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Gamescom Raid Q&A with the Devs: Nerfs, the raid finder and more
You may have spotted Monday's post on how to design a raid, which was the first half of the Gamescom 2012 Raids and Dungeons round table with Ion Hazzikostas and John Lagrave. The second half of the Round Table was a Q&A session in which many interesting questions were asked, shedding light on some hot issues as well as simply providing a little more insight into the Blizzard Encounter Design Team's creative processes. Again, these aren't verbatim quotations from Ion and John, as I simply can't write that fast, but the overall statements are accurate representations of their responses. Are there any encounters Blizzard have had to alter or leave out due to technical constraints? There was a boss leading up to the Lich King who you had to heal (Valithria Dreamwalker), and that was a huge challenge for their existing technology. If you think about it, Ion explained, up to that point, every healing spell in the game was designed to be cast on a friendly target, that is to say, a player. So the devs were faced with the task of reworking every healing spell in the game. They didn't want players to only be able to use certain spells on her, as that would have been bad, so they redid every healing spell. The technical team changed the game's design so that the boss basically became a raid team member. Ion and John explained that it's all about working out creative ways to implement the designers' ideas.
Hear ye, hear ye! Castlot has entered open beta!
ClapAlong's MMO venture into Arthurian myths and legends has transitioned out of closed and into open beta. Castlot is now available to try for any and all curious knights, and ClapAlong is not shy with the efforts to woo them to this round table. In addition to featuring several improvements from the closed beta, including a newcomer's guide and ransack function, the open beta will feature daily login bonuses. ClapAlong is also promising to roll over 150% of any in-game currency you purchase to the live edition, even if you spend the currency in the closed beta. Finally, there are prizes to be had to the first player who spots and reports a bug, and to anyone who is willing to do a little Facebook promotion for the game. This browser-based title gives players a choice between joining the "light" side of King Arthur or the "dark" side of Lord Blackmore. There's a variety of gameplay elements at work, including both turn-based and real-time combat depending on your particular venue. You can sign up for the open beta over on the Castlot official site.
