advancement
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Guild Wars 2 is replacing its trait unlock system
Do you like the current unlocking system for traits in Guild Wars 2? If you don't, you're in good company; very few people actually like it. The good news, at least, is that it doesn't appear that it's going to be a problem in the near future. Game director Colin Johanson spoke out recently on the game's forums stating that the pending release of Heart of Thorns gave the team more freedom for discussing future plans and core gameplay changes. With the inclusions of specializations and account-wide masteries, the existing trait system is going to be replaced by a simpler system to ensure that progress and advancement is where the development team wants it for all Guild Wars 2 characters. More updates on how the system will work are promised as the release draws closer, but if you don't like the existing system, you can at least take heart that it's going to be gone before too much longer.
Wakfu details boost benefits for free-to-play model [Updated]
Wakfu has always had a free option for players, but the game is saying goodbye to subscriptions altogether with its relaunch, giving all players access to every part of the game from start to finish. Of course, there has to be some way to balance that, since the company running the game will still need to make money. That incentive will take the form of boosts, allowing players to gain bonus experience on their first and subsequent characters. Boosts will be available in several different durations, with the longest duration corresponding to the greatest overall bonus. Players will have improved drop rates, health regeneration, and battle rewards as well. Prices have not yet been announced, but the goal is for the boost days to be affordable. Players with subscriptions will also see their remaining subscription days converted into boost days, allowing everyone currently playing to reap the benefits early. [Update: The team has just posted another chart with all of the veteran rewards that will be distributed to current subbers on July 9th.] [Thanks to Avaera for the tip!]
Neverwinter previews post-60 advancement plans
You've hit the level cap in Neverwinter. You are officially as hardcore as you can ever be, and that brings a smile to your face. But it also makes you kind of wistful. After all, there are still so many roaming bags of experience points vicious monsters to fight, and all of the experience from those is going to waste. But that's going to change when Module 3 comes out and all of your otherwise unnecessary XP turns into sweet, delicious piles of extra loot. When Module 3 goes live, characters will continue accumulating experience as before when they hit level 60. Once they accumulate 250,000 XP, the character will be rewarded with a special pack that can contain extra Power Points, Enchants, account-bound XP Scrolls, and other useful goodies. The Power Points can only be used to add a total of 20 points to your character's Power Tree, but it still means that hitting 60 doesn't mean the end of your character growth. So go out, slay, and enjoy a little bit of extra potency as a result.
The Daily Grind: Does progression matter to you?
For some players, the game is all about the endgame. The reason to play the game is to wind up at the highest tier of content and get the highest tier of gear, and if you are not doing that, then you are fundamentally not playing correctly. That doesn't mean these players do nothing else; it just means that they're going to base their guild choice in Star Wars: The Old Republic on progress concerns before social ones. But then there's the other camp that doesn't care about all of that. Sure, progression is nice to a point, but these are players who derive more enjoyment from the social side of things. They have no interest in joining a guild focused solely upon the endgame; they want to be in a guild for roleplaying or social contacts or whatever. Progress is nice but secondary. So which camp do you veer toward? Does progression matter to you, or are you quite happy finding other ways to play the game? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Star Wars: The Old Republic adds a grab bag of grab bag reputation
Do you love the feel of cracking open a random assortment of items in Star Wars: The Old Republic? Do you wish that the game rewarded avid grab-bag grabbers with their own progression path? Because the latest development blog explains the new Cartel Market reputation track does precisely that; it allows players to gain reputation and earn the right to purchase new items by purchasing several random packs within a given shipment. Items are divided up into Shipments, which share a thematic name such as "Cartel Packs" or "Contraband Packs." Opening these packs provides reputation tokens that allow players to gain reputation with a different faction for each Shipment. Eventually, the Shipment in question will be temporarily removed from circulation, but players with enough reputation will still be able to buy the items directly from reputation vendors. It sounds a little messy, but in practice it means that people who love some grab bags get a little more motivation to keep buying them.
Guild Wars 2 brings more tricks to the WvW experience, living story [Updated]
In Guild Wars 2 PvP, it's you against the world. Well, you and the rest of your world against the other world. Fans of the WvW system will be happy to learn that there are more tweaks coming to the system in the game's upcoming March patch, starting with the addition of ranks and abilities for players battling it out. The patch will also remove the culling system that prevented the game from displaying all of the players on the field at a given moment. Players will earn ranks in WvW by earning World XP, which is awarded for doing pretty much whatever your character would normally do in WvW. Each new rank provides points to spend on abilities, all of which will start off as passive improvements like the ability to carry more supplies or do more siege damage. In the future, the developers want to add more active options so that WvW players feel as if they have an alternate advancement system past level 80, giving just a little more motivation to hit the WvW maps all over again. [Thanks to Pete for the tip!] [Update: Just as this post hit the front page, ArenaNet published a dev blog by Angel McCoy that focuses on the living story. Not only does McCoy explain how the paradoxes of the living story will work themselves out, but she teases that ArenaNet has "increased the amount of content (it will) be delivering, starting at the end of March." Good deal!]
iOS and Android make for fastest tech adoption ever
Mobile marketing and analytics firm Flurry has another great research post up, this time about the speed of adoption for both iOS and Android. This one goes a little far into comparing apples and oranges, so to speak, but it's still interesting. Flurry notes that both iOS and Android app usages has blown up in the last few years, so much so that it's seeing traffic increases of over a few hundred percent from the past year in places like China, Brazil, and Chile. Flurry now estimates that there are over 640 million iOS and Android devices running apps worldwide, and given the huge growth of that number, as well as the big numbers behind app and data usage on those devices, these smartphones are being adopted by users "10X faster than that of the 80s PC revolution, 2X faster than that of 90s Internet Boom and 3X faster than that of recent social network adoption." Unfortunately, Flurry doesn't share the exact numbers behind those stats (not to mention that it's hard to compare numbers like that anyway, given how tough it is to calculate in numbers what a "revolution" in the tech sense actually means). But the point is clear: The current smartphone growth is a huge movement in the tech industry, and is taking place on a much faster and larger scale than ever before.
New Defiance developer diary explains what makes an MMO shooter
If you like playing an MMO but also like shooting things, you may enjoy the gameplay underpinning Defiance quite a bit. The latest developer diary for the game might be answering questions you hadn't asked, however, as it's focused on explaining how the game blends the MMO and shooter genres together into a cohesive whole. But there are still interesting tidbits about the game, including a look at vehicles and character advancement. Characters advance partly through the acquisition of powerful new weapons, which is almost a given based on the nature of the game. Weapons are also heavily customizable, with visible differences between stock weapons and customized versions. Players will also be able to acquire points to spend on special abilities of varying types, although points can be swapped into different abilities later on. If you want a more in-depth look at the game, click on past the break to view the full development diary. [Source: Trion Worlds press release]
The Soapbox: Evolution of a class
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. In 1974, the first roleplaying game was published under the name Dungeons & Dragons. Being the first of its field, it still had certain rough parts, which later designers would consider fundamental failures. Modern tabletop design looks at things like classes and levels as being relics in many ways -- elements that made sense as a crutch when the design of RPGs was one step removed from tactical wargames. Compare that to, well, pretty much every MMORPG on the market. While there are certainly games that don't follow the class/level model, they're outnumbered by games that embrace it wholeheartedly. As a result, it's easy to look at the way game development has gone and feel as if the design of online games has not only stagnated but actively slid backward, going from a more advanced system to a far less developed one.
SWTOR's Friday update features a Jedi Consular video
BioWare's PR team must've missed the memo about long Thanksgiving weekends, as there's a new Star Wars: The Old Republic video up for grabs on the game's official website. The Jedi Consular is the star of the day, and the class is "both a revered ally to the Republic and a dangerous adversary to the Empire," according to BioWare's marketing blurb. If you've been following the game for a while, the clip probably won't tell you anything you don't already know. For new and/or hopelessly addicted fans, though, there's a good amount of in-game footage and some glimpses of the class's advancement paths.
The road ahead for updates to Final Fantasy XIV
Final Fantasy XIV is a game that inspires rather energetic opinions, but even the game's most ardent defenders will say that the game has issues that need to be addressed. Square-Enix has acknowledged this and promised to start rolling out updates starting this month to address many of the most pressing issues. Not only has the most recent update the player site enumerated several changes coming to the game in November and December, it also outlines the changes due for implementation early next year, and it's quite the list. Among the more hotly anticipated changes are a set of UI overhauls aimed at mouse and keyboard usage and improvements to the market ward interface. The updates will also see adjustments to skill point awards to help ease out the somewhat spiky nature of current rewards and a reduction of the points needed to attain rank 20, both allowing players quicker access to longer-term content. If you're playing Final Fantasy XIV or simply wanting to see what was on the horizon for the large patches before making a decision, take a look -- there's a great deal of information to digest.
Final Fantasy XI expands Trial of the Magians
So you have weapons that can take a good year or two to put together, and then the game's level cap and item strength goes up. What do you do? Final Fantasy XI answered this question via Trial of the Magians, allowing holders of Relic or Mythic weapons to upgrade their weapon appropriately -- and allowing everyone else to start a new weapon they can custom-tune. With the first level cap upgrade to the game coming in the June version update, it should come as no surprise that the Trial of the Magians system is getting a concurrent upgrade. The fact that there will be new options to enhance and improve weapons almost goes without saying, as it lets players push their weaponry even further than before. There's also the promise of new trial varieties, and mention of being able to improve one's weapon skills themselves -- certainly an attractive proposition. If you're an adventurer on the go, you can also purchase a set of newly-added Magian Spectacles to check in on your trial status and progress along the upgrade path from anywhere. All told, the changes promise to improve on of the bigger new additions to Final Fantasy XI, whether you're swinging a Lumberjack or a Conqueror.
The Daily Grind: What could be the next leap forward in MMOs?
There has been much innovation in MMOs over the years. Instances were developed so multiple groups could experience the same content unfettered by mob and boss competition. Single-person and group quests have been one-upped by public quests. Closed grouping has seen an alternative with open grouping. Advancing technology now allows for tens of thousands of players to play on the same server.Still, MMOs are full of elements that have been around for ages and may be getting stale. This could be the holy trinity of healers, damage dealers, and tanks. Quest-driven advancement was brought to the forefront of character progression in WoW, but is it time for something new to take its place? EVE has a very interesting free-form class system. Would this work in the mainstream and could it be taken even further?We ask you this simple (or is it?) question: What could be the next leap forward in MMOs? Could it be a simple feature, a massive design shift, or a technological advancement we haven't even heard of yet?
LotRO's test server to get max level advancement today [UPDATED]
According to a recent post on the official forums by Meghan "Patience" Rodberg, the Eyes and Guard Inn should be implemented on LotRO's test server today during the patch. The game's Community Manager said in the post, "We have news! Assuming the new build passes QA, we'll be updating Bullroarer tomorrow, and will be opening the Eyes & Guard Tavern as well. So, while not 100% guaranteed that we won't run into a delay, that's the current plan."For those not familiar with the importance of the Eyes and Guard Inn, be sure to check out this guide created by us for the previous test server, Roheryn. The guide still applies on the new Bullroarer server, as it's basically a way to get a newly-created character to max level for testing purposes. Plus, if you'd like more information on the test server and when/if your server and your characters may be copied over, check out this FAQ.[UPDATE] Patience gives a bit of an addendum to the test server guide with how to get from level 50 to 60.
The Daily Grind: How long should it take to reach the level cap?
Yesterday Blizzard revealed that World of Warcraft's recruit-a-friend program will undergo some big changes. One of those changes: if you group with a friend whose account was signed up because you invited him or her to play, you'll both receive experience at 300% the normal rate.Blizzard has already decreased the amount of XP needed to reach level 60. When Wrath of the Lich King launches, word has it that an even bigger slash will occur in the 60 - 70 range. How long will it take to 60, 70, or 80 now, we wonder? That probably depends on your personal playstyle. But the question of how long it ought to take to reach the endgame in an EverQuest/World of Warcraft-style MMO has been on our minds ever since Funcom made a statement about how many hours it wants people to invest to reach level 80 in Age of Conan.What's the sweet spot for you? Do you want to get there as fast as possible, or is the journey to the top the real attraction?
The tyranny of skill training
One of the nicest features of EVE Online is the fact that skill progression doesn't go hand-in-hand with a monotonous grind. Rather, the game uses a time-based system of advancement. But this seemingly casual aspect of the game is a double-edged sword; in the earlier stages of skill training, a newer player needs to log in very frequently to switch up low level skills. Some EVE players set their alarms and drag themselves out of bed in the early morning hours to switch their skill training, so as not to lose hours of time where progression halts. PC gaming blog 'Life is a Mind Bending Puzzle' has a post about how EVE's system "creates significant pressure to log on and pop a new skill on every time one finishes." Logically, a new player would assume that it's possible to queue skill training in advance. That assumption, however, would be wrong. Thus the early career of an EVE pilot is one of setting alarms, calendar reminders, and sticky notes... all to avoid that guilt over losing hours of advancement because of something trivial like sleep or a job. But as time goes on, skill training intervals lengthen at higher levels and thus require far less maintenance. Implementing a skill queue was one of the issues brought to CCP Games by the player-elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM), as it's one of the complaints most players have when getting to know the game. How do you feel about skill queues? Is it a necessary feature that CCP should implement, or should the developers be focusing on more pressing matters? [Via]
Why APB's customization options might be a big deal (or not)
There's a clip over at GameVideos (embedded above) that depicts All Points Bulletin's character customization system. We say "customization" instead of "creation" because we doubt all the exhibited features will be available to new players. We learned at GDC (in the very same session this video originated from, actually) that visual customization options will be among players' rewards for successful play.Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Kieron Gillen was nevertheless impressed with all the options. He commented on the exhibit, and posited that APB has that Grand Theft Auto je ne sais quoi. The culprit: the art style, which when combined with creativity will give the game a human quality that transcends the mechanics of the game. Because of that, Gillen is looking forward to APB more than he is to any other MMO.He took a jab at World of Warcraft, saying that because each item of clothing in WoW has critical stats tied to it, no one expresses him or herself through clothing. Stats are more important than self-expression in WoW society, right? Gillen prefers the City of Heroes approach, which he believes APB shares. But does it? We don't really know yet, do we? Maybe your clothing style affects your skills. That's something to wonder about. We'll see.
Diminutive cable holds promise in medical, solar realms
We tend to prefer our electronics to be as far from invasive as possible, and that definitely includes cabling. While we'd take wireless over the corded approach any day, tethered applications still have their place, and a diminutive new cable is showing bigtime promise in a few prominent fields. A research team has developed a cable that resembles that of an old fashioned coaxial strand, yet it's reportedly "much thinner than a human hair" and can transmit visible light. By constructing a cable about 300-nanometers wide which houses an inner wire of carbon surrounded by an insulator and an outer wire of aluminum, visible light can pass through, paving the way for its use in highly efficient solar energy cells, or furthermore, "miniature electrical circuitry and microscopic light-based switching devices for optical computing." Researchers even suggest that it could be used in retinal implants or "detecting single molecules of pathogens in the body." We're not yet sure just how potent or powerful these itty bitty cables can be, but judging by size alone, we're halfway sold already.
