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Trion Worlds promises that it's addressing critical Defiance issues
Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson has mixed emotions in regards to Defiance's release. "This first day of launch of Defiance has been as awesome as we expected it to be," he wrote in a state of the game post. "And by awesome, I mean we're neck deep addressing all the issues that come up when you scale something up to a million people from a test environment of thousands." Richardsson promised that the large Trion team is working hard to "update, patch, fix, and improve" Defiance post-launch. The most critical problems that he identifies are connectivity problems, missing pre-order items, the scaling of bosses and arkfalls, and broken chat and VOIP. "We appreciate the trust that you are showing us by coming with us and we will address all these issues," he concludes. Speaking of awesome, check out the main theme to Defiance, composed by Bear McCreary, after the jump!
GDC 2013: James Ohlen on how F2P saved SWTOR
If you've been following BioWare for any length of time, then you know James Ohlen. When I interviewed him a couple of years back at PAX East and again last year at the Star Wars: The Old Republic guild summit, I could feel his sincere passion for the game. Ohlen joined the SWTOR project at its inception and held the creative director position for well over half a decade. SWTOR is as much his game as anyone's. As is common at the Game Developers Conference, developers speak candidly to other future game-creators about the inner workings of their studios' biggest projects. Sometimes those tales are cautionary; some are inspiring. This time, Ohlen's told the story of SWTOR, the game that currently holds the record as the second largest subscription MMO ever, and how free-to-play turned what could have been a tale of utter failure into a story of success.
BioWare: SWTOR servers 'teeming with people'
BioWare executive producer Jeff Hickman has penned a state-of-the-game post for Star Wars: The Old Republic. In it, he says that the firm's "new high-capacity servers are teeming with people." SWTOR has seen more than two million new accounts created since its free-to-play switcheroo, and Hickman also promises that the dev team's "eight-week new content cadence" will continue. New features are coming, too, including a new avatar customization feature and the new Cathar species, not to mention the Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion.
ArenaNet devs weigh in on Guild Wars 2 state-of-the-game video
Guild Wars 2 Guru has partnered with ArenaNet to bring you a lengthy state-of-the-game video. The clip features Guild Wars 2 devs Tyler Bearce, Johnathan Sharp, and Karl McClain and it runs for a good hour-and-a-half. Topics include Spirit Watch, profession balance, tournaments and matchmaking, and future plans for the game. Grab your favorite beverage and watch the whole thing after the cut.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Goodbye Scott, hello 2.2
If I was to make a list of the top, oh, five or 10 MMO developers whom I admire, Scott Hartsman would be on there. It's not just that I appreciate that he's one of the few human beings who is shorter than I am, but that he's had a remarkable career full of accomplishments that I respect. EverQuest II and RIFT both owe a great debt to the leadership of Hartsman, which is why it was a sad shock to hear that he was leaving Trion Worlds for unknown pastures. And thus we begin a new year of RIFT, teetering between uncertainty and promise. For as severe as Hartsman's departure will be felt in the development of the game and in its community, we're also looking ahead to the title's third year of operation and a new update that looks to add even more delectable treats on top of this fantasy buffet. So today we're going to say goodbye to Scott and hello to Update 2.2 as we look at the recent state of the game post.
WildStar reveals 2013 launch window, ambitious plans to make MMOs fun again
WildStar has won Massively's "most anticipated MMO" award for the past two years, even edging out Guild Wars 2 for the title in 2012. No pressure or anything, right? Fortunately, the game won't have an opportunity to go for three: As announced in this morning's state of the game letter, we can expect WildStar's closed beta within the next three months and a launch at the end of 2013 if all goes well during the testing process. To mark the occasion, Carbine Studios invited press to the equivalent of a video game debutante ball in San Francisco to see just how much the sci-fantasy sandpark MMO has grown since our last tour (nearly two years ago). I escaped my Editor-in-Chief cage to attend the event and play the game, interrogate the developers, and judge whether those anticipated awards were well-deserved after all. Enjoy the fruits of my sneak peek! The 'biggest game on the planet': WildStar's boundless ambition Who better to explain WildStar's philosophy and mechanics than Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney? I give my impressions of his talk, the demo, and my hands-on, then ruminate on the game's iterations, innovations, and ambitions. Slap a rocket on a pig: WildStar's modding and PGC community Carbine's Troy Hewitt outlines WildStar's grand plans for a massive modding community, a UI developer tool for the masses, player advisory committees, and player-generated content. "Social" is clearly not just a buzz-word. You can't take the sky from me: WildStar's Exiles You can't dip into a setting like WildStar's without hearing the familiar chords of Firefly's opening theme; the game's two factions brazenly mimic that IP's rustic space cowboys and refined imperial aristocracy. Here's a look at the Exiles.
LotRO commits to housing revamp, player council, and more Rohan in 2013
Turbine's Kate Paiz might be brief in her Lord of the Rings Online producer's letter, but this economy of words holds a treasure trove of ideas for the year. In the letter, she outlines the primary goals for the game in 2013, including a much-requested housing revamp and further expansion into the Rohan region. Paiz outlines four initiatives for the year. The first is forming a player's council to facilitate discussion and feedback between players and the dev team. The second is adding Western Rohan to the game, initially through a region called Wildermore in the spring and later through a bigger addition in the fall. The third is the aforementioned housing revamp, which will take place later in the year. The fourth initiative is an effort by the team to make "significant changes" to classes. "We will be making some significant changes to the skills and traits of the Free Peoples classes," Paiz writes. "We'll be pruning out skills that just feel disappointing in play and increasing the potency of others. The end result will be fewer skills, but a more profound impact on moment-to-moment play."
Star Trek Online celebrates two million 'captains'
On the verge of its third anniversary, Star Trek Online has good reason to celebrate. In a state of the game post, Executive Producer Dan Stahl says that the title is growing by leaps and bounds: "You may have noticed that more than two million captains are continuing their voyages in Star Trek Online. With sustained increases in daily participation, the game is richer and more alive than ever before." Stahl looked back over the accomplishments and milestones of 2012, including Star Trek Online's transition to a free-to-play format. For the game's third anniversary, the team is releasing a featured episode on Thursday that will have a special reward for those who play it between January 31st and February 14th. The reward will be an Ambassador Class (the Enterprise-C model) for Federation players and the Kamarag Class for Klingon fans. Stay tuned for an on-air interview with Dan Stahl about STO in tomorrow's episode of Massively Speaking!
Lineage II looks back at 2012 and forward to 2013
Lineage II went free-to-play last year, and according to the newest state of the game letter, that conversion went very well indeed. The letter points out that more than one and a half million new accounts were created in 2012 alone, an impressive number for any game and doubly so for a game approaching its ninth anniversary. Over 800,000 store items have been sold, solidifying the game's performance and moneymaking capabilities. In other words, if you were worried the game wasn't doing well, you can stop worrying. But what about the future? Well, there's another major installment of the Goddess of Destruction series due out. The development team is also looking into a variety of improvements for players including tradeable shop items, methods of gifting microtransaction currency, and more options to pay for your cash shop purchases. There's also discussion of more events and tournaments for everyone to enjoy, showing that the title is aging but still has quite a lot of life left.
Fallen Earth devs explain how schedules are made
As January is fairly quiet for the devs working on Fallen Earth, they've used the monthly state of the game post to share a behind-the-scenes look into the production process. The team begins by making a list of all of the ideas it wants for the game, and then reviews this list quarterly. Out of the list comes the schedule to bring these ideas to reality. Schedules are almost impossible to stick to 100%, however. Issues and limitations pop up, requiring the team to be flexible. "This is actually where the strength of the team comes into play," Napalm posted. "They're very adaptable and adept at changing direction or coming up with 11th hour solutions. And despite the best laid designs there are ALWAYS 11th hour solutions." The state of the game does mention that the team is cleaning up some bugs relating to farming and has hopes that the new system will be more integrated in the future. There's also a sneak-peek at the sector 3 coresuit, which is currently being modeled.
WildStar Wednesday looks at the state of the game
What is the holiday season all about if not thoughtful introspection? We reflect on our lives and how we've changed and grown, and we look forward to our hopes and dreams for the future. WildStar's Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney recently got into the spirit of the season with a look at the state of the game. Raid playspaces have been getting some attention as the team goes through to make sure that the areas are big enough for the large amounts of people they'll be playing host to. Friends and Family testing has been ramping up in preparation for closed beta tests in 2013, while "small scale" PvP tests of up to 24v24 have been going on. Races and classes that are still under wraps have been getting love and care to make sure they'll be ready for the public eye. Most importantly, the game now has flamethrowers. 2013 looks like it'll be a busy year of testing, announcements, and excitement. Hop on over to the official blog to read the full state of the game.
Fallen Earth readies the land for farms
Fallen Earth's latest state of the game is as country as one can get. The title is currently testing out farms, which should go live in the game sometime in December. Farms are a branch of the construction crafting set, which can grow plants and animals. That's right: Through the magic of cloning, livestock can be cloned right there on the farm. Players can build one of these farms anywhere with enough space and no landscape conflicts. They come with a farmhouse and several amenities and last for four hours before disappearing. Of course, don't take the state of the game for it; read our in-depth interview of the new farming system from last month! The state of the game also said that the next stage of the Coresuit will be coming in the new year, player housing is still being investigated on the technical front, and a certain mount will be getting an update this holiday season.
Fallen Earth to introduce farming
Fallen Earth's upcoming content includes new stage 3 coresuits, skill and mutation adjustments, and farming. Yes, farming is coming to Fallen Earth! According to the most recent dev blog, post-apocalyptic farming will be a crafting skill that will allow a player to build a three-, six-, or nine-plot farm where organic resources can be grown through seed planting, and animals can be raised. Additionally, harvesting will give a player the chance to get a common, uncommon, or rare component. Farming in PvP zones will increase the resource yield. Be sure to read the entire dev blog for more information on what's coming to the PTS with the next content patch.
SWTOR executive producer reveals the state of the game
Players have been anxiously waiting to hear how Star Wars: The Old Republic is fairing -- straight from the tauntaun's mouth, as it were. Executive Producer Jeff Hickman jumped to the official website earlier today to specifically address player concerns. Players have been curious as to why certain developers have left. They wanted to know why so many bugs passed through Update 1.4. And finally, Oceanic players are concerned about their server populations. Hickman explained in the post that a studio like BioWare and a game like SWTOR "live on and thrive as we change, actually thrive because we change," implying that developers leaving are a natural part of studio evolution. He was quick to note that key players like Creative Director James Ohlen are still around to "carry the banner of BioWare." Regarding the 1.4 bugs, he was quick to note that designing and testing a large game like SWTOR is very complex. However, the QA team has put in new measures to help catch future issues like those seen in the last update. He said, "We will strive to give you the best, high quality, bug-free experience that we can." Lastly, the Oceanic players are still a concern for the developers, but the free-to-play update will hopefully change the population of the Oceanic servers. Hickman explained that he wants to hold out to see what F2P brings before making a final decision regarding these servers.
WildStar reveals the State of the Game in October
It's been anything but a quiet month for the development team behind WildStar. Sure, the game isn't out for you to play at the moment, but there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes. According to the latest WildStar Wednesday by executive producer Jeremy Gaffney, part of the trouble with an MMO is that you simultaneously have to deliver more content than a normal boxed game while being more flexible to player feedback. So what's been going on behind the scenes? The development team has been working on designing the game's mid-level zones, distinct from the low-level zones that have been previewed thus far. There's also more work being done on the game's second faction and the earliest implementations of raids, PvP matches, and instanced dungeons. If you're an avid fan of the game, you'll want to check out the latest dispatch for a few more teases of what you can expect from future Wednesday reveals and the game's eventual launch.
PlanetSide 2 release date to be announced this Thursday
Sci-fi MMOFPS PlanetSide 2 has impressed beta testers with the sheer scale of the game's warzones and its rewarding cooperative gameplay, but there are still a few problems to iron out before launch. In this week's State of the Game development update, SOE announced the main areas developers are currently working on and promised to give the game a final release date this week. The release date announcement is scheduled during the SOE Live keynote at 10 p.m. EDT (7 p.m. PDT) on Thursday, October 18th. SOE has promised to have PlanetSide 2 out in 2012, and that leaves some fans skeptical as to whether the beta is far enough along to be released in the next few months. Developers are pressing ahead with plans to fix the performance issues some players are having, and the studio aims to release with a complex metagame involving three continents. Remaining development time will be spent on issues ranging from weapon balance to a tutorial that gets players into the action as quickly as possible.
Captain's Log: The state of Star Trek Online
This week saw the release of a new State of the Game blog from Star Trek Online Executive Producer Daniel Stahl. Much of what he said gave players hope for the future of Star Trek Online, including remarks that the game is "thriving at a time when many MMOs have kicked or are about to kick the bucket." The blog also featured some additional comments about the future of the game and how the company planning for 2013 and beyond. Join me as I discuss his blog post and the poll results that were generated over the past couple of weeks. I'll also take a look at the future of the game, the expanding STO team, The Foundry, and the Klingon Empire.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's launch week in review
It's been quite the week in the world of Guild Wars 2. Launch, issues, near-daily server updates, fixes, and launch parties have likely kept the entire team high on adrenaline and low on sleep. If you're one of the folks in attendance at one of ArenaNet's launch parties, you likely saw a lot of very tired but very happy people. If you're not hounding the Guild Wars 2 Twitter account or subreddit, it's easy to miss a lot of communication, and even if you do, it's a lot to sort through. So what's been going on? A great deal.
Star Trek Online's Foundry is back online, sort of
Star Trek Online Executive Producer Dan Stahl has just posted his latest state-of-the-game letter to the official site, declaring that Season Six marks the perfect time for a new player to jump in, thanks to its streamlined mission structure and brand-new starbases. Here's the juicy bit: Current players know that The Foundry, the game's player-generated content system, has been offline for quite a long time as a result of tweaks made to it by the Season Six patch. Stahl notes that the team is still working on the issues but has finally brought part of the system back online: Season 6 also introduces some nice improvements for our Foundry. As some may have noticed though, we have yet to turn on these new features yet. The QA team is working diligently as they continue to sort through some specific bugs with previously existing missions. Once those bugs are sorted through, we will then open up the editor – as of today, we have turned on the ability to play existing, republished missions. Stahl finishes with a quick mention of the dreaded lock boxes, the Star Trek convention in August, and plans for Season Seven. Check out the entire state-of-the-game letter at the official site.
Champions Online has a new Executive Producer and a new State of the Game
Changes in administration for any game can leave players a bit rattled -- and with a game like Champions Online that's already seen several management changes, it's even more disconcerting. That's only one of the big takeaways from the game's newest State of the Game address, which opens up with Rob Overmeyer outlining the game's recent updates and announcing that he's stepping down from his current role as executive producer (although he's remaining with the game's development staff). Brad Stokan, the new executive producer, has enough in his portion of the letter that you might forget about the first half. He explains that the team is working on building new content updates around overall themes, with June's major theme -- in both story content and mechanical inclusions -- being powered armor. This is going to continue with new Alerts and special events based around themes. He also teases that we may very well see superheroic vehicles in the game in the near future, giving players of Champions Online plenty to look forward to under new administration.
