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Perpetuum plans for improved new player experience
One of the great sorrows of any sandbox game is that a player is dropped in with the option to do anything... and very little concept of how to do those things or what should be done first. Perpetuum is making plans specifically to address that by giving players a crash course in everything that can be done, courtesy of a new virtual training island sealed away from the rest of the game world. Rather than permit players to select factions at character creation, the new experience will drop players into a simulation that allows nothing from the main game in or out. While in this tutorial area, players will have access to everything possible at maximum levels while being instructed in how to take part in several game systems. Using one of the four exit teleporters allows players to select a faction and start playing the core game, retaining no advancements but getting a real-time sense for how the game works. Testing is slated to begin this month for players who want to experience the game through a slightly gentler ramp-up.
Breakfast Topic: Which race has the best starting zone?
I like draenei, I really do. I like how kooky they look, with their glowy eyes and their horns and hooves. Their racials are, well, just OK really compared to some of the other ones available on the Alliance side, but they look brilliant. But, my God, I dislike their starting zone. It really is dreadful, in my book. I don't know if it's because I've played through it a few times, but I didn't like it on the first try, and I sure don't like it now. I regularly pay to race change characters into draenei once they've made it through their own starting zone; for example, my most recent 85 is a priest who began life as a gnome and race changed to draenei later on, just to avoid those pesky islands. Maybe it's just the novelty of playing new content, but I really enjoyed the gnome starting zone. I have to say, though, the start zone that takes the cake for me is the undead one. I didn't play through it before Cataclysm, but I have done since ol' Deathwing did his thing -- and wow, it's amazing. I reckon it's the best one in the game so far, and haven't found any that even come close to comparing. What's your favorite starting zone? Which do you consider the worst starting zone? And, of course, why?
Choose My Adventure: Atys refugee blues
Last week's polls were enough for me to get started in the world of Ryzom over the weekend, so I took my first steps back into the game that I haven't played for quite some time. I still remembered how some of it worked, thankfully, but there were a lot of elements that I'd almost completely forgotten. And while I'm still knee-deep in the starter area, I've played enough to at least get some starter impressions. But let's make this a full narrative, yes? When we left off, the group verdict was that I would be starting out as a Zorai with the Magic starter package based off of a female Shakespearean tragic character. And thus, with only a little extra effort, Corlede was born into the world of Ryzom. The character creator offers a variety of features, allowing you to select your character's build in fine detail but offering a strange lack of certain other options. There are also some odd constraints on character types -- you find yourself always locked within a certain general band of height, for instance, so there are no really tall Trykers.
BlizzCon 2011 World of Warcraft Art Panel
I know that the World of Warcraft preview and question-and-answer sessions always tend to attract the most commentary at any given BlizzCon, but for my money, the most interesting ones in the long run tend to be those concerned with the game's artistic and technical sides. Seeing how developers got the game to look the way it does, and the reasoning behind the design of different races, zones, and items gives you a much better appreciation of the game while you're in it. The gorgeous Uldum sky didn't get there by accident. As you'd expect, the art panel contained a number of previews of the characters, locations, dungeons, and props we'll be seeing in Mists of Pandaria. If you're only interested in a peek at the male pandaren's model and animations, well, you can get that here, but there were a number of interesting observations made. Two of the things that really jumped out at me: They're experimenting with tier and item set models. Rather than pasting a design onto the standard-issue flat chest and leg pieces, for example, we may see swinging chains, ribbons, and other three-dimensional objects on more gear in the future. Technical advances in very recent months have made it easier and faster to add more detail to the environment. New texture tools have made it possible to add snow or lava between cracks in a road, or pooled in the nook of a hill, much more quickly than they could earlier. We'll have a full gallery of the panel up later! The news is out -- we'll be playing Mists of Pandaria! Find out what's in store with an all-new talent system, peek over our shoulder at our Pandaren hands-on, and get ready to battle your companion pets against others. It's all here right at WoW Insider!
Choose My Adventure: Destination - Apocalypse now
So my bags are packed (what exactly do you pack for an apocalypse? I vote toothbrush, regardless!) and I'm setting out for the Lake Tahoe region. Yup, our itinerary is set -- Xsyon has won the hearts of the readers for this next escapade in the Choose My Adventure series. I find this kind of exciting, as I grew up frequenting this area out here in the real world and look forward to seeing it represented in the game. Now, I have a confession to make: I watched the vote carefully. Too carefully. OK, I was obsessed with it! I don't think I can even tell you how many times I clicked refresh in one day; it was quite addicting to watch the numbers creep up as the readers cast their votes. And since six weeks of my life was on the line, I had a vested interest in the outcome. At least, that's how I tried to rationalize my maniacal refreshing. Xsyon commanded the lead straight off, but Pirates of the Burning Sea had a good showing and maintained a solid second place throughout the contest. Four games kept running neck-and-neck: DC Universe Online, Earthrise, EVE Online, and LEGO Universe. I admit to rooting some for the underdogs as well -- each game has special and unique features I would enjoy delving into. Think about it: Can you imagine life as a LEGO? But in the end, no one could topple the promise of a vast wasteland filled with mutants and an empty canvas for players to fill in. So now that we have the setting, all we need is the character. Unlike many games, Xsyon demands that you pick things such as your crafting skills at character creation, so please forgive the number of polls attached to this week's article. Head on past the cut to learn a bit about Xsyon and vote to make me build the CMA creature of your bidding!
The design evolution of home life in the starting zones
The starting zones form a player's formative thoughts about how the denizens of Azeroth actually live their lives. These first glimpses of life-as-our-characters-know-it are key to defining what it would be like to "really" live as our characters do. When you're in a starting area, you get to see the "common dwarf" in his natural habitat. (Or human, orc, troll, and sundry other races.) Of course, there have certainly been technical limitations over the years that restrict the number of widgets and sprites available to designers. But it's interesting to see how the home life of Azeroth natives have been improved over the existence of WoW. The above picture is from Elwynn Forest. It's the home of Donni Anthania, the Crazy Cat Lady. The domicile of Ms. Anthania includes a chair, table, a couple chests, and a wardrobe. It also has a small herd of cats wandering around the floor. Interestingly, Donni is wielding a cleaver. It's unlikely that the cleaver was intended to mean Donna is hostile; instead, it's probably because she's supposed to be cooking or something. But the Crazy Cat Lady has been in the game since before there were any expansions. Technical design was a little more limited then. Let's compare this to how the blood elves lived come Burning Crusade.
Breakfast Topic: The starting zones you most love or hate
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. With Cataclysm looming, I find myself tearfully saying goodbye to the game as I've always known it. I have leveled (well, at least partially leveled) a character of every race on the Horde side (except an orc), and I've leveled a night elf out of the starting zone on the Alliance side. Now, everything has changed. The starting zones that I grew to love or hate are already different, and I'm not sure what to think about that. I loved the tauren starting experience, and I hope that it only gets better with the new expansion. However, I quickly tired of the orc/troll starting zone. Likewise, I did not have the urge to go through the blood elf starting experience with multiple characters. But once I gave it a chance, I enjoyed the undead experience quite a bit. I think what I enjoyed about the tauren and undead experiences was that I felt like I was involved in the lore. Additionally, I found that the scenery of Mulgore and Tirisfal Glades made the leveling experience more enjoyable. Which pre-Shattering starting zones do you think were the best, and which ones were the worst? With the world having undergone such a drastic change this week and more still to come, which new leveling experiences are you looking forward to the most?
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite starting zone?
No matter where we end up in our MMOs -- the hardcore end game raider, the PvPer, the trade chat troll -- we all share the same starting points: a delivery room at Warhammer Mercy Medical. No, wait, I mean that we all magically start our existence as fully grown adults who already possess advance combat training (just like real life, amirite?), and for whatever reason, we begin our story in the same spots as everyone else in the world. Perhaps we should be calling these starter zones "Mommy"? In any case, what's your favorite starting zone out of all the MMOs you've played? What evokes the strongest sense of nostalgia, provides the smoothest leveling experience, showers you with wondrous atmosphere and tells the best story? Some MMOs add newer starter zones long into the lifespan of the game, forcing players to choose between the creaky "old" newbie areas and the spiffy golden eggs that the devs just laid. As a bonus question, do you prefer these newer starting areas to the original ones?
Cataclysm: Guards in starting zones buffed to level 90
Planning on kicking off Cataclysm by killing all the quest givers in newbie zones? Think again: Blizzard has increased the level of starting zone guards in areas like Coldridge Pass and Deathknell to 90. These guards are currently level 65 on the live servers. The change, which guarantees you'll be at least five levels lower than the guards, takes advantage of existing game mechanics to protect lower-level players from mischief. NPCs that are five levels higher than you are exceedingly difficult to hit (spell casters will suffer a 39 percent chance to miss) and frequently wallop you for higher-damage-causing crushing blows far more often. The guards will also have higher health pools as well. This contrasts vividly with guards on the live server, who are prone to dying if a level 80 character accidentally sneezes on them. Level 90 guards are better suited to protecting newbie players from max-level griefers. Note that only starting areas will see these high-level guards. The guards in major cities are now level 85 -- dangerous, but soloable. Players who are upset by this change are encouraged to stop being jerks who grief newbies. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
The Daily Quest: Hello, goodbye, we'll miss you
WoW Insider's on a Daily Quest (which we try to do every day, honest) to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. One of the most hotly debated topics regarding Cataclysm has surrounded the soon-to-be former Warchief Thrall and his replacement Garrosh. One of the most anticipated things about Cataclysm is the upcoming revamp of the old starting zones. Luckily, the blogosphere seems to be discussing each of these things! Convenient, eh? The Dead Good Tanking Guide has an ode to the new Warchief. Player Versus Developer discusses Thrall's farewell to Nagrand. Lastly, The Barrens Chat is reviewing the current starter zones -- including a look at the gnome and dwarf areas. Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment, and you may see it here tomorrow! Be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW-related sites.
New DC Universe Online Inside the Studio video answers more questions
One of the things we love about DC Universe Online is the way Game Director Chris Cao and Creative Director Jens Andersen take time out of their undoubtedly busy schedules to answer questions that come in on the DC Universe Online Facebook page. The newest update to their Inside the Studio videos offers up another pile of questions asked by the community, with some amusing results. From starting areas (Metropolis for metahumans, Gotham for technophiles, China Town for magical-origin characters), to the availability of regular street clothes (short answer: yes), and even questions about anthropomorphic animal heads, Cao and Andersen cover some really interesting ground. Pop by the DC Universe Online Facebook page to check out the full video -- and be sure to leave your questions for the developers while you're there!
Hyperspace Beacon: Proper PAX preparation prevents poor PAX performance
Welcome once again to your guide through everything Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is soon to be released by EA-BioWare. Larry Everett presents the Hyperspace Beacon. Deborah Shin, the Marketing Manager for Star Wars: The Old Republic told TOROcast at E3 that PAX was going to be the game's biggest event of the year. When I heard that announcement about a month and a half ago, I decided that I would have to make it to this event. Prior to that I was willing to let others do the reporting while I snagged some stories at home. I want Massively to be your source of SWTOR news, so how could I not go to the biggest SWTOR bash of the year? This week's agenda is quite simple in scope, but a bit more complicated in execution. I hope to give you a very brief overview of what we know of our favorite game going into PAX, followed by a few directions I could go with information gathering. Ultimately, I want the fan's opinion. What information do you want to see come out of this fan-tastic exposition? Follow me after the jump, where I break down the possibilities.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Facefirst into Praetoria
It's finally here, and I have to admit, it's a little weird to realize it. After I spent the better part of half a year focusing on Going Rogue, the expansion has been released and is totally playable. To have the game sitting in front of me (metaphorically) after it's become such a huge part of my professional life is almost too daunting. I almost didn't even want to fire up the launcher to... OK, yeah, that part isn't fooling anyone. Getting to play around a bit while it was in beta to see how it would play was nice, but I couldn't get myself into City of Heroes fast enough to start leveling a Loyalist and going to town on the new side of town. At the end of the day, I'm just a player like everyone reading this column, and the game I got to play on Monday evening made me very happy indeed. There's a lot to see and do, and I've tried to recap some of the disconnected thoughts in this week's column. And as a bonus, there's a sad announcement at the end! It's like a bonus, anyway.
A peek at Gridania and Ul'dah in Final Fantasy XIV
Square-Enix has been as good as their word when it comes to obfuscating the details of Final Fantasy XIV, even through testing. Testers have been confined to the port city of Limsa Lominsa all through the beta phases, but last week Square gave a small hands-on to a handful of sites showing off the other two cities. FFXIVCore happened to be among them, and offers an extensive rundown of the experience in both Ul'dah and Gridania -- both of which are very different from the thoroughly-tested pirate-themed opening. Gridania's opening takes place within the dense forests surrounding the city, with a crashed airship and a rather unexpected encounter with wolves. Ul'dah, on the other hand, features a great deal of pageantry being disrupted by the untimely freedom of a goobue. Both include certain common elements from the Limsa Lominsa opening, most notably the meteor shower and the disembodied voice, but the rundown indicates that players starting in different settings will have a memorable start to their adventures as well. That's good news for Final Fantasy XIV's future players, although perhaps a bitter pill for the testers not yet able to play these cities.
Planet Calypso aims to attract new players with starting area
Planet Calypso, the long-running real-cash economy MMORPG from First Planet Company and MindArk, will soon offer a new and dedicated starting area for new players. Previously, player colonists were at the mercy of the title's veteran residents and were thrown right into Planet Calypso's considerable learning curve with little in the way of an introduction. Now, newbies can partake of the safe starting area (restricted to new players), learn the game's basics, and grab missions in the new Calypso Gateway. Players will hunt, mine, and craft using starter equipment on the secluded arrival island, and they will not be able to return once they've completed the tutorials and traveled to mainland Calypso. Check out the official site for all the details.
The Rising Tide continues to wash over Perfect World International
Will you be prepared when the tide rises and the seas give up their secrets? Well, if you check out this nifty trailer for Rising Tide -- the recently released expansion to Perfect World International -- that we've managed to get our hands on, you'll have a good head-start if you decide to wade in! Featuring a brand new race -- the graceful, aquatic Tideborn, new starting areas for players to enjoy, and a whole pile of new challenges, the expansion offers players a great deal of new content for everyone. Perfect World International players are facing off against a whole new evil to rescue the underwater kingdom through three new explorable zones, 200+ new quests, 100+ new monsters, new gear, and more! For those interested, be sure to check out the trailer behind the break, or pop over to the Perfect World International site for more details -- or to sign up! After all, there's no charge to take a dip in the Rising Tide.
Gnome and troll starting zones to be revamped
After five years of squatting in other races' capital cities, gnomes and trolls will have their starting zones revamped, developers confirmed through the recently concluded chat over Twitter. It probably isn't much of a spoiler now after the developers talked about it, but discovered among the files in Patch 3.3.3 were quests and Achievements related to the retaking of Gnomeregan and Echo Isles. It's been a long time coming for two of the game's original races who got the shaft when Burning Crusade introduced two new races with their own capital cities while gnomes and trolls continued to squat in Ironforge and Orgrimmar, respectively. Over the chat, developers mentioned that they were looking at revamping all the original starting zones, with particular focus on the two races. Now that Cataclysm is on the horizon and Blizzard plans to introduce two more races with the worgens and goblins, it only seemed fitting that gnomes and trolls get their due. However, the developers were quick to point out that the zones won't get as "epic" a feel as the two new races in Cataclysm. They did reveal that they have "big plans" for the two races, hinting at the events set to come in a future patch, if not Patch 3.3.3. Blizzard also reminded everyone that they planned to overhaul all the starting zones with Cataclysm, which improves gameplay, quest flow, and overall experience. Now that these squatter races are finally getting equal status with the others, maybe Blizzard will finally let us see a gnome in the Cataclysm cinematic?
Starting out in Vana'diel: Going solo, tips for levels 1-10
Hello again adventurers! Welcome back to Starting out in Vana'diel! Last time I promised that I would talk about getting levels 1-10 done and what you should do once you're done. While this probably won't be the most exciting column that will ever be written in this series, it is one of the most essential.While not everything in Final Fantasy XI comes down to levels, they seem to be the main drive for any gamer who picks this game up. Plus, I know people really don't like grinds, but that's what levels 1-10 are going to be. I'm not going to sugar coat it -- these are the most painful levels of the game.But, thanks to Fields of Valor and the exp bonus ring that you should have in your possession, things should go very smooth. (You didn't lose it since our first column, right?) Join me after the break, so we can get started on getting you to the magical level 10.
Making/Money: Conservation of Mass - Part 1
This is the first in a series of articles theorizing on what a virtual economic system that had a finite number of resources might be like. I would like to impress upon you that everything expressed here is hypothetical. As far as I am aware at this time, there are no games currently being made with a system like this. Also, this is only one potential way that it could be done. There have been several discussions amongst friends and fellow bloggers lately of what the economy of game with no ability to spontaneously create items might be like. Specifically, what if all of the resources, loot, and money in the game was there at the start and no more could be generated during gameplay than had been removed? In short, what if the law of Conservation of Mass was obeyed in a MMORPG? Let's be clear about this - we're not talking about each character starting out with a set amount of gear or money that they would then have to use throughout their lifespan. This would be a server-wide amount of stuff. All players would have access to it provided that it was available. Once an item was "destroyed", either by dropping it or by selling it to an NPC, another item could become available.
Massively catches up with Dungeons and Dragons Online at Gen Con
Gen Con is rolling along this weekend in Indianapolis, and Turbine is there showing off their upcoming release of Module 8 in Dungeons and Dragons Online. Massively dropped in on their show floor booth to see what they had to see and chat about the brand new character creation system coming to the game, as well as upcoming enhancements, including an increased level cap and maybe even a chance to see Khorvaire in DDO.Our interview and demo starts after the break, and you can check out the pictures we got of the new content in the gallery below. Good things ahead for D&D fans, especially new players to the game. %Gallery-29742%
