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[SatelliteOfLove]

For the last month I played FFXIV for the first time, my first modern MMO (I played galaxies back when it started for a month). I am mostly a single player oriented action/adventure fan so when I view FF and MMOs in general I am really confused. Obviously something about them works, the game world and that quest of always getting better is addicting. But the game design is awful.

1. Everything feels like busy work. Why can't anything be fun outside of dungeons. Why does crafting/gathering have to be nothing but pressing x? Why can't they be based on fun mini games? Some grinding requirements are ridiculous, clearly they were designed to take lots of time so that multiple subscriptions are a must.

2. Why are all quests some form of "go there do that" and all so strict in their design. There is never any surprised to the missions, once you have seen a few you have basically seen then all.

3. Why does the game basically do everything for you? Any attempt at a puzzle or any form of deductive reasoning is pointless as there is always a giant marker telling you where to go or exactly what to do. Granted there are a few riddle quests in the game but they are very few and far between.

4. The tank, healer, dps system I think needs to be thrown out. It forces the different roles to play only one way. As a tank I have to do exactly as all tanks do or the team dies. There is no room for improvisation, every time I enter a new dungeon someone tells me exactly what I should do. Basically MMOs force you to play with a guide of sorts.

5. Going off number 4 all dungeons get mastered quick and everyone follows the same template. So why can't the dungeons have some form of randomness to them? Allow the team to figure out a strategy on the fly, not to just rehearse the winning script.

6. This was mentioned a few pages back, because it is a community based game everyone ends up doing the same tactics to maximize leveling. Every hunt plays out the same way, every boss battle uses the same strategies, everyone is finding the quickest ways to get the best loots. For a game about a massive world and creating your own character there is almost no discovery at all.

I was addicted, the formula these guys have created absolutely create a feedback loop that keeps gamers hooked. Plus many people form friendships with others, those aspects work well. But why does the gameplay have to be so bland and strict. I almost feel like the majority of MMO players would be against more complex deep gameplay cause it would force them to pay more attention rather than quickly grind to the next prize.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6: Because people bitch if it ain't like that, even if doing so doesn't guarentee success or even stability.

 

[MiamiWesker]

Guild wars 2 shows that when you throw this formula out, you break PvE. It becomes an unfun zerg.

Why? Is there really no way to make it more open?

I know it is quite different but Destiny doesnt have those roles in such a strict sense. Yes there are classes that are better suited for the different roles but all players can heal, damage and take damage to an extent and many can sustain themselves. There is room to play as you best play and not be forced to play only one way.

 

[Escape Goat]

Guild wars 2 shows that when you throw this formula out, you break PvE. It becomes an unfun zerg.

Which is why I'm concerned Everquest Next is going to suck.

 

[Valnen]

Why? Is there really no way to make it more open?

I know it is quite different but Destiny doesnt have those roles in such a strict sense. Yes there are classes that are better suited for the different roles but all players can heal, damage and take damage to an extent and many can sustain themselves. There is room to play as you best play and not be forced to play only one way.

Destiny is just a shooter. Everyone has the same role, stay alive and shoot things. This is little different than Guild Wars 2 where it feels like the only role is stay alive and hit things. And maybe offer some support here and there. I'm curious to see if they'll prove me wrong with their 5 man stuff, but I don't think the encounters will be very interesting in that game either.

 

[Retro]

Guild wars 2 shows that when you throw this formula out, you break PvE. It becomes an unfun zerg.

That's your opinion, and you're certainly entitled to it, but please don't present it as fact. The truth is, Guild Wars 2 is different, and love it or hate it that's what MiamiWesker's list is all about; a desire for something different from the MMO norm.

Why? Is there really no way to make it more open?

Try the game out for yourself and make up your own mind. It's 30% off on Amazon at the moment. If you'd like more information about it first, you can swing by the community thread and ask or shoot me a PM.

Which is why I'm concerned Everquest Next is going to suck.

SOE Live starts next Friday, I guess we'll see. The Keynote and Class panels will be lived streamed. Watch for Ashodin's thread on it in the next few days.

 

[MiamiWesker]

Is there no chance of ever having an MMO with action that is more DMC like? Like an action game mmo?

I dont even know how that would work but I would love to see it attempted.

 

[Retro]

Is there no chance of ever having an MMO with action that is more DMC like? Like an action game mmo?

I dont even know how that would work but I would love to see it attempted.

Guild Wars 2, Tera and Wildstar have more action-oriented combat. Might be a few others, but those are the first three I'd look at.

 

[Valnen]

Is there no chance of ever having an MMO with action that is more DMC like? Like an action game mmo?

I dont even know how that would work but I would love to see it attempted.

This is what I was hoping Tera would be, but that was more of a monster hunter than a DMC.

I think it'll happen some day.

 

[Azull]

Is there no chance of ever having an MMO with action that is more DMC like? Like an action game mmo?

I dont even know how that would work but I would love to see it attempted.

Blade and Soul (which will never be freaking released out west apparently) and Tera are probably the closest. GW2 is kinda like a mix since you can't dodge much or have a physical block that you can use at anytime without cooldowns.

 

[BGMNTS]

The only MMOs i've ever played are Savage Eden and Star Wars TOR. The latter mainly because of the series, as much as I disliked the genre shift. Tried a bit of Runescape but not for me.

I really wanted to get into a LotR MMO (Shadows of Angmar) but i just couldn't be doing with subscription fees. Any truly great free MMOs out there guys and gals?

 

[Retro]

I really wanted to get into a LotR MMO (Shadows of Angmar) but i just couldn't be doing with subscription fees. Any truly great free MMOs out there guys and gals?

LotRO is free to play now. Rift is also Free-to-play and pretty decent, TERA is F2P too.

Guild Wars 2 is buy to play (once you buy the game itself, it's sub-free) and has a really strong GAF presence.

Probably a ton of other free ones, check the OP.
Edit: Nevermind, seems Authority decided not to maintain a list of MMOs anymore.

 

[SDBurton]

Blade and Soul (which will never be freaking released out west apparently) and Tera are probably the closest. GW2 is kinda like a mix since you can't dodge much or have a physical block that you can use at anytime without cooldowns.

I blame Wildstar.

 

[Htown]

The only MMOs i've ever played are Savage Eden and Star Wars TOR. The latter mainly because of the series, as much as I disliked the genre shift. Tried a bit of Runescape but not for me.

I really wanted to get into a LotR MMO (Shadows of Angmar) but i just couldn't be doing with subscription fees. Any truly great free MMOs out there guys and gals?

Lord of the Rings Online has been free for a while now. One of the first big subscription-to-F2P game transitions actually.

 

[Authority]

Is there no chance of ever having an MMO with action that is more DMC like? Like an action game mmo?

I dont even know how that would work but I would love to see it attempted.

Is there no chance of ever having an MMO with action that is more DMC like? Like an action game mmo?

I dont even know how that would work but I would love to see it attempted.

Black Desert Online, Blade & Soul and Moonlight Blade have that.

Black Desert Online - Slow combat.
Blade & Soul - Normal-pace combat.
Moonlight Blade - Fast-pace combat.

If you bother trying B&S which I do highly recommend for ex-Lineage/Aion/Tera crowd, you will feel like you having sex on the beach. This game is just too sexy. I always feel good logging in which is odd but there you have it.

Check out this post - [CN] B&S - English Patch + Instructions

Also the Xun Lei is a GOD booster for me at least (advanced membership). Joined today a clan called Desolate. Shame that I will have to pass on ArcheAge. Would be with a great international competitive community (VOTF) but to be honest I can't be bothered to take part of who is going to throw more cash than me.

is there any MMOs that are coming out with full looting PVP?

Not sure if this will make you happy but so far,

Das Tale
Albion Online
Trial of Ascention
Shards Online

Not sure again how full or semi-full loot their PVP is. You can also check this thread; Full Loot PVP Games

If you are not into that then Black Desert Online is recommend it. Open beta I think is for this Winter so I assume it is December. You can of course have a got with ArcheAge. Not as hardcore as you want it to be, but competitive PVP-centric regardless.

 

[Sykotik]

I'm at level 30 in Tera - ~3 days of playing - and I'm finding it fairly interesting. I played it once before during the initial beta, and it feels like it's come quite a ways since then. I really enjoy the combat. It's probably old news to most people in here, but it's "Monster Hunter"-esque combat is very refreshing.

I also have PSO2 ready to go whenever this lockout is done with. I like it, but it feels much more janky, and, of course, extremely Japanese. I played quite a bit in the beta, and also after the reset happened for launch. Now I have a level 23 character and I don't know what I was doing or how anything works, anymore. Very arcade-y.

I bought Guild Wars 2 at launch, put quite a bit of time into it, but by level 40 I could tell it wasn't going to hold my interest. Initially, the no holy trinity hype got to me. I thought it was what I wanted, but it turned out not to be the case. It does feel like a zerg to me. The combat feels very basic, even confining, to me.

I've tried Blade and Soul, and while similar to Tera, Tera feels much more refined to me. Given, I did play on the PlayBNS servers with 200+ ping, which was far from ideal, but I think I can still trust my impression of it. Maybe I'm wrong.

I'm excited to put more time into Tera while I wait for Black Desert.

 

[Sectus]

For the last month I played FFXIV for the first time, my first modern MMO (I played galaxies back when it started for a month). I am mostly a single player oriented action/adventure fan so when I view FF and MMOs in general I am really confused. Obviously something about them works, the game world and that quest of always getting better is addicting. But the game design is awful.

1. Everything feels like busy work. Why can't anything be fun outside of dungeons. Why does crafting/gathering have to be nothing but pressing x? Why can't they be based on fun mini games? Some grinding requirements are ridiculous, clearly they were designed to take lots of time so that multiple subscriptions are a must.

2. Why are all quests some form of "go there do that" and all so strict in their design. There is never any surprised to the missions, once you have seen a few you have basically seen then all.

3. Why does the game basically do everything for you? Any attempt at a puzzle or any form of deductive reasoning is pointless as there is always a giant marker telling you where to go or exactly what to do. Granted there are a few riddle quests in the game but they are very few and far between.

4. The tank, healer, dps system I think needs to be thrown out. It forces the different roles to play only one way. As a tank I have to do exactly as all tanks do or the team dies. There is no room for improvisation, every time I enter a new dungeon someone tells me exactly what I should do. Basically MMOs force you to play with a guide of sorts.

5. Going off number 4 all dungeons get mastered quick and everyone follows the same template. So why can't the dungeons have some form of randomness to them? Allow the team to figure out a strategy on the fly, not to just rehearse the winning script.

6. This was mentioned a few pages back, because it is a community based game everyone ends up doing the same tactics to maximize leveling. Every hunt plays out the same way, every boss battle uses the same strategies, everyone is finding the quickest ways to get the best loots. For a game about a massive world and creating your own character there is almost no discovery at all.

I was addicted, the formula these guys have created absolutely create a feedback loop that keeps gamers hooked. Plus many people form friendships with others, those aspects work well. But why does the gameplay have to be so bland and strict. I almost feel like the majority of MMO players would be against more complex deep gameplay cause it would force them to pay more attention rather than quickly grind to the next prize.

All the points above (in addition to the skill bar based combat I'm not a fan of) are the reasons I only played it for a few days.

I would suggest checking out Black Desert when it's out. It's a persistent open world MMO (unlike FF14 it's completely open world, instead of being divided into zones), so it has the basics of an MMO, but it has addressed many of your complaints:
1: There's some busywork stuff you can do, but they're all minigames with gameplay rather than waiting for bars to go up.

2: I'll be honest, quests aren't amazing in Black Desert but it does have more variety than your common MMO. It's also completely up to you which quests you wanna do. The "main story" quest line is very minimal.

3: Black Desert expects the player to learn many systems and especially explore the world on their own. It's the least hand holding MMO I've played since Ultima Online.

4: There's no holy trinity in Black Desert. Basically, every class is DPS.

5: I didn't get to check out many dungeons when trying the beta of Black Desert, but the game doesn't seem to have a huge focus on them. And the dungeons I saw weren't instanced, so it feels very different from typical MMO dungeons.

6: I imagine some people will try to "min/max" Black Desert, but it's a game which feels more about experiencing the world and experimenting with what you can do, rather than grinding up the level chain and hurrying through quests.

So yeah, I'm a huge Black Desert fanboy and I think it's a few billion times better than FF14. I think the only thing Black Desert doesn't have which FF14 does have are big cutscenes with an epic story. But then again, I personally thought the story in FF14 was a bit garbage.

I would personally avoid a lot of the big name MMOs as they tend to follow the WoW formula to the letter.

Is there no chance of ever having an MMO with action that is more DMC like? Like an action game mmo?

I dont even know how that would work but I would love to see it attempted.

You really really really should try Vindictus or Black Desert. Both of them have combat which isn't too far off something like DMC. Vindictus is more of a mission based action RPG, so I'm not sure if the lack of open world and large player parties will turn you off. If that's the case, there's always Black Desert.

There's some other MMOs with action combat. Tera (but that's more of a mix between action and skill bar based combat), Blade and Soul (not tried myself, but I've heard it's action heavy), Kingdom Under Fire 2 (which I personally did not enjoy from what I played), and C9 (I only barely tried, but could be good).

Here's some videos showing combat in Black Desert and Vindictus:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvgCGjRyLvE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjKjpcPESi0

Guild wars 2 shows that when you throw this formula out, you break PvE. It becomes an unfun zerg.

I think Guild Wars 2 shows that you need to do more changes to a system for it to be fun. There's several action based MMOs without the holy trinity which are a lot of fun to play. I think Vindictus and Black Desert have the most fun combat of any MMO I've tried.

The big problem with holy trinity is that you get an extremely specific role and your options are limited. Combine this with skill bar based gameplay and you can find yourself repeat clicking on skills in succession until the enemy's dead. The only exception might be encounters requiring you do something specific (which would usually be sneaking past or getting the tank to hold aggro in a specific way), or when something goes wrong. The latter is the most fun in this type of MMO I think. For instance, your tank suddenly dies and you have to scramble to figure out who should tank instead, and that chaos actually requires some improvisation and thinking on your feet.

 

[Authority]

This is what I call doing a fan-service update.

Tree of Savior Class Spotlight: Wizard

Wizard is one of the game's starting classes you can pick up at the beginning in Tree of Savior. As you progress, you can walk on your own paths to become one of the many advanced classes of Wizard. Check out some of them.

Advanced classes of Wizard (quoted from tree-of-savior wiki)

• Pyromancer (1st Adv) Fire
• Cryomancer (1st Adv) Ice
• Sorcerer (2nd Adv) Typical Mage or Summoner
• Linker (2nd Adv) Links Targets
• Necromancer Uses magic of death
• Psychokinesist (2nd Adv) Electromagnetic
• Chronomancer Manipulation of Time

"Pyromancer" is a class which uses fire magic.

Fire attacks inflict continuous damages on monsters so it is useful to use this class when you are facing multiple enemies. “Fire Wall”, which you can place it on the ground, can be used using directional keys when you draw a wall on the ground while casting this skill.

“Fireball” can be moved around by attacking it directly from short ranges so it will be useful in many ways when you are in party.

"Sorcerer" is a wizard-type class which summons a devil.

If you insert a card, which you can obtain from defeating devil-type boss monsters, into “Grimoire”, then you can summon the devil which has the appearance of the boss monster you defeated. You can either order attacks, or order the devil to protect some designated place. You can also mount onto the devil and control it directly by using attack keys and movement keys.

"Linker" either links characters together or monsters together

The monsters that are linked together will receive damages or de-buffs simultaneously. These monsters can be pulled and gathered at one place to help other players to attack them easier. When Linker links allies together, the effects from potions or buffs can be shared each other and the damages received by monsters can be reduced.

"Necromancer" is a class which collects the dead bodies of the monsters

The dead bodies will be stored in "Necronomicon" and they will be used for various skills of necromancy. It can form a protective shell or attack monsters using the dead bodies. Among different boss monster cards, beast-type boss cards can be inserted on "Necronomicon" and this card will influence AI, stats, and the appearance of "Shoggoth" when it gets summoned.

"Psychokino" is a class which uses psychokinesis for its skills.

It can attack the monsters directly using psychokinesis or it can pull and align the monsters in one line. This skill will be very useful when playing in a party. It can also use “telekinesis” to change monsters’ locations and it can make monsters to collide each other to inflict damages on them.

"Chronomancer" is a class which controls time.

It can increase movement speed, and it can also temporarily increase attack speed as well. It can stop the enemies’ movement and it even restores the time back to a few seconds so that the environment around you are the way they were when they were a few seconds back.

Tree of Savior Class Spotlight: Swordsman

Tree of Savior has several starting classes but with class advancement the game has over 80 classes. The developer unveils new classes regularly at the game's official blog. Additionally, there are other hidden classes out there waiting to be discovered. Today we focus on Swordsman.

Advanced classes of Swordsman (quoted from tree-of-savior wiki)

• Peltast (1st Adv) - Uses One-Handed Sword and Shield
• Highlander (1st Adv) - Uses Two-Handed Sword
• Barbarian (2nd Adv) - Uses Two-Handed Sword
• Rodelero Uses One-Handed Sword and shield
• Hoplite (2nd Adv) - Uses One-Handed Spear and Shield (Becomes stronger with Centurion)
• Centurion - Uses Shield (Becomes stronger with Hoplite)
• Cataphract - More powerful when mounted, uses Two-Handed Spear

"Peltasta" is a swordsman-type class which uses a shield and a sword together.

Peltasta can block enemies’ attacks and attack enemies using a shield and it can even provoke monsters by tapping its shield itself. Shield attacks deal a great amount of damages on the enemies that are either in Frozen or Petrified status so it is more effective to collaborate with Creomancer or Elementalist classes.

Peltasta can even throw its shield at its enemies, but if you don’t pick it up soon enough, then the shield may disappear.

"Hoplite" is a swordsman-type class which uses a spear.

If Hoplite uses "Overhand Thrust" stance, then its Critical rate will temporarily increase in exchange for a decrease in its Evasion rate. When an enemy is about to attack, it can receive a Counter Bonus when it counter-attacks the enemy using its shield and spear simultaneously. Spears have longer attack ranges than swords and some skills with a spear will deal bonus damages on the gigantic monsters.

"Centurion" class can order commands to other characters.

If players participate "Formation", then the characters’ control will be controlled by Centurion until they go out of Formation. Formation can be changed into various types depending on various situations and each type of formation has its own unique characteristic.

For example, "Winged Formation" which surrounds the enemies and concentrate on firing on those enemies, is effective when you are facing with a huge boss, and “Phalanx” which temporarily gathers all Blocking stats to the players in the first row is effective when you are facing with multiple enemies at once.

"Cataphract" is a cavalry class which is specialized in breaking through a group of monsters or barriers.

Its attacks can reach long ranges and it is useful in facing multiple enemies. When Cataphract is mounted, its attacks become stronger. It can use skills while it is moving which is very unique for Swordsman type classes.

Credits to 2p.com

 

[Authority]

Quite an interesting experiment.

ArcheAge: Trion Gives Bots the Smackdown!

Wow! Running around in ArcheAge Alpha, I stumbled upon something that made me jump up and down in excitement!

Trion Creates a Labor of Love

Trion has always been pioneering in gaming innovation, partnering with XLGAMES for ArcheAge being one of these fore-thinking developments. Today, if I am correct, I think something happened I have never seen in any game and it is just superb because it involves bots and I absolutely despise bots – bots being the online term for robot or any software application that runs automated tasks. Here’s what happened:

• Farming mining ore around Villanelle I noticed two characters killing the same thing, one just watching.
• Running passed the same route almost an hour later, they were still there. I stopped.
• One died, and the “watcher” started as the third continued.
• I watched the one that died resurrect, run straight out to nothing, and return back to where the other two were. The watcher stopped.
• I reported all three and continued.

GM Smackdown Makes a Ruling!

Continuing on my Friday routine looking for ore and watching the Trion Twitch stream, I stop at my mailbox and get a letter (previewed right) followed by another 15 minutes later.

WOW! Trion did it! They made something fun out of Labor Points that I had hoped for in an earlier article. I received the 25 Labor Points back for reporting the bots plus an extra 25 Labor Points with confirmation that the account was banned! Have you ever heard of such a thing?

Bot Hunting Season Begins!

Bot spamming in Alpha exploded almost 4 weeks ago, surprising many of us. Bots before a game even goes live? Trion got on top of that pretty smartly in time for closed beta. However, being on Alpha quite often I was curious if Trion would be able to keep up because the bots and bot spamming is ruthless. This latest invention with confirmation gives us more reasons to hope for justice on a whole new level to the point where a Bounty Bot Hunter would be sexier than a Pirate giving the imagination a whole new game to play within a game.

How to Report a Bot

Put that Report Unauthorized Program skill (previewed above) on your hot bar. It can be found under Skills > Basic > Left Column. It’s time to hunt bots!

Looking forward to the success of this transparent gaming innovation and its development! Congratulations and kudos, Trion!

Credits to JunkieNation

 

[Einbroch]

Alright, Tree of Savior needs to come out yesterday.

 

[Vinci]

Haven't been keeping up lately on MMOs, but is there one that takes its cues from UO? As in, skills-based system, PvP in the world, extensive freedom and variety, etc.?

 

[Yuuichi]

Alright, Tree of Savior needs to come out yesterday.

I passed it off and first, gameplay looked ok, but I just read this and suddenly I'm a lot more interested.

Haven't been keeping up lately on MMOs, but is there one that takes its cues from UO? As in, skills-based system, PvP in the world, extensive freedom and variety, etc.?

Sounds like you need ArcheAge friend.

 

[Sectus]

Black Desert Environment montage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15zVyLS3RIs

Not an official trailer, but looks furiously pretty.

 

[_hekk05]

That tree of saviour news hnng

The true sequel of ragnarok online cannot come sooner

 

[Authority]

Urgent Update,

It is official: CBE3 Partner giveaways will start Tuesday, August 12.

According to Scapes, Official Forum

Giveaway Partners

• Alienware
• Razer
• Rixty
• MMORPG.com
• Curse
• TenTonHammer
• NowGamer
• Gamona
• PCGamesN
• MMOHuts
• onRPG
• BrowserGames.de
• Free2Play.chip.de
• Games.de

 

[Vinci]

Sounds like you need ArcheAge friend.

Went to the site. See "100 Classes". Not exactly what I was looking for, but I'll read on.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[KernelPanic]

4. The tank, healer, dps system I think needs to be thrown out. It forces the different roles to play only one way. As a tank I have to do exactly as all tanks do or the team dies. There is no room for improvisation, every time I enter a new dungeon someone tells me exactly what I should do. Basically MMOs force you to play with a guide of sorts.

There needs to be some innovation on this front as I agree that the holy trinity system is very limiting. Being tank or healer is really limiting in what you can and can't do and feels like a job. DPS have somewhat more freedom but at the end of the system you still need an optimal build and DPS rotation or you're holding your team back,

 

[Authority]

ArcheAge Closed Beta Event 3

ArcheAge’s third Closed Beta Event begins this week, starting Thursday, August 14 at 10:00 AM PDT (GMT-7) and running until the same time on Monday, August 18! Players who participated in CBE2 will not need to redownload the entire game client, only an incremental patch to Build 4.5 which will be on our Alpha servers tomorrow.

There will not be a wipe before CBE3 begins: all characters and their progress will be retained from CBE2. Your timers on crops and taxes are set to pick up right where they left off at the end of the last event. It’s important to note that invites to CBE2 will not be valid for CBE3, but we are expecting that this event will be four times the size of the first with lots more partner site giveaways and randomly-selected invitations for fans who signed up on the official ArcheAge website. Hundreds of thousands of invite emails are being sent out today and the CBE3 code giveaways will begin on Tuesday, August 12, at Alienware, Razer, Raptr, MMORPG.com, ZAM, IGN, PCGamesN, MMOHuts, OnRPG, MMOGames, BrowserGames.de, Free2Play.chip.de, MMOSpiele.de and Games.de. Additionally, our Alpha and Founder players will have access to all of Beta.

To prepare for the increased population, we’ve added three servers for CBE3! The Auction House is shared regionally, meaning item listings from any server will be accessible by all servers in that region. Also, the Alpha servers will be live during this event.

North America

• Aranzeb
• Naima
• Kyrios
• Ollo
• Tahyang (NEW)
• Salphira (NEW)

Europe

• Shatigon
• Kyprosa
• Eanna
• Dahuta (NEW)

Be sure to read our article about how CBE2 went! If you have more questions about ArcheAge Beta, please visit our FAQ. We look forward to seeing you in ArcheAge!

Credits to Scapes

 

[Yuuichi]

I got an invite to beta 3, might as well try it out. I feel like I won't enjoy it if I end up solo like I usually am.

 

[Authority]

I got an invite to beta 3, might as well try it out. I feel like I won't enjoy it if I end up solo like I usually am.

Solo is definitely not recommended it.

Let me repeat do NOT go there thinking of soloplay.

GamesCom 2014: no information on PvP or server population to be expected

The situation with WildStar is currently escalating,

Here's an official comment by crb_anlath about the coming GamesCom and what they will not be able (willing?) to talk about.

Two of the most important and urgent issues atm are not going to be discussed.

http://www.reddit.co..._wildstar_devs/

"For some further detail, we have three developers with us at gamescom;

Megan Starks - Senior Conent Designer / Nick Roth - Sensior Systems Designer / Jon Wiessman Senior UI Designer

I expect we won't be able to discuss PvP or Realm pop issues in any detail beyond what you have already seen here or on the forums.

EDIT: Sorry to be a party pooper, just want to set a bit of expectation on who is there and what they know."

Credits to WildStar Official Forum

The Nexus Telegraph: Addictions that WildStar must kick

I look forward to people telling me how I'm wrong because the game is meant to be a raiding game as if that wasn't an inherently ridiculous statement. Commence to jigglin', folks.

Matt Daniel is a friend of mine. (Yes, despite my claims at the end of some poorly considered features we did together.) He's also a spectacularly bright guy with a clear picture of what games do well and what they do poorly. So when he and I wind up chatting about WildStar and noting the exact same problems, I take this stuff to heart. And there are a couple of underlying issues that the game would do well to address sooner rather than later.

I've talked about issues that the game has before, but a lot of those issues are really symptoms, not the core issues. I enjoy the game a lot, and I think it has a lot to recommend it, but there are some nagging fundamental issues, just certain ways of viewing the game and the community. As we approach the all-important three-month mark, it's time to start thinking about those issues, about what they represent, and perhaps most importantly about how those issues can be addressed.

Spin the ball! And you could win! Theoretically.The siren song of randomness

Basically every Architect I meet loves the crafting system in the game... in theory. In practice, Architects mostly have some combination of swear words for the fact that trying to get a non-standard crafting result off a schematic requires a bit of planning and a lot of luck on their part. Even once you've crafted something the first time, you have to luck out with getting the target area back on subsequent crafts.

My highest-level character is a Weaponsmith, but I run into the same problem. A sword I craft that has Brutality or Tech as a locked-in unchangeable stat is a sword that's a lot more attractive than one with Insight. Or Finesse. Rather than turning the crafting process into a puzzle of cleverness and skill, it comes down to rolling the dice and hoping against hope that you have a starting position worth expanding upon.

The game's love of randomness is shot through the game as a whole. Challenges are great, but the rewards are a slot machine that offers you limited control over what you get, even if there's only one thing in the mix that you need or want. Boss drops are the same old "slay and pray" that even World of Warcraft got tired of back in 2007. I've watched the little Simon game give me the same color in a row seven times, making the game less about memory and more about counting my clicks to ensure I didn't click the constant flash of orange too much.

I've said many times in the past, here and elsewhere, that randomness isn't challenge. It's just, well, random. Not only that, but in this case it weakens some of the coolness of systems like challenges and crafting by making them less about using your skill to overcome obstacles and more about using your skill to hope you can overcome a disadvantage. Put more simply, randomness is a spice; overuse it and the meal just tastes bad.

There are a lot of reasons to like this game. A certain swordmaiden is one of them; the obsession with being more hardcore than thou is not.The fiction of being hardcore

The idea of ranking a group's progress through an adventure and a dungeon is a noble concept. It is also one that has led to some really toxic crap, and if you don't think the two are connected, I've got a bridge to sell you.

Carbine Studios is well aware of the issues with prioritizing gold runs over everything else when it comes to this stuff, and it's being addressed, but it speaks to a larger problem: The game is schizophrenic. On the one hand, it encourages you to look how you want, play how you want, and do what you want. On the other hand, it pushes you constantly to be the most hardcore forever, smash the dungeons, yeah! The two go together like magnets of identical polarity, which is to say that they push one another apart with great force.

It's a subset of the problems that happen with open PvP. When you create an environment that rewards the most hardcore players above all else, those players who cannot, will not, or do not just say, "Well, I guess this content isn't for me." Cue the creation of a population that has suddenly re-calibrated its bottom upward; even among the people who can, will, and do want to be hardcore, there's still the worst group of players therein. So they get marginalized, and so on.

This is why I tend to not have very nice things to say about the game's ongoing love affair with raiding: because it's pushing a huge chunk of the game's content and rewards to serving a top end. When you're tiering your players such that someone winds up on the bottom, a lot of players just lose interest. They're here to have fun, not to be in competition. It's ridiculous enough in games that have positioned themselves to be about an ever-ascending power curve and nothing else, but even more problematic in a game that offers so many opportunities to say, "Eff that; I want to decorate my house and look pretty."

Or, to put it more simply, a lot of games are offering the hardcore rush. Not many are offering the lateral game. I know I'd rather compete in a field that isn't choked.

The lure of legacy

MMOs have changed a lot since Ultima Online. They've changed a lot since EverQuest. Since World of Warcraft. Since I started this job five years ago. And yes, by and large, those changes have been for the better, judging by the simple fact that there are a lot of people interested in MMOs now who were not interested back then.

I honestly believe that in another five years, we as a community are going to look at hardcore raiding the same way we currently look at Ultima Online's open PvP, as something that MMOs survived in spite of rather than because of. We're already seeing traces of that. There's a reason that almost no game does the straight vanilla World of Warcraft 40-person raid, complete with ornate attunement processes. It's the same reason MMOs have largely discarded the idea that you should form a group, camp in a spot, and drag single enemies to you to kill them, or the idea that you should sit and ride a boat in-game for two hours.

Or the notion that these guys are the coolest ever and deserve to be the focus of every story ever.

WildStar's clear nostalgia for the original days of WoW has done some very good things for the game. It's infused it with a sense of humor that doesn't gut the tone of the game as a whole. It's given the designers a sense of confidence and clarity when moving through storylines and establishing NPCs. It's one tempered, in many places, by an understanding of what old faithful did wrong, both in terms of progress and lacking features.

But it's also given rise to a lot of old ideas that were wisely discarded years ago because it turns out they're not all that fun. And that lure of the old days, of how things used to be, is a powerful one. Remembering the bright parts of how things used to be and forgetting the downsides is tempting.

Of course, it's also the same principle as buying an entire pie and wondering why you don't do that all the time, only to find out when you're halfway through that you got really sick the last time you did this and you remembered only the first few bites.

Credits to Massively

Guild Wars 2 Column: How Can ArenaNet Get Ex-Players Back Into The Game?

There are two types of MMO fans that companies make significant efforts to satisfy. Obviously, players who are currently active in the game get attention, while people who have never tried the game are the main targets of advertising and promotional campaigns.

But what about the third category of player? The one who used to play the game but doesn't any more? How can an MMO company reach these people and, most importantly, get them back into the fold? Specifically, what could Guild Wars 2 do about this?

Unlike subscription-based MMOs, Guild Wars 2 can't really offer a “free weekend” to lure people back. Gem-store discounts are nice, but how often have you been lured back to a game by them saying, “Hey, here's a different way for you to spend money!”

A lot of people quit a game because they get bored of it or it “offends” them somehow, by nerfing something they loved or introducing something they hate. While MMOs do make some effort to draw people back in with descriptions of what's changed in the game, they rarely put on the same kind of push they do at launch. Should they?

Millions of voices, suddenly silent

Let's look at the numbers for Guild Wars 2. Even after just one year, GW2 had a lot of lapsed players. The game has sold over 3.5 million copies (that was as of a year ago; we'll probably hear an updated figure as the second anniversary draws near, but we'll go with this one for now), but the number of currently active players is... well, a guess. It's commonly assumed to be somewhere between 500,000 and one million players, which would mean somewhere around 75% to 85% of people who bought Guild Wars 2 no longer partake of it. That's 3 million or so “semi-fans” who were attracted to the game at one point but drifted away – and 3 million fans that don't usually receive much attention from acquisition-based marketing.

So there are around 3 million potential “old-new” players. Some are unreachable and will never come back; they didn't like the combat or how there are no raids or whatever. Short of a major overhaul to the game, which would be akin to the Star Wars: Galaxies New Game Experience (which went so well), there's practically nothing ArenaNet can do to get them back.

But if a they could get just 10% of those bodies back in the game – around 300,000 – that would be a major boost to the population and, in theory, sales in the Gem Store. That seems worth it. But how to accomplish that?

Manifesto destiny

For that, we can look back at how the game was originally pitched. The centerpiece was, of course, the Manifesto. While it's certainly fair to criticize the disconnect between what it promised and what was delivered, there's no doubt that it had a profound effect on attracting people to the game. Nowadays, instead of lavishly produced pieces like this, we mostly get minute-long trailers and 30-minute podcasts. Both are nice, but the first don't really tell us much and the second seem more keyed to existing players; lapsed players probably don't learn much from the first and have little interest in watching the second.

As effective as the Manifesto was, I'm surprised there haven't been any true follow-ups. What if there was a similar video, produced maybe every year or so, that was a kind of recap of the changes to the game that addressed many of the community's concerns? Right now, if you're a lapsed player, you can research everything that's changed, but, spread out as it is, you're unlikely to do so. A one-stop, well-promoted, must-view video, in the same vein as the Manifesto, would solve that issue.

For instance, last year's “One Year Anniversary” video could have covered: the Living Story, and how it adds content to the game every two weeks; the addition of fractals as a kind of incrementally more difficult PvE content; and ascended gear, which would be a touchy subject and should probably be a little honest about it (like how it's only slightly statistically better than exotic).

The Two-Year video would talk about changes to the Living Story and permanent content; the new wardrobe system; megaservers and a more populated world; and maybe Edge of the Mists, which is only-sorta PvP but helps solve the major issue of WvW queues.

Note that nearly every topic I'm addressing covers a complaint that people had about the game and that probably caused a good number of them to quit. ArenaNet probably has better information than this on why people quit, but these cover a lot of the posts I see online that start, “When I played, this part of the game was pretty bad, did they do anything to fix it?”

In fact, a middling dose of honesty would probably do wonders for people who think ANet was too full of themselves and could do no wrong. They can't totally say, “We screwed up” in a promotional video, but they could include lines like, “Think dungeons are too easy? Try fractals!” “World bosses are facerolls? Try the revamped Tequatl or Three-Headed Jungle Worm!” “You wanted more control over your character's look? Check out our new wardrobe system!” “Hate Trahearne? You can kill him in the Living Story!”

OK, so we don't have that last one... yet.

Promotion predicaments

So, once that message is out there, how would it be promoted? How can you reach players who aren't playing the game any more?

Surprisingly, traditional social media could work. I've studied MMO Facebook and Twitter follower activity for a while, and games rarely lose net followers. Sure, some people come and go, but the overall numbers keep going higher, except for the most unsuccessful of games. If an MMO's active population stays steady or declines over time, as is popularly believed, then the fact that these numbers keep going up would indicate that players don't necessarily stop following the game when they stop playing it. In other words, there are a lot of lapsed players who still follow Guild Wars 2 on social media.

As I write this, Guild Wars 2 has 1,053,138 Likes on Facebook. As we estimated above, the game probably doesn't have a million active players, and many who do play don't follow it on Facebook. So there are a lot of non-players who do follow it. (By comparison, an MMO that started huge and stumbled big time, Star Wars: The Old Republic, still has 2,411,107 Likes on Facebook.) Numbers are smaller on Twitter, but the same principle holds: Unlike with active player numbers, these numbers always go up and represent a large number of inactive players and other folks who haven't disconnected with the game enough to completely break all ties with it. (YouTube appears to be another story.)

For those who have stopped following the game closely, the video would still be sent out to all the major media sites (like this one) and potentially viewed by a bunch more former players. And it could also serve as a nice centerpiece at conventions and other appearances.

Not only Guild Wars 2, but nearly every MMO could use some way to win back players, yet it's something that they only seem to give the barest attention to, and I'm not really sure why that is. What other ideas would you have for getting lapsed players back into Guild Wars 2 as it is today? (And this isn't about “what they NEED to change to get ME back” but about what they could do with the current game to get players back. Stay classy, comments section.

Credits to Jason Winter

 

[Authority]

Haven't been keeping up lately on MMOs, but is there one that takes its cues from UO? As in, skills-based system, PvP in the world, extensive freedom and variety, etc.?

Smaller Projects,

Albion Online
Shards Online
The Repopulation (?)

The only one that is somewhat a bit closer to a modern Ultima Online I believe is ArcheAge.

Just found out about it but Destiny's new expansion is set in December 2014.

The fuck? Already an expansion? What that means in #BASE English 101;

• This game was pushed to be released earlier
• They knew before hand that content would be cleared pretty quickly and easily

Either way let us head over to Gamescome 2014!

World of Speed

Top 10: World of Speed
Genre: Racing MMO
Developer: Slightly Mad Studios
Status: No beta yet
Fee: F2P

At this year’s gamescom Slightly Mad Studios will reveal more content about their upcoming racing MMO--World of Speed. Some of the features they will reveal are about their multiplayer component including the elaborate team mode, team tactics mode and team objective system. The game is all about fast nice looking cars driving in real life locations where you can compete and create clubs (namely guilds).

War Thunder

Top 9: War Thunder
Genre: World War II MMO
Developer: Gaijin Entertainment
Status: OBT
Fee: F2P

At this year's gamescom, Gaijin Entertainment will showcase their world war 2 combat MMO with the virtual reality (VR) and visitors will get a chance to test a rather different MMO experience with the Oculus Rift VR head mounted to the display. Furthermore they will unveil the improvements due in the 1.43 update.

World of Warships

Top 8: World of Warships
Genre: Naval battle MMO
Developer: Wargaming
Status: No beta yet
Fee: F2P

Wargaming will attend this year’s gamescom and showcase World of Warships for the first time as a playable demo for visitors to try. In World of Warship, players will be able to play with players in World of Tanks and World of Warplanes. Wargaming will also present their latest game at a 720-square-meter booth in hall 8 during gamescom.

Skyforge

Top 7: Skyforge
Genre: SCI-FI MMORPG
Developer: Allods team/Obsidian Entertainment
Status: No beta yet
Fee: F2P

Skyforge is an upcoming free to play MMO that will be making its debut at Gamescom 2014 and there will be a demo playable for visitors to try. Be the first to check out new classes and get info how the end game content works with gods involved. Details about a beta will probably be made but not sure what the secret announcement is for Skyforge. Between 12-17th august we will know what this secret is all about.

Warlords of Draenor

Top 6: World of Warcraft:Warlords of Draenor
Genre: MMORPG
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Status: CBT
Fee: P2P

Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed to announce the release date of their fifth expansion set for the highly popular mmorpg game World of Warcraft. The revealing will be the 14th of august in Los Angeles during an event. But it will be streamed and thus inviting the whole world to take part as well. In addition Blizzard will show the first episode of the animated miniseries Lords of War for the whole world to see.

The expansion takes place at Draenor where the orcs came from prior to its destruction and the creation of outland. So you will be experience how outland looked like when orcs and draeneis inhabited Draenor.

The level cap will be raised to Lv 100 and everyone who buys the new expansion will get one Lv 90 character boost for free

The Crew

Top 5: The Crew
Genre: Open world Racing
Developer: Ubisoft
Status: CBT
Fee: B2P

Ubisoft will be at gamescom this year and showcase their latest open-world driving game dubbed "The Crew". If you plan to visit gamescom, make sure to stop by their booth since you can have the chance to win awesome prizes such as thrustmaster wheels and headsets. The Crew will be playable to each attendee. The Crew is set to open up its second beta round on August 25th.

Black Desert Online

Top 4: Black Desert
Genre: MMORPG
Developer: Pearl Abyss
Status: CBT (Korea)
Fee: ?

Black Desert is an upcoming next generation sandbox MMO developed by Korean Pearl Abyss and the big talk at gamescom will be about the western version and maybe Pearl Abyss will reveal the date for the western CBT version? Daum the publisher of the Korean version will indeed be the publisher for the western version too. The third CBT will start in South Korea late August or early September this year followed by open beta, probably two to three months after 3rd CBT finished.

Heroes of the Storm

Top 3: Heroes of the Storm
Genre: MOBA/Online Multiplayer Game
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Status: CBT
Fee: F2P

Heroes of the Storm are an upcoming MOBA game where you have the ability to play champions from across the Starcraft, Warcraft and Diablo universes. Blizzard will talk more about the game at this gamescom and maybe reveal new champions/features. Blizzard has confirmed that the game will be playable at their booth by all who attend gamescom on the PC. Blizzard intends to reinvent the whole MOBA genre with Heroes of the Storm, but still having the core gameplay mechanics similar to DOTA 2 and League of Legends.

Destiny

Top 2: Destiny
Genre: Sci-fi MMOFPS
Developer: Bungie
Status: CBT
Fee: B2P

Bungie is most known for their Halo series but are now entering the MMO market with their highly anticipated sci-fi MMO Destiny. Destiny can best be described as a shooter with a seamless open-world where you can engage in PvP as well as also have a storyline to follow. PlayStation 4 owners have had the firsthand to play the beta which kicked off 17th of July this year. During gamescom, they will show more content of the game and maybe reveal more info about its current features.

The Division

Top 1: The Division
Genre: MMOTPS
Developer: Ubisoft Massive
Status: No beta yet
Fee: B2P

Ubisoft Massive will showcase their anticipated game The Division on Xbox one. Why Ubisoft Massive has selected Xbox One is because rumors say that Microsoft tries to make Xbox One the main platform for The Division. Whether the rumors are true or not are up for speculations. Furthermore Ubisoft Massive has not confirmed if they will show any new gameplay or features since E3, tough we will know when gamescom kicks of 13th of august.

Credits to 2P.com

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Solo is definitely not recommended it.

Let me repeat do NOT go there thinking of soloplay.



Credits to WildStar Official Forum




Credits to Massively


Credits to Jason Winter

He's going at that argument on crafting the ENTIRELY wrong way. "Skill" (such a nebulous word lately) is hard for many people to agree on. I wonder why he chose this instead of the fidgetiness of the crafting process or how, to use his example, Warrior swords having only a few specific stat setups that function best when applied in the "real world" of combat.

Why indeed...

 

[Yuuichi]

Solo is definitely not recommended it.

Let me repeat do NOT go there thinking of soloplay.

So, should I just not bother then? I don't really have anyone to play with.

 

[syko de4d]

Me and a friend got into the next beta of Archeage, i hope its good. I heard you can be a pirate and be in prison etc. sounds like fun xD

Other MMO i looking forward too is skyforge, just used google and found out that they will live stream some Skyforge on 16.8.
http://sf.my.com/us/forum/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=746

I hope there are some Beta news for this game too.

 

[Authority]

So, should I just not bother then? I don't really have anyone to play with.

Where do you live?

 

[Yuuichi]

Where do you live?

US, West Coast-ish.

 

[syko de4d]

World of Speed, Armored Warfare and Skyforge beta dates

http://www.incgamers.com/2014/08/world-of-speed-armored-warfare-and-skyforge-beta-dates


Armored Warfare – Start of Closed Beta: Q1 2015.
Skyforge – Start of Closed Beta: Q4 2014.
World of Speed – Start of Closed Beta: Q4 2014.


Interested in Skyforge and World of Speed

 

[Gloam]

Is buying into the Founder's Pack currently the only way to play Archeage before launch?

 

[Authority]

US, West Coast-ish.

So why don't you go on official forums and find a guild before launch?

Is buying into the Founder's Pack currently the only way to play Archeage before launch?

Go to Reddit and Official Forums and ask for a CB3 key. I am sure someone will help you out.

Alternatively yes.

 

[Authority]

Black Desert GM Notes and Final Test Preparations

The last GM Notes just went up today covering some of the new features that will be implemented during the 3rd CBT starting early next month. You can view most of the images below or from the original article found at main Black Desert site.

Housing Improvements with a friendly decorating system and players can now read books located on their shelves to for Knowledge points! Hmmm, I might get a house this time around if I don't grind like crazy like last beta.

Adjusted Fishing so that it's a little bit easier compared to the last beta. Time to try it out~

Equipment can now be dyed even plate armor, ooh yess!!!!

Defnitely looking forward to the new dye system because there will be no more clones! In before everyone dyes black, red, or white! I'm still debating on which character to play in the during the 3rd beta. Hmmm....hmm...hmmmMmmm..

They added a new cat pet and I am totally going to get one.

Credits to Steparu

From this /r WildStar, WildStar got the bomb dropped: "BugStar"

"EDIT: See, there was a reason I said "if". Carbine reps are claiming that the whole free gem based items thing was a hoax. The facts as we know it are still: They deployed a hotfix to Prod, and then had to roll it back almost immediately. The same argument for reviewing their automated regression applies.

NB: This is the opinion of a high end professional software tester, normally working with Agile teams in very high end (IE - expensive) software implementations. Carbine/NCSoft clearly have their own methods. This critique is not meant to replace those methods, but to enhance the community's understanding of testing issues, and provide an opinion that might have some merit. YMMV.

My background (if it matters): Formerly a SysAdmin for various Fortune 500 companies, turned tester in the entertainment industry (Namco, WB, major gambling sites, etc.), and finally award winning security and performance tester working for one of the Big 4 consultancy firms.

Opinion: If the Zero Gem bug that was reported earlier today is a real thing (Update: They are now claiming it was a hoax.), it is a symptom that fits well with an overall trend that I've seen in WildStar. I'll start with a definition, then move on to the theory.

Regression testing is a kind of (mostly) automated test that ensures two things that are closely related: The first goal of regression is to cover critical service interactions to make sure that changes to the code do not break them. The second goal of regression is to make sure that particularly troublesome and often unreliable sections of the code don't break from release to release.

I feel that the code team and testing team that are developing WildStar need to take a hard look at their regression test practices. Let us say for an example that the ten most critical user interactions within the game (post login) are tracked. That might include:

Interactions with certain vendors (Credd, Elder Gems) Anything providing a Daily (esp faction related and trade skill) Anything involving item storage (mail, bank, and guild bank)

These critical tracked interactions should have a series of tests that are run on them after every build. We call these critical post-build tests 'regression tests'. They are automated ways to identify that key server transactions are working as intended.

Some other regressions might revolve around game physics where they've seen issues, login process, and a host of what they consider critical operations.

If a regression test failed, the build fails. Simple as that. You roll back to the last working version of the code, and examine the issues that failed. The code is not deployed until all regression passes (in addition to normal QA, etc.). You designate a new window after the code is fixed, re-run the build process, make sure it passes regression this time, then release the new build.

My theory is that the regression tests created by the code and QA teams are not extensive enough, or that the correct regression process is not being adhered to and needs to be re-examined.

Some of the bugs that make it into production are perfectly reasonable or at least understandable, even the severe ones. In layman's terms: Sh... um. Cupcakes happen. Your QA team will never catch every bug, and once in a while it will be a big bug.

But bugs that can easily be picked out by standard regression testing making it into the live environment, on known critical systems... I'm not sure I understand how that happens with proper, modern test strategies. Surely you regress the hell out of anything involving real life currency, big in game currency, potential item and resource duping, and the like. Surely.

This is my theory, and my cautionary tale, about regression testing in WildStar. I hope they sort it out. I love this game more than any MMO I've played since Everquest. Please Carbine/NCSoft, examine your testing and release habits, for the good of the community".

Gamescom 2014 Swtor more then 1 mill log in every month

You what Mate.

Tree of Savior – Weekly blog post touches on skill mechanics and more
New gameplay

It is that time of the week again, as South Korean developer IMC Games posted its latest article just moments ago. With most of the original team behind Ragnarok Online’s music on board, Tree of Savior has done an amazing job with the game even before release.

Q) I think having a fire place in the game is a very good idea. Can we also throw torches against enemies? Are there tents in the game?

A) We don’t have tents in the game yet, but we may add tents in the game in the future. The idea of throwing torches against enemies was present in the earlier version of the game, but we don’t have the feature anymore. Please use fireplace to warm yourself.

Q) Are there any advantages when the Squire class repairs items instead of Blacksmith NPC?

A) There a few advantages of using Squire to repair items such as lower costs, items fixable outside villages and so on. Depending on the level of repair skill, an item’s stats may exceed its original or latent stats.

Q) What do you mean when you said Peltasta’s thrown shield may disappear? Is it going to really disappear from the equipment slot?

A) If you don’t pick it up within a limited time, then it will disappear from the equipment slot. This risk mechanic was needed as we allow Peltasta, which is a melee class, to engage in long range attacks.

Q) I know that spears’ attack ranges are longer than those of swords and they can also deal additional damages to gigantic monsters with certain skills. Then what are the benefits of using swords instead of spears?

A) You can also bash enemies besides thrusting enemies when using swords. Since you can use both bashing and thrusting for swords, you can use both of them strategically when you face different types of monsters in the game. Some monsters will be weaker on bashing, and some monsters will be weaker on thrusting.

Q) Can Alchemist also stay in the game after logging out from the game if it opens a shop like Pardoner?

A) Alchemist doesn’t open a shop, but when it crafts an item, it may take several hours so it is possible for Alchemist to stay in the game after log-out when it is engaged in crafting.

Tree of Savior - Male Alchemist

▲ A screenshot of male Alchemist. (There was a question on how male Alchemist looks like.)

Q) Is the color of summoned devils always in black?

A) Each boss monster has its unique colour, but when Sorcerer summons a devil, the colour of the summoned devil will always be black.

▲ The original boss monster is shown on the left, while the devil which is summoned by Sorcerer using the boss monster’s card is shown on the right.

Q) When Sorcerer summons a devil, what happens to the card which was inserted on Grimoire? Will it be disappear?

A) No. Boss monster card will only dissipate when it combines with another boss monster card. One of the cards will be used to level up the other card.

Q) Is there a time limit on using summoned boss monster?

A) It depends on Sorcerer’s SP and stamina. It is also possible to recharge SP and stamina using specific items while the summoned boss monster is being activated.

Q) Can Rogue use daggers on both hands? Is there any stealth class who can attack repetitively?

A) Rogue is an Archer-type class in Tree of Savior, so it uses a bow. It can hide under the ground, but stronger stealth skills can be used by the Scout class which is another Archer-type class. Repetitive attacks using weapons on both hands are done by the Corsair class, but Corsair is a Swordsman-type class.

▲ It looks like a normal wood keg, but Scout is hiding in it. Scout can move wood keg using its toes while hiding inside.

Q) Is there Samurai class or any other similar class in the game?

A) We have Shinobi class in the game.

Q) I hope a player who contributed the most in party play receives more EXP points rather than sharing EXP points equally.

A) The leader of a party can decide how to share EXP points. They can be either shared equally or shared based on each player’s contribution. This option can be changed anytime depending on which rule your party wants to follow.

Q) Can an item be also damaged while being enhanced?

A) An item’s Potential will be depleted by 1 whenever it succeeds its enhancement. Don’t try to enhance your item when its Potential falls to 1. You may lose your item.

▲ Highlander is a Swordsman-type class and it users swords on both hands.

It has stronger attack stats than Peltasta which is in the same rank. It also possesses numerous long range attack skills, so it is useful when you are facing multiple enemies at once. The enemies that are thrown by Highlander receive secondary collision damages when they get hit on walls or barriers so when the environment around Highlander is rather complex, it will prove its worth.

▲ Dievdirbys is a Cleric-type class which is specialized in making diverse types of wooden statues.

Depending on which goddess statue Dievdirbys makes, it changes the outcome of battles by casting debuffs on nearby enemies, increasing attack ranges of other players and so on. When Dievdirbys makes “Vakarine” statue on the field, then the statue will act as a temporary warp point and everyone can use it to teleport to other locations.

▲ Ranger is an Archer-type class which is specialized in facing multiple enemies.

It can use wide range attack skills on certain conditions which is very unique for a class which uses a bow. For example, the skill which penetrates all enemies standing in a row, the arrow which reflects itself to the other location when it defeats an enemy and a few other skills represent Ranger’s wide range attacks that are useful in facing multiple enemies.

▲ Oracle is a Cleric-type class which uses its power to foresee the future.

It advises other players in advance where enemies will attack, which items monsters will drop, and etc. Oracle has an ability to transform the monster that it is facing to the other monster which is about the same level as the previous monster, and it can also summon a monster which is somewhere on the field in front of it. If you use these skills cleverly, more strategic farming play would be possible.

Credits to 2p.com

 

[Yuuichi]

So why don't you go on official forums and find a guild before launch?

Not a bad idea, actually. I'll see how I like it when I can start playing tomorrow and go from there.

 

[Kyuur]

Didn't realize that there was ToS discussion going on in this thread, just wanted to let everyone know I made a thread for the weekly updates:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=866447

 

[Authority]

Not a bad idea, actually. I'll see how I like it when I can start playing tomorrow and go from there.

Sorry if it sounded patronizing. I have a feeling that NeoGaf will probably have an OT and NA is always more popular than EU in here so if they do it, you should be perfectly fine regardless. Launch date of this game is expected September the 14-17.

Now regarding the cash shop,

Apparently Trion is currently discussing the matter with XL Games. I will make an effort to find out when we are going to know exactly what this cash shop will have. I need to inform a couple of more MMO communities. Far too many are concerned with the current status quo aka P2W environment (all the major guilds at launch will spend a shit-loads of money for the LP pots but I will not go into more details).

It is a deal-breaker for many so hopefully they will adjust it accordingly.

 

[Izayoi]

Thanks as always for continuing to keep this up-to-date, Authority. It's where I go for all of my MMO news. :>

 

[Fou-Lu]

As someone who has always had a problem getting into MMOs (usually play them for a month or two and get bored, though strangely have spent probably thousands of hours in Maple Story... also several hundred in the original PSO) the future of MMOs is actually looking interesting, I really hope Black Desert lives up to the hype.

 

[Retro]

Since this seems to be the catch-all thread for random MMO news, thought I'd share this here;

PSA: Guild Wars 2 is currently 50% off, from NOW until August 24th.

Guild Wars 2 Store

If you're on the fence, that's about as low as it goes, so now is a good time to pick it up if you're GW2-curious.

 

[Authority]

The second quarter of 2014 was a very good time indeed for NCsoft, as the publisher announced today that revenues and profits are up thanks to WildStar's launch and Guild Wars 2's move into China.

In today's earnings report, NCsoft shows that sales went up 20% and operating profit increased 46% from the previous quarter. The company said that it saw a marketing expense increase due to WildStar and that Lineage "recovered meaningfully" during this period.

As for sales per game, Lineage is still at the top with 32.2%. Following that is WildStar (15.9%), Guild Wars 2 (12.6%), Blade and Soul (10.8%), Aion (10.4%), and Lineage II (7.7%).

Credits to Massively

PvP Defined

There may be no more polarizing topic about arm-chair MMORPG design than Player versus Player (PvP) combat. PvP system designs range from non-stop to null, and everyone feels like they have a legitimate handle on what system is best suited to their needs.

They're all wrong.

There are really only two PvP systems I believe can be functional, but the best way to show what works is by first explaining why the alternatives don't. Take notes because you will be tested.

The main issue with splitting up the entire population of a MMORPG into opposing groups is... you are splitting your entire population into... opposing groups. This cuts all potential for meaningful conflict by the number of players you're forced to team-up with and opens up loopholes for pointless non-combat griefing. Faction PvP can be broken up even further into two separate categories; both of which are broken.

Examples: (WoW, SWTOR, Darkfall, Planetside 2)

Softcore Faction PvP, or the "WoW model", can be defined as any multi-sided pvp where the combatants incur no risk or reward outside of hurting the other players' feelings. This is the type of system that created the modern MMO psychopath. The problem here is that players who enjoy griefing are the ones with the greatest reward for victory, while all other players are conditioned to launch pre-emptive strikes in order to actually enjoy (or even play) the game. This system sucks.

Examples: (WoW, SWTOR, Planetside 2, Rift)

Hardcore Faction PvP is a more reasonable alternative where players fight for a purpose. The goal here is to pillage and conquer. Once victory is achieved the goal is to get home before someone reacquires your spoils of war. Factions, however, tend to create zergs. Large groups of roving PK's tend to be less inhibited by the risk of losing because losing is so rare. I'm including games like Darkfall Online in this list because, despite allowing for relatively open PvP, the cost of building a home and conquest systems promote super-clans, which are basically factions. Lone-wolf and new player archetypes suffer the most in a system like this because one-on-one combat is incredibly rare. This system sucks.

Examples: (Darkfall, Sort of Shadowbane)

Although Open PvP could also be theoretically split into hardcore and softcore, the drawbacks would be similar, so let's focus on traditional "UO-Model" PvP. In this model, players can construct their own ethics systems on combat with other players. If someone wrongs you, or has things you find appealing, you make a choice to whether the reward outweighs the risks. Because this isn't a faction model, additional risk is incurred because any passers-by can make a judgement call on whether your actions are justified and leap into the fray. Rampant PvP is typically curbed by a karma system of some type, and lawful people far outnumber the unlawful. Player-run guilds and factions could exist, but it's left in the hands of the players to govern themselves.

Ideal open-world games would also avoid features that are completely inaccessable to individual players because providing incentives for zerging can tip an "Open PvP" game into the evil faction realm, which immediately destroys the mass-appeal. The focus of this design should be to facilitate players, not to limit them.

This is my favorite type of PvP system because it appeals to a broad audience, and not just sociopaths. While this system may not provide as much PvP, it will always be more meaningful and entertaining than its faction counterparts due to its expanded and variable nature. Naturally, some people who don't believe in competition will prefer the last style of PvP combat.

Examples: (Classic UO, Mortal Online, EvE Online is borderline)

Like it or not, this is the only reasonable alternative to Open PvP. Games with no world pvp are much friendlier to 10 year olds who just want to play whack-an-orc with their friends. Battlegrounds were created in order to provide some token competition for these types of games, but they're largely unnecessary as PvP in these games is merely a series of repeatable actions with paper-rock-scissors balance.

Examples: (Hello Kitty Online, Any game with PvE servers)

It takes all types...

There are other distinctions that could be drawn, such as safe-zone PvP, Conquest PvP, etc, but these games mostly apply to these categories in some way. Open PvP gets an extremely bad wrap from people who only think about it in passing, but this ignorance only further perpetuates that gamers need to be separated into groups. That doesn't work in the real world, and it CERTAINLY doesn't work in gaming... After all:

Keep in mind that PvP is only one feature of a MMORPG, so games can still be terrible even with solid PvP models.

Credits to Ihatemmorpgs.com

 

[Yuuichi]

I tried the archeage beta without knowing much but the core features and I have to say the labor mechanic murdered the game for me. I don't play mobile games for this exact reason, as I'm quick to pick up on and get frustrated by shitty business models, and this looks like one to me. If it recharged while the game was closed I would be more ok with it, I think, but as it stands, not even gonna bother.

 

[Authority]

I tried the archeage beta without knowing much but the core features and I have to say the labor mechanic murdered the game for me. I don't play mobile games for this exact reason, as I'm quick to pick up on and get frustrated by shitty business models, and this looks like one to me. If it recharged while the game was closed I would be more ok with it, I think, but as it stands, not even gonna bother.

I am F2P at the moment. Still divided whether I will be a sub or buy the Archeum. Hell I might decided one day to say "Fuck it" and just not play at all. I am in the guild at the moment and after all the check ups we did and the feedback we found this is a straight out cashboys game. Every major guild will have Patron crafters that will spend more money on the cash shop to buy LP pots and maximize on the daily basis. With that side don't even think going there as a F2P. You might as well grind your life in Lineage 2.

I do not think I want to be part of that environment. I have no issues when it comes to giving money to a humanitarian cause but when it comes to other than that, good luck trying to convenience me to even spend a dollar.

Trion is still silent about the final version of ArcheAge. They just want to milk the shit out of this game before it goes live. I am glad I was the first to call it out and spread the news and more people started discussing about it. So they got pressured to open up discussions with XL Games.

MMO gamers should be more responsible about providing, what I call, sensitive information (whether it allows or supports micro-transactions) and that should be the first thing to mention, and not a question asked by a random poster. We should always want a gaming society that is as informative as possible (regardless whether it is our responsibility to do the research for them) and not to blow a shitton of money thinking that it would be a one time thing.

 

[shadowstar]

Destiny is just a shooter. Everyone has the same role, stay alive and shoot things. This is little different than Guild Wars 2 where it feels like the only role is stay alive and hit things. And maybe offer some support here and there. I'm curious to see if they'll prove me wrong with their 5 man stuff, but I don't think the encounters will be very interesting in that game either.

Destiny is also more like Diablo than an MMO. It's also not even out who knows what end game will be like.

 

[Authority]

Got the key for World of Draenor within a couple of hours today!

What a week so far.

• Never played World of Warcraft
• Saw the expansion of World of Draenor for the first time today
• Won it from the last 50 beta keys
• Got my beta key within a few hours

Holy shit I am shivering.