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Will Warlords of Draenor be alt-friendly?
Here's a bit of truth - while I have a lot of alt warriors, I don't play them much once I get them to max level. I have my main, who raids, whose gear I keep up to date and who I play often, who I indulge my transmog jones on - and everyone else, once I get them to max level and maybe get them some Timeless Isle gear, I stop. My most recent 90 warrior, a draenei woman, I kept up for a month before I finally just stopped wanting to run dungeons on her. My tauren has seen even less play. Why? Is it just that I already have the one warrior, so why play others? No. Because even if that were the case, it doesn't explain why my shaman and my DK are both sitting there, doing nothing. My shaman makes potions and flasks for me, and that's about it. My DK is literally gathering dust. So, why then? Why am I not playing my alts? I thought about it this week while considering what to do with yet another Timeless Isle piece I could send to my tauren, and then I realized that he's off on another server, with no gold to speak of, and in order to get that piece gemmed and enchanted properly I'd have to play him for an hour or two to make the gold to do it - and it hit me. I already maintain my main's gear - doing the same work on my alts just doesn't appeal to me. Having to get all their gear gemmed, all the enchants (I always forget boot enchants until I realize I'm slower than everyone else) - even when you can afford it (which I can for my alts on my main's server) it's just tedious, especially when you find yourself improving gear frequently. What enchants do I put on my shaman's blue weapons? Do I go for the good enchants and then replace them in two days when I get an LFR drop? Ultimately this is what has me thinking about Warlords of Draenor. Gear has been and always will be an impediment to playing an alt - you have to be willing to put in the work to acquire new gear and get them up to the same level as your main if you intend to use them in that fashion. But the removal of the variety of enchants and gems we have now will mean there's less impediment to alt-playing.
Hyperspace Beacon: Star Wars: The Old Republic predictions for 2014
Knowing my luck, when I finish writing this, the marketing team for Star Wars: The Old Republic will release a huge announcement about 2014 that no one saw coming. And it wouldn't be hard for BioWare to release something unknown to the community at large because it's said next to zero about what we should expect for 2014. Normally, BioWare promotes the upcoming features to death. We knew about the Cathar coming at least a year before they actually hit the live servers. Players and fans (and enemies) of SWTOR have speculated wildly as to why the developers have remained silent on the subject, my favorite being that BioWare has run out of content to produce, which kind of reneges on the 10-year plan it touted before launch. Whether or not BioWare has new content in the works, we do know a few things that will be coming, and we also have some super-secret things we can speculate on thanks to some intrepid SWTOR fans. So let's talk about what we do know, what we don't know, and what we think will happen.
Captain's Log: Can Star Trek Online craft a future for crafting?
This week I'll be dedicating a whole column on the current state of crafting in Star Trek Online. If there's one thing upon which most Star Trek Online players agree, it's that the crafting system in STO needs a complete overhaul. But there's a very real question as to whether or not an overhaul is even feasible. When it comes to business, it's usually best to save those parts of a business plan that are working so as not to waste the investments already made. In relation to MMOs, the same considerations should (and in the case of publicly-held companies, is legally required to) be granted to all aspects of its product. Since most MMOs have multiple features typical to all games (PvP, crafting, housing, PvE, etc.) each one of these facets' productivity matters. If a single feature assists in keeping players in-game, then there's more potential for revenue generation to occur. If a feature not only keeps a player in-game but is, in and of itself, a point of revenue generation, then it's all the better for the company and therefore its shareholders.
What is World of Warcraft?
On December 23, 2004, I rolled my first character in World of Warcraft. It seems almost impossible to imagine that this was a little over nine years ago, but I still remember the day clear as a bell. A friend told me where to make a character and what faction to use, and offered me a guild invite the moment I logged in -- an Alliance guild that, to my knowledge, no longer exists. That began a journey that was a long, impossible at times, climb to level 60. Along the way, I made a ton of friends both in the guild and out, and when I hit level 60 it seemed like an incredible accomplishment. But as I shook off the haze of congratulations and cheers, I realized I had little to no idea what came after you hit level 60 -- and frankly, neither did anyone else. Ironforge was the place to be. If you were Alliance it was the only place with an Auction House. Players spent hours upon hours outside the front gates dueling each other. There was no PvP as we know it today -- Battlegrounds didn't exist, so PvP was relegated to long, drawn out battles between Tarren Mill and Southshore. The options seemed to be as follows: Run Stratholme, Scholomance, and UBRS to collect your blue dungeon set. Go raid either Molten Core or Onyxia's Lair. And ... that was it. Needless to say, my next option was to roll an alt and find a raid guild. What other choice did I have, at the time? As the game has progressed over the last nine years, those choices have expanded into a flurry of content that dwarfs everything that has come before it. And that makes me wonder -- just what is World of Warcraft, now?
Pathfinder's latest dev blog outlines reputation, alignment
If you missed this week's Pathfinder dev blog, well, go read it! It features an update/intro penned by GoblinWorks CEO Ryan Dancey, while the meat and potatoes concerning the fantasy sandbox's alignment and reputation systems are brought to you by designer Lee Hammock. "Reputation is our system for measuring how a player behaves in game," Hammock writes. "We want to provide a means by which a player can judge the aggressiveness of other players at a glance." Pathfinder's rep "has no bearing on your interactions with NPCs, quests, escalation cycles, or other PvE content." Alignment features two components. One, the player's core alignment, is chosen at creation and "is the intended alignment of the character." Active alignment, on the other hand, "begins at core alignment values but changes based on player action." Specific examples and much more detail are available via the links below. [Thanks Chrysillis!]
Captain's Log: Star Trek Online's reputation systems for the new player
One thing new MMO players will learn is that games that have levels inevitably also have a level cap, meaning that when a character reaches the highest level, there's not often much left to do other than to wait for a new expansion. This conundrum has left many developers trying to find ways to keep players in the game while they worked on new, larger content pushes. Many accomplish the task by creating repeatable quests or missions. Some games, Star Trek Online included, have integrated what are known as reputation systems into their games. Reputation systems are meant to keep players participating in repeatable content, allowing them to apply the currency received from that play to obtain select items and unique rewards.
Captain's Log: Fleets for new players in Star Trek Online
Once again it's time to delve into tips and tricks for new players in this week's Captain's Log. I'm quite happy to say that many of these previous columns are still very popular and generate a lot of feedback. This week I will endeavor to help new Star Trek Online (and MMO) players with questions I've received via email about the pros and cons of joining a fleet. All MMOs have social groups, most called guilds. In Star Trek Online these groups are appropriately referred to as fleets due to the naval structure of the factional militaries. These social groups are extremely diverse, as diverse as the people who play the game. The trick is finding the right fit.
Speed up level and reputation gains today by stacking holiday buffs
If you're working on picking up levels or reputations on any characters, today there's a confluence of holidays that will help you along the way. But you'll have to act fast, since Pilgrim's Bounty and the 9th Anniversary event end today. Here's what you need to do to get the most out of your grinding: The Pilgrim's Bounty Spirit of Sharing buff grants +10% reputation for an hour. Get it by going to any Pilgrim's Bounty table and chowing down on each type of food 5 times. The Darkmoon Faire WHEE! buff grants +10% experience and reputation for up to an hour. Just visit the Faire and ride the carousel until the buff stacks up to an hour. Alternatively, you could use the Darkmoon Top Hat to get the same buff -- but bear in mind the two buffs won't stack. Use your 9th Anniversary Celebration Package for +9% experience and reputation for an hour. The downside, as you may have already guessed, is that these buffs are limited duration, and the Pilgrim's Bounty buff and Darkmoon buff (unless you use the top hat) both require you to visit places to get them. Still, an hour of bonuses isn't bad. Plus, these can stack with other excellent leveling buffs like the monk's Enlightenment daily buff, heirloom buffs, and the Guild Battle Standard buff. So hurry up and get leveling!
Mogu Rune of Fate price reduction, Shaohao rep gain hotfix
Players merrily scampering around on the Timeless Isle may have noted that Mogu Runes of Fate, the coins used for bonus rolls in ToT raids, are not dropping like candy. In fact, the Runes were only available on Mistwalker Ai for the whopping cost of 2500 Timeless Coins per rune. Some players protested the steep cost, pointing out the ease in which one could quickly max out on Elder Charms one patch prior. As it turns out, Blizzard agreed with this assessment, and the price of Mogu Runes of Fate has now been reduced to 1000 Timeless Coins per Rune. As Timeless Coins seem to be pretty plentiful on the Isle itself, this should make it easier for those seeking to get Runes for further ToT raiding. Killing the rare spawn Evermaw results in over 1k Timeless Coins for the kill, so getting the coins won't be that much of an unreasonable stretch. In addition to this change, an adjustment has been made for players looking to gain rep with Shaohao -- the daily quest Path of the Mistwalker should now be awarding 250 Shaohao reputation upon completion. While both nabbing Mogu Runes of Fate and Shaohao reputation are still a bit of a grind, these changes ought to make the grind a little more bearable. Whether or not we'll see any further adjustments remains to be seen, but for now, it's nice to know that Blizzard is monitoring the situation and making changes as they deem necessary.
Xbox 360 reputation scores will not carry over to Xbox One
Xbox Corporate VP Marc Whitten recently clarified the Xbox One's reputation-based matchmaking system, which was first announced in July. Reputation scores from Xbox 360 accounts will not carry over to Xbox One, though Whitten told IGN that the Xbox Live enforcement team will set a "small subset of members that have recently had enforcement actions taken against them" to a "Needs Work" reputation level. "This will give those members a chance to prove they can participate on Live fairly, and are not automatically placed in the 'Avoid Me' classification where things like SmartMatch filtering will affect them," he said. Additionally, while every XBLA game on Xbox 360 was accompanied by a demo, that will not be the case for digital games on Xbox One. Whitten said the company is "going to work on lots of ways to make it easy for you to find and try new games on the service," without clarifying how Microsoft will accomplish that.
Star Trek Online state of the game update talks Season 8, reputation, and more
Star Trek Online executive producer Dan Stahl has posted a new state-of-the-game letter. Much of the post is a recap of the Legacy of Romulus expansion success and a thank you to STO supporters. Stahl does talk a bit about the Season 8 update which will release "later this year." It will focus on endgame missions for all factions as well as the game's first Space Adventure Zone. Also in the works is a new reputation system that represents a "major shift" from the current mechanic that Cryptic hopes will make it "more approachable than some of the previous systems." There's also a bit of info about Season 8's Feature Episode, as well as a mention of "a major investment in Gateway" to upgrade STO's web and mobile functionality. You can read the full letter via the links below. [Thanks matixzun!]
Star Wars: The Old Republic outlines the Bounty Contract Week
Bounty hunting is a thing in Star Wars: The Old Republic, to the point that there's an entire class focused around bounties and the hunting thereof. But even if you're usually a meditative Jedi, you can still pick up a few extra credits in the upcoming Bounty Contract Week coming to the game in August. A new development blog details what players can expect from this event, offering players of nearly all levels a chance to earn reputation for taking down violent criminals. Each day, players can select a single contract to hunt, with the Bounty Brokers Association providing a selection of different planets with available contracts. Veteran hunters can also hunt for a single Kingpin target, a high-threat individual who requires more accomplished hunters. Success means credits and reputation with the BBA. Players from level 15 and up can take part in these missions, which scale to the level of the participant, ensuring that anyone who wants to get in on the hunt can start taking down criminals for credits.
Microsoft details Xbox One's Reputation system, keeps gentle gamers together
Good-natured Xbox Live gamers sometimes face a tough choice: they either have to isolate themselves in parties or risk playing against griefers and other ne'er-do-wells. Microsoft could avoid that horrible scenario in the Xbox One era with its recently unveiled Reputation system, which the company just explained in detail to OXM. We already know that the system will punish frequently reported players, but it should also reward contributors. Xbox Live Rewards participants may get a higher Reputation score, for example. The system also pressures troublemakers by ranking parties based on the lowest common denominator -- one misfit can spoil the whole bunch. We'll have to wait until November to verify Microsoft's promises, but we're expecting more harassment-free public matches in our future.
Xbox One reputation system matches trolls with trolls
Xbox One's reputation system is a brand new beast designed to group people who harass other players into a separate matchmaking layer, where they'll end up playing with others who can give as good as they get. Players who consistently get banned or reported for griefing will find themselves in games with players who do the same things, Microsoft Senior Product Manager Mike Lavin tells OXM. "There'll be very good things that happen to people that just play their games and are good participants," Lavin says. "And you'll start to see some effects if you continue to play bad or harass other people en masse. You'll probably end up starting to play more with other people that are more similar to you." It won't be so easy to sink a specific, innocent player's reputation score in the new system, since the calculations are taken over time, Lavin says. "If we see consistently that people, for instance, don't like playing with you, that you're consistently blocked, that you're the subject of enforcement actions because you're sending naked pictures of yourself to people that don't want naked pictures of you .... Blatant things like that have the ability to quickly reduce your reputation score," Lavin continues. This tactic is similar to the Cheaters Pool in Max Payne 3, where players confirmed to have modded games or hacked saves are thrown into an online matchmaking system together, where they play only with other cheaters. Microsoft's version – the Griefers Pool, maybe – won't impact people's friends lists, but is designed to facilitate anonymous matchmaking based on compatible reputation scores. "Ultimately if there's a few per cent of our population that are causing the rest of the population to have a miserable time, we should be able to identify those folks," Lavin says.
Star Wars: The Old Republic is looking for corporate troubleshooters on the test server
Sometimes, being a corporate troubleshooter means that your job is identifying weak points in a company and strengthening infrastructure. Other times, such as in the Star Wars: The Old Republic update available on the test server, it means that your job is shooting trouble. Seems that Czerka Corporation has sort of lost control of an important test moon, and that means that player characters will need to visit a new daily hub as well as two new level 55 Flashpoints. These Flashpoints aren't the usual fare; they feature both a Hard Mode and a Story Mode, with the latter allowing any combination of roles to clear the flashpoint for shorter queue times and a more relaxed experience. You've also got two new reputations to explore, one for the daily hub and one for the upcoming Bounty Broker event. If you've done all there is to do on Makeb, the patch means you'll have plenty more to do soon. There's also a new Companions 101 piece on Corso Riggs, but really, a new patch is a bit more interesting.
Patch 5.4 PTR: How to get Golden Lotus reputation in 5.4
In patch 5.4, several fairly dramatic changes are taking place, but none quite so dramatic as the state of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. So severe, in fact, that it seems that the achievement Eternally In the Vale is being turned into a Feat of Strength with the next patch. Why? Well ... let's just say that the quests required for completing the achievement are no longer possible to complete, when patch 5.4 hits -- we'll leave it at that. This has many players wondering, however, what happens to Golden Lotus reputation when the new patch arrives. Will it go away? Where will all the daily quests go? How do you get reputation with the Golden Lotus, when many of the quest objectives and NPCs have been altered in a significant fashion? We poked around a bit on the PTR and while we may not have solid answers, we do have a general idea of where things are going -- and don't worry, your reputation will still be obtainable. Needless to say, patch 5.4 spoilers abound within this post.
Captain's Log: A new Star Trek Online potpourri
One thing is certain: Many players have returned to Star Trek Online since the Legacy of Romulus expansion was released. Many new players have also given Star Trek Online their first try and are suitably impressed with the game's improvement. Bug patches are forthcoming, and server crashes have been reduced over the past couple of weeks. Many players who have started new Romulan Republic characters and have reached level cap (50) are now turning their attention to the endgame material. Still others have decided to start their very first Klingon character. But what about stuff that isn't about Legacy of Romulus? It just so happens there are lots of "little" items to cover, so join me while I go over some of the news and tidbits that have popped up recently.
Captain's Log: Story takes center stage in Star Trek Online
Now that Star Trek Online's expansion, The Legacy of Romulus has moved into open beta on the Tribble test server, I think it's high time I wrote about one of the biggest changes the game has ever seen. It's not just about what will occur in the game's story; it's how the story is being told. Players who create a Romulan faction character when Star Trek Online launches the expansion on May 21st will experience something that simply hasn't been seen before in the game. Fair warning: I'll be writing a fair amount about what happens within the first dozen levels of gameplay, so if you're holding out to be surprised, know that there are spoilers after the jump!
Captain's Log: Peeking in on Star Trek Online's Tribble test server
It's been a couple of weeks since I've had the opportunity to write about some of the new features in the upcoming expansion for Star Trek Online called the Legacy of Romulus. Due out on May 21st, 2013, the expansion will boast a new playable Romulan faction as well as additional Klingon content, a new "adventure zone," and some tweaks to existing systems. Among those tweaks is a new look to the game's user interface, a revamp to the trait system, and an overhaul to the Tholian zone on Nukara Prime, which will be converted into a reputation faction similar to the systems already in place for Task Force Omega and New Romulus. Hit the jump to catch a glimpse of what I was able to glean from the Star Trek Online's Tribble test server!
New reputation in Star Trek Online takes the fight to the Tholians
Nukara Prime is not a pleasant place in Star Trek Online. It's covered in Tholians, for starters, and it's got all of the charming amenities of a warzone. Then it gets even worse when you realize it's a Class Y or "Demon" planet, and you don't get a nickname like "Demon" for being ideal beachfront property. So naturally players will be expected to head there when Legacy of Romulus launches in May, and they'll have plenty of extra incentive with the new Nukara Strikeforce reputation. The new reputation will work much like other reputations in the game, giving players a variety of new ground and space item sets to earn in exchange for Nukara Marks. Players can also look forward to existing endgame activities involving Tholians to start giving out Nukara Marks, and they'll have the opportunity to exchange old rewards for large piles of marks as well. So your bridge crew probably won't be happy that shore leave is on Nukara Prime, but your captain will have plenty of new rewards to pick up.
