In early August, the next big content update for The Elder Scrolls Online is set to be released. This time, it revolves around the topic of guilds. As most MMO players are likely aware, guilds are one of the main reasons why players stick with a game.
You have joined a group of people, interacted with them, and fought together in battles. This creates connections. It is all the more frustrating when a game poorly implements such guilds. When managing them is complicated and when it is generally too difficult to interact with one another.
However, it is also bad when there are too few opportunities to stand out from other guilds. This and much more feedback has been collected by the developers of TESO, and now they are making some major changes to the guild system, as Darion reveals in the video:
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The MMO with sandbox elements ArcheAge has completed the first of a series of beta events. Do the first hours reflect the depth of the game, or does a quest-heavy start possibly deter many players?
Bill Murphy from mmorpg.com addresses the delicate questions of game design in ArcheAge in a column. He fears that ArcheAge drives away numerous players by appearing, at first glance, as a “standard MMO”. One is sent from quest to quest through the first thirty levels, exposing players to the standard gameplay that can also be found in World of Warcraft or pretty much any other MMO. As a result, the game fails to highlight its own strengths in the first hours: how deeply intertwined crafting is with gameplay, sailing, land ownership, piracy, and the open world.
Those who persevere through the first thirty hours or are already aware of the game’s inner values are certainly in line to become future customers. However, those approaching the game without much information and just following the “natural” quest progression could quickly lose interest and dismiss it as “just another MMO”.
Pick up players where they stand, or throw them straight into the deep end?
My MMO thinks: Certainly a delicate problem that ArcheAge faces here. Those who spent 135 euros for alpha access have thoroughly engaged with the game beforehand and know what to expect. However, those who become beta players through a giveaway and more or less stumble into their luck might experience what Murphy described.
However, the design with the theme park focus is also understandable. It makes sense that Trion Worlds wants to receive players “on safe ground”, where they stand, and thus feeds them with familiar content. This gives players a goal and does not overwhelm them with too much unfamiliarity. Many MMO players who have never heard of sandbox and open-world (from where would they?) could feel lost in an MMO without quests and a red thread. Scott Hartsman spoke in our interview about ArcheAge as a “sandbox” with theme park elements as an introduction. The decision has thus been made consciously, even if it may lack refinement.
It will be interesting to see whether the European ArcheAge will manage to balance these elements. It is essential to find a middle ground between two poles. Otherwise, players will log out and not log back in. Either because they are disoriented and overwhelmed or bored and tired of the same quests.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Maxis, the minds behind the successful series “The Sims”, are looking for a Senior Designer for a new project. The job posting reads as if something in the direction of F2P-MMO is in the works.
For years, Maxis has only been about The Sims, those babbling virtual beings who have trouble understanding simple concepts like “Don’t go into the swimming pool when you’re dead tired” and exhibit an astonishing urge to urinate. Now a job advertisement is causing a cheerful flame play in the rumor kitchen.
They are looking for a new Senior Designer for an as yet unannounced project.
The ideal candidate should preferably have precise knowledge of a “Social Multiplayer” game, with an MMO explicitly mentioned as an example of such a game. Knowledge about character development, crafting and research trees, leveling in RPG style, and loot progression should be present. Furthermore, they should be familiar with monetization, ideally with specific expertise on how to extract money from a free-to-play game without aggravating the players. The desired Senior Designer should be knowledgeable about Maxis games such as Sim City, The Sims, and Spore, as well as Minecraft and its most popular mods.
My MMO states: Inferring assumptions about the finished game from such job postings is only a whisker beyond tea leaves or bird flight speculation. However, just the prospect of a crossover between Minecraft, a F2P-MMO, and The Sims – as conjured by Lazygamer.net – would surely bring joy to many Sims fans. But maybe it will just be “only” a Facebook casual game and not a Triple-A F2P giant. One shouldn’t raise hopes too high.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The upcoming survival MMO H1Z1 is on the verge of Early Access, with developer blogs, videos, tweets, and screens providing new info about the game almost every day. We pose the typical MMO questions: How much MMO is in the game? What is SOE planning with it? And what makes H1Z1 appealing?
Let’s start from the beginning: What about character creation?
Poor. This has already been confirmed. At the beginning of Early Access, there won’t even be female player characters available, just a generic male character with limited customization options. Later, they plan to introduce at least African American characters into the game. However, character creation is not a high priority. Game dev Jimmy Whisenhunt recently stated that they would rather add 50 new items to the game than further customization options. This is more of a focus for the release version. One would add: This is probably also more for the item shop.
You are what you wear
What about character classes? Are there levels? How does my character get stronger?
No, there are neither character classes, nor experience, nor any typical progression. The character gets stronger through the items they possess. In a zombie game, the fundamental principle of progression is different from that in MMORPGs.
You start the game with an axe and a T-shirt and then improve your items through the crafting system or by looting houses, cars, or stores. The areas where better survival items (firearms, protective clothing) can be found are heavily guarded by zombies and, of course, more attractive for other players. Better loot always means higher dangers and greater risks.
It’s somewhat like those first minutes when the Hunger Games begin. You either take a risk and fight right away for the “high-tech” supplies or you head into the supposedly safe bushes, where you start with a bow and arrow.
A character in H1Z1 becomes stronger with the items they carry. Someone in full combat gear with night vision goggles, various grenades, and a sniper rifle is the “high-level” type in H1Z1. However, they can also be taken down by a lowbie with an arrow. The bow is the great “skill equalizer,” as the devs say. It is quite difficult to hit with, but when you do, it puts the other player’s light out.
You are who you know and what you can do
So you say, with the items I gather, I’ll get stronger?
Sort of. The items you collect are not permanent. Upon dying from zombies, an accident, or other players, you leave your backpack on the ground, which can be looted. By the way: If you die somewhere in the wilderness from zombies, it can happen that your corpse turns into a zombie and carries your gear. Also, houses and fortifications you build, which leave a mark on your progress in the game, can be looted or occupied. As the saying goes: If you hoard supplies and can’t protect them, then you are just gathering them for the strongest guy in your neighborhood.
Real progress can only be achieved if the clan, the guild to which you belong, sticks together, and you can rely on the team and your people when you build social capital.
And of course, it helps a lot when the player’s skills in front of the monitor improve. It’s a different form of character progression that happens more in interaction with others and in the player’s mind, rather than being permanently reflected in the “toon,” in the player’s character.
It is likely that there will also be server variants that are a bit more lenient, where the player cannot be completely looted upon death.
In other words: For anyone who watches the film “The Book of Eli,” a post-apocalyptic thriller from a few years ago: The villain, played by Gary Oldman, is only as “powerful” as the number of guys who listen to him. You can think of it similarly in H1Z1. This is the appeal of an open-world MMO: it thrives on the interaction of players with each other, which can theoretically lead to constant adventures and exciting situations, with a chaotic and unpredictable element that the players bring themselves. There will also be the possibility to communicate directly with others via in-game voice client through headsets.
Cars and Zombies
Zombies! What are they like? How strong are they? What’s going on?
Zombies are relatively resilient and strong compared to other zombie MMOs. A headshot with an arrow takes them out immediately. If you only hit the leg or the chest, it takes considerably longer. A single zombie should not pose a major threat. If there are more, you have a problem. If you overdo it with firepower and create an overkill, there will soon be many more. Initially, there will only be one type of zombie (which has different skins), but later different types of zombies, including significantly tougher ones, will be introduced.
What about cars?
Upon Early Access, there will be a “multi-purpose vehicle”, a Jeep. It will require fuel regularly, which will be quite hard to obtain. Players will either have to loot it or produce it themselves through growing and processing grain. They also plan to introduce quite a bit for vehicles and modes of transport. Recently, it was said that horses are being considered. By the way, with a car, you can easily run over zombies; they die like flies. And speaking of flies: No flying is planned for the near future.
Zombie-Minecraft?
The crafting system – is that really the strength?
Yes, it seems that way at the moment. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Minecraft or the crafting system of Guild Wars 2. However, the menu navigation in the streams still looks pretty clunky and inconvenient. There is a “research” mode where you simply drag raw materials into the fields and see if there are combination possibilities.
In the streams, you usually only see the same items being discovered and crafted (bows and arrows). Here, H1Z1 aims to stand out. Especially the base-building aspect will presumably be emphasized and taken seriously. Players should be able to build real shelters. How well this aspect turns out is certainly an exciting question. It gives the impression that it is extremely important to the developers. Just recently, they simplified crafting so that you can now craft “end products” without having to create the intermediate steps separately.
The world could be vast
What does the world look like?
First of all, what qualifies H1Z1 as an MMO: It is a persistent world – like the servers in World of Warcraft or WildStar. The core area with which each server starts is supposed to resemble the Pacific Midwest of the USA – a fairly rural region with a temperate climate and sparse population. As a server grows, the world will also expand, and they intend to broaden the boundaries geographically to represent the USA. This means there could be large cities, desert regions, or lakes. The world would expand, and new “zones” would come into play if the plan works. This certainly depends a lot on how H1Z1 is received, how many players it has, and how they distribute themselves across the servers.
Recently, Smedley tweeted that he is currently facing an upgrade of the Forgelight engine and what that could mean for the landmass.
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How this will play out in practice remains to be seen. It’s not much fun to have a vast world but encounter no players for hours.
The idea of a “persistent” world is important to SOE. Players should get to know their neighbors on the server, build relationships with other players; all these social components should become important (“There’s that guy who shot me in the back the other day after saying he was my friend – I’m gonna get him now.” or: “The Dalton gang has valuable supplies and weapons stored in their fortress; we should team up with 4 clans, wipe them out, and seize their stuff”). All of this reminds one of the intricate dealings that happen in EVE Online.
In streams, the possibility of “friendly fire” is always emphasized, and it indeed brings advantages to accidentally shoot your buddy and loot his supplies.
The goal is survival
What is it really about?
It’s about staying alive. Players need to drink and eat regularly. Ensuring this basic supply could already be a challenge some days. Otherwise, naturally, you always want to find better items and rise in this world. But ultimately, there is no game objective; it is an open world. If someone wants to spend the whole day lying in wait with a bow and arrow and shooting other players, they can do so freely.
Combat logging will not exist, you will remain in the world for 30 seconds. It will be hard to magically escape when the hungry mob is nearby.
Is there anything else?
Yes, the weather. H1Z1 has developed an almost obsessive weather obsession in recent weeks. They want to take new approaches here, making it as realistic as possible and ensuring that the weather influences the players.
Release date, payment model, and system requirements
What do I need for a computer for this?
SOE responds: Install the now optimized Planetside 2. If that works for you, H1Z1 will work too. Overall, H1Z1 has a lot in common with Planetside 2. They also want to introduce the item shop later. They want to keep the system requirements manageable. Performance should be the priority.
When will it start, how will it start, how much will it cost?
It is expected to go into Early Access in the coming weeks. In mid-August, SOE has a big convention, SOE Live; this would be the “latest” date people currently have in mind. However, it could happen soon. SOE does not want to mess up the launch and definitely wants to go into Early Access with a showcase-worthy version. It will cost around $20 – probably around 16 Euros or so – and will be on Steam.
The actual release game will then be free-to-play with an item shop. Here they assure that there will only be fluff and nothing that truly affects survival.
Assessment and perspective: Much hinges on the start
What is your impression of the game?
Nice of you to ask, Gerd. I’ve watched several streams, read some interviews, and seen a lot of pre-alpha footage: I waver between skepticism and cautious optimism. Right now, it feels a bit like SOE is polishing the chrome of the car while two wheels are still missing. The weather and intricacies in the eighth crafting tier are certainly interesting, but at the moment they likely still have some bugs in the core gameplay: clipping errors, zombie AI, issues with fine-tuning. This could be the typical case of a game that releases and ends up suffering so much from teething problems that it rapidly fades into obscurity and takes a long time to recover from it.
Anyone observing the MMO market knows this vicious cycle. For studios, it is extremely important to launch as quickly as possible and meet certain deadlines set by marketing. Thus, studios tend to release games that still have many problems. And for players, the first days and weeks in a game are crucial. If they frustrate and uninstall it, it’s too late.
How great a game may be after 6 months or a year doesn’t interest most, as they’re already waiting for the next game. Therefore, it is incredibly important to launch with a presentable product, otherwise the hype balloon will deflate faster than one can say “When is Destiny coming out anyway?”
However, SOE is actively addressing these issues, promising to solve them, maintaining constant contact with the fans, and has taken extra time to polish the Early Access so that they don’t lose “steam”.
If the core gameplay is solid, and all the future ideas SOE talks about come into play, it could really become a great game. It benefits enormously from clever design ideas that should ensure that after 4 weeks on a server, everyone has two dozen archenemies and eight guys they kind of trust but would shoot if the opportunity arises. If they manage to allow players to experience their own adventures and stories in this environment, it could become a successful MMO.
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A developer blog provides insight into the armor dyeing system that will soon be introduced in the fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online.
200 new colors, 40 new achievements
The armor dyeing in most MMOs is tied to drops: Some mob drops a rare color, which you unlock for eternity by right-clicking. However, in The Elder Scrolls Online, a different approach has been taken. They intend to tie the right to dye your armor in a specific way to in-game achievements.
In this context, the creators at Zenimax noticed that there were too few achievements so far. With the August update, they are bringing several new ones to Tamriel. There should be 40 new achievements so that the over 200 colors can also be tied to something. And that’s not all. They left room for additional ones, as stated in the developer blog that sheds more light on armor dyeing.
The Reservoir Dog Problem: Everyone Wants to Be Mister Black
In most MMOs, the issue with armor colors is the same as with the selection of code names in the Tarantino classic Reservoir Dogs. Everyone wants to be Mister Black, that is, go all in black. In TESO, they wanted to solve this problem by making what the developers deemed the “most beautiful” and “most desirable” black relatively easily accessible. They called it “Noxophilic Black” and tied it to the achievement you receive when you’ve been a vampire once. A quite common achievement, one might think.
One of the black shades that was deemed less attractive was assigned to a particularly tricky achievement, a challenging trial.
On the test server, then came the surprise: It wasn’t the vampire black that was sought after and popular, but the testers were eager to get the black that was tied to the harder achievement. The accusation came: Why tie the most beautiful black of all to that cursed achievement?
You can sense a bit of a chuckle from the developer blog at this point. The grapes that hang highest do taste particularly sweet.
Special colors grant special effects
Overall, Zenimax has put a lot of effort into armor dyeing and has thought a lot about it. There was much discussion about the brightness and the required saturation of certain colors. The particularly hard-to-access colors are meant to not just dye a piece of armor but also grant a special effect. Because regular dye adapts to the material of the armor item: black leather looks different from black metal. However, the special colors also have a “painting” function. They make leather appear like metal or even like the feathers of a raven. Care has been taken to ensure that the colors match the achievements they grant.
By the way, Zenimax has already played around with the color options and, just for fun, dyed TESO heroes like famous superheroes.
Armor dyeing is set to come with the August update and bring a bit more color to Tamriel. Although they have ensured that the “subtle” colors are slightly predominant to consider the immersion of role players. But if someone prefers brighter and flashier colors, they can also express that. Provided they have the necessary achievements.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
With 5 new spiders and a fresh Druid spell, Hearthstone players have a lot to contend with when they venture into game modes with constructed decks.
Right now, there is a lot of discussion about how the metagame in Hearthstone will change next week or the week after, or what it might look like when Naxx is fully introduced. But all of this is just speculation. Currently, there are 6 new cards in Hearthstone that already play a significant role in constructed decks, and you will surely encounter them in your gameplay, as it only takes 30 minutes to obtain the cards. What do they look like, what can they do, and how do you counter them?
The six new Hearthstone cards, fresh from the Arachnid Quarter
Haunted Crawmer (1/2 for 2 mana, summons two 1/1 spiders upon death and counts as a beast, available as a reward for defeating Anub’Rekhan) – Alone, it’s nothing special, but it benefits mainly from synergy effects with the gravekeeper, beast buffs in Hunter decks, or combinations with other minions like the “Carrion Hawk.” Provides relatively good value for 2 mana but is particularly vulnerable to AoE damage.
Nerub’ar Weblord (1/4 for 2 mana, increases the cost of Battlecry minions by 2 mana, available after defeating Lady Feralina) – A defensive card that can slow down the opponent’s tempo, especially against well-formed decks relying heavily on Battlecry minions (and there are quite a few). It could prove to be much stronger than it looks at first glance, especially as Deathrattle minions are newly entering the Hearthstone metagame.
Nerubian Egg (0/2 for 2 mana, summons a 4/4 minion upon deathrattle, obtainable by defeating Maexxna) – This is an inexpensive trick card that usually requires another card from the remaining deck to become active. It’s often not about breaking the egg itself, but rather letting the opponent do the work. Therefore, you need to give the egg taunt or find a way to assign an attack point to it so you can break the egg on a Kamikaze attack against an opponent’s minion (exactly – a Nerubian omelette à la Hearthstone). A 4/4 minion for 2 mana offers really good value.
Maexxna (2/8 for 6 mana, beast, kills minions it damages, available for completing the Arachnid Quarter, thus also for defeating Maexxna) – the first legendary card and sure to be the most played legendary in beginner decks in Hearthstone soon. Quite slow tempo, situationally usable, and will probably need extensive protection from overzealous attention from the opponent. With buff spells and a taunt, Maexxna can play an unpleasant role, but no frequently played deck has really been waiting for her. Would have been significantly more attractive at 5 mana.
Poison Seeds (Druid class card, 4 mana, transforms all minions on the field into 2/2 Treants, available for the class challenge to take down Faerlina with a pre-made deck). A very situational card around which one would probably need to build a deck. It has quite good synergy effects with Swipe and could ruin the opponent’s day with certain board combinations (basically a kind of mass-sheep). But it could also become one of those cards that sit in hand for the whole game and are never seen again after three matches. Some clever Druid player is surely working on the hammer deck idea for the Poison Seeds. Definitely a card to keep in mind when facing Druids from now on.
Anub’ar Ambusher (Rogue class card, 5/5 for 4 mana, deathrattle returns a randomly chosen friendly minion from the battlefield to hand, available as a reward for defeating Maexxna with a rogue pre-made) – 5/5 for 4 mana is quite a lot of value and a solid chunk in the mid-game. The deathrattle effect is positively received for Miracle Rogue decks that rely on Battlecry and combos. However, it can also be used against the Rogue by the opponent. It’s probably the card among those presented here that is most likely to land on a Top 5 Hearthstone Plays of the Week list. However, it may also appear as the card that ruins the Rogue’s game. However, because it is quite difficult to remove, it should see plenty of play.
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Finally, after what feels like an eternity, a fresh wind is blowing through the card landscape of the Free-2-Play card game “HearthStone”, as the development team has kept its promise and released the expansion in July – at least the first part. But does Blizzard sacrifice the August season with this?
The first expansion “Curse of Naxxramas” will be unlocked in succession with its five wings, one section per week, with the first being free if you log into the game during the release period. Wings 2-5 can then be purchased for 700 gold coins each, or for 18 euros in a complete package. One may say what they want about the price, I consider it reasonable, especially since the expansion has been known for a long time and every player has been able to accumulate gold for a long time. And even if not: 700 gold is exactly what one can earn in a week without quests.
The new cards
Even though not all cards are available yet, the general theme revolves around “Deathrattle”, meaning effects that trigger when a card is destroyed. The developers have managed to create a good mix of “positive” and “negative” effects – as some cards shift the tide of battle in my favor upon their death, while others trigger a negative effect, which is why they should be protected at all costs. Truly outstanding synergies can probably only be created when all cards are available, but already one or another new card has found its way into my decks, especially I do not want to miss “Nerubian Egg” anymore.
A questionable design idea
On the one hand, I can completely understand that one wants to release content over several weeks and wants to slowly acclimate players to the new cards. On the other hand, it is absolutely unclear to me how one could either overlook what impact this has on the metagame or simply accept it. Rogues and Druids have already been able to look forward to new, class-specific cards this week, while all others will first have to look on and make do with the few neutral cards. And this will be the case every week until the expansion is fully accessible, meaning: The entire August season will continuously disadvantage some classes until all cards are released. Unfortunately, the necessity eludes me and gives the entire expansion – at least at the beginning – a rather bland aftertaste.
Difficulty level – None
Honestly: The difficulty level of the first three challenges was a bad joke; even with entirely new accounts that only have the basic cards, the bosses posed no problem. Even the two class challenges for Rogue and Druid, where you are given pre-made decks, require little understanding of the game to tackle, or to quote a good friend: “It’s almost more exhausting to lose these games than to win them.” Only the heroic mode was challenging, as there you actually had to adjust some of the tried and true decks to avoid the nasty hero powers. The whole spectacle of the first quarter was over in just under 90 minutes and, unfortunately, leaves one not very satisfied.
But I also do not want to rush to judgment and condemn the entire expansion – I just hope that the first wing was made a bit easier to engage newcomers and perhaps attract new customers to the game. Because despite everything, the fights are really fun, the comments from the bosses are amusing, and their hero powers are interesting – unfortunately, though, not very challenging. So it is still a bit too early for an overall assessment of the expansion, but I am currently skeptical. Very skeptical. It remains to be hoped that the first wing is just a kind of tutorial – next week we will know more. For the August season, things look grim due to the staggered accessibility of the cards.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The MOBA League of Legends has now released a cinematic trailer that sets new standards.
League of Legends is known for a lot of things: Refined gameplay, good balancing, humorous skins, and really impressive “plays.” But what the guys at Riot have come up with for the new cinematic trailer takes it to a new level, take a look:
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My MMO says: The amazing thing about the trailer is how “characters” that all LoL players know from sleep suddenly come to life. Ahri, in the eyes of many players, is just a mid-laner with the abilities Q, W, E, and R, whom they buy this item first and that item second, suddenly gets a face, a voice, a chest (okay, okay), and a character. Not only that: Suddenly, all these characters, known only from the isometric perspective from above, come to life, develop traits and a personality. In an elaborate making-of, the devs explain exactly what they were thinking. Darius’s strong chin had to fit him, Draven could only swing the axe in a very specific way, and Graves had to look as fearless as he did until he met Nautilus to be the “Graves” that millions of players know and love.
To find the right music for “a submarine on two legs,” they even went underwater.
The effect Riot achieves here is fascinating. It almost seems to us as if a synergy has been aimed for, like the one that used to exist between action figures and their animated series. As a child, you could no longer play with He-Man or Optimus Prime without thinking about the corresponding TV series. And when the other, the complementary narrative medium is as well done as the cinematic trailer from Riot, a fascinating effect is created.
What do you think about this? Does it make you more eager to play League of Legends? Or was that already not possible?
Making-of:
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In the Fantasy MMO Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, there are plans to provide players with a way to try out the online role-playing game in the future. A trial version is planned.
A brief tweet from the official Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn account has announced plans to introduce a trial version in the future. They also plan to bring a “Recruit-a-friend” campaign into the game. Both are familiar models from other MMOs to increase player numbers.
We’ll be introducing a Free Trial and Recruit a Friend campaign in the future! We’ll have details available at a later date, but stay tuned!
Typically, a Free Trial is associated with a certain level cap and some additional limitations. A successful referral of a buddy through the “Recruit-a-friend” program usually rewards the referrer with a free month or a special mount. Sometimes, there may also be EXP bonuses and other benefits for the referred player in the package.
Specific details on how both programs will be implemented in Final Fantasy XIV are not yet known but are expected to be announced soon.
By the way, Final Fantasy XIV is planning for the future. During a Q&A session about the recent producer letter, it was made clear that they are currently working on ideas for patch 4.0, which is well over four years away.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The upcoming deity MMO “Skyforge” is being developed by the my.com team in collaboration with Obsidian and on behalf of mail.ru. The closed beta is expected to start for PC later this year. Now, the Cryomancer is in focus as a classic ranged damage dealer and is being presented.
The Cryomancer is an ice wizard – and those familiar with MMOs know what that means: ranged damage dealer with crowd control abilities.
At E3, a colleague from mmorpg.com had the opportunity to play the Cryomancer live. The frost wizard reminded him of the Ice Princess from the Disney movie “Frozen.” He meant it in the best possible way.
In addition to the Cryomancer, a number of other classes for Skyforge are already known, all corresponding to more or less familiar MMO roles. A melee two-handed fighter (the Berserker), a ranged fighter with real firepower (the Gunner), a healing white mage (Lightbinder), and a classic sword and board tank (the Paladin). It will be interesting to see how well Skyforge manages to create something special from this classic quintet of MMO archetypes. With its free class system and an arcade combat system that has already received considerable praise, the potential for success is evident. Additionally, five more classes are expected before the release, and more will be added after the game launches.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The battleship MMO World of Warships, a spin-off of Wargaming’s World of Tanks, will set sail on its maiden voyage at Gamescom in Cologne.
Wargaming has reserved 720 square meters in Hall 8 at Gamescom. Here, they want to make a real splash. They plan to give passing visitors the opportunity to try out all the games from Wargaming’s arsenal. There will be the chance to play World of Tanks on PC, in the action variant on Xbox 360, or as World of Tanks Blitz on iOS.
It’s up in the air with World of Warplanes and into the cool waters with World of Warships. The naval warfare simulation will be playable for the first time worldwide in Cologne.
The Belarusian company Wargaming has established itself as the largest provider of warfare simulation games in recent years. Especially in Eastern Europe and Asia, the company’s success is impressive. They are the clear market leader in this very specific niche. In recent years, they have pursued an expansion strategy and want to bring the flagship World of Tanks to as many platforms as possible and establish the sister games. World of Warplanes was launched in autumn 2013. However, it has not proven to be a flying start, as Wargaming faces strong competition from War Thunder.
World of Warships, the naval variant of the World of Tanks concept, currently has no official release date. Speculations range from an optimistic “still in 2014” to “Q4 2015” (Gamestar).
For Gamescom, one can certainly expect a spectacle from Wargaming, although perhaps not in the same manner as at E3 in Los Angeles. There, they even had tanks flown in. And they were not made of bits and bytes, but of steel.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO shooter Defiance, another crossover event with the sci-fi series is taking place. For this, players need the new DLC Archbreaker.
The MMO shooter Defiance, which has now switched to a free-to-play model or is just about to do so on consoles, is closely related to a TV series of the same name produced by the Canadian Syfy channel. Right now, another crossover event is upcoming.
Players who own the DLC Archbreaker can now deploy Arch Spikes to retrieve modules from orbit. By the way, the DLC is currently available at half price.
While players go about their jobs in the MMO, Major Pottinger (Jim Murray) and the mysterious Nolan (Grant Bowler) will carry out their part of the mission in the next episode of the TV series and investigate the impact site of one of the crashed modules.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The third episode of the Living World in Guild Wars 2 is on the horizon. After the first two episodes focused mainly on the Sylvari, the cat-like race of the Charr takes center stage.
The first two episodes of the Living World announced more than just a minor evil. Across the world of Tyria, warning cries echo about the danger posed by the vines that have crept along the ley lines to the waypoints. And they foretell the power that lies behind the vines. The story now shifts its focus from the Maguuma Jungle to the Homefront. The powers that be among the various factions and regions must be informed about the lurking threat. And the wounds inflicted by the events of the last episode must be tended to.
According to a talk by massively with Associate Game Director Steven Waller, no new region in the Maguuma Jungle will be unveiled this time. Waller states that this episode is mainly about how a world reacts when it suddenly faces a massive threat like an Elder Dragon. Urgent problems must be solved in the short term, and the most unlikely negotiation partners must be brought to the table if one wishes to keep the greater evil in sight. And large is Mordremoth in any case.
The focus of the story shifts once again into the hauntingly dense past and background of the world of Tyria. References to the days of the first Guild Wars are increasingly made to give the ongoing narrative the necessary depth and weight. When a true lore fan sees the trailer, certain ideas about the direction the plot could take surely come to mind.
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The episode “In the Dragon’s Grasp (Part 1)” will start on July 29. At launch, players will have 2 weeks to unlock the episode permanently for all characters on their account. If this time window is missed, it will later be possible to purchase the episode for 400 diamonds. On August 12, the fourth episode of the current season will go live before the story takes a short summer break.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Barely entering open beta, the martial arts MMO Swordsman Online already has a release date. It is set to go live on July 29.
Swordsman Online is a Wuxia-style martial arts MMO. It is published by Perfect World Entertainment on their Arc platform, a sort of Steam for free-to-play MMOs. Star Trek Online, Neverwinter, and many other PWE games are also now available on Arc.
Swordsman Online only entered open beta a few weeks ago, making the announcement of its release on July 29 quite surprising. The launch is expected to coincide with a new patch that will make the game more accessible for newcomers and more varied for veterans in the endgame. The strongest players will have the opportunity with the patch to compete against demons in the depths of the earth for the strongest items.
Swordsman is free-to-play at release and in the open beta, but has an in-game shop that plays a central role.
If you’re a fan of martial arts but are still unsure whether the game is right for you, you can simply check out the open beta and then decide if you want to dive in fully on July 29.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is about to release in China. For this, they have teamed up with the publisher Shanda Games. On the occasion of entering a stable beta phase, Shanda Games came up with a special promotional gimmick. They partnered with Spring Airlines, referred to as a “budget airline” (in Germany, one might say low-cost carrier). Passengers received gifts from flight attendants dressed in Final Fantasy costumes. Meanwhile, a violinist walked through the aisles playing music from the game.
One of the flight attendants mentioned that she has been a total Final Fantasy fan since childhood. How the passengers reacted to the sudden appearance of fantasy characters on board a “budget airline” is not recorded.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In today’s update for the free-to-play MMORPG “Dragon’s Prophet” the previous mastery system has been completely overhauled and fundamentally redesigned.
The mastery system is now divided into three parts: basic masteries are unlocked starting from level 6 and grant your character passive bonuses and active abilities. It gets more interesting from level 10: you choose between one-handed and two-handed combat styles, allowing you to unlock further improvements and specialize your character. At level 60, you gain access to the “Dragon God Masteries”; depending on the chosen weapon, you select one of two Dragon Gods, and this choice also dictates what role you will play going forward.
A bold step, as the new masteries also signify the end of role neutrality and usher in the holy trinity system for Dragon’s Prophet: from now on, there will likely be targeted searches for tanks, healers, and damage dealers.
But the patch has a few more treats in store: for new players, more extensive tutorials have been added, the quests in the starting zones have been polished and enhanced with new cutscenes. Additionally, the rewards from the main story have been improved, and with the treasure hunt, a new content awaits you: so grab a few friends and get ready to hunt!
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Three new card backs have been announced for Blizzard’s free online card game Hearthstone. In addition to the heroic reward for Naxxramas, there is also the new “Icecrown” back for successfully completing the August season, and another, yet mysterious card back.
Last night, the Naxxramas patch was deployed to the US servers (don’t worry, it’s not active yet.) And as is typical for a Blizzard product, the colleagues from hearthpwn immediately started data mining it like crazy – after all, hearthpwn is a sister site of mmo-champion, and they have been doing this successfully with every World of Warcraft patch for years.
Hearthpwn assumes that it is tied to TeSPA, an eSports organization at US colleges. TeSPA aims to establish as many branches as possible in universities and rewards the so-called “Chapters” depending on the number of members with various gifts. Chapters with 80 members receive a “Hearthstone in-game reward” that will be revealed in Fall 2014. Therefore, Hearthpwn believes that this card back is linked to membership in a suitably large TeSPA chapter, which will be unattainable for most of us.
The Naxxramas patch brings a flood of information after the data mining. While fans have eagerly pounced on every crumb of info about Naxxramas in the last month, Blizzard is now pouring out the bounty.
By now, all 31 cards that will be in Naxxramas are known. Worldwide, players will probably be able to get their first taste of the Hearthstone expansion on the night from Tuesday to Wednesday (our time). Between 1:00 and 8:00 AM, the Arachnid wing should open. The other 4 wings will then open at intervals of one week.
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The veteran ranks that one must climb in The Elder Scrolls Online after reaching the maximum level are for many players a reason for criticism. Once you reach Rank 1, it feels like you’re hitting a wall. Before that, everything went relatively smoothly, but starting from Rank 1, the difficulty increases significantly, and going solo became much harder.
While the increased difficulty can be seen as a challenge, for many players it was simply TOO hard. They felt forced to level up in groups, and “forced” is something you really don’t want in a game. The developers seem to agree with this, as the veteran system is being completely overhauled.
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Well, last night it finally happened: I was allowed to get beaten up in WildStar by all rules of the art and helplessly watch as my colleagues, the developers from Carbine and my boss himself were trampled into the ground – my First Aid was just a drop in the bucket.
To give it some meaning: Yesterday, several members of the European press were invited to test the new battleground Dolchsteinpass along with the developers, ask questions, and simply see what the “Content Drop 2” has to offer. Meanwhile, all other players had the chance to play in the opposing team and show us where the dragon has its horns.
The Press Event – The Flesh is Willing, Technology is Buggy
At exactly 5:45 PM I was ready to go – as it should be, my Cortyn was already leveled to 50, had somewhat suitable equipment, all VIPs assigned, all healing and pushing spells ready (in WildStar, you can practically play as a pacifist – at least as an Esper) and the Skype conference was also on time. The starting signal was supposed to be given at 6 PM; unfortunately, it didn’t happen.
Technical problems prevented joining a queue on the test realm. That was annoying and visibly uncomfortable for the brave guys from Carbine, but ultimately not a big problem: It led to a small Q&A session that even turned into small talk and lightened the whole atmosphere. About half an hour later, we were finally allowed to dive into the fray and to make it short: We were mercilessly defeated in both battles despite the competent guidance of the PvP lead developer “Kevin Lee”.
By the way, that was only because I had to play Dominion this time and had nothing to do with my missing tail causing me to confuse “right” and “left”! Fortunately, the German community manager “Bronn” was there to assist us and could at least iron out the most significant of my healing mistakes. By the way, he is the only Chua I wouldn’t push around. At least not often.
The oft-repeated mantra “The devs are listening” felt incredibly real. But the developers didn’t just listen; they talked a lot and didn’t hold back. They spoke very casually about future plans and upcoming changes, where employees from other companies would have to think about whether they might be breaking some confidentiality clause. Either these gentlemen are incredibly experienced, or – much more likely – they are just open-hearted sympathizers who have an incredibly great corporate policy behind them. I simply can’t say a bad word about them (and not just because I would like to participate in something like this again. So believe me!… honestly!). But back to the actual battlefield…
Dolchsteinpass – Great Atmosphere!
The new PvP map is significantly larger and also a bit more complex than the previous battlegrounds. Played with 15 players on each side, the primary goal is clear: reduce the HP display of the opposing fusion core from 100 to 0. Similar to the “Blood Oath Halls”, this can be achieved by having your team take control of up to three “Uplinks”. Each of these secondary objectives ensures that every few seconds an airstrike hits the enemy bunker, slowly but surely eroding the remaining hit points.
Destroying the bunker goes noticeably faster when you manage to bring a bomb from your base to the enemy’s and place it directly on their fusion core. If done successfully, the opposing team loses 10 hit points immediately. But that’s easier said than done: Delivering the bomb is not that easy!
You will need an escort, as the bomb carrier will be marked clearly visible on the map, and furthermore the bomb has a time limit – sooner or later it will explode, no matter how far you managed to deliver it. But that’s not the whole deal: If you manage to kill an enemy bomb carrier, you can pick up the bomb yourself and promptly carry it back to your fusion core. Anyone just wanting to stir up some chaos can let the bomb timer run down and throw themselves into the enemy hordes at the last moment, taking entire groups with them into data nirvana; characters caught in the explosion die immediately. Only a rogue would think about blowing up their own team…
But who could summarize that better for you than the ever-popular “Mr. Frost” from Carbine, who humorously summarizes everything in the latest DevSpeak:
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Also, the “surroundings” of PvP are actively being worked on to provide all players with the greatest fun possible; the most important change obviously concerns healers: So far, the battleground equipment was only somewhat worthwhile, as “PvP Offensive” and “PvP Defensive” did increase the damage dealt and reduce the damage taken, but healing remained entirely unaffected. In the current version of the game, healers mainly use PvE gear from veteran instances.
This issue will be resolved with the following change: “PvP Offensive” will be renamed to “PvP Power” and will now influence both offensive and supportive abilities.
Furthermore, the values on the existing battleground armor sets will be massively reduced, as the “soft cap” for these attributes could already be reached with 3-4 items – with the patch, wearing a complete PvP set will always make sense.
Towards the end, the question came up about what the future of E-Sports in WildStar would look like and whether there were already concrete plans in that regard. This was denied; there are no concrete plans yet, although the telegraph system certainly offers an excellent basis for fair competitions. They may return to that in the future.
In short, it was a truly interesting day filled with many exciting revelations, and even PvP skeptics should slowly consider whether they should take a look after all. I would almost skip role-playing for that. But only almost!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The Imperial City is set to enhance PvP in the Fantasy MMO The Elder Scrolls Online. It resembles Darkness Falls, a dungeon from the genre classic Dark Age of Camelot. However, it will not be a copy but rather an evolution. It could bring about such a significant change that players will experience a completely different TESO after its introduction.
Access to the Imperial City in Cyrodiil, a PvP dungeon, will be determined by the power dynamics in Cyrodiil. When the dominance in the PvP zone changes, so does the right to access the Imperial City.
The Imperial City is such an attractive spot because players will find numerous bosses, mini-bosses, and events here. It can be assumed that a successful visit to the Imperial City will be quite lucrative. Additionally, repeatable PvE quests are planned. And there will be new craftable items with the “Imperial Daedra” armor.
The city is divided into districts. An alliance can control one of the districts at any time, which rewards them and allows them to respawn in that district. Each district will have a different basic theme. There will be an arena, a temple district, a market place, and an arboretum, resembling a park.
Access to the city will be through the sewers, a tribute to Morrowind. Each alliance will have its own access point. The channels are arranged to create a large intersection, allowing alliances to meet and battle in the sewers.
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Mein MMO thinks: The most interesting outstanding question: “Will more than one alliance have access to the Imperial City at the same time?” So far, we have assumed that, as in the spiritual predecessor of the Imperial City, the Dark Age of Camelot dungeon “Darkness Falls”, only one alliance will be allowed in the Imperial City at a time. The three separate sewer entrances with the intersection suggest a different solution.
It is conceivable that an alliance only needs to possess its “normal” fortresses to gain access. Then, with a balanced map, all three alliances could have permanent access. In any case, the variation with the division of the city into districts allowing respawns is a critical deviation from the “Darkness Falls” concept. The question is whether respawn will also be allowed when the player’s alliance no longer has access to the Imperial City.
In our view, the Imperial City will completely reshape PvP in Cyrodiil. Depending on how lucrative a visit here is, the place could also establish itself as the most important leveling area. We are very curious about the answers Zenimax will provide to the currently open questions.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
