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Lost Pages of Taborea: Comparing RIFT's looting and multi-class systems to Runes of Magic's
Sometimes I feel like I'm playing the best MMO that no one's ever heard of. Lately, all I see are new games on the horizon that promise new flexible class systems, better functionality in old standard mechanics, improved pet systems, and so on. Every time I read these press releases, announcements, or blogs, I lean back, tilt my head a bit and say, "Interesting. But Runes of Magic already does that." It's why I have a lot of faith -- even if I disagree from time to time -- in Runewaker. The company has made all these great systems that are exactly what newer games are promising, and players are stoked about it. It really has me wanting to embark on a series comparing systems between RoM and other MMOs. RIFT has bulk-looting and class combining that I want to compare with similar features in RoM for this week's Lost Pages of Taborea. I'm tired of feeling like I'm playing an MMO no one's heard of, even if it isn't true -- RoM is very popular and it keeps growing at a fast pace. But dagnabbit, sometimes I want to tell everyone RoM did it before the other guy gets all the credit. Let's look at RoM's dual-class and pet systems to compare looting and multi-classes between these two games.
Snowballs piling up in Hell: Faxion Online enters its second closed beta test
"Free to pray, free to prey, free to play," the tagline goes. While Faxion Online continues to milk all of the religious-themed puns the team can think of (and it's hard not to add your own!), this afterlife MMO continues to charge ahead with the second phase of its beta process. UTV True Games announced that Faxion Online has entered its second closed beta test, which has been expanded to include new players and a number of improvements implemented after the first test. Faxion now has an improved starter tutorial that invites players to learn about heavenly living or hellish confluct, depending on the class chosen. Other improvements include class reballancing, new areas and teleportation stones that help warriors get to the conflicts even faster than before. UTV's Frank Lucero credits the players for shaping the game's development: "The responses to the first closed beta have been incredible in helping us determine updates for this second phase." You can check out this tongue-in-cheek PvP MMO by signing up for the beta test or by vicariously experiencing the spiritual planes in our Faxion Online first impressions.
Massively's first look at Faxion Online
The worst thing about touring through a virtual world is not knowing exactly what to bring with you. Over the last several months I have slowly but surely tweaked my habits to make writing easier. Even then I am sometimes perplexed as to how to do it better and what tools would work best for me. Luckily, the greatest tool of all time does exist and is dirt cheap. It fits within my pocket and works with any operating system or peripheral. Yes, I'm talking about a stack of Post-Its. As I ran through the different areas of Faxion Online with one of the developers, I scribbled my notes down on the tiny notepad. Then I stuck the notes to my computer monitor for later reference. I also took screenshots (not the ones you see in this article -- these were supplied by UTV True Games, the developer behind Faxion) and later used them to try to remember how I felt during the walkthrough. While writing, I looked down at my Post-Its and saw three key words: optimization, stylized graphics, and gross fat guy. Click past the cut to see what else I might have jotted down.
Irreverent confession: An interview with Faxion Online's UTV True Games
You're dead -- so sorry, chap! Fortunately, that doesn't mean your gaming adventures are over. On the contrary, according to Faxion Online, they've just begun. In the world of Limbo, players are pulled between the forces of heaven and hell as they fight each other through the physical manifestations of the seven deadly sins. Curious about Faxion Online, we sat down with UTV True Games to discuss the deep issues of beta, religion and epeens. Massively: How's the progress toward closed beta coming along? UTV True Games: It's coming along at an insane pace. The team is focused and beating away at the long list of tasks that loom before us all prior to launching beta as well as the game. We are working on zones, abilities and items, along with wrapping up features and tightening the nuts and bolts of various aspects of the game. The team was able to catch their breath over the holidays a bit, so it's going to allow us to have a good strong kick to the finish.
Breakfast Topic: The Madness of Multiclassing
So a reader recently asked us a question: Why doesn't WoW allow multiclassing? It's a staple of many a Pen and Paper roleplaying game, and certain MMOs, such as DDO Unlimited, do offer it as an option. Why not WoW, our read wished to know.Honestly, it's all about balance. Games like Dungeons and Dragons are generally built from the ground up to support multiclassing. Each class has its synergies, and multiclassing its own rules, and there's a limited frame in which they work which works with the whole concept of multiclassing. With WoW, you have 10 separate classes so minutely balanced that even the slightest outside influence can shift the balance of power in class representation and role. With millions of players, each of them expecting to be able to fulfill a certain role and be competitive with everyone else, and each class balanced around a very specific set of skills and equipment, adding multiclassing to WoW would require such an extensive redesign that it would make Patch 4.0 look like a hot fix.
