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Flameseeker Chronicles: Navigating Guild Wars 2's Tangled Paths release
I was late playing Guild Wars 2's latest update, Tangled Paths, because I was on an airplane when it went live. That might be a better excuse than "the dog ate my homework," but I don't have one for "a dog ate my character," which is exactly what happened as soon as I got home and logged in. Read on for the reason I actually welcome our vicious new dog overlords, as well as why Caithe and I need to have a long talk. You'll also find an exclusive photograph of Bellevue, Washington, taken from the roof of ArenaNet's studio, which is exciting primarily because I got the Seattle skyline in the very same shot without it coming out blurry, even on my awful camera phone. I'm proud of that and nobody can take it from me. As usual, spoiler warnings apply!
The Soapbox: Six reasons MMOs should abandon raiding, part 2
In yesterday's Soapbox, I had some things to say about why it's time to dump raiding. I'm writing this before I've seen the comment responses, but I'm willing to bet that a fair amount of angry shouting was involved in the comments because that's what I usually expect. But I wasn't done, as suggested by the whole "part 1" thing in the title header. For those don't feel like reading the whole thing, the short version is that raiding is too expensive to develop for too small a portion of the players. This is a solid argument, but it's standard: You hear it every time this debate comes up. In some ways, it's the foundation of the argument against raiding beyond the reality that most people say they just don't like raiding. There's more to be said, though, and there are more serious issues up for discussion. Raiding isn't just expensive in terms of development. It's expensive in lots of ways.
Uber offering more perks to its full-time US drivers
Uber has been up against the ropes lately. For one, it's dealing with the fall out from an exec's suggestion it should be investigating critical journalists. Plus it's combating a report that claims a 'God Mode' allows its employees to track customers' whereabouts. No doubt keen to shift the spotlight back on its services, the company is launching a new rewards scheme today in its ongoing bid to boost driver numbers. The program is called Momentum, and it gives eligible US contractors a few different benefits, including discounted car maintenance and cheaper smartphone contracts. The Financial Times reports that drivers will qualify for the scheme provided they drive between 30 and 50 hours for Uber each month. Available perks include up to 15% discounts at major car repair outlets including AutoZone, Firestone, Maaco, Meineke, Midas, Jiffy Lube and Valvoline, as well as between 15 to 18% off phone plans from AT&T and Verizon. Lastly, Stride Health has agreed to advise Uber drivers on choosing a healthcare plan.
League of Legends rewards positive behavior
Just how toxic is League of Legends' community? According to Riot Games, it may not be as bad as it once was. The team posted a letter praising "positive behavior" in the community, saying that 95% of players have never received punishment. Furthermore, only 1% of the crowd have caused issues that resulted in lengthy bans or chat restrictions. Riot says that it is trying out new ideas to further combat bad behavior: "We've recently been focused on addressing extreme cases of verbal toxicity, and will soon be testing additional systems that address gameplay toxicity like leavers, AFKs, and intentional feeders." To players who haven't received any punishments in the 2014 season, Riot will be granting four-win IP boosts next week.
The end is coming to Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin
All good things must come to an end. So it goes for Final Fantasy XI's most recent expansion, Seekers of Adoulin, which will be wrapping up its story in the version update going live next week. Players will be pitched into a final battle to determine the fate of the land, lest darkness overtake it... and it probably won't. These stories don't usually end with the heroes totally failing, after all. It'd be a downer back in Jeuno. The rewards available for clearing the main scenario include a special coat and matching gloves as well as a dozen different rings that should prove quite useful for filling out any player's equipment sets. Tanking, dealing damage, using pets, and even crafting can be improved through use of these rings, giving players more than enough incentive to see the story through to the end. Along with finishing out the story as a whole, too, that's incentive.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Gem store scares and lore treats in Guild Wars 2
It's Halloween! Well, almost. Close enough. It's always fun to celebrate holidays as an MMO fan because you can party as long as the event runs without ever leaving your house! Oh, I just made myself sad. Let's start over. Guild Wars 2 is celebrating its third Halloween, and it doesn't seem as though evil ghosts are any more likely to let the destruction of Lion's Arch get in the way of the festivities than the rest of us are. Even though the celebration is a repeat of last year's, there's still quite a bit of news to discuss, so hop past the cut and let's see what ArenaNet dropped in our trick-or-treat bags.
The Daily Grind: What in-game possessions do you cherish?
The other day in WildStar I got a pit, and I could not be happier about it. Oh, it's not just any pit, it's an elite mining FABkit for my housing plot that allows me to plunder the best ore nodes in the comfort of my own virtual home. I probably prize this higher than most gear, because I know that I'll have this mining pit indefinitely whereas my gear goes obsolete quickly and is replaced. It might be a little silly (or a lot silly) to value rewards that you get in-game, but these carrots are quite tasty for many of us gamers. We do love their crunch, oh yes. So which of your MMO possessions do you cherish? Is it that uber piece of armor that you spent months striving to get? Is it a rare vanity pet that faithfully trails after you? Or is it that crate of fireworks from the anniversary celebration that you love to bust out anytime the social scene gets dull? 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!
Guild Wars 2 adds in collections achievements
Pack rats, completionists, and oddballs of the gaming world, Guild Wars 2's upcoming features pack will celebrate you and your lifestyle. One of the new additions coming with the update is the collections achievements category, which is pretty much as it sounds. Following the update, players will be able to fill out collections in the achievements tab by finding, equipping, or consuming certain items. If you collect all of a collection set, then you'll get a reward chest for your trouble. Some collections will be visible from the start, while others will need to be discovered or triggered during the course of gameplay. When the patch goes live, the game will attempt to fill out collections retroactively, although it will not be able to identify every item looted in the past. Due to this new category, ArenaNet is making some minor organizational changes to the achievement UI and will be renaming the bank collections tab "material storage."
Leaderboard: How do you feel about loyalty rewards?
Elder Scrolls Online announced its vet reward program recently, and while it doesn't take effect until next month, it got me to thinking about similar incentives in other MMOs. They're pretty common, of course, and even F2P games offer them provided that they also offer an optional subscription tier. Personally vet rewards aren't much of an incentive. I mean, sometimes they offer a neat-looking vanity pet that I'll look at once and subsequently forget to ever summon again, but I can't recall ever anticipating a loyalty reward or remaining subscribed in order to get one. What about you, Massively readers? Are loyalty rewards nothing more than a nice bonus, or are there some that go above and beyond in terms of desirability? If so, which ones? Don't forget to vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Star Trek Online lays out the path to level 60 with stellar rewards
One of the selling points (so to speak) of Star Trek Online: Delta Rising is the game's first-ever level cap increase. Ever since player captains heard that they'll be able to level up to 60, they've wondered what that might entail. Fortunately, today Cryptic posted a dev blog that gives a good idea of what to expect as players progress to become Fleet Admiral or Dahar Master. "The level cap increase is meant to be a simple solution to rank progression and yet the resulting change to the endgame play will be very noticeable," the team said. The big change with these new levels is that skill points will be used for specialization trees, the details of which are still forthcoming. Players can keep earning specialization points after hitting 60 until they max out these trees. Cryptic also has several rewards planned along the way, including a duty officer pack, upgrades to abilities, and a new bridge officer.
RuneScape opens up Soul Reaping for fun and profit
How do you feel about reaping souls? Would you consider it as a potential career choice? The latest RuneScape update really encourages players to take part. After all, Death is really backed up, and he could use your help taking down some of the game's bosses. Just stop by Death's office, let him assign you a target on a daily basis, and you're off to the races! In this case, "the races" means "kill the boss and claim its soul." So why would you do this other than the simply joy of serving as Death's administrative assistant? Successfully reaping bosses provides reaper points, which can be cashed in for rewards like a reduction to instance creation costs, an increase to bonfire health boosts, and new crafting items. There are also cosmetic rewards if you'd rather just look really pretty. You can read all of the details on the official update page, which should encourage players to really jump in there and start clearing away bosses for a good cause.
DC Universe Online unleashes the Halls of Power
It's been years since DC Universe Online launched, and yet players have spent all of that time without nearly enough material on the New Gods. But that's changing now; the Halls of Power part I DLC has just been released, and that includes exactly what you'd expect if you know who the New Gods are. Darkseid's son Kalibak and the villainous Mantis are seeking out relics beneath the surface of Apokolips and New Genesis, leading Mister Miracle and Big Barda to recruit heroic forces to stop their malevolent designs. The DLC contains two new Raids and one new Operation for eight players, along with an Alert and an Operation for four players. It also offers six new Skill Points, new styles and gear, new feats, and all of the other widgets like base items that you'd expect. This content is available now for players on both consoles and PCs, so even if you're not versed enough in DC lore to understand what's going on, you can still take part and start smashing (or helping) the villains. [Source: Sony Online Entertainment press release]
The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's Hunts are broken
It's been nearly two weeks since Final Fantasy XIV's patch went live, and I'm at once surprised and not surprised that we haven't seen anything really addressing the problem with Hunts. I'm not surprised because Square has a bad history of reacting to broken elements about as quickly as a narcoleptic sloth with poor motivation, and I'm surprised because players have been screaming about it for... about two weeks now? Yes, that sounds right. And not just screaming in the usual disorganized fashion. This is pretty targeted and logical screaming, helped substantially by the fact that Hunts are currently very, very broken and need fixing. So let's explain the mess that the game has made for itself and the numerous simple solutions that can be implemented really any time now. Not that I'm saying they're all easy, just simple. Straightforward. And no, increasing mark HP is not one of those solutions.
World of Warcraft turns on Gaze of the Black Prince this week
If you're a World of Warcraft player, you're busy killing time until Warlords of Draenor comes out. So why not kill some high-level enemies and get a legendary cloak in the process? Blizzard is turning on the Gaze of the Black Prince buff starting July 15th and ending on July 29th, allowing players who have yet to complete Mists of Pandaria's legendary cloak quest a chance to get through the requirements a bit more easily. The Gaze of the Black Prince doubles all reputation gains with Wrathion and increases the chance of receiving the random drops required for the questline. It should be helpful for alts you're gearing up or just characters who hadn't quite made it through the process yet. You can also catch up with the most recent Warlords of Draenor patch notes to see how well your cloak will serve you going into the next expansion against the Iron Horde.
Final Fantasy XIV offers a hunting preview
Are you ready to go hunting? Final Fantasy XIV is ready to let you. No, you won't get a standard-issue bright orange vest and deer blind, but you will be able to take on a variety of different marks, earn special currency, and possibly eventually pick up a nice orange vest. It could be one of the rewards; you don't know. Players will be tasked with killing a certain number of monsters at varying levels of challenge at both regular and elite difficulties. Regular marks will differ from player to player, but elite marks will be the same for all players and are refreshed once per week. Slaying elite marks provides allied seals and tomestones, with allied seals used to purchase armor, weapons, minions, alexandrite, and sands/oils of time. The preview also contains a hint of a new moogle delivery quest, which should give players of a more pacifist bent something to do even without hunting down creatures across Eorzea.
Flameseeker Chronicles: The strange case of Guild Wars 2's reward system
Every now and then I'll hear someone say that Guild Wars 2 has no rewards. They'll say it's extraordinarily grindy, that there's nothing to work toward, and that ArenaNet is intentionally making things harder than they should be so that we'll all give up and buy gems. This is confusing and frustrating to me for two reasons: The first is that all of those things are demonstrably untrue. The second is that I can nevertheless see where those people are coming from to some extent, and it's been difficult to put my finger on why. GW2 showers players with loot and rewards. In an hour's normal play, I can fill my bags with items and come out of it with a tidy sum of cash; nearly everything in the game is designed to reward players for doing stuff, no matter what that stuff is. Some of it, like Edge of the Mists, is almost ludicrously generous. Even with the changes to the way Queen's Pavilion fights work this time around, it's possible to grab huge numbers of Champion loot bags if you land on an organized megaserver. So why does GW2 feel so stingy?
Guild Wars 2 reworks PvP with its major April update
As of April 15th, Guild Wars 2 will have no more PvP gear. None. Your appearance in PvP will be the same as it is in WvW and PvE, and you'll enjoy complete statistical parity with everyone else on the battlefield. That's one of the biggest takeaways from the game's latest development blog, but it's hardly the only one. PvP is seeing a major overhaul like everything else, and it ties directly into more rewarding experiences via the new reward tracks. The reward tracks set down a series of objectives for players to accomplish by taking part in PvP, with several smaller rewards along the way and a big bonus at the end. There are also rotating dungeon reward tracks, allowing players to unlock dungeon skins and rewards by taking part in PvP challenges, ensuring that you can unlock what you want through the game mode that you like the most. For more details, as well as a look at the upcoming PvP build interface and other changes, take a gander at the full development blog.
The Mog Log: The last stretch before patch 2.2 in Final Fantasy XIV
The past week has brought up an interesting problem regarding the timing of this column and upcoming releases. On the one hand, I had planned to talk today about why there aren't more tanks in Final Fantasy XIV. On the other hand, we also have received a lot of news about patch 2.2, which is launching in a little over a week. Do I push back discussing the patch previews in favor of talking about a larger structural issue? I don't think I can, especially when the reason there aren't as many tanks is one that's been explained dozens of times in other games whilst still being applicable here. Instead, let's talk about 2.2. We've got a week and change until this drops, and while I've already discussed a good portion of the endgame elements, we've got a clearer picture of what's coming out other than that. So while we'll doubtlessly learn more during the next live letter, let's talk about what we've got now.
Marvel Heroes promises a weekend of luck and legends
March 17th is St. Patrick's Day, and that means it's time for everyone to get lucky. Especially players of Marvel Heroes, since the game is running its Lucky & Legendary Weekend in celebration. And what does that boil down to? Why, it means you have a lot of options to get lucky with legendary items in (potentially) legendary ways. You might need to get a bit lucky to get everything you want, though. The biggest element of the weekend event is crafting the legendary Pot of Gold, crafted with dropped pieces of rainbows that can be found during the event. There's also a new random costume case that allows for a chance at all sorts of different outfits for your heroes and a game-wide reworking of drops to be more festive for the duration of the weekend. So if you feel like staying up all night to get lucky in the game, you've at least got some convenient reasons for doing so.
Club Nintendo adds accessory box, pouches, eShop games to catalog
Club Nintendo is offering new rewards for loyal customers, namely the sort of rewards you put other items in. Those with 700 free coins can pick up a green Mario-themed accessory basket that measures just under a foot wide. Don't be fooled by the name, as Nintendo can't stop the rebels among us from putting anything other than accessories in the basket, like cats. Or other, smaller baskets. Club Nintendo's two other new physical rewards are Animal Crossing-themed pouches. Available in both pink and blue, the pouches store handheld systems as large as the 3DS XL for 500 coins. We're eyeing up one of the pouches to store candy instead, because Nintendon't tell us what to do. As for the loyalty program's featured eShop game downloads, players can pick between four games until April 6: Kid Icarus of Myths and Monsters on 3DS (150 coins), Number Battle on 3DS (200 coins), Yoshi on Wii U (200 coins) and Bonsai Barber on WiiWare (250 coins). [Image: Nintendo]
