game-systems
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Star Citizen answers a new round of subscriber questions
Ready for another round of answers about Star Citizen's mechanics? Because that's what you're going to get in the video just past the cut. Chris Roberts picks out 10 questions from the game's subscriber base, talks a bit about the community, and then answers all of them in as much detail as he can provide. Rather fittingly given recent events, he starts off with questions about electronic warfare, data hacking, and stealing data from ship databases and the like. Other questions ask about being able to take jobs on NPC ships, using rovers on different planets and for different purposes, and the encounter slider for ships crewed by players who prefer different sorts of content. There's also an in-depth discussion of some of the guiding principles used to make decisions and solve problems when crafting the game's fictional environment. Hop on past the break to watch the full video, although you may want to wait until later if you're pressed for time right now (it's nearly half an hour).
The tension between balance and player interest
I'm looking forward to Ashram, the new PvP island zone in Warlords that seems to combine elements from zones such as the Timeless Isle, Wintergrasp, and the old days of world PvP. So I tend to go looking for information on it, which is where I found the following. @GeodewMW @Drsoviet It does. We have to weigh the edge case of large groups against the more common "I want to play with my friend" case - Holinka (@holinka) May 12, 2014 With cross-realm groups being possible on Ashram, this is a perfect example of the ways the game has to balance what most players will do vs. what some players will do - balance the min-maxing attitude vs. the more common, and more often executed, use of a feature or game element. Ashram as it stands will allow players to group cross realm - this is intended so that players who have characters on separate realms (my wife and I, for instance, often would run the Timeless Isle on characters that were on separate realms) can still go to Ashram. This is a good and fun use of cross-realm grouping. But there's a potential down side to this. Since cross-realm grouping is possible, we know the next step - something like oQueue that allows you to put together a group of 40 players and go destroy Ashram on an already imbalanced server. If a certain server is already heavily skewed towards the Alliance, putting together a 40 player group (since Ashram exists in the world and not in a raid instance) and just destroying any hapless Horde you come across, or vice versa. Even if you don't pick a server with a faction imbalance, it's still feasible that a big raid group could end up owning Ashram for an extended period of time, and using players that aren't even on the server. Decisions in the game's design are always made between these two poles - between the ease of abuse, and the benefit it brings to individual players. Sometimes, even with the best of intentions, things don't work out like we'd hope. Reforging, as an example, falls into the 'possible player imbalanced use trumps player convenience' category.
A look at WildStar's crafting mechanics
As WildStar nears its ambiguous-but-soon release date, questions have to be asked, aside from "when is this game releasing, anyway?" Like crafting-related questions. Why haven't we heard more about crafting yet? What are the mechanics? Is this another example of a game wherein crafting is just a matter of assembling a pile of materials and clicking a button? The answer to that last one is a pretty firm no. As it happens, there's a lot going on under the hood of WildStar's crafting mechanics, enough to intrigue dedicated crafters of many styles. We had a chance recently to sit down with system designer Phillip Chan to talk in-depth about the game's crafting mechanics and how the team is working to keep crafting relevant through the whole game, from start to finish. The goals were to create crafting mechanics that rewarded players for taking part, gave room for custom creations and specialized crafters, and to make the whole thing feel fun. The net result? Not just clicking a button and going off to make a sandwich.
The Secret World looks forward to scenarios and augmentation
One of the downsides of The Secret World's advancement system is that if your build works early on you can wind up with loads of AP and nothing to spend it on. That's part of what Augments are designed to fix. The latest game director's letter discusses the Augment system, explaining that Augments are collected via Scenarios and can be used at significant AP cost to learn new skills. Players attach those skills to active abilities, some of which enhance a specific ability and some of which enhance your character overall. That's hardly the only thing in development at the moment, however. Issue #8's exploration of Venice and Issue #9's Tokyo adventure are both well on the way to completion, both replete with new challenges for players to explore. There are also plans for a new event starting tomorrow that pits players against one of Gaia's natural defense mechanisms rampaging across the globe. Whether you prefer the high-end challenges of The Secret World or prefer more casual play, there's plenty on the table for anyone.
The Repopulation introduces new event systems in its August updates
One of the major design goals of The Repopulation is a sense of a world in motion, shaped by players but also influencing player actions. August's updates to the game included the implementation of the Area and World Event systems, facilitating just that sort of gameplay. According to the most recent development blog, these systems track what's going on in the world, direct players to unexpected happenings, and then start to chain new events based off of those metrics. There are also NPCs in place to direct players toward hotbeds of activity. The game's other mechanics have also received further tuning. Cities can now benefit from new happiness-increasing structures and more flexible placement options, combat values have been tweaked, and new engagements have been added for siege warfare. There is also a variety of bugfixes and general balance tweaks, which can be found in the full patch notes included with the development blog.
Star Trek Online outlines the fine details of Romulan ship progression
The Romulan faction in Star Trek Online's upcoming expansion does not play like mirrors of the Federation or the Klingons. The race's ships are less diverse in some ways, but its cloaking devices that allow for stealth even in combat make it clear that this is a race about subtle manipulation and careful subterfuge. A new development blog outlines the fine points of ship progression including refit ships, retrofit ships, and small craft for the faction. In addition to the cloaking devices, all Romulan ships feature a powerful Singularity Core that allows access to a different tier of special abilities for each ship. As with other factions, refits and retrofits of lower-tier ships can be purchased from the game's cash shop, complete with new customizable skins and new consoles for these variants. Players interested in seeing the full details should take a look at the development blog and get ready to remind the galaxy why the phrase "warbird decloaking" is never a sign things are going well.
Defiance producer discusses EGO, payment models, and more
Although games have been based on other media such as movies, television shows, and comics, no one has blended an MMO and a media property into one interactive world. No one, that is, until Trion Worlds and Syfy teamed up to create Defiance. In a recent interview, Defiance Producer Robb Hill talked about various aspects of the upcoming game, including content, cross-platform interaction, the payment model, and more. Acknowledging that new content can't be released on a weekly basis, Hill explained the plan for keeping things fresh in-game. He highlights that besides the competitive multiplayer system, players can continually redo encounters and net new rewards. Hill also elaborated on the game's EGO system, describing it as an implanted AI device that grants players the ability to survive the harsh environments and also gives special abilities like cloaking and super speed. The in-game HUD is actually a manifestation of the EGO, giving players information and updating as missions progress. Regarding cross-platform interaction, Hill said that although it is possible (the dev team is currently playing together from different platforms), the public will not be able to in the commercial game. He stated, "Sony and Microsoft aren't too keen on us doing that, so no. We're not allowed to." Although the payment model has not been 100% decided, Hill also noted that the development team is leaning toward players buying the box then choosing if they want to buy piecemeal or subscribe to get the downloadable content free.
New video shows off the role system of Darkfall Unholy Wars
The large-scale revamp to Darkfall is on the horizon, but players looking forward to Darkfall Unholy Wars have gotten information in drips and drabs regarding how the game will play after the revamp. Luckily for those players, an official development blog has recently been posted detailing the new version's system of roles while showing off a bit of the gameplay in a new video. Every player will choose a role, and will then choose two schools from within that role: one as a primary and one as a secondary. Both schools have four abilities and an Ultimate ability, but the Ultimate is only available from the primary school. The secondary school abilities will also be a bit more restricted in their use. Want to see some of this in action? Then check out the video just past the cut, showing off some of the abilities of the Baresark school from the Warrior role. If you like hitting things with a large weapon, it's your sort of school. [Thanks to everyone that sent this in!]
DC Universe Online unveils revamps for existing powers
One of the rules of MMO design is that the game is never really done. Designers can still make extensive tweaks and changes to abilities even well after launch. DC Universe Online's revamps of the Mental and Gadgets sets are a case in point. According to system designer Jesse Scott in a recent update on the revamps, these two sets both had several options that felt redundant and fewer unique abilities, so the design team has gone back to the sets improve overall utility and provide more interesting choices. Mental's core issue was a serious weakness in the Illusions tree, which was addressed by ensuring that more powers in the tree can do damage without relying on fragile interactions. Gadgets, meanwhile, had far too many powers that were doing essentially the same thing. Some powers have been rolled together, new powers have been added, and a few have been changed in form but not in function to address thematic concerns. Even if you've never been fond of these powersets before, the updates might be enough to pique your interest after all.
TERA gives players a guide to guilds
Maybe TERA is your first MMO, maybe you want to learn about what TERA offers its guilds, or maybe you just want to see guilds defined as something other than small-scale drama generators for once. There are a lot of reasons you might want to look at TERA's new guide to guilds in the game, but whatever your motivation, the guide will provide you with all the answers you need to start guilding away with ease. The main benefit to being in a guild in TERA are the guild quests; available all across the game, each guild quest provides players with Catharnac Awards that can be used to improve the guild's level and buy special items from vendors. You also need to be part of a level 3 guild to run for public office, which is all the more reason for politically minded players to make friends. But don't take our word for it -- after all, there's a guide to tell you all of this in detail.
EVE Online streamlines the process of figuring out who's crippling your ship
If you're playing EVE Online, you are going to lose a ship sooner or later. It's as inevitable as the tides. Sometimes you'll be outnumbered and outgunned, and while that can be frustrating, there's no real shame in it. But when you're having your ship locked in place by an attacker you can't see and you don't actually know what's happening, that is a different matter. It's particularly infuriating, and it's something that the game's next update is aiming to fix. Starting with the next patch, the new Effects Bar will show a quick overview of all the effects currently in place on your ship as well as the source of same. So if there are two people attacking you, an icon will pop up, and you'll be able to target and counterattack appropriately rather than fumble through more clumsy interface methods. If the blog entry explaining the system isn't clear enough for you, check out the short preview video just past the break.
Champions Online cuts the craft in favor of the mod scene
Whether or not you're fond of Champions Online, you probably don't like the game's crafting system. Almost no one does, and apparently not even the developers have been terribly pleased with it. That's why the game is putting that system aside and replacing it with a new system. The Mod and Fusion system will work more along the lines of gear slotting as found in other MMOs. Certain gear comes with slots for Mods, and by combining Mods via Fusion, you can produce more powerful enhancements. The old crafting skills, meanwhile, tie into the new method of fusing Mods by helping you create stronger Mods and harvest new ones. Extant crafters will also be integrated into the new system; all existing crafted benefits will stay in place (although new ones won't be available), and the crafting-specific travel powers and bags will be moved to other vendors. It's a pretty radical reinvention of the game's current dynamic, but it will hopefully make the game a bit more fun for crafters and non-crafters alike.
The Soapbox: Mechanical buildup
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. I was in high school when I discovered a love for simplified tabletop games. I'd long been fond of the absurdly detailed and baroque structure that you could find in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, going so far as to purchase all of the various little add-ons that allowed you to reinvent the game systems in dizzying density. And I can pinpoint the moment when I decided that all of that was for the birds. Specifically, it was the moment when I sat there with Skills & Powers open to one page, the Player's Handbook open to another, and the Complete Psionics Handbook open to yet another. It was when I stared at three separate passages and realized that I was on the second hour of making a character that resembled nothing so much as a math project. On that day, I understood intuitively why designers would look at the whole thing and advocate sweeping the mess away altogether -- just like what many, many MMOs do as they grow long in the tooth.
Ghostcrawler talks game systems in final Cataclysm post-mortem
Blizzard's Cataclysm post-mortem blog series has seen Dave "Fargo" Kosak discuss quest design and Scott "Daelo" Mercer discuss dungeons and raids; today, Blizzard wraps up the series with a look at Cataclysm's game systems. As with Fargo and Daelo, Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street, WoW's lead systems designer, talks about what worked (the 1-to-60 revamp, choosing a spec at level 10) and what didn't (a long list of other things). GC is surprisingly candid in this particular blog entry, and it's definitely worth a read to get a bead on what Blizzard learned from World of Warcraft's third expansion. The full interview is after the break.
EVE Online talks about bringing ship trees to ship shape
Every MMO has to face an issue of complexity creep, and EVE Online is no exception. The current trees for ship progression and skill advancement are the result of numerous patches, additions, and alterations to a core system that's left an enormous mess behind. As a result, the whole system is in need of an overhaul, one that the most recent development blog discusses in detail. The first changes involve cleaning up and streamlining the progression system so that ships such as Destroyers and Battlecruisers are a part of the standard path rather than unusual deviations. There's also a removal of some of the more labyrinthine requirements for tech 2 ships. The other major focus is a removal of the current system of ship tiers, with the developers trying to specialize ships based on roles and make each hull useful in its own fashion. EVE Online players are going to be seeing a big upheaval in the way that ships work in the future, so it's probably a good idea to get a feel for where the changes are arriving sooner rather than later.
Choose My Adventure: Ballad of a teenage Zorai
Last week, the unthinkable happened. Or at least the unprecedented. Yes, after a dozen or so columns under my belt for Choose My Adventure, one of the "joke" choices finally won a poll. Either everyone thought that the paradise city was actually a thing in Ryzom or the impassioned pleas in the comments the week before had done the trick. For those of you under the misapprehension that this was, in fact, an actual thing, I apologize for the not particularly elaborate act of deception. My question to myself, at this point, was what I actually had to do at this point. Did this mean that I had to search through every city in the game to find a paradise, only to discover at the end that paradise had metaphorically been at home the whole time? Was I already in the paradise city, judging by the fact that some people would call the jungle a virtual paradise? The girls were pretty, the grass was green, and by almost any metric you cared to use, Corlede was as close to home as she was getting. But no, I knew what I had to do. Something I had known since I started playing. I went home.
Champions Online rolling out Role and Stat changes
Like many MMOs, Champions Online is at its heart a game of numbers. Your character type focuses on certain stats, and you want to make those stats go higher. But sometimes the way those stats work together is a bit less than intuitive in the live game, hence some recent changes to Super Stats and regular stats on the test servers. The biggest change assigns one primary and two secondary, rather than two Super Stats, to players, which alleviates the current problems with Super Stats (certain pairs of Super Stats work poorly together and are poorly represented in itemization). Individual stats have also seen some tweaks: Strength is no longer hard-capped for melee damage, Presence has had its threat component removed and a soft-cap introduced, Ego is now solely a ranged stat, and Dexterity has seen improvements to its critical benefits. Roles are also being balanced differently, giving more consistent stat benefits that are more in line with what players in a given role will actually need to do. It's a pretty sweeping set of changes, but the end goal is to give Champions Online players a more straightforward numbers game to play.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The power reset
Respecs are a powerful tool in MMOs. They're a way for you to feel confident that no matter what choices you make when developing a character, you can make better ones further on down the line. Instead of worrying with each character decision that you're locked in to something you never wanted, you know with confidence that you can always back out if turns out that your abilities are actively causing you to die in horrible and unwanted ways. And in City of Heroes, you get three of them. This is the sort of thing that raises a few eyebrows, since having a limited number of choices to rectify your already-limited number of choices is not something to inspire confidence. And I'm not going to lie to you: It's certainly not the brightest decision in the world. But the hard limits on the total number of respecs you get doesn't actually mean you're forever locked in to terrible decisions. The fact of the matter is that for a number of reasons, you won't really care.
Ask Massively: Mind tricks are the lazy way of doing things edition
Recently, I've become enamored of the Bavarian Fire Drill. For those who don't want to click on that link (it's work-safe in the sense that it contains no cursing and not work-safe in the sense that you'll be clicking for hours), it's the art of infiltrating a building by carrying a clipboard and acting like you're supposed to be there. Sure, you could just wave your hand and tell people that these aren't the droids they're looking for, but wouldn't you rather have the chutzpah to just walk around like it wasn't a thing? That leads very naturally to this week's installment of Ask Massively, in which we discuss whether or not leveling mechanics have worn our their collective welcomes in MMOs. As always, if you've got an urgent question for a future week, feel free to leave it in the comments or mail it along to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.
Captain's Log: Every day I'm tribbleing
Captain's Log, Stardate 65322.9... Hello, computer (and players)! For the past several weeks, Star Trek Online players have been checking out the latest F2P beta builds on the Tribble test server. While there have been a few patches on other days, more for stability fixes and minor tweaking, Thursdays seem to be the designated day for us to receive the largest pushes of new content. The latest round of updates has brought further economy changes, new events and ships, and even more heated debates. Since we seem to be a ways out from the seeing the updates ported to the Holodeck live server, there is still plenty of time to check it all out and provide your feedback to the devs. I would like to dedicate this entry to those who are helping test the changes. This week's Captain's Log serves as a checklist of sorts on what new content you can test and where you can provide feedback about it. As you read through, I suggest that you read a particular section, jump into game to check out the particular change, formulate an opinion, and head to the linked forum where you can leave your feedback. No matter what you think, it's important to let the devs know -- they will make changes based upon a collective opinion. Ensign, warp 10! It's time to create our own party rock anthem...
