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EVE's Phoebe introducing simultaneous multiple market sell orders
EVE Online's Phoebe release draws near, and as we approach the November 4th launch date, CCP is publishing all manner of dev blogs designed to apprise players of the patch's additions. The latest blurb concerns item-selling, and more specifically the long-awaited ability to create multiple market sell orders simultaneously. If you're an EVE trader you'll probably want to skim the details, and you can find them via the links below.
Lost Continent: Carebearing your way through ArcheAge
ArcheAge is, in part, an open PvP MMORPG. "In part" is the key phrase there, and I've had a few people ask me if it's possible to play XL's sprawling sandpark opus without getting ganked or otherwise forced into an ill-fitting playstyle. Not only is it possible, but PvE has made up the overwhelming majority of my gameplay for the past month.
Massively's ArcheAge launch diary: Day four - Trade runs, sea beasts, and pirates
I got ganked in ArcheAge last night, and believe it or not, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had in an MMORPG in quite some time. I'm usually apathetic about MMO PvP. I mean, I will PvP with friends, but I don't think I've ever sat down to play an MMORPG and thought, "Hmm, maybe I'll go kill some players tonight!" PvP factors heavily into ArcheAge's design, though, so I knew going in that I'd be doing it more than in most of my other MMOs. I just didn't know it would end up being as fun as it was on last night's trade run.
ArcheAge begins open beta with 800 MB patch
Why is everyone leaving school and work early today? It's the beginning of ArcheAge's open beta, silly. And coming out ahead of this afternoon's OBT is an 800 megabyte patch full of new features, bug fixes, and preparations for post-launch goodness. The new features with Build 4.7 include a mid-size farm cart, an auto-kick for AFK players, and the auction house. Subscribers get full access to the latter feature, while free players who have never subbed can buy from the auction house but must pay to unlock the ability to post items. There's good news for folks who hoard labor points, as identifying quest rewards no longer requires these. To prep ArcheAge for fast post-launch delivery, the patch also insituted a number of locked features that will be rolled out during later dates. These features include Auroria and Diamond Shores zone functionality, the fishing tournament, arena rankings, submarines, the Red Dragon, and Hasla weapons above tier one.
Tree of Savior Q&A 13 on tradeable items, scouting, and more
Tree of Savior's latest English dev blog features some interesting gameplay nuggets, chief among them the binding/trading mechanics and the game's map system. Lead developer Hakkyu Kim says that all in-game items are freely tradeable, which differentiates ToS from many of its bind-on-equip or bind-on-pickup contemporaries. There is a catch, though, and it is that an item's Potential stat will decrease by one whenever it's traded. The map system generally shows the location of your party members but not other players. However, Scouts can "select a spot on the map to find out which players or enemies are there and share this info with party members." There's more to this week's dev blog, so click through the links below to give it a full read.
Destiny: No trading with others allowed
One major staple of online gaming won't be present in Destiny when it launches: trading. The developers have made it clear that all of your gear must be attained with blood, sweat, and tears instead of swapped for another player's loot or bought for virtual bucks. "We want you to earn 'em. You should be able to tell a badass story for every sweet jewel in your arsenal," Bungie wrote on its blog last week. "Once you earn them, the various Guardians under your account will be able to trade them, but weapons belong to the players who acquire them through action and bravery." The team reported that it did one final internal playtest of the game this past weekend: "Though Destiny may be basking in the gold light of release, we're already looking ahead to the next milestone, and the next one after that."
Bloomberg built a virtual trading terminal using Oculus Rift
No matter how many screens they add to their setup, traders are limited to a finite amount of display real estate. To solve that problem, Bloomberg LP's turned to the virtual-reality headset Oculus Rift. Don't expect to see a room full of Oculus-equipped traders anytime soon, though; it's just a prototype, albeit one that Bloomberg's showing off at its Next Big Thing Summit this week.
Star Citizen tops $44 million, talks trading, map rooms, and more
Star Citizen has topped $44 million in crowdfunding. As you might expect, Cloud Imperium boss Chris Roberts has penned a thank-you letter and it features a couple of interesting nuggets. First is the concept art, shown above, of a Banu Merchantman freighter. More specifically, you're looking at the negotiation room, and it exists so that traders can have other players visit their ships, display their wares via the visible cargo bay, and generally go about the business of being a trader. "Transporting cargo is going to be more complex than just finding the ship with the highest storage capacity," Roberts writes. "It's going to involve finding the right ship type for the job." In terms of the usual million-dollar milestone backer rewards, the latest unlock is a map room hangar add-on that will allow players to walk through a holographic representation of the known universe.
Funcom office raided, charged with suspicion of stock infringement
Several reports are coming in this morning of some legal trouble plaguing The Secret World and Age of Conan developer Funcom. According to several Norwegian news outlets, Norway's economic crime unit paid a visit to the Oslo studio to retrieve "packed boxes of seized documents" thought to be financial records involved in a suspected "infringement of the provisions of the Securities Trading Act." Funcom acknowledged to Norwegian reporters that it was charged with breaching disclosure requirements related to The Secret World when the company failed to report company financial information between August 2011 and July 2012. This has resulted in a temporary closure of Funcom's stock during the investigation. We've reached out to Funcom for more details. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]
Grand Voyage introduces 16th century maritime trade to your MMO dock
If you enjoy sea battles and merchant trading in your MMO, but aren't necessarily a fan of playing as a pirate, then you must be a ninja. Or maybe you might just enjoy the new Grand Voyage from NGames. Set in the historically accurate 16th Century Mediterranean coast region, Grand Voyage is described as a late-Renaissance maritime trading MMO that lets you grow from small-time captain to legendary voyager in control of your own fleet. Since all trade prices change dynamically based on player actions, the economy allows for a stock-style way to buy low and sell high. But rest assured, there is combat in Grand Voyage, and captains must keep their ships in top working condition while battling opponents across servers. Grand Voyage is on the Game321.com online games portal, and you can follow them on Facebook or Twitter to find out more. [Source: NGames press release]
Limited Killer Instinct boxed version holds pins instead of a disc
Killer Instinct, the Xbox One-exclusive fighting game based on the 90s classic of the same name, is getting a boxed edition for $59.99, available only through the Microsoft store. There will be no disc within said box however, as the "Pin Ultimate Edition" is a joint venture between Microsoft and Penny Arcade designed for displaying Pinny Arcade trading pins. Each copy of the Pin Ultimate Edition comes with one Jago pin and one Killer Instinct logo pin, with room for others, which will be revealed during the game's first season of content. Customers who purchase the Pin Ultimate Edition of Killer Instinct still get the game. A download voucher for the Ultra Edition of the game, which includes all Season 1 characters, a season pass for all costumes and accessory packs, early access to all Season 1 content and a copy of the original Killer Instinct will be included. The case will double as a folio for a 16-pin set designed by Mike "Gabe" Krahulik. The Pin Ultimate Edition's page doesn't specify how many units are being produced, but pin designer Krahulik wrote in a Penny Arcade post that it's "not a lot." Pre-orders are currently live through the Microsoft Store.
Steam adds 'Trade Offers' feature for making, well, trade offers
Steam's Trade Offers program is now available for all users, allowing friends to suggest trade deals for inventory items, which can be accepted, countered or declined. Think of it as a new strategy game about negotiating the best deal, complete with asynchronous multiplayer. Unlike standard trading on Steam, Trade Offers can be conducted without both friends online at the same time, and it's accessible via web browsers. Currently, the feature can only be used between Steam friends, but it may expand outside of these confines in the future. Users with their Inventories set to "private" will not be eligible to receive trade offers, Steam clarifies. In the Steam client, Trade Offers is listed in the Inventory tab. Remember: One man's Level 5 Frying Pan is another man's treasure.
Nasdaq stops all trading due to systems issue, plans to reopen in a limited capacity soon (update: back online)
Well, this is rather peculiar. The Nasdaq stock market -- the entire Nasdaq, which lists major tech firms such as Apple and Facebook -- has temporarily suspended all trading due to a technical issue. The exchange sent an alert to traders at 12:14PM ET today announcing that it was halting all trading "until further notice," according to a New York Times report. Reuters is reporting that Nasdaq will reopen trading soon, but with a 5-minute quote period. The market will not be canceling open orders, however, so firms that don't want their orders processed once everything's up and running should cancel their orders manually now. It's not entirely clear what caused the issue, or how and when it will be resolved, but you better believe it's causing some commotion on Wall Street, and could impact traders for days and months to come. Update (2:28PM ET): CNBC and the Wall Street Journal are reporting that Nasdaq will resume limited trading beginning at 2:45PM ET. Update (2:32PM ET): CNBC is now reporting that trading will resume with just two securities at 2:45PM ET. Full trading will begin at 3:10PM ET. Update (3:28PM ET): It appears that trading has resumed as of 3:25PM ET. Update (5:47PM ET): One final tweet here from CNBC. Nasdaq is claiming that today's issues were resolved within 30 minutes. The remaining 2.5 hours were used to coordinate the re-opening. Update (6:29PM ET): Nasdaq has issued an official statement following today's market close. In part, it reads: "NASDAQ OMX will work with other exchanges that are members of the SIP to investigate the issues of today, and we will support any necessary steps to enhance the platform."
Remanum announces impending shutdown
The idea of an MMO centered entirely around establishing a trading empire is unique, as are games set in the time of ancient Rome instead of a more traditional European fantasy. But Remanum had certain problems, problems that the developers didn't see a way to change without massive rewrites. In a letter released to the community, the game director admits that without any further options, the team is going to shut down Remanum in the near future. Development and bug fixing have already stopped. On September 16th, all servers except for the most recently opened server will be taken offline, with the newest server allowed to run a bit longer. Players can transfer to the last server starting now if they want to keep playing as long as possible. While this is a German server, support will be offered for all languages until the final shutdown, and any gold purchased on other servers will be transferred to this last bastion. [Thanks to Arachnella for the tip!]
Darkfall market system coming this week
Darkfall's getting a new market system in this week's patch, according to a developer blog recently posted on the game's official website. Markets will initially be available in the four NPC capital cities, but Aventurine plans to add more in the future. Markets feature an order system, so players can place and fulfill both buy and sell orders, or even use the new system for player-created quests. "New players looking to earn gold can work to fulfill buy orders that are available," AV explains. You can browse the market from anywhere in the game world simply by using the appropriate GUI button, but placing and fulfilling orders will require a trip to one of the capital market buildings.
Mt.Gox Bitcoin exchange freezes US dollar withdrawals for two weeks
It's easy to see that the Bitcoin market is under stress when there's rising overall activity and tighter oversight. However, it's now so hectic that the Mt. Gox exchange has trouble fulfilling even basic transactions -- and the institution is freezing US dollar withdrawals for two weeks to keep things in check. Mt. Gox's team will use the downtime to upgrade its trading system and (hopefully) address the heavy workload. Deposits and transfers in American currency should still be good to go. Let's just hope that Mt. Gox manages smoother transitions in the future -- after all, not everyone can afford to leave their money in limbo during a tech refresh.
Hearthstone's crafting turns lead into gold cards
It stands to reason that Hearthstone players are going to end up with a mountain of cards that are either worthless, uninteresting, or duplicates. Instead of putting them in a virtual bicycle's spokes so that it sounds like a motorcycle when you pedal, you'll have the option to craft cards into new (and hopefully better) ones. Blizzard sees the crafting system as a better alternative to trading between players, since trading can lead to a pile of cards that nobody wants as everyone chases the most popular ones. With the crafting system, players can simply disenchant unwanted cards for arcane dust and then use the dust to purchase the cards they desire. You won't be getting a 1:1 trade for cards via crafting. For example, common cards disenchant for five arcane dust but cost 40 to purchase, while legendaries disenchant for 400 arcane dust and cost 1600 to buy. Gold versions of all cards give more and require more arcane dust with the crafting system.
Pay-to-trade could change the landscape of MMO economies
If you've noticed that it's become more difficult to buy, sell, or trade goods in an MMO these days due to the sheer amount of player-bound items, you're not imagining things. A writer for Gamasutra penned an article in which he discusses the decrease of in-game trade and suggests that studios might be missing out on a great source of potential revenue. First, he acknowledges why studios have moved to restrict trade. It keeps the headache of managing an economy to a bearable amount, it cuts out duping and exploits, and it stems revenue losses that are caused by third-party traders. However, the author says that the hassle could be worth it if studios were smart and got in on the action by creating a pay-to-trade economy. "In the real world, we pay huge sums in the form of taxes and fees to keep transaction costs low," he writes. "So here's my question for developers: How much would your players pay you in exchange for the ability to trade?"
Officers' Quarters: Reworking a guild concept
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. Ideas for unique guild concepts are hard to come by. This week, a guild leader who thought she had a winning formula finds out that no one is interested. Let's look at what she came up with and how we can rework her ideas to entice more recruits. I have recently transferred from Nazgrel to the RP server of Moon Guard. I did this with a certain goal in mind, to establish an all Goblin Trade Guild. I have hit a crucial snag however and can't seem to generate any interest in my Guild idea. One major selling point of my Trade Guild would be that we would hold a monthly [Bazaar] in which other Guilds would be encouraged to join in and sell their wares along with us. Using [Gryphonheart Items] we would create an item catalog and haggle over prices. I was hoping that this would help revitalize the role play community. Nothing I have tried has worked to recruit Any suggestions?
MMObility: Remanum's trade wars stump this chump
It's been a while since I visited Remanum, an interesting trade-based MMO brought to us by Travian Games, the same studio that brought us Travian and other interesting titles. I was initially turned on to the game's non-combat options simply because combat is used so much that many of the current combat systems are outdated or just plain boring. Non-combat, or optional systems for play like trade and exploration, are the hope for gamers like yours truly who cannot stand to play a game as though they're clocking in to work. The only problem with Remanum? I suck at, well, trading. I know that I can grasp the principles of "buy low, sell high" and other market staples, but I simply can't grasp the finer nuances of buying and selling. I have a brother who seems to have a natural way with numbers, but I've always been more of an artist. Numbers and me just sort of stare at each other from across the table. So why do I like Remanum so much?
