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Firefall devs talk about dynamic events
Just how dynamic is Firefall? Not dynamic enough, according to Red 5 Studios. In an effort to up the dynamism of the game, the development team is introducing some changes -- specifically, dynamic world events are going to be added to the world. They're so dynamical, it's even part of the name. These new events come in two big categories: local and global. Both the local and global flavors can be world events, which are automagically activated by the game, or on-demand events, which are triggered by players. Global dynamic events are meant to reinforce the large themes of Firefall, while local events are all about what's going on in a specific region. The team is developing events to be engaging, varied, accessible, cooperative, and connected to the story of the world and regions in a meaningful way. For a look at the type of events the team is working on, hit up the official blog post.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Dynomatic
After the first mostly-open beta weekend event, reaction to the dynamic event system of Guild Wars 2 is mixed. Some people see it as the revolution of gameplay that was promised, others think it's a refreshing and solid system, and others feel that it falls short. All of those are fair, although it mightn't be hard to guess that I don't share all of those opinions. Some people expecting the dynamic event system to be the trumpet that would herald the arrival of the salvation of the MMO world were rather let down. There've been a couple of bits of confusion about the nature and scope of dynamic events, so let's look into them.
WildStar Wednesday discusses quality of life
Mobility is key when you're adventuring on an exciting frontier planet. Taking this to heart, WildStar developer Carbine Studios is building in some quality of life improvements to speed Settlers along their way. All players traveling on roads in WildStar will benefit from a speed boost, whether they're on a noble steed or going afoot. Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney mentions that, more than just cutting down on travel time, this allows developers to plan on players running into each other as they travel through the world as well as aiding in the design of exploration-driven content and proper timing of encounters. If players are really gung-ho about speed and being (profitable) good Samaritans, they'll have opportunities to add new taxi points to remote areas, pitch a vendor stall to sell mounts to lowbies, and set up speed-boosting machines at outposts, among other player-driven additions. Hopefully, this means that the more folks are in an area, the more luxuries are available -- or you can be the pilgrim running out into the wilds to spur on the advance of civilization. Speaking of running out into the wilds, we know no one likes doing that only to get called in 15 minutes later to pick up a new quest. Players' communicators are a big part of the accessibility of the world in WildStar. Many quests can be picked up and turned in via comm call, freeing players from the drudgery of having to actually track people down. To sum up, Gaffney listed the goals of this design approach. "Focus on the fun parts of the game. Eliminate tedium. Keep the challenge in there for advanced gamers. Overall, let you play the way you want to play."
