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Some Assembly Required: Virtual world roundup for 2014 and beyond
Just over two years ago there was a great disturbance, as if millions (or so) of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. Yes, something terrible had happened: a beloved virtual world was destroyed. And that left a number of sandbox refugees looking for a new place to call home. At that time, Some Assembly Required offered a roundup of the then available virtual worlds that could possibly offer accommodation, depending on what qualities players most desired in their games. But as things are wont to, they changed; a lot can happen in the MMOverse in 24 months, from additional features in existing games to new games to the loss of more worlds. So it's time to update this list of virtual worlds to reflect 2014 and beyond. Take a look and see what titles or titles-to-be have the sandbox features that best make a game a home for you.
EVE Evolved: Designing EVE Onland, part 1
When I'm not playing or writing about EVE Online, I can usually be found huddled over my computer typing lines of code into a compiler and chipping away at bugs that make varying degrees of sense. Designing my own hardcore space game is a really fun challenge and very fulfilling work, but I have a dirty little game dev secret: I've actually always wanted to make a fantasy game. While the budget and personnel required to take on a project the scale of an MMO remain quite far outside my grasp for the moment, it's still fun to think about how I might design such a game if the opportunity arose. The MMO genre seems to be heading for a sandbox revolution this year, and there's no bigger sandbox than EVE Online, but could all of EVE's gameplay translate to a fantasy game? EVE is probably the most atypical MMO out there, maintaining a subscription-based single-shard PvP sandbox in a genre that's typically headed in the exact opposite direction. There are several new sci-fi sandboxes on the way that may or may not qualify as massively multiplayer titles, but the vast majority of MMO gamers still prefer to keep their feet on the ground in fantasy lands. I often find myself wondering how much of EVE Online's core gameplay is possible only because of its setting -- and how much could actually be applied to a fantasy MMO. Not only should it be possible to adapt most of what makes EVE great to a modern land-based game, but many of the mechanics sandbox gamers now attribute almost solely to EVE actually started life in classic fantasy MMOs like Ultima Online. In this week's unusual EVE Evolved, I'd like to start a game design thought experiment as I delve into the hypothetical world of EVE Onland.
Massively's winter holidays MMO roundup
The holidays are here! That means the hustle and bustle of the season is in full swing, with gifts to get, treats to taste, deals to nab, and plenty of festivities to partake in -- and that's just in the MMOverse! Yes folks, there's a plethora of holiday celebrations out there -- so many, in fact, that it can be hard to keep track of them all, let alone participate to them! If you're trying to catch everything in your favorite games, we're here to help. We've got a round up of the various winter celebrations across the gaming sphere all bundled together right here for you. If something catches your eye, hop in and join in the festivities!
Pick up MMOs on the cheap in Steam's holiday sale
It's that time of year again, folks -- the time when grandfather Valve slides down the chimney and offers you a huge pile of reasonably priced games. Yes, Steam's holiday sale is now in full effect, bringing with it some nice deals on a few MMO titles. Here's what we've found so far: Guns of Icarus Online - $3.74 (75% off - flash sale!) The Secret World - $14.99 (50% off) The Secret World: Massive Edition - $29.99 (50% off) Darkfall Unholy Wars - $13.58 (66% off) Defiance- $4.99 (50% off) Final Fantasy XI: Ultimate Collection Seekers Edition - $15.99 (60% off) EVE Online - $4.98 (75% off) Keep in mind that sales change daily and that some games above do require subscription fees. The Steam holiday sales ends January 2nd, 2014.
Darkfall gets emotes, chat bubbles, deployable cannons
Either Aventurine has an impish sense of humor or there really are Darkfall players who want to do more than stick the pointy end into the other man. The game's latest patch adds chat bubbles and emotes to the open world and open PvP fantasy sandbox, along with new deployable cannons and city cannons. You can view a list of additional patch features and fixes on the official Darkfall website.
Aventurine details Darkfall's new Sinspire Cathedral dungeon
Aventurine has designed a new dungeon for Darkfall. It's called Sinspire Cathedral and it's "an epic dungeon in size, difficulty, as well as denizens," according to the company's latest dev blog. If your party manages to survive Sinspire's "dynamic door system" and make it to the grand finale, you'll encounter Sir Davosh the Damned, a "monster of the highest difficulty that uses many new and devastating custom skills." The dev blog offers further details on Sinspire as well as some blurbs about lore and general changes from Darkfall's latest patch.
Darkfall December patches include cannons, new dungeon, and more
Darkfall fans have more to look forward to this month than just a holiday to get off work (and game more!); Aventurine has posted a list of features that are coming to the sandbox during December. Along with UI changes (a new chat system and hotbars that show skill placement), players will get to experience a new epic dungeon called Sinspire Cathedral, cannons atop the towers in player cities, and Prowess Monoliths that grant prowess to all those who stand inside. Additionally, the third Primalist school -- Chaos -- is in the final stages of development, but might need a little extra time and miss a December release. For more details on these December highlights, check out the official post. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
Hands-on with Darkfall's Japanese open beta
I'm not very good at aiming. I prefer third person to first person view. Nintendo consoles and games are my drug of choice when I'm not on a PC. I hate duels and arenas. I tend to spend my time gathering resources or crafting and want to kill only mobs or players if I must. On the Bartle test of gamer psychology, I'm 60% Explorer/Socializer and 40% Achiever/Killer. And I loved Darkfall Online. Aside from Aventurine's little, ah, "delays," Darkfall was always a lot of fun for me, even though the guild I joined was established years before I met its members. However, when I moved to Japan, I was region-locked out of the game and unable to check out the revamped Dark Fall: Unholy Wars until recently when the Asian open beta began. I've done my best to keep up to date on the game, but reading information and playing the game are two different things. This was not so much a welcome home for me as it was a returning to my hometown after a few years to find that the buildings and local language have changed. That may sound negative to some people, and it could be, but for me, it was an adventure, which has always been something DF offers me that other games struggle to match.
Ask Massively: The dilemma of the free-to-play sandbox
Reader Sharvis recently emailed the Massively Speaking podcast with a question I felt deserved more than just a quick verbal reaction on the 'cast. That, and we just discovered that the ask@massively.com email address went dead approximately three weeks ago, and I've not been receiving your letters there (so send 'em again!). In the meantime: Sharvis. What makes a sandbox so susceptible to its business model in comparison to a themepark? I'm not experienced with sandbox titles, and I can only guess on some of the implications. For example, selling boosters in a themepark is fairly acceptable, but in a sandbox, as Jef pointed out [in his ArcheAge column earlier this summer], that'd be cutting into one of the main features of a sandbox. I'd guess it has to do with these sort of MMOs being more player-centric, and that's a very delicate system to be messing with. See? I told you this was a juicy one.
Darkfall Unholy Wars updates the balance of power
It was a couple of weeks ago that the development team behind Darkfall Unholy Wars first discussed the issue. Warriors in the game were just too good, meaning that the class meant as the easiest to first pick up was also the easiest to absolutely crush your enemies with. So the team stepped back, examined the problem, and put together a comprehensive set of changes meant to make all of the game's roles more appealing. The three major changes put into effect were an increase to damage mitigation for non-Warrior armors, more normalized stats for every role, and a slight reduction in Warrior armor against the relevant damage from specialized damage types. The net effect should be that weaker classes now stay up longer and can deal more damage to Warriors, allowing more skilled players to pull ahead in battle. For more details including revamps to the wobble mechanics and individual ability tweaks, take a look at the full list of balance changes. [Thanks to Jane for the tip!]
Jukebox Heroes: 14 MMO soundtracks you can check out on SoundCloud
I'm a pretty slow adopter of new technology and services, so I've only recently really started paying attention to the music-sharing service that is SoundCloud because I've started to see more and more MMO composers plopping down their work onto the site for the world to enjoy. Now that I've spent some time with SoundCloud, I've got to say just how impressed I am with what it can offer to the soundtrack community. Composers and studios can put their soundtracks up on the site for people to listen through without that annoying arbitrary 30-second limit that certain digital distribution platforms use. In addition to providing music for the ears, musicians have the option to show where these albums can be purchased -- and in some cases, offer the tracks as a free download. In return, listeners can tag portions of the songs and have back-and-forth discussions with the composers. I've done a lot of digging and have discovered quite a few MMO soundtracks that are available on SoundCloud, including some that you can legally download and enjoy today. Here are 14 to get you started, but if you see any more, please let us all know in the comments!
Darkfall looks at adjusting class balance
The Darkfall team senses that something is off, and that something is the lopsided use of classes. Namely, more players pick Warriors due to high survivability while eschewing some of the other classes. This will be addressed in an upcoming patch to help even the playing field. A new forum post outlines the issue of Warrior dominance and the "very short duration" of fights involving Skirmishers and Elementalists. The patch that's planned to adjust this will be fully revealed next week once the team has finished with internal testing. "The goal is to make combat more fun, exciting and challenging, while achieving a healthy balance between all roles," the post declares. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
Darkfall's Duelist update also ushered in treasure map changes
With a brand new Skirmisher school -- the Duelist -- to try out courtesy of Darkfall's most recent update, it would be understandable if players didn't noticed the other aspects of the patch that hit Agon this week. Along with fixes in the areas of performance, conquest, and the world, an overhauled treasure map system was introduced where map size determines treasure placement. This new system means that treasure maps will no longer direct you to a spawn randomly anywhere in the world. Instead, the size of the treasure map dictates in what level of danger zone the spawn will be located. Small maps will lead to a lower danger zone, but to dig up the treasure from a large map, players will have to venture into Danger Level V zones. These changes and more can be found in the patch notes. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip.]
Get a look at Darkfall's Duelist in action
A new skirmisher class, the Duelist, is coming to Darkfall this week. It hits hard and quick, although it's also not as tough as some of the other classes, so players will need to be mindful of this when taking one out for a test drive. The class is able to use skills like flurry, lacerate, lunge, pummel, and uncanny focus in taking down its foes. You can check out the Duelist in action, including its core abilities, in a new video after the jump!
Aventurine expects Darkfall's Duelist to be 'the role of choice for experienced PvPers'
Aventurine is preparing a new skirmisher school for Darkfall. It's called the Duelist, and as you might surmise, it's heavy on damage capability. The announcement post describes it as "an ultra high mobility melee glass cannon." AV says that the Duelist will bring twitch-play "back into the equation" and will likely "be the role of choice for the experienced PvPers." The post mentions a few odds-and-ends about the Duelist's skill set, in particular abilities like Flurry, Lacerate, and Pummel. The school also features a cooldown reset that works for both Duelist skills and skills from other schools. The Duelist is due to be released in Darkfall's upcoming content patch.
Darkfall working on better chat interface and AI upgrades
Darkfall is making the most of the hot summer months as the team is scrambling to finish up a few projects and keep tabs on the Asian version in testing. In a recent update letter, everyone's favorite snack chips-slash-developer Tasos Flambouras relays a list of what the team has been working on. Among the projects listed is a new chat interface, more functional clan vault logs, AI upgrades for mobs, a new Skirmisher school, and role balance. The patch to deliver some of these changes should be coming in the next month. "We're also supporting our Korean partner with the Korean and Japanese versions of Darkfall Unholy Wars," Flambouras writes. "We believe that the game has already benefited and will keep benefiting from this cooperation in the form of feedback we get, feature requests, optimizations, additional content as well as from the new perspective of a different market." [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
Darkfall Unholy Wars accidentally logs everyone in as an administrator
Everyone who logged in to Darkfall Unholy Wars to test the latest patch got an unexpected surprise not listed in the patch notes. Sure, everyone was expecting new warships and combat changes, but everyone was not expecting to log in as an administrator. That was apparently true of every single player logging in immediately after the patch, prompting immediate forum speculation that a rollback was imminent. According to an official statement, the addition of the admin tag was purely a display glitch and no players actually had access to admin powers. Whether that's accurate or it's simply a matter of no players figuring out the admin commands before the issue was fixed is slightly ambiguous. Either way, the patch is now live and everyone can enjoy it, but not everyone can enjoy the sort of unfettered PvP you'd find in a world of admins -- which is probably a good thing. [Thanks to MandatoryDDs for the tip!]
Darkfall tweaks Sea Fortress events, Slayer barrage skill
This week's planned Darkfall patch is worth noting for a couple of reasons. No, those reasons aren't the new frigate and the new ship of the line, though they are both pretty slick. We're talking about the introduction of Agon's new Sea Fortresses, which Aventurine is touting as "a big server event." The firm has adjusted the frequency of the events from every three days to every six and 11 days. In particular, the second fortress event will feature "appropriately bigger loot." Drops will include a big chunk of gold and possibly runestones, portal shards, black powder, cannons, modules, advanced ship modules, and more. Aventurine also previews changes to the Slayer's barrage skill in its latest dev blog. Click through the links below to read all about it. [Thanks Dengar!]
Darkfall gains two new warships and a new class today
Bug fixing updates are all well and good (not to mention necessary), but you can't help but love a patch that adds more content as well! And today's Darkfall Unholy Wars patch does both. Besides some HUD and general fixes, Aventurine has added two new ships and a new class to the sandbox. The Junk and Barque are both fairly slow warships, lined with cannons -- 12 side and one rear on the former and nine side and two on each the front and rear on the latter. To craft either, a player needs a shipbuilding mastery of 50. The new class is the Slayer, a melee warrior with skills like Battle Rage and Vampiric Strike. Changes were also made to the village capturing and stealing mechanics to help the villages fall more in line with their envisioned purpose of being PvP hotspots. Full details on these and the other changes can be found in the patch notes. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
Darkfall patches in new boats, a new dungeon, and other improvements
Maybe you've already been on a boat in Darkfall Unholy Wars, but you haven't been on the newest boats. You couldn't have been. They've just been patched in today, allowing players new ways to be unstoppable due to their aquatic mode of transportation. But that's just the least of what's been changed in the latest patch being deployed today. In addition to having new boats, the patch features a new dungeon known as Svartvann as well as the new Darkbrood family, infesting Svartvann as well as Aldan Enak and Grivendale. There are also some noteworthy changes to Primalist spell functionality as well as a new skill meant to disable perpetual blocking. And you can have a new ship module if you can't get enough of aquatic antics. If none of the above strikes your fancy, you can at least enjoy the requisite bug fixes and UI updates that should make the game more fun to play for everyone. [Thanks to LanMandragon for the tip!]
