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Age of Wushu: Winds of Destiny releases on October 15th
It's happening, just like the headline says: Age of Wushu's next major update is launching next week, giving you just a few more days to prepare for everything that's coming. That means new areas, new gameplay, and a whole host of new challenges for experienced masters and relative novices alike. The update looks to build player bonds and alliances with the new Companion system, which allows players to establish a mutually beneficial partnership via the game's existing offline occupation system. There are also new areas to explore, like Delightful Isle and Lingxiao City. You won't have to wait long to go through all of this for yourself, though; it's just a little over a week until the patch goes live.
EVE Online shining up its starbases for Odyssey
In theory, player-owned starbases are a major component of EVE Online's gameplay. In practice, the acronym for these structures is seen as being unintentionally appropriate. But if you're an owner of a POS and hoping for some love from the development team, you can take heart that Odyssey is aiming to incorporate several new features to make these bases more desirable and worthwhile. Even if not all of these features are certain inclusions just yet, they're still enticing additions. Among the major changes coming to starbases are the inclusion of private hangars, repackaging modules within starbase arrays, and the removal of sovereignty requirements from capital ship maintenance arrays. The UI will also be tweaked and improved, and players will be able to swap Strategic Cruiser subsystems from a starbase while accessing any of the starbase's arrays from within the facility's shield. For full details on the hard work being done to improve these structures, check out the full development blog.
Lineage II launches a teaser site for Glory Days [Updated]
Another update for Lineage II is approaching, and this one promises to be full of glory. Days of it, even. But if you weren't sure about what the Glory Days update will offer for players, you can now stop at a handy teaser site that contains all of the upcoming features and expansions to Lineage II's existing gameplay. And there's a lot in there. High-level players can venture to the Isle of Souls for solo or small-party play, take on Pagan's Temple for solo or group play, make a small team to infiltrate Nornil's Cave, or take part in the daily instanced raid of Nornil's Garden. Meanwhile, all players can enjoy the revised Mentoring and Reputation system, while players with a Subclass can enjoy special dual-class abilities as well as a free subclass level reset. And there's a whole revamped system of Clan Wars coming, complete with contestable halls. Really, if you're an avid Lineage II player, you might want to just look at the site. [Update]: Glory Days will launch on October 24th.
Face of Mankind rolling out major updates
Face of Mankind has been on the quiet side for a while now, but the game is gearing up for some major mechanical changes. A new developer blog outlines several of the large shifts, starting with several major improvements to the World Takeover system. Players at a high faction rank can take on special contracts to help take out the enemy presence, or they can choose to take part in a more secretive income-siphoning operation to discreetly hurt the enemy. The game is also removing the weight system, the quality levels system, and the factional restrictions on armor and equipment. This also has resulted in a change to the way that armor values are calculated in an effort to make more pieces of armor relevant to gameplay. And that's just the tip of the iceberg; current or potential players would do well to take a look at the full development blog to see all of the changes en route for the game's mechanics. [Source: Nexeon press release]
Age of Conan opens up the House of Crom
Whether you've been playing Age of Conan since launch or you just recently jumped on board with its transition to free-to-play, today will give you a reason to be excited. Today marks the launch of the House of Crom update, offering players a chance to explore the eponymous structure that sprawls through two enormous dungeons. But that's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of lore, with the two dungeons giving players two different ways to explore the new content. One of the two dungeons is an instanced dungeon, but the other one is a social dungeon, allowing multiple groups to explore it at the same time and reap the rewards for braving its perils. Players will be tasked with exploring the structure left by the ancient Atlanteans, hoping to discover the evil that befell this ancient race of people. You can check out the latest screenshots of the update in the gallery below, or you can log in and start exploring the dungeons now. [Source: Funcom press release] %Gallery-9836%
Class adjustment philosophy previewed for Final Fantasy XIV
The next major patch for Final Fantasy XIV has been discussed in broad strokes, but the upcoming changes for said patch have only just started to be revealed. Today saw the unveiling of the abstract for patch 1.20's class revisions, aimed at making each class more unique and interesting to play without changing the fundamental cross-class system in place. To this end, every class will see significant overhauls, and the Armoury system as a whole will be undergoing some streamlining. Among the bigger changes is the abolition of the current system for setting actions, replaced by a much more straightforward setup. All class actions will be automatically added to a players' bars, with players able to equip more actions from other classes as they increase in level. Traits are also being revised to be class-exclusive and automatic, helping to differentiate the classes as you obtain more via leveling. The full rundown is even more extensive, but it looks to be aimed at keeping classes more fun as a whole in future updates.
Late-month update for Final Fantasy XIV to include an item search
Final Fantasy XIV has not had an easy road out of launch, with several large patches having been added to the game in short order. The most recent patch was only a week ago, but the newest patch is slated to go live tomorrow as the second update for the month and the last one for the year. Although the full details have not been released at this time, one thing that is known for sure is one of the much-requested features due for inclusion -- an item search feature. The crafting-heavy system of the game has suffered from the lack of a dedicated auction house, but the continued reorganization and restructuring of the market ward system has helped address that. With the newest update, it will be possible for players to search for the item they want as soon as they step into the wards, thereby improving the time between entering the markets and determining whether your desired item is available. What else will be included -- if anything -- will become clear to Final Fantasy XIV players tomorrow afternoon.
Final Fantasy XIV's December update goes live
Final Fantasy XIV players can take heart, as the first of two promised updates in December has just gone live. The game's last major update a month ago was centered on quality-of-life improvements, but this update is focused toward content as well, with the addition of several new guildleves and the promised notorious monsters. That doesn't mean that there's a shortage of improvements to the game's interface, however, with several persistent issues having been addressed or expanded, even beyond the previously known changes. Among the more welcome interface changes are the addition of visible timers to all status effects, an increase in the chat character limit, and improved display of an item's durability. As for content, players not looking to kill monsters can enjoy the first part of the promised recipe book and lessened spawns around gathering points, not to mention the option to abandon unwanted local levequests. Final Fantasy XIV players can look forward to a second update later in the month, that promises to build upon this update and offer further improvements to the game.
The Daily Grind: Are you in for the long haul or just for the fun times?
Some people are MMO dilettantes. They arrive when something new has been released for the game, play for a while, and then scamper off once they get bored. By their argument, they're getting maximum enjoyment out of the game at no real loss, and all they're losing are interminable endgame events they'd rather avoid to begin with. Why should they stick around if the game isn't satisfying them at that moment? Other players are dedicated. Sure, there's a slump every so often -- stretches with no new content or content that is new but horrendously boring. But the important thing is to power through and remain stable, so that when the awesome stuff comes out you can enjoy it to the fullest. Unlike the dabblers, they get to see what they consider the best of the game, and they get the full range of accomplishments coming from having been there all the while. So where do you find yourself? Do you flit from game to game as something new strikes your fancy, with no real commitments beyond what you find fun at the time? Or do you pick a game and stick it out through thick and thin? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Final Fantasy XI expands the job update preview
Our first tease of the coming excellence in Final Fantasy XI's September version update hinted at many exciting job abilities, but unfortunately, the language we were given was very vague. That alone was enough to get players excited, but more details are welcomed, and the development team has happily obliged. While the list of new abilities is likely not comprehensive, it gives several jobs a good idea of what they can look forward to with the next major patch. Several of the new abilities granted boosts to existing abilities in previous unused aspects -- red mages can enhance their debuffing skills for a short time, while blue mages can gain extra TP when using physical magic. In addition, there are two new rolls for corsairs, including a party-wide haste effect, and several job traits that will be welcomed by their recipients (including dual wield for thieves). Considering the fast-approaching target date of Final Fantasy XI's next update, players would do well to familiarize themselves with the full rundown of updates.
