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RuneScape opens RuneLabs for player suggestions
If you have a terrific idea that you'd like to get implemented into an MMO, then RuneScape's your best bet these days. The ever-creative MMO recently launched RuneLabs as a formal structured suggestion process that will take the best player ideas and make them an in-game feature. RuneLabs works like this: Players will make a pitch to that month's studio-assigned criteria. If it gets enough community support, it will be reviewed by Jagex and (barring a studio veto) voted on by fellow players. The winner of the poll will go from concept to reality. You can watch an amusing video explaining RuneLabs after the break!
ArcheAge patches in Divine Gifts and land expansion certs today
Following today's ArcheAge patch you'll want to keep a close eye on the bottom left of the game's UI. You'll see a little icon light up to indicate that you have a new gift awaiting you, and then... you get free stuff. That's it. That's all you have to do. The newest patch will offer these Divine Gifts to players regularly, allowing you to open as many as 10 in a given day for rewards like Lunarites, bonus food, and Hereafter Stones. Players will also be able to craft land expansion certificates (which will also be available from the Marketplace in a future update) and larger storage chests. That's in addition to new rewards for maxing skill trees and new portals leading directly to Serpentis and the Sea of Drowned Love. Whatever your focus is in ArcheAge, you'll have plenty of opportunity to take part in it when today's patch goes live.
Star Citizen's persistent universe alpha scheduled for 2015, launch in 2016
Chris Roberts recently spoke at the BAFTA LA Games Masterclass, and apart from the usual Star Citizen geekery, he had some interesting things to say about the crowdfunded space sim's release timeline. In a nutshell, Cloud Imperium is looking to publish a beta of the game's FPS component as well as a "planetside/social" beta this spring, followed by the debut of multicrew ships in the currently playable Arena Commander module this summer. Fall 2015 will see the first episode of single-player lead-in Squadron 42's campaign released, while backers will get their first taste of the persistent universe alpha before the end of the year. You can watch the BAFTA presentation on Twitch; click forward to the 39-minute mark for Roberts' bit. [Thanks Mohoc!]
Das Tal devs: 'We don't even own a gauntlet'
Yesterday, we posted about an article penned by Das Tal Head of Communications David Wells in which he threw down the proverbial gauntlet, as we put it, at ArcheAge's feet; he laid out many of ArcheAge's faults and explained how Das Tal, an admittedly indie sandbox, could improve on the format and avoid some of ArcheAge's infamous mistakes. This prompted a fiery debate, particularly among ArcheAge's fans and frenemies, over sandbox design in the indie and AAA space. Das Tal Managing Director Alexander Zacherl hopes to expound on that treatise with a letter to players of his own; he emphasizes that Fairytale Distillery's intent was not to provoke a duel with ArcheAge but to improve the studio's corner of the genre. We've agreed to publish that letter in full today. Read on!
H1Z1 suffers overnight downtime, whispers of server wipes [Updated]
It's not an easy time to be playing H1Z1 right now, especially since you sort of can't. The game's servers went down last night for a quick fix, according to Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley; they've been down since, with players getting increasingly vocal and anxious about what comes next. No further updates have come from the company after Smedley's assurance that there are issues to be fixed that cannot be solved simply by rolling back to the previous patch. Once players can get back in to the game, there may very well be a server wipe greeting them (a possibility suggested by the technical director), although perks like tickets, crates, and cosmetic recipes will not be lost in the event of a server wipe. SOE has promised to give plenty of notice before taking such drastic measures. Players are divided on whether this is a good thing or not, although widespread reports of item duping sit at the root of the issue. There's still no ETA on when the servers will be back online or what will be fixed when they come back up, but players could be looking at a very different environment. [Update: Servers appear to be up again now. SOE has said that the promised European servers are still incoming: "getting MORE servers, still calculating what we can fit."]
Trove unveils a trailer for the Ice Sage class
We understand what you're worried about, dear readers, so allow us to reassure you. In the trailer past the cut, there are no references to an animated film from the Disney corporation about cold. There are also only two ice puns, and they're "puns" only by the most generous definition of the term. More like ice-related references for Trove's Ice Sage. Of course, part of the reason for this is probably the fact that the trailer lasts a grand total of thirty seconds, so there wasn't all that much time for ice-based humor. But if you want to see the class in action, you can do so, and isn't that what you're really after? Glad to hear it. Jump on past the break and chill out.
CCP talks new EVE destroyer, cash shop SKINs
CCP released a pair of EVE dev blogs today, one of which focuses on a new tactical destroyer slated for February's Tiamat release. The other entry concerns ship painting, and more specifically Super Kerr-Induced Nanocoatings, or SKINs, if you prefer. SKINs differ from the paint jobs currently populating EVE's cash shop in that they function as "a license to use a specific design or pattern for a ship. You then apply that license to your character and then your character will be licensed to use that design whenever you wish," according to the blog. For now, CCP says, SKINs are permanent and cannot be lost even if you're podded.
Euro Star Citizen fans getting local support, VAT
Are you a Star Citizen fan based in Europe? If so I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that Cloud Imperium is opening a "publishing arm" in the UK and thus will provide local customer support. The bad news is that Euro customers will be subject to the VAT beginning on February 1st. "We wish there were an alternative to charging the tax, but also believe that it is in our best interest to expand Star Citizen's footprint to a part of the world that has proven to be truly passionate about space games," CIG explains on its website.
Check out Black Desert's renamed Tamer class in quick combat trailer
Black Desert fans already knew that a Tamer class was heading into the game; today that class is available to play on the Korean servers under the new name of Beast Master. As the name would suggest, the Beast Master class utilizes summoned magical beasts during battle and has a close-to mid-range fighting style; the skills available will be dependent on whether or not the player is fighting alongside her pet or is mounted during the battle. If you want a quick peek at how the Beast Master plays, check out the class combat trailer below.
Nine questions for PlanetSide 2's PlayStation 4 closed beta
Today, PlanetSide 2 has taken another large step for gamerkind by embarking on the closed beta test for its PlayStation 4 version. To help clarify the process of bringing this sci-fi shooter to this console, we sat down with SOE Executive Producer Clint Worley and peppered him with nine eight vital questions. Massively: Can you go into some of the logistics of adapting PlanetSide 2 to the PlayStation 4? Clint Worley: PlanetSide 2 has its own identity, and it is important for us to stay true to that, even on the PS4. Our main focus has been on a redesigned user interface that makes navigation easier for players using the Dualshock 4 controller. Player customization, navigation, and organization are all critical elements that require intuitive controls. The team has done a few passes on the user interface, and now it is time to get it in front of the players. We are looking forward to getting player feedback and tuning the experience for the launch of the game.
Das Tal boasts that it will 'do things better' than ArcheAge
Consider the gauntlet thrown down from one sandbox to another. Das Tal Head of Communications David Wells posted a new essay today in which he says that his title will best ArcheAge: "Unfortunately I, like a lot of others, have come to the conclusion that ArcheAge is probably one of the worst MMOs to come out recently -- but the reasons why are not straight forward. I am going to go over the good and bad, as well as shamelessly point out how our game will do things better." Wells says that ArcheAge stumbled with a messy housing system, bad monetization, cultural differences, hacking, heavy grind, lackluster PvE, no solid PvP, shaky server tech, and a lack of good communication by Trion. He goes on to provide a counterpoint for each these items, explaining how Das Tal will succeed where ArcheAge has failed. Or, if you're looking for a TL;DR version, "How we do it better: To put it simply, we give a s**t."
Albion's alpha trailer highlights a whole bunch of new stuff
Albion Online's upcoming alpha event begins on January 26th, and in case you're not already excited, Sandbox Interactive has released a new trailer that may put you in the mood. The clip runs just over a minute in length, which is more than enough time to tease updated environments and textures, the new farming system, new visual effects, and large-scale PvP. Click past the cut to have a look!
TUG is pushing out multiplayer updates
The multiplayer lifestyle will be all the rage in TUG in the coming weeks, as the devs have said that they're preparing to push updates out to get more people playing together. Survival and creative modes will both be getting multiplayer love, although the team has asked for players to help spot and report bugs during this testing cycle. The team did warn that these builds will start small: "Multiplayer in this iteration is still fairly early, so don't expect crazy furry parties just yet. With more time and more tech, the experience and player count will improve. As to what that count is, we still cannot say."
First Impressions: H1Z1 is more boredom than terror
What would video game purgatory look like? After spending an afternoon wandering aimlessly across a mostly-deserted countryside, I'd have to say that H1Z1's early access build fits the description of limbo perfectly. I even smacked into a wall of grey nothing that bordered the eight square kilometers of play space and wondered whether it might be more interesting in that haze than back among the living dead. H1Z1, as SOE will emphatically tell you, is not anywhere near to being done. Features are missing, placeholder art is everywhere, and there isn't a female character to be seen. It's only just playable on a larger scale, and yet the studio felt fit to open hundreds of servers (and take in thousands of dollars) so that the early crowd could sate its curiosity. There's no NDA, either, which means that the studio definitely wants people to chat the game up, whether good or bad. I'm happy to oblige.
H1Z1 is going 'nuclear' on hackers
From the sound of it, the H1Z1 crew put in some serious overtime during this past weekend. SOE President John Smedley has been posting updates across Reddit, especially in reference to hackers and important patch fixes. Smedley said that the team is "extremely on top of" any hacking going on in the game and will only get better as time goes by. "What we have is extremely robust in terms of detection and prevention," he posted. "Now that we started with detection, you'll be seeing the prevention go nuclear." Patches that are coming soon to the game will cover many vital issues, according to Smedley. These fixes include more loot, frame rate fixes, the infamous G29 problem, the floating arrow bug, and a slower drain rate for hunger and thirst.
The Daily Grind: What's your gameplay-vs.-graphics bottom line?
We've all heard the gameplay-is-more-important-than-graphics cliche, and I'm putting it to the test this week in The Repopulation. I'm quite enjoying the sandbox title for what it allows my character to do, but boy does he look janky doing it. I know, I know, it's alphabetaearlyaccesswhatever. In all seriousness, I'm hoping for The Repopulation's success, but the current game raises an interesting personal question and one that I'll ask you, the Massively readers. What's your gameplay-vs.-graphics bottom line? Will you play a game for its mechanics even if its visuals bother you? 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!
EVE Evolved: Rebuilding EVE's corporation tools
The MMO genre is defined by the online interactions of thousands of players, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the single-shard sandbox of EVE Online. While it's possible to play EVE solo, it's the players who make most of the game's meaningful content, and it's only in your emergent interactions with other players that I think the game truly comes to life. Some time ago, I wrote about the importance of CCP supporting EVE's power players, the corporation owners, fleet commanders, and event organisers who give the rest of us something fun to do. Now it looks like CCP is starting to deliver that support, with developers currently looking at updating EVE's archaic corp management tools. CCP Punkturis recently asked corporation owners for a list of the most annoying "little things" they'd like to see fixed with the corporation management interface and was instead flooded with requests for big features and complete overhauls. Developers later confirmed on The o7 Show that at least one highly requested big feature is definitely on its way: CEOs will soon be able to switch off friendly-fire between corp members. The threat of corporate infiltrators attacking corp members has been a massive barrier preventing corps from recruiting new players, so its removal is good news for everyone (except spies). So now that corporation management is finally back on the drawing board, what other features do corp owners need? In this edition of EVE Evolved, I look at a few ideas for corporation tools and features that would make EVE a better place for everyone.
Trove vows to become 'the ultimate sandvox'
Trove Game Director Andrew Krausnick isn't above making grand statements, saying in his 2015 preview letter that he wants the title to become the ultimate sandvox. "Modest, right?" he begins. "Simply put, if there's something fun to do with voxels in an MMO adventure setting, we're going to be there and we're going to be the best." With that out of the way, Krausnick goes on to outline some of the big goals for the coming year. He said that the team is working to add gliding, sky islands, rune crafting, water islands, fishing, swimming, more block types, more mechanics, and definitely more classes. Another big focus Krausnick mentions is to expand the economy: "We also think it should be easy and rewarding for everyone to trade and participate in the economy, so we'll be creating a system this year to make the trade channel simply a small part of a larger economic system!" He finished his letter by saying that the open beta test will be ending "sooner rather than later," indicating an early 2015 launch.
The usual suspects dominate December's Raptr rankings
Do you quote Raptr data when having unscientific discussions about MMO playerbase numbers? If so, rejoice, because here are some more numbers based on a sample size of dubious value! As you might expect, League of Legends, Dota 2, and World of Warcraft continue to dominate Raptr users' attention spans, while ArcheAge, Final Fantasy XIV, and Guild Wars 2 all dropped from their position in November's rankings. Click past the cut to see the full list. [Source: Raptr press release]
SOE's Adam Clegg apologizes for H1Z1 airdrop snafu
In the wake of this week's H1Z1 early access launch issues and "pay-to-win" airdrop controversy, SOE's Adam "Arclegger" Clegg offered a lengthy apology and explanation to the unruly mob on Reddit. I wanted to address what I said in an earlier stream with NGTZombies prior to our release. I said you cannot buy a gun or ammo and it had to be found in the world. When you are on a stream, and you are talking about your game, you tend to talk a million miles an hour both to keep the information flowing and to keep it entertaining. But sometimes things get said without completely thinking about what you are saying 100% through. H1Z1 is a massive game with a lot of systems, some of which we were tuning every day and finishing last minute. When I said you can't buy any guns or ammo, I completely disregarded the possibility of airdrops and meant that you can't buy a gun or ammo and have it go into your starting loadout, or your loadout immediately like you were buying a gun from the gun store. All that being said, I totally understand how what I said was at the time lying to you guys and I apologize. But please understand that's not what I was trying to do. For those of you that don't know me or understand me, know that I'm not trying to be this monster that is conniving and lying in hopes that you get tricked into buying the game. I am very passionate about making video games and I want more than anything in the world for people to love the games that I am a part of making. Clegg explained that during testing, the loot-heavy airdrops resulted in a "gladiator style brawl" that epitomized the conflict SOE wanted to generate in the game. "Whether you agree with us or not," he wrote, "that is how we want airdrops to work." The second half of his post covers the details of the changes incoming to the system as noted yesterday. SOE President John Smedley announced last night that the studio will grant refunds to those early access purchasers who request them by Sunday. Self-initiated refunds through Steam are also now possible.
