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Trove vows to become 'the ultimate sandvox'
Trove Game Director Andrew Krausnick isn't above making grand statements, saying in his 2015 preview letter that he wants the title to become the ultimate sandvox. "Modest, right?" he begins. "Simply put, if there's something fun to do with voxels in an MMO adventure setting, we're going to be there and we're going to be the best." With that out of the way, Krausnick goes on to outline some of the big goals for the coming year. He said that the team is working to add gliding, sky islands, rune crafting, water islands, fishing, swimming, more block types, more mechanics, and definitely more classes. Another big focus Krausnick mentions is to expand the economy: "We also think it should be easy and rewarding for everyone to trade and participate in the economy, so we'll be creating a system this year to make the trade channel simply a small part of a larger economic system!" He finished his letter by saying that the open beta test will be ending "sooner rather than later," indicating an early 2015 launch.
Age of Conan has its eye on achievements, crafting for 2015
Is Hyboria one of your planned destinations for 2015? If so, then you're in luck, as Joel Bylos has a taste of what's in store for Age of Conan this year in a new game director letter. The two big initiatives for the year revolve around the brand-new achievement and revamped crafting systems. The first iteration of achievements are coming with update 4.5 in a few weeks. These will include achievements for completing speed challenges for dungeons. Following that, players will get to dive into a richer crafting experience. Bylos hinted at a few other highlights for 2015, including the return of the world boss system and PvP festivals. "We are still nailing down our production schedule for the year," he wrote. "You can expect to hear more about the status of Palace of Cetriss and The Slithering Chaos in an upcoming letter."
Age of Conan gives rewards for testing achievement system
Age of Conan is hopping on board this cool, hip achievement train that all of the kids are talking about these days with its Update 4.5. In November's game director letter, Joel Bylos said that the upcoming achievements will be merely "the first wave" in an ever-expanding system. In fact, if players help the team test achievements before they go live, they will be given a random pet as a thank-you. Bylos said that work is also progressing on revamping the world boss event "to provide a more entertaining experience." He also asked the community for its input on which one of two styles of lore entries that players preferred.
The Secret World's Issue 10 characters, locations, and shield upgrades
First things first: Funcom's Joel Bylos is still not revealing the release date of The Secret World's Issue 10, so don't get your hopes up when you read through today's October game director letter. However, if you can get past that disappointment, you'll find a treasure trove of information about Issue 10 details, such as the descriptions of four key NPCs that players will meet and four fascinating locations that players will explore (love palace, anyone?). Bylos also discusses how players will be able to wield AEGIS technology to create protective shields of their own. The Secret World's Halloween event will continue through November 13th and be followed by a scenario bonus weekend.
The Secret World announces Sidestories: The Last Pagan mission pack
The summer content drought for The Secret World is almost at an end, as Game Director Joel Bylos announced today that the game will be releasing a new mission pack "in the next couple of weeks." Sidestories: The Last Pagan will contain six additional missions to the game, including two investigation quests. These missions will all be located in or around Tokyo, and when all six are completed, they will reward the players with a teleport to Tokyo from anywhere else in the game. Bylos said that the team is also making improvements to the AEGIS system with two new skills and installing an on-screen notifications system to facilitate communication between the game and the player. It also looks as though TSW will be selling emotes, hairstyles, and makeup unlocks in the store as well as adding them as mission rewards. Past the sidestories pack will be Issues #10 and #11, the latter of which will contain a unification of the raiding experience.
Age of Conan's January Director letter talks PvP gear, daily quests, and crafting system
Age of Conan's January Game Director letter delved into the game's most recent patch as well as the upcoming re-balancing of PvP armor, an update on the crafting system overhaul, and a look at new daily quests. Additionally, the next world boss to start rampaging through Hyboria (which will have more frequent spawns than those before it) will begin its menacing spree on February 5th. PvP armor will be receiving the same re-balancing treatment that PvP weapons recently got, giving newly level-80 players a fighting chance to land some good blows and dish out damage in PvP. As an update on the long-awaited crafting revamp, the letter notes that all existing items can be broken down into salvaged components for upcoming crafting recipes. And finally, new daily location quests will give players a reason (and rewards) for traveling across Hyboria each day and visiting different locations.
The Secret World hints at Aegis system with Issue #9
With Issue #8 on the way next week for The Secret World, Creative Director Joel Bylos hinted at what lies beyond in his latest game director letter. While the fans have known that the first part of the long-awaited Tokyo zone would be coming with Issue #9, Bylos dropped a small bombshell that a new system will arrive as well. "We will be introducing the new Aegis system," he said, "which will expand the horizontal progression of The Secret World and provide new mechanics that allow us to build consistent horizontal progression mechanics that will keep content fresh, not only in Tokyo, but also for all new areas in the future." Bylos reports that "full production is underway" for Issue #9, including work on missions, characters, motion capture, and voice acting. He said that once it's completed, it will be the single largest content update the MMO has seen to date. [Thanks to Cotic for the tip!]
Age of Conan producer's letter talks new content, possible movie tie-in
It's the end of the month, and if you're following Age of Conan, you know it's time for the traditional letter from the game director. Funcom's Craig "Silirrion" Morrison obliges us with a lengthy look back at 2010's AoC milestones as well as a glimpse of what's coming in 2011. In addition to continual content rollouts and tweaks of the current 2.1 build (which is set to include two new Pai-Kang 6-man instances, new tier four Jade Citadel raids, a solo daily instance, and two new auto content generation dungeons), Morrison hints at a possible tie-in with the forthcoming Conan motion picture. "Some of the things [on tap for 2011] might just relate to the return of the great barbarian to the silver screen later this year in the form of the new Conan movie. That is something we are very excited about, and means there is great potential over the coming year, with a lot of renewed interest in everything Hyborian," he writes.
