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Neverwinter state of the game talks player feedback and future expansions
Neverwinter fans may want to pop over to the game's official site and read lead producer Andy Velasquez's state of the game post, which outlines challenges faced by the dev team, successes it has seen this year, and hopes it has for the future of the game. Velasquez noted the Shadowmantle expansion as a high point for the game, praising his team for being able to "get it done so quickly while maintaining a high-quality product." Velasquez also explained that it is Cryptic's goal to get future expansions live on the test server earlier in the development process, thus allowing for deeper testing and the collection of more player feedback. According to Velasquez, player feedback is invaluable in helping the Neverwinter team understand which changes to implement. Other small successes were celebrated; Neverwinter has launched a Russian shard and the team is hard at work on the next content update.
Guild Wars 2 dev blog explains WvW matchup system changes
There's been a small (but not insignificant) change to the way Guild Wars 2 determines world-vs.-world matchups. The official dev blog on the matter explains that, in the beginning, WvW matchups were chosen "by sorting all worlds in order of their Glicko rating, then counting off sets of three." As a result, matchups were often between the same three worlds, so ArenaNet introduced matchup variance to counter that problem. However, it appears that the devs have made an adjustment to the matchup variance formula that causes the range of worlds with which a given server can be matched to be "greatly reduced." The idea behind the new formula is that "There will be fewer matches where one or two worlds are potentially steamrolled, though it comes at the cost of seeing more of the same worlds." That's all that the average GW2 player needs to know, but if you're interested in the math and statistics behind the change, check out the full post at the game's official site.
Elder Scrolls Online Ask Us Anything details character progression
The latest installment of ZeniMax's "Ask Us Anything" question-and-answer feature is all about progression in The Elder Scrolls Online. Players from ESO's French and German fansites, Game-guide.fr and TESOnline.de, have submitted a great deal of questions which are added to the usual variety of inquiries culled from the many corners of the internet, so this entry is particularly lengthy and packed full of information. Throughout the slew of questions and answers, the ESO devs reveal that players will be able to re-spec their characters' attribute and skill points for an unspecified sum of gold and that in addition to the standard skill lines, there will also be two skill lines "designed to be particularly useful" in PvP. On top of that, the devs delve into detail on ability morphing, the potential addition of future skill lines, the role of attributes in character progression, racial traits and skills, and much more. If you're looking to find out more, just head over to the Elder Scrolls Online official site.
EVE dev blog explores balancing player load
CCP has posted yet another incredibly detailed and highly technical dev blog over on the official EVE Online community site, this one relating to how the studio balances the player load across the node-based single shard on which New Eden exists. The post begins by explaining that an increase in players with this year's Odyssey expansion led to extreme CPU load in empire space, which in turn created scenarios where EVE's time dilation technology had to kick in even for systems that weren't experiencing some sort of mass fleet battle. The blog walks through how CCP identified the problem and also explains the solution, which basically comes down to rebalancing which systems share nodes by performing multiple splits of the existing universe. If you're an EVE player or love exceptionally granular, detailed breakdowns of the though process behind server-side changes, the full post is worth a read.
Guild Wars 2 to make World XP account-bound
ArenaNet is pleased with the community embrace of World XP in Guild Wars 2's WvW and has announced that it will be making this XP account-bound in the near future. "As we begin to roll out our new core horizontal progression system of continually-expanded skills and traits, we felt there was no longer a need to have a character-specific progression system unique to WvW," the devs posted. "The skill and trait system will provide game-wide horizontal character progression for all players." When the change is implemented, every account will pool earned World XP, and that pool will determine world rank and world ability points. Players can then take those world ability points and dole them out to various characters as desired.
Trion Worlds overhauls RIFT's Iron Pine Peak
Mid-level RIFT players have a new place to adventure after the game's 2.5 update; Iron Pine Peak has been completely redesigned. According to Trion Worlds, the zone has been rebuilt from the ground up with the challenges inside being tweaked to accommodate players from levels 27-35 instead of 40-48. The questing content has been reworked, with main story arcs being marked more clearly and providing greater rewards. Additionally, kill quests have been converted to Carnage quests and paths through each set of quests have been streamlined to reduce repetition. Trion explained that the zone's level requirements were reduced so that RIFT players would encounter the Storm Legion storyline earlier in their RIFT careers, and so that give mid-level players more freedom in how and where they level. Trion originally planned to rework Iron Pine Peak before RIFT's initial launch but put the plan on the backburner due to the risk of changing so many things so close to release.
Neverwinter dev blog dives deep into building the Hunter Ranger
Neverwinter's next expansion, Shadowmantle, will bring an all-new class to to game in the form of the Hunter Ranger. The Hunter Ranger will enable players to switch between melee and ranged combat on the fly, and possesses skills designed for mobility and destruction. Cryptic has posted a detailed dev blog about the development of the Hunter Ranger, authored by one of the folks who helped to piece the new class together. The post explains how the team went about building the Hunter Ranger's playstyle by quickly prototyping new abilities and testing them in-game, and walks through the decision-making process that led to the Hunter Ranger being given two full combat styles. Hunter Ranger abilities include Hawkeye, which buffs the Ranger's next attack, Marauder's Rush, which quickly charges and strikes a distant target, Hindering Shot, which roots the target, and Hawk Shot, which deals damage based on the distance from the target. The Hunter Ranger class goes live with Shadowmantle December 5th.
DUST 514 dev blog showcases new assault weapons
Two new weapons are headed to the DUST 514 battlefield in the form of the Caldari rail rifle and the Minmitar combat rifle. These items join the Gallente assault rifle and Amarr scrambler rifle as the latest in DUST 514's race-specific weaponry; each gun possesses unique traits based on the preferences of the race that designed it. The Minmitar combat rifle comes in three-shot burst and fully automatic variants. The Caldari rail rifle also comes in two variants; the assault version uses no sight and loses range for increased rate of fire, while the normal version fires slowly but with higher accuracy. You can check out full crunchy breakdowns on both in the typical CCP style over on the official update post.
Albion Online unveils Player-vs-Player and Guild-vs-Guild details
Berlin-based studio Sandbox Interactive released a new dev blog today revealing a number of details regarding Player-vs-Player and Guild-vs-Guild combat in its upcoming title Albion Online. In Albion, much of the game world will be up for grabs, and guilds can claim territories in order to harvest their resources and build shelter for their members in the midst of Albion's wilderness. While guilds can capture as many territories as they like, they'll also be required to defend these territories from opposing guilds who would take their lands. In order to keep Guild-vs-Guild combat fair and balanced, each land-holding guild will be required to choose "a number of times during the day at which their territory will be 'open' to attack." At these times, both the attacking and defending guilds will field a team of five players who will act as champions in the battle, thereby ensuring that no one guild can ensure victory by overwhelming numbers. Those who wish to reap the benefits of holding land without getting their own hands too bloody can instead put a bounty on their enemies' heads and let mercenaries (presumably other players) do the work for them. To learn more about Albion Online and to sign up for the game's upcoming closed beta, head on over to the official site.
EVE dev blog covers Rubicon ship rebalancing
EVE Online's 20th expansion, Rubicon, goes live on November 19th. Rubicon brings many changes to EVE including mobile structures, new faction ships, controllable customs offices, and a completely overhauled warping system. And of course, Rubicon includes adjustments big and small to a wide variety of the ships already flying in New Eden. CCP today posted a summary dev blog outlining the changes due with Rubicon for each ship type. Interceptors are receiving role bonuses that make them immune to warp bubbles, electronic attack ships are seeing range increases and general upgrades, interdictors are getting increased survivability and higher damage output, and marauders are receiving a complete functionality revision that splits the ship type into two distinct roles. Check out the full post for details. And if you haven't already, have a look at Brendan's EVE Evolved from yesterday so you'll be ready for these and other big Rubicon changes.
Neverwinter dev blog unveils Sword Coast Adventures
So you're a mighty adventurer of Neverwinter who has travelled the lands of Faerûn and amassed a small army of companions to accompany you on your travels, but what exactly do those companions get up to when they're not fighting by your side? Well, the folks at Cryptic Studios are giving you the chance to find out with the introduction of a new Neverwinter Gateway game called Sword Coast Adventures. Sword Coast Adventures is described as "a press-your-luck, dice-matching game in which players send a party of 4 companions into a series of random, mysterious locations to earn rewards and gain companion experience." Players assemble a team of four companions and send them on a perilous adventure that consists of a number of challenges. Challenges are completed by rolling a character's power dice (which are unique to each companion) and matching symbols on the dice to those presented by the challenge, which should be a familiar mechanic to fans of tabletop games such as Elder Sign. Completing challenges rewards players with treasure and/or companion XP, and the overall goal is to complete the final challenge and complete the adventure. For the full run-down on the rules and mechanics of Sword Coast Adventures, check out the full post at Neverwinter's official site.
The Elder Scrolls Online devs talk war campaigns, lockpicking, and lore in latest Ask Us Anything
It's time once again for another installment of The Elder Scrolls Online's biweekly Ask Us Anything feature, in which the folks at ZeniMax Online tackle a number of questions from information-hungry fans. This round of questions is a true grab bag, and topics run the gamut from PvP mechanics and lockpicking to character naming and a few lore tidbits to boot. On the character naming front, many players (especially those fond of Argonians and Khajiit) will be pleased to know that character names will be able to include "a maximum of four hyphens, apostrophes, or spaces in total," so players should have plenty of room for creative and lore-appropriate (or not) names. The devs also clarify that war campaigns will feature a "soft cap to limit the number of participants from one alliance," so no one faction will have the advantage of overwhelming numbers. Other highlights include details on how lockpicking will function in ESO, plus a couple of lore questions that shed some light on the presence (or lack) of characters such as M'aiq the Liar and the vampire Serana. For all the fine details, check out the full post at ESO's official site.
Camelot Unchained dev blog talks leprechauns
City State Entertainment issued a lengthy update this week centered on the Luchorpan race of Camelot Unchained. In the post, CSE walked through the lore of the Luchorpan, a short humanoid race that lists teleportation, ore detection, and distraction as its strengths while confessing slower movement speed, reduced attack chance against tall foes, and line-of-sight restrictions as its weaknesses. The post also included a collection of concept art for the new race showing off possible hair styles and jewelry; the Luchorpan appear to be quite fond of beards and gold.
CCP unveils revamped EVE Online character selection screen
The folks over at CCP today previewed one of the smaller EVE Online changes set to debut with November 19th's Rubicon expansion: a prettier and easier-to-use character selection screen. As is CCP's custom, the reveal is accompanied by an in-depth dev blog that discusses every change in granular detail, but the basic gist is that the new selection screen loads faster and provides more useful information about each of your characters so you spend less time waiting and deciding and more time playing. EVE's item redemption interface has also been streamlined, with more obvious prompts and drag-and-drop functionality that allows you to deposit redeemables directly into a character's inventory.
Neverwinter debuts new item refinement system
Cryptic has taken a long look at Neverwinter's enchanting system, and after listening to feedback from players, is planning major changes to the way fusing, runestones, and other components of the system function. For starters, you'll now be able to upgrade enhancement items while they're still equipped, and you'll no longer need four of the same kind of stone to strengthen an enhancement. The new system, which Cryptic is referring to as "refining" rather than "fusing," enables item enchantments to gain refinement points as you play; once an enchantment has enough refinement points, you can use reagents to rank the enhancement up to the next level. Additionally, unslotting enchantments and runestones now costs gold instead of astral diamonds. Refinement stones, which are effectively large bundles of refinement points, have also been added. They'll drop from skill nodes and bosses, albeit rarely. The changes are live on the Neverwinter test server -- Cryptic is asking all players to check them out and offer feedback before they deploy.
WildStar to debut new build in Saturday livestream
Carbine is planning a Saturday livestream dedicated to one of the classes in WildStar, and while the class itself won't be a surprise, the studio is promising a pile of new information as well as a glimpse of the class in action. Carbine also noted that Saturday's livestream will offer the public a glance of WildStar's "brand-new" game build, which is set to go live for beta players in December. WildStar fanatics can check the stream out live on the official WildStar Twitch channel at 3 p.m. EST (12 p.m. PST). [Thanks to Becca for the tip!]
Ultima creator's Shroud of the Avatar seen in six-month progress video
Led by Ultima creator Richard Garriott, indie developer Portalarium released a new update video for Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues detailing the game's progress over the past six months. The 25-minute video covers the scenic towns of Kingsport and Owl's Head, dipping into the types of homes that players can own before showing the game's crafting system and the first prototype of its combat. Garriott and company earned $1,919,275 on Kickstarter in April to develop the game, and has hauled in an extra $698,480 since then through independent funding on Portalarium's website. Shroud of the Avatar is a fantasy RPG for PC that leans heavily on world exploration. The game features single-player and online multiplayer modes reminiscent of Ultima Online. It is currently on pace for a late 2014 launch with backer-exclusive early access planned for late 2013.
Blizzard unveils Diablo III's Reaper of Souls' Westmarch
Westmarch, once spoken of only in whispers, is one of the new settings of Diablo III's upcoming Reaper of Souls expansion. The city was once beautiful and vibrant, but the events of the Diablo series have left it with an unsettling aura and a dwindling population. Blizzard Entertainment today offered an up-close look at Westmarch's design and implementation on the official Diablo III blog, showing off concept maps, points of interest, and some of the city's real-life location inspirations. Westmarch pulls elements from "the fog-laden cobblestone streets of London in the 1800s" and features tightly packed buildings, winding alleyways, and grisly visual cues as to the city's failed attempts at mounting a defense. The Survivor's Enclave is the one bright spot in this dismal world, a place where Westmarch's few living inhabitants can find rest and safety from the evils of the outside world. Reaper of Souls is due in 2014, or as Blizzard likes to call it, SoonTM.
The Elder Scrolls Online blog explores the werewolves of Tamriel
It's no secret that as you adventure through the world of Elder Scrolls Online, there is a chance you will be set upon by vicious werewolves. It's also possible that you may become a werewolf yourself, cursed to roam the woods at night killing unwary hunters, howling at the moon, and surfing on vans. Today's ESO blog dives more deeply into lycnathropy in the game, discussing the design of player werewolves and the challenges it presented. The blog talks in-depth about inspirations for transformation and attack animations as well as tiny graphical touches like blood on your muzzle after a kill. It also touches on the player werewolf's sound design; the team took human, wolf, dog, and other animal noises to create sounds meant to strike fear into the hearts of other adventurers. The full post is worth a read if you're planning to spend the bulk of your time in ESO on four legs.
New ship and special items await STO players in 'Sphere of Influence'
With Star Trek Online's Season Eight: The Sphere content edging ever-closer to release, it's time for Cryptic to fire up the lore machine and start pushing players toward their destiny. Sphere of Influence, set to go live on October 31st, bridges the gap between current content and the upcoming Sphere additions. Starting Thursday, all players level 10 or above will be able to hail D'Tan from their mission journals and begin a new quest. This quest, which revolves around D'Tan's efforts to restore the Iconian Gateway, will take players into New Romulus to stand present at the gate's reactivation. Players who complete the quest will receive pieces of the ancient obelisk technology set as well as a special Obelisk ship that can be helmed only after the player reaches level 40. The quest will be available from October 31st to December 5th.
