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Evolve's progression systems dole out perks, boosts, new characters
Evolve players will hunt character perks and general experience in addition to monstrous game, as detailed in a recent update on Evolve's official site. Progress is earned in two ways: Character Progression, which relates to a player's efficiency with a specific character's arsenal, and Player Progression, which is tied to a player's general account rather than one particular class type. Aptitude with a hunter's (or monster's) weapons and abilities is rated on a three-star scale, and a "permanent perk" is granted with each earned star. For example, you'll need to deal a set amount of damage with Markov's assault rifle to earn a two percent accuracy boost (tied to the first star), while distributing enough pain via headshot will grant a 10 percent accuracy boost and an elite-tier weapon, as well as the rifle's third star. Player Progression won't be in the Halloween weekend alpha, but when it does show up, it'll dish out medals, awards and levels, with that last element capping off at 40. The update notes that this tier of rewards is "generally earned through time spent playing" and unlocks perks like armor regeneration, jump bonuses and a quicker jetpack recharge. New characters can also be unlocked by earning stars for their respective class type. If you plan on prowling through Evolve's alpha however, just know that any earned progress will not carry over beyond the event's weekend. Alphas are all about the thrill of an early hunt though, right? [Image: 2K Games]
NCsoft announces Valiance, Lineage II's next expansion
NCsoft has just announced Valiance, a new content expansion for Lineage II set for launch at some point before the end of the year. According to the company, the new content includes a storyline that "wreaks havoc across the lands" and brings big mechanics changes and skill updates. Valiance marks the return of the Hellbound zone, which has been upgraded with new areas and hunting parties. NCsoft has added 25 new skills to the game, tweaked a number of existing skills, and entirely reworked the core skill system. Additionally, the studio is implementing an abilities system that allows players to customize skills to make characters more specialized. Some of Lineage II's most popular raid bosses are also on deck to return. More information should be forthcoming as Valiance edges toward launch. Lineage II just celebrated its 10th anniversary in Korea; April 2014 marks 10 years of Lineage II in the west. [Source: NCsoft press release]
CCP revamping DUST 514's skill system
DUST 514's May 6th Uprising patch will revamp the sci-fi shooter's skill system. Among the changes are the removal of multiple prerequisite skills and a new node-based skill tree view that will replace the current list-based approach. CCP is also refunding skill points and ISK and AUR for certain items based on their market value at the time of the respec. "You may have committed to a certain play style, and with an overhauled layout and collection of skills, you may find yourself regretting some of your prior choices," explains DUST creative director Atli Mar Sveinsson on the PlayStation Blog. "We have thus decided that it is far better to respec not only the skills but items as well. In short, you will get your skill points back and the ISK and AUR value of any item that is removed from your inventory."
Rise and Shiny: Salem
Before I get to the part where I rant about one of the strangest exchanges I have had with an independent developer -- and I mean that in a fun, gasp-y sort of way -- I will cover the basics to give you an idea of how Salem the MMO works. You know, just in case you have never been privileged enough to witness the glory that is hardcore PvP, full loot, and permadeath. Yes, I'll cover permadeath; don't worry. The game is set in that funny time period when people wore Pilgrim hats, ate turkey, and killed bears. I have to admit that I was never expecting a game set in this time period or one influenced by early America, but I asked Bjorn Johannessen, Creative Director for the game, about the design choice during the livestream that is always embedded in this column. If there is one livestream of mine you need to watch, it's this one, for many reasons. Warning: It might not be safe for work; cursewords appear on the screen. You know, because it's hardcore. %Gallery-171695%
Hands-on with The Secret World's Templar experience
Believing in The Secret World takes a certain of amount of... faith. And I'm not just talking about Funcom's less-than-stellar reputation when it comes to bug-free MMO launches. No, the very foundation of this particular title rests on a narrative about things unseen, and that cryptic, otherworldly esoterica informed every moment of my time spent in the press beta over the last couple of days. The basic premise, of course, is that everything is true. Every myth, legend, and spook story that our rational minds scoff at has a place in this particular riff on reality. The Secret World is also quite heretical when it comes to gameplay. It eschews the tried and true class-based approach for a complex grimoire of a skill system featuring an ability wheel made of hieroglyphs and higher math (or so it first appears). To come right to the point, though, I bought into the game almost immediately. %Gallery-154922%
Some Assembly Required: Salem dev talks permadeath, griefing, and skill-based gameplay
Hello, sandbox faithful, and welcome to a special interview edition of Some Assembly Required. We recently had a chance to pitch some questions to the team behind Seatribe's upcoming Salem title, and creative director Björn Johannessen was kind enough to answer them. Salem is being advertised by publisher Paradox as "the crafting MMO," but it's also rife with throw-back mechanics including a huge amount of player freedom and a permadeath/punishment system similar to the one in Johannessen's Haven & Hearth.
The Soapbox: Evolution of a class
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. In 1974, the first roleplaying game was published under the name Dungeons & Dragons. Being the first of its field, it still had certain rough parts, which later designers would consider fundamental failures. Modern tabletop design looks at things like classes and levels as being relics in many ways -- elements that made sense as a crutch when the design of RPGs was one step removed from tactical wargames. Compare that to, well, pretty much every MMORPG on the market. While there are certainly games that don't follow the class/level model, they're outnumbered by games that embrace it wholeheartedly. As a result, it's easy to look at the way game development has gone and feel as if the design of online games has not only stagnated but actively slid backward, going from a more advanced system to a far less developed one.
The Daily Grind: Would you buy an advanced character?
For many years, Ultima Online has offered an advanced character microtransaction. Well, the term "microtransaction" may be stretching it -- originally priced at $30 a pop, it's more like a macrotransaction. The advanced character token allows you to boost the skills and stats of a single character according to a preset template. It won't give you a capped Bard, Treasure Hunter, or Animal Tamer overnight, but it will get you a big chunk of the way there. And for skills that are notoriously hard to train .1 by .1 all the way to 100 or 120, advanced character tokens can be a huge boon to players who've been there and done that and just want to skip the early grind. UO's not alone in this; other games, such as Dark Age of Camelot, allow players to jump past some of the early game on their alts once they've capped a toon and proven they know the ropes of the game. Of course, those games aren't charging for the pleasure. So what do you think: Would you buy an advanced character from a game company? Or do you think you're cheating yourself and those around you by not grinding up the old-fashioned way? 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!
Drakensang announces 'massive content updates'
Bigpoint Games has announced that its free-to-play hack-and-slash title Drakensang Online is receiving a "massive content update." Between now and December 25th, Drakensang players will be receiving a couple of large updates, plus a few smaller changes as well. The updates will introduce players to the Norlande, which will provide "a dozen new levels, numerous monsters and champions, new bosses, and new character items and equipment." To top it off, a player can experience all of this content as a new class, the agile Ranger. Rangers will also bring with them "a whole new skill system that makes skills easier and better to use, and significantly improves gameplay." To get in on the action, head on over to the game's official site. [Source: Bigpoint Games press release]
Aventurine reveals a few Darkfall 2.0 changes
Aventurine has updated the Darkfall Epic Blog again, and this time there's a good bit of info regarding the upcoming 2.0 reboot. Producer Tasos Flambouras reiterates that 2.0 is "a new game created on top of the current game rather [than] simply an expansion." He also states that the devs don't want to get too specific and give everything away just yet. That said, this week's entry does provide a very interesting list of changes "that are already implemented." First and foremost is the game's new skill set customization which is in turn tied to a new armor system. In a nutshell, your armor choice will affect your usable skills by rendering certain abilities ineffective and leading to highly specialized character roles (as opposed to the current game where every character can learn every skill, given enough grinding). Skill and attribute gains have also been tweaked, and players who focus on skilling up a single role will excel at it in short order through "casual play." The catch, though, is the inability to have more than one specialization active at a time. Crafting has also been overhauled, and the world map has been "completely changed." There's more big news where that came from too, including UI tweaks, alignment tweaks, incapacitation, dungeon and magic school redesigns, and new combat mechanics like momentum and crosshair wobble. Read all about it at the official Darkfall website.
The Secret World designers talk optimal builds, travel, and more
Funcom devs have been hitting the publicity circuit lately in support of The Secret World, and GamePro has a new video interview featuring lead designer Martin Bruusgaard and lead content designer Joel Bylos. The pair spend a good nine minutes talking about various aspects of their upcoming fantasy-horror MMO, with particular attention given to the game's skill system and the builds it makes possible. "In certain areas, people will need to have the correct effects to be optimal," Bylos explains. "In solo play especially, you will want to have a certain build." You can still progress any way you see fit, though, and Bylos was quick to point out that Funcom's intent is to provide a flexible character building system. That said, it's clear that build flexibility can come at the expense of perfect optimization, and ultimately Funcom is striving for a balance between playing how you want to play and tweaking your build as you go in order to progress through content. The interview also touches on travel in The Secret World, and Bylos drops a few interesting hints about the use of hollow-earth myths to facilitate the globe-jumping that players will experience when traveling between far-flung locales like New York, Seoul, or London. Check out all the details after the cut.
No experience, no levels in Final Fantasy XIV
Yes, you read the title correctly. You aren't hallucinating from shock or anything like that. In a recent interview with Famitsu, the development team behind Final Fantasy XIV has revealed that the game will not run on an experience and leveling system. This marks a major departure for the Final Fantasy series, as levels have been a staple to the gameplay experience.While the new system of progress has not been confirmed, the development team has said that the new job system will focus primarily on weapons rather than a "class.""We want to afford players enough variety to choose a different way to play on any given day," said Nobuaki Komoto, FFXIV's director. "If they could practice one skill one day, they could work on another one the next."This statement seems to support the idea of a skill system, similar to Ultima Online and Darkfall, becoming the main drive of FFXIV. However, as we've said above, the final system used for progression in the game has not been confirmed. For the full interview, check it out over on YouTube.[Via Eurogamer]
Saving Space: Should tabards be next?
Blizzard really does seem to have finally realized that can give us a few more decent ways to save space without breaking anything or trivializing the game. The new vanity pet and mount skill system has done wonders to clear up bag space on my characters on Beta, and I just can't wait to be able to do it on live. Of course, there's tons more stuff that a good, solid pack rat can keep in their bank to take up space, from cool looking quest rewards to old gear sets to tabards. Tabards are an especially massive space investment. Even with just the basic battleground and unique event tabards, we're talking at least half a good bag taken up in the bank, and that's with deleting all the easily re-obtainable tabards to save space.
