyle – a 1/4 minion for 3 mana that fully heals itself at the start of the player’s turn. A neutral card that would benefit enormously from taunt if it could somehow receive the ability through buffs or minion abilities. Otherwise, probably not a hit.
From Heigan, the dancer among the undead, you get:
Unstable Ghoul – a 1/3 minion with taunt for 2 mana. As a deathrattle, it deals 1 damage to all minions on the board. A neutral card with board-clear potential in the early turns. Especially with the cheap taunt, it’s quite an alternative for defensive Hearthstone decks that need a safety net against an early rush.
Loatheb gives out two cards:
Sludge Belcher – a 3/5 minion with taunt for 5 mana that leaves behind a Slime with 1/2 and also taunt as a deathrattle. A somewhat slower blocker at 5 mana, but not easily removed from the board due to its legacy, provoking two actions from the opponent. With the deathrattle, it has, like many other cards, exciting synergy effects with Baron Rivendare (makes every minion deathrattle twice) and the Gravedigger (buffs itself with every played minion that has a deathrattle effect).
Unfortunately, it is still unknown what class challenges await players in the Plague Wing. Besides the Rogue and Druid, all classes are still waiting for their class cards that could shake up the meta-game in Hearthstone.
Update 12 PM: Ah, the class cards are now also known. This time, the Mage and Hunter will receive their challenges and class cards. The Mage will be rewarded with the secret card “Duplicate” for 3 mana: When a friendly minion dies, the Mage receives two copies of the card to their hand. The Hunter gets the 1/1 Beast card “Webspinner,” whose deathrattle summons a random Beast card to the Hunter’s hand.
Update 9 PM: The Hunter’s class challenge is to defeat Loatheb with a pre-made deck consisting of 30 Webspinners. The Mage’s class challenge puts her against Heigan. For that, a rather balanced deck is available to her.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Carbines SF-MMO WildStar adjusts the endgame design two months after launch. For the Warplots, a form of endgame PvP, only 30 players will soon be needed instead of the previous 40. A sensitive endgame topic in the community is the elaborate access quests to the raids.
Endgame PvP: Warplots for 30 instead of 40 players
In the latest episode of “WildStar Weekly,” the topic “Warplots” was extensively discussed. This is a form of rated battleground as endgame PvP. Currently, each team needs 40 players before the carnage can commence. But such a high number of players is likely hard to motivate for organized PvP at the highest level. The stress factor of “Rating” adds to it – as is known from other games, this deters some players; they have to overcome themselves to engage in Elo matches. Therefore, this mode often remains deserted. To increase the attractiveness of the Warplots, the team size will soon be reduced from 40 to only 30 per side.
The Warplots were one of the most important and spectacular innovations that Carbine wanted to add to the MMO genre before release. They aimed to connect this feature with crafting and raiding and presented it externally as one of the game’s great advantages. Apparently, they expected larger PvP guilds to emerge and adopt this feature.
Endgame PvE: Access conditions for raids too harsh
The WildStar community has been focused on the raids in PvE in recent weeks and months (aside from gold runs).
Not that the raids are too difficult – on the contrary, Carbine receives a lot of praise for the design of the raids and their challenging difficulty level. However, the tedious and lengthy access quests find little favor. The attunement, the access for the 20-man raid, is quite a hurdle.
“Normal” guilds attempting the 20-man raid struggle with the fact that some of their members are already raid-ready, while others, who invest less time, are still falling behind. This leads to internal tensions, as one can imagine.
This problem also affects the top guilds. In these guilds, players have long completed the 20-man access quest. However, if players from the core group drop out or if they want to expand the raid pool for the 40-man raids, they face difficulties in finding new recruits.
The access quest for the 40-man raid is even worse: players, when they reach it, have just weeks of experience in the 20-man raid and with challenging content behind them. Now, they are supposed to go back to 5-man instances to grind a specific item in 400 copies.
This kind of “grind” access quest, which requires not skill but patience from the player, finds little approval. Some say that Carbine wants to buy time with such methods.
Mein MMO says: The problem with the access quests is ultimately a matter of how one defines “hardcore.” With grind elements (“Collect 120 easily obtainable items, but you only find 2 every 30-minute round”), you are ultimately only testing the endurance and patience of players – even if some fans welcome it and say: One must show commitment here. Many players wish that more “skill” were required. However, Carbine deliberately employs these “content blocker” elements to prevent players from finishing the raids too early and shouting “finished”.
The difficulties in finding enough new recruits are already great for raid guilds, even without access quests. When the transition from the 20-man to a 40-man raid occurs, the problem is exacerbated. Furthermore, to cope with the initial rush, several servers may have been opened. This is now backfiring. If a raid guild is stuck on a server with few players, they are out of luck. But all these problems were actually to be expected. Almost every raid guild in every game faces recruitment issues – only the top guilds have free choice and even they lose players; the rest also feeds up. Content blockers and grind quests are often a necessary evil. Ultimately, there is no patent solution because designers cannot possibly design so many raid encounters that top guilds will never get bored.
However, that Carbine is adjusting the Warplots so early must be a disappointment for the developers. They were visibly proud of the feature. Surely, they had expected it to be received with much more enthusiasm. Perhaps the eSport hype in other games will have a long-term impact on the PvP scene in MMOs and also in WildStar. Or it may be that the currently very unbalanced PvP has driven away possible guilds. Here, they want to counteract with the next content patch, which is expected in the coming days.
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In Bless Online, a Korean MMO, the Northern Empire, Hieron, is at war with the Union in the South. We present to you the races of the South.
After extensively presenting the five peoples of the North a week ago, it is now the turn of the remaining five in the South. Bless Online features a classic two-faction war: The two kingdoms are embroiled in an almost endless struggle, just like the Alliance and Horde in World of Warcraft or the Dominion and Exiles in WildStar.
Amistad
The Amistad are a humanoid race that particularly values the concept of freedom. They are skilled in music and poetry and are committed to scientific progress. Some time ago, they were able to free themselves from the yoke of the North and have since been fighting, alongside the peoples of the South, for their independence.
Aqua Elf
After the downfall of the elven kingdom, these elves settled in the southern part of the land and began to call themselves “Aqua Elf”. They reside somewhat isolated from the rest of the continent on an island. Their highest good is personal freedom and self-determination. Therefore, they have allied with the other peoples of the South, as they see no other way to realize their quest for freedom and independence without being troubled by the North.
Iblis
The Iblis, like their northern counterpart, the Fedaykin, originate from another dimension. After a rebellion there turned everything upside down, the Iblis fled to this world and here to the southern continent to renounce their old roots. The knowledge of how they could once traverse dimensions also seems to be forgotten. They are castaways in a foreign world without a way back.
Pantera
The Pantera are proud and audacious warriors who only accept the law of the stronger. Divided into clans, they are dedicated to robbery and have become highwaymen and bandits. But the times of shattered irrelevance are over. In the Union, they hold an equal rank among the other peoples. Although wild and aggressive, they appreciate the glory and honor inherent in a glorious battle.
Siren
The original homeland of the Siren was destroyed by a volcanic eruption. Only a small group of them survived this catastrophe and landed as a group of castaways on the shores of the southern continent. They are closely connected to nature and strive to restore their civilization. They are known for their beautiful form and even more beautiful voices. Furthermore, they are excellent shimmerers, divers, and sailors.
The Korean MMO Bless Online is currently still in beta in South Korea, having received a large funding and found a publisher for the western market. According to the publisher, they plan with Bless Online to even surpass the success of Blade & Soul.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In WildStar, two raid guilds have been racing over the last few weeks to see who would be the first to defeat the bosses in the 20-man raid “The Gen-Archives”. A decision was made over the weekend.
Two raid guilds on German servers are among the ten most successful in the world and have been competing for the German PvE crown in recent weeks. The guild Unleashed from the German PvP server Progenitor managed to win the race. On the night from Saturday to Sunday, Dreadphage Ohmna was defeated. The boss is quite reliant on random factors, and fortune was not on the guild’s side for a long time: She just wouldn’t appear. Wipes with only 17,000 HP were to be endured. The Karma goddess consistently had her thumb down, and often just before happiness, it was “Back to the Start”. But after an excessive night shift, Ohmna was down around 3 a.m.
The night shift was certainly also motivated by a second guild, which had been closely following Unleashed in recent weeks. On the PvE server Ikthia, the guild “Chase” is based, which also made it to Ohmna. After the German first kill went to Unleashed, Chase managed to defeat the boss on Sunday. As reported, it was in a pretty bad try, but the random god had mercy and the boss’s abilities played out favorably.
Boss will be nerfed soon
The so annoying boss Ohmna is to be modified in the coming days so that randomness will play less of a role. A boss kill “Pre-Nerf” was therefore additional motivation and a point of prestige and honor for the two dedicated raid guilds.
In the coming weeks and months, both guilds will need to find 20 more players, equip them, and undergo a complicated attunement process in order to tackle the 40-man raid. Here, Unleashed clearly has the advantage: The second raid group has already achieved 4/6 in the 20-man raid; meanwhile, Chase is recruiting new members.
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While the first big content patch of the Sci-Fi MMO WildStar was dedicated to PvE, the second will fully focus on PvP. In Content Drop #2, there will be a brand new battleground called “Daggerstone Pass.” It is a 15 vs 15 battleground with the game mode Sabotage, fitting the name of the patch.
For a long time, European players in The Elder Scrolls Online have been struggling with poor server connection. Currently, it is located in Austin, Texas, and Europe is eagerly waiting for a relocation to Germany. But the longest wait is finally over! In the official forum, Community Manager Kai Schober announced that the move will finally take place – and that this week!
At this year’s Comic Con in San Diego, California, there was new information about the Warcraft movie. During the presentation held by director Duncan Jones and the production company Legendary Pictures, it was revealed what the film is actually about – and there is a release date.
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In the latest developer blog about the survival MMO H1Z1, everything revolves around the animations of the zombies, especially their walking style.
Shaun Johnston, a Senior Animator at SOE, is the man teaching the zombies to walk. They are supposed to look good in the upcoming survival MMO H1Z1 and not embarrass themselves as they stumble through the environment.
In the developer blog, Johnston reveals that the 80s movie “Tron” inspired him early on for animation. Everything that was possible in the film with computer technology impressed Johnston early and sustainably. Later, he spent so much time in front of the PC playing video games that his wife suggested he pursue it professionally.
As inspiration for his work on H1Z1, he names comic books, movies, and other video games. He was particularly taken by Left 4 Dead in zombie games, and when it comes to movies, he swears by the more humorous flick “Return of the Living Dead.”
H1Z1 seeks balance between fast and slow zombies
For H1Z1, the biggest challenge is finding a balance between two typical zombie poles. In World War Z, the zombies move extremely fast, while in the “Walking Dead” series, they are slow. Finding a middle ground here, so that the zombies remain threatening and look “right,” is the hardest part of his job.
Part of his work also involves moving in front of a camera and green screen using a motion capture procedure, as is used for Hollywood films. He and some designers teach the zombies how they will move later on in this way. The footage is then fed into various design programs and processed further.
Johnston is an experienced designer in the MMO industry. He has previously worked on Planetside 2 and numerous Everquest and Everquest II expansions.
The upcoming zombie survival MMO H1Z1 is set to release this fall for PC and Playstation 4 and will be free-to-play. It is currently facing an Early Access on Steam, which will be paid. An exact date for the Early Access is not yet known.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
For the god MMO Skyforge, a 15-minute video with English subtitles has emerged, providing a first deeper insight into the gameplay.
An intro video featuring alpha footage from a Russian player has met with the approval of the developers. Originally created to help alpha players overcome early difficulties, it has now received the green light from my.com, the developers of the game, and the video is now available with subtitles, allowing us to learn more about the game – although one notices while watching how unexpectedly many hissing sounds the Russian language contains.
The video already showcases some features of Skyforge. The combat system will be a mix of action and tab-based systems. While you “lock” onto a target using the familiar tab; standard abilities are triggered with a combination of left and right clicks. This resembles classic beat ’em ups.
The individual classes differ in their function and play style. The Cryomancer, recently introduced, plays in a way that you hold down a key for a bit longer to trigger a power-up effect and deal area damage. You charge an ability. This system resembles the superhero MMO DC Universe Online. Additionally, there will be a dash function to evade enemy abilities in a timely manner, as well as resource management. It will be important to kill the opponent with your finishing move, as this replenishes the class resource that determines whether you can enhance abilities or not.
In the quest system, Skyforge seems to adopt elements from Guild Wars 2, with location-based “quests” that can be completed in a given area. Even though the video is prefaced with a note stating that this is just alpha footage and no judgments about the quality of the finished game can be made from it, the game already looks quite good in our eyes.
Skyforge plans a “big announcement” regarding the beta at Gamescom in Cologne, which takes place in mid-August. One can assume that this refers to a launch date. At Gamescom, additional information about new classes is expected to be announced, as currently only 5 of the eventual 10 are known.
What do you think of the video? Are you interested in the game? Is it on your radar? Do you like what you see, or are you rather skeptical?
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Yoshihisa Hashimoto was previously the Chief Technology Officer behind the MMO Final Fantasy XIV and worked as Technical Director under Producer Naoki Yoshida on Square Enix’s current MMO flagship. Hashimoto led the Advanced Technology Department at Square Enix and played a key role in the development of the new engine Luminous.
According to a report from Polygon magazine, Hashimoto cites personal reasons as the cause for his withdrawal from Square Enix. Until a full replacement is found, his tasks will be taken over by other key employees at Square Enix. Additionally, he will continue to serve as a technical advisor until then.
As Polygon reports, Hashimoto’s departure is the latest in a series of exits that Square Enix has experienced in recent months. In December 2013, character designer Akihiko Yoshida, who contributed to numerous Final Fantasy games, announced his departure.
The sexism debate has now reached Riot after Blizzard. The MOBA League of Legends promises to move away from the 90-60-90 measurements of its female characters.
While there are indeed different body shapes among the male heroes, the female champions in the successful MOBA League of Legends all look quite similar: athletic, slim, and well-endowed. According to a statement from producer Omar Kemell at Comic-Con, this is set to change: body shapes and physiques – all of these are important parameters to create heroes and heroines that differ from the other fighters.
League of Legends will soon feature smaller breasts
A change in character design, also in appearance, is something that they want to focus more on in the future. At the moment, they are working on a heroine who is set to be released soon and who does not fit the Playmate measurements.
Apparently, they are even pleased at Riot that the latent sexism allegations give them a reason to assure how much they also want to design different heroines. It seems as if they are a bit tired of creating the same women with “hourglass” figures (large breasts, narrow waist, protruding backside).
In recent months, Blizzard had already responded to allegations that they had too few prominent female characters in their games. There, too, they promised to address the issue and examine it with more awareness.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Wargaming’s tank simulation World of Tanks is particularly popular in Eastern Europe and Asia. It is also gaining traction in eSports.
These days, a $90,000 eSports tournament is taking place in Minsk, Belarus, in World of Tanks. Out of the original 20 teams, only 4 remain. Two from Russia, and two others from former Soviet Union states. The event is the LAN finals of the Wargaming.net League (WGL).
The format used is called 42/7 – each team consists of 7 players who can distribute a total of 42 “Tank Points” among themselves. Each tank is assigned a “value” in this format that reflects its strength. So if one player chooses a powerful tank, another must select a below-average one. This adds an extra strategic component to each match.
The favorite for the tournament is the team “M1ND”. They remain unbeaten this season.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Transformers Universe, a mix of MOBA and tactical shooter, is getting two new bots. The game is currently in open beta.
Transformers Universe by Jagex brings two new “heroes” to the game. For the Autobots, Swagger joins, while the sinister Decepticons are reinforced by Diabla. These are the first playable characters to be added since the start of the open beta.
Both have no four wheels in vehicle form, but only two. They are motorcycles intended to provide more flexibility in the game. Swagger, the Autobot, will belong to the Interceptor class, have a cloaking system, and is primarily suited for guerrilla-style “hit and run” attacks. Ideal for catching a Decepticon who is behind the action and taking a break to refill its oil or catch its breath, or whatever those guys do. If Swagger plays it right, the Decepticon won’t even know what hit it.
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Diabla, on the other hand, is a melee combat expert who feels most at home in the heat of battle and specializes in locating and eliminating individual opponents. A real femme fatale – if you’re okay with accepting femme fatales made of chrome.
Both bots deal more damage in motorcycle form than other bots, according to mmoculture, and are therefore predestined to catch and weaken opponents during pursuits through the narrow alleys of the combat map.
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Transformers Universe is distributed by Jagex, a specialist in browser games, who clearly wants to get this game right. However, an initial look at the open beta by mmobomb a few weeks ago painted a rather mixed picture. It was noted that the game still lacks polish and content to compete with the top titles in the MOBA sector. Perhaps Swagger and Diabla will help the game get up to speed. In any case, they have secured a great license with the Transformers universe. And the idea of such a mix of MOBA and shooter seems attractive, especially for players looking for a quick round in between.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The Druids in World of Warcraft will receive a new shapeshift form as an alternative to the cat form with Warlords of Draenor. This will come with a special talent at level 100 and looks pretty fearsome.
“The Claws of Shirvallah” is the level 100 talent that turns cats into real killers. The special thing is that each of the four races in World of Warcraft that can become Druids will receive its own subform, a different skin.
Tauren become lions
Worgen become snow leopards
Night Elves can shapeshift into panthers
And Trolls will turn into tigers.
The new shapeshift form is inspired by the “Saberon” of Draenor but is supposed to move differently than they do. The new forms serve as an alternative to the normal cat mode, where Druids take on the roles of melee DPS and its gameplay approaches that of a rogue. More precise details will surely be revealed in the coming days. Currently, it is being discussed that there will be a 5% bonus to versatility in the form, and spells that do not deal damage should also be castable.
You can see the killer cats in motion in this video from Wowhead.
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In an interview, the CEO of Trion Worlds, Scott Hartsman, discusses the intricacies of the payment model for the Free2Play MMO ArcheAge.
Hartsman discusses the differences between the western and Asian markets in an interview with Forbes. One of the most sought-after items in ArcheAge will be the gliders, a type of flying mount. In certain parts of the world, Hartsman believes it would be completely acceptable for the best and most exclusive glider to be purchased in the cash shop for real money. And that for a hefty sum. It might even be the most expensive item there, and no one would be upset about it. In the West, however, players absolutely do not accept such things. While a good glider could be offered in the cash shop, the best one must be available in-game, not in the shop, according to a Free2Play model.
Hartsman thus describes a middle ground for ArcheAge between a “puristic” Free2Play model and the frowned-upon Pay2Win model of other operators, where players are forced to spend money to remain competitive at a high level. Purists, on the other hand, demand that only cosmetic items that have no impact on gameplay should be purchasable in the cash shop. The position of Trion Worlds, the makers behind ArcheAge, Rift, and Defiance, lies somewhere in between. They believe that money and time invested in the game should be interchangeable commodities.
Two friends should be able to play at the same level if one invests more time and the other invests more money in ArcheAge. This philosophy also guides the design of the game.
However, Hartsman explains, in the West one must also pay attention to other circumstances. In Korea, for example, it is quite normal to register for a game using a “National ID”, a government identification number. This ensures that everyone can only create one account. Such a thing is unthinkable in Europe. Therefore, it must be ensured here that no one can disrupt the in-game economy with an army of Free2Play accounts. Such a safeguard does not exist in the original game, as this problem does not arise in Korea at all. Hence, preparations must now be made for this case, which also leads to changes in the Free2Play model.
In an interview with Forbes, Hartsman found the opportunity to emphasize the uniqueness of ArcheAge multiple times, offering a new MMO experience as a “sandpark” game (a mix of sandbox and theme park). He reiterated the game’s high ambitions: “We want ArcheAge to not only be the best sandbox MMO of 2014, but the best MMO overall.”
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the Fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online, TESO, a long-awaited server migration will take place next week. The European megaserver is moving from the USA to a data center in Frankfurt am Main.
Update 28.07 6:30 PM: A specific date is now also known. On Wednesday at 2 PM, the server migration is scheduled to begin. It is expected to last the entire day. During this time, players will not be able to log in. It is anticipated that the EU server will be available again only after 11 PM. Zenimax explains the inconvenient timing for European players by stating that many technicians from North America are needed for the undertaking. They want to ensure that they can work focused and well-rested for the task.
One of the most frequently mentioned points of criticism regarding The Elder Scrolls Online will hopefully be resolved to the satisfaction of players next week. Next week, but not on Monday, the European megaserver is finally supposed to move to its home in Frankfurt am Main. This is communicated by the community managers of Zenimax in the official forum. The server is currently located in the USA, in Austin, Texas, which has been a source of ongoing criticism from European players. Especially PvP players have blamed the server’s location for their poor latency, sluggish gameplay, and disadvantages in combat.
The server migration has been on Zenimax’s agenda since release. This has been communicated and reaffirmed repeatedly. A possible date has shifted over the months from “very soon” to “soon” to “sometime in summer” to “end of July/beginning of August” – now the moment seems to have come.
Megaserver migration accompanied by maintenance
The migration will not happen completely smoothly but will be accompanied by an extended maintenance period. Players will notice the change of location. The scheduled maintenance usually takes place overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday. Therefore, this date would be suitable. However, it could also happen earlier or later, in which case the planned maintenance might be canceled. This has occurred in the past more frequently, especially if a hotfix necessitated longer maintenance work.
The North American mega-server will not be affected by the migration and therefore serves as a possible alternative if you cannot stand being without The Elder Scrolls Online. We Europeans would like to provide a rough estimate just before the maintenance work about how long the server will be unreachable.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
WildStar has been struggling with the effects of some design decisions just under two months after its release. How many players really see the raid content into which so much work goes?
To shed light on the issues faced by WildStar, we take a brief trip into the deepest conceivable past, practically to the analog age. Back to a time when we had not been world champions in football for ages and our national players were named Odonkor and Neuville instead of Müller and Neuer. A time when Naxxramas was the hardest instance in MMOs ever and not a simple card game expansion for 18 euros. A time when raiding was still something for real men and women: Back to the year 2006.
The WoW Problem: Everyone Can Raid
At the end of Vanilla World of Warcraft, in June 2006, Blizzard introduced Naxxramas, a raid that the designers were incredibly proud of, as could be heard. But hardly anyone saw it.
The four Horsemen from the original Naxxramas – hardly anyone saw them and even fewer saw the bosses behind them.
The entry barriers were too high, the time until the expansion too short. Players had to clear all the raids beforehand to pass the hard gear checks, a set of access quests was thrown in for free by Blizzard: Moreover, the requirements within the necropolis itself were enormous. Raid guilds fell apart because suddenly eight tanks were needed for one boss instead of four. Consequently, main tanks changed guilds and servers just to play the fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth tank in a progress guild for that boss.
Those who survived spoke of the hardest raid of all time. They talked about Naxxramas like veterans from a battlefield, where they had become a man but also lost many of their friends.
It was a groundbreaking experience for Blizzard and the players. Although they initially stuck to the design decisions at the start of the “The Burning Crusade” expansion, by the end of the expansion, they gradually abandoned them, eliminating elaborate access quests and introducing mechanisms to help players catch up with gear deficits more easily.
A few years later, raiding in World of Warcraft in some modes was hardly more than a summer stroll. Every four months, previously hard-earned gear became significantly easier to obtain, and bosses in the raids were regularly nerfed. Where 40 players used to battle, only 10 remained today.
Blizzard made its decision: content that was created with much effort and dedication should be seen by every player. Even if it was just the Mickey Mouse version of it.
The WildStar Problem: Hardly Anyone Can Raid
As a result of Blizzard’s decision to devalue raiding or, to put it politely, make it more accessible to more players, many veterans turned away from the whole raid business. They lamented that it had become too “casual”, the competition with other guilds had dwindled, there was nothing left to be proud of – they wished for the raiding of old in World of Warcraft to return.
If we fast forward a few years to the development of Carbine’s WildStar, one often noticed a slight undertone in the developers’ statements: “If you truly mean it and want to raid like before, we will give you exactly that.”
And WildStar actually rolled back time to around June 2006. Again, there are rock-hard access quests, again the raids are demanding, and the competition is fierce. And they made it clear: this is how they want it. They would not follow Blizzard’s path and gradually nerf the bosses.
But what about Blizzard’s old problem? What if you create elaborate raids but simply cannot find enough players to see and experience them?
If a Boss Stands in an Instance and No Player Sees Him – Is He Still a Boss?
WildStar now finds itself precisely in this dilemma when looking at the numbers. According to WildStar-Progress, a site where guilds can record their achievements, 113 guilds worldwide have currently defeated the first boss of the Gen Archives. If you consider a dark number, you could double this number and talk about 5000 players who have defeated the boss and gotten to see all the stuff Carbine has hidden behind it. The second boss has been downed by 61 guilds, let’s say 3000 players.
The bosses beyond have a bit of the problem of a lonely tree in the woods. Are they still bosses if no one is there to fight them? Do they count for the gaming enjoyment of the unwashed masses, the PvE precariat, do they make the game better for non-raiders?
Resource Allocation a Sensitive Topic
Now it must be said that the numbers from WildStar-Progress are not absolute. And this should be stated here. Not every raid guild knows the page and dutifully records itself there (while, with other MMOs, especially WoW, it is almost a matter of honor to register on the respective sites), but the absolute numbers, even if only tendencies, are sobering. There are no exact player numbers known, an overly optimistic estimate of 1 million players circulated on an English-speaking site. More realistic might be 500,000. Then, with optimistically estimated 5,000 raiders, the content would be designed for 1% of the players.
However, having such hard raid content in the game like WildStar also creates a motivational effect. Players have a goal they can strive for. “If I get good enough and invest enough time, then I will see all this stuff that I would otherwise never get to see, and that 99% of others also won’t get to see.” Players say they will join later, need to gear up, and are looking for the right opportunity, the perfect guild. The plan is actually to raid when they have more time, when the stars are aligned better, or when they finally finish that cursed access quest that takes so much time and nerves.
At Carbine, it would be impossible to explain to fans that the raids are being weakened or changed, as they have repeatedly emphasized that they would deliver just the game they are currently providing.
The question is only: Are there enough players to justify elaborate raids? Or did Carbine fall victim to the phenomenon described recently by an employee of Lord of the Rings Online? Are raiders and hardcore PvPers in MMOs overrepresented in gaming forums and thus make more noise than their numbers would justify? What if there are simply not enough raiders for Carbine’s approach to work?
“If You Build It, They Will Come”
The question remains whether the invested resources in raids are worth it in this form or whether they would be better employed elsewhere. Even the biggest fans must agree that the two existing daily zones, each recycled variants of starting areas, deserved a bit more love and effort.
[pull_quote_right]Where are the raiders who have been calling for such a game for years?[/pull_quote_right]
When we see how many resources flow into the design of bosses that a large part of the players will not get to see in their current form, one can understand Blizzard’s decision in hindsight. And it will be very interesting to see whether Carbine remains steadfast and sticks to their decision to develop parts of WildStar really only for a “hardcore elite”. And to hide them behind a high wall, a harsh access quest.
This wall is currently causing many complaints among passionate raiders lately. Because even if one has the joy and satisfaction of having battled through the 20-man raid, there are still two new hurdles at the entrance to the 40-man raid: a lengthy grind in the form of the access quest and the fact that now they have to re-equip 20 new players and grant them access to proceed. Merging smoothly with another 20-man guild on the same level is a difficult story on many levels. Many guilds prefer to recruit to avoid losing control.
Currently, the first design concepts of Carbine are shaky. They likely want to reconsider the access quest in the coming weeks.
Carbine and WildStar cannot be blamed. They delivered the game they said they would deliver. The question is allowed: “Where are the raiders who have been calling for such a game for years?”
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The latest feature for The Elder Scrolls Online, known as Spellcrafting, does not have a release date yet, but at least the developers have revealed some information about it.
It is a mix of lockpicking, exploration, morphing, and crafting – and for good reason. First, you need to find the appropriate “recipes.” In the case of Spellcrafting, these are stone tablets scattered throughout the world, sometimes intact, sometimes shattered.
However, so you don’t wander aimlessly through Tamriel, you can learn a nice little searching spell from the Mages Guild. However, this is probably only after you have completed all the Guild’s quests. With this new spell, you create a magical orb that leads you to magical gateways or gates.
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In Blizzard’s free card game Hearthstone, the next wing of the Plague Citadel will soon open. We take a cautious look at the Plague Quarter while holding our noses. What will be next for Hearthstone players?
About three weeks ago, we analyzed the leaks that could tell Hearthstone players what to expect in Naxxramas long before the expansion’s release date. Surprise: We were right about the first three bosses of the Arachnid Quarter. They had exactly the abilities that were described in the leak. So let’s boldly assume that the next statements about the bosses in the Plague Quarter will also be correct. However, they are not officially confirmed.
Noth, Heigan, and Loatheb – The Hearthstone Plague Wing crew with their latest hit
Noth – Noth holds cards that kill all non-skeleton minions. He has a passive Hero Power that summons a 1/1 Skeleton whenever one of the player’s minions dies. In the HC version, these are 5/5 Skeletons.
Heigan the Unclean – Heigan, still famous for the legendary Heigan dance from Naxxramas, has as a little joke the Hero Power to deal 2 damage to the leftmost minion of the player for 1 mana. In HC, that’s 3 damage, and the ability costs him no mana. The catch in the fight: Heigan plays a card that allows him and the player to draw 2 cards and gain 2 mana. In the HC version, only Heigan gets 2 mana and 2 cards, while the Hearthstone player comes up empty.
Loatheb – Loatheb starts the game with 75 HP in normal mode. He has very strong and cheap cards that leave 0/1 Spores, which grant a bonus to the player with their death rattle. This way, he can give his own minion 8 attack points. In heroic mode, Loatheb has 99 health points. As a Hero Power, or rather Boss ability in normal mode, Loatheb creates an aura that deals 3 damage to the hero for 2 mana cost. In HC, the ability also deals 3 damage, but Loatheb uses it for free.
The Hearthstone versions of the bosses correspond in their abilities to the original World of Warcraft bosses and are modeled after them.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Raiding in WildStar – 40 wild heroes – Is it still relevant?
