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Captain's Log: Three months of Star Trek Online
Welcome, one and all, to another edition of Captain's Log, our weekly column on everyone's favorite Star Trek MMO, Star Trek Online. I'm afraid I must renege once again on my promise to tackle the Klingon beginner experience. But I forgot that Cryptic Studios' latest MMO will be 3 months old this Sunday! That's right! STO launched a whopping three months ago, on Feb. 2, 2010. Why, it feels like just yesterday that my newly created Bajoran Science Officer took his first laggy footsteps on Earth Starbase in search of Commander Sulu. As we are wont to do with our favorite games here at Massively, let's look back at STO's first few months and take stock of its past, present and future.
Fallen Earth state of the game expands on upcoming patches
There has been plenty of interesting news coming from Fallen Earth over the past month or so. Updates such as the iPhone app, news on the upcoming patches, and the recent departure of Lee Hammock have kept players nearly as busy outside of the game as inside. The latest state of the game address is no exception, addressing current events of interest and giving us even more to anticipate in the coming months. The address primarily covers plans for patches 1.4 and 1.5, giving an exciting overview of what's in store for players in both the PvP and PvE arenas. A fair amount of content was planned for release between patches 1.4 and 1.5. Changes were made, however, and the majority of the upcoming content will be released with patch 1.4. Several small details are mentioned in the address in addition to what we already know. This new information also included mention of plans for Sector 4. Yes, it's real, and yes, it's on the way. Take a look at the full address for all of the details on what's in store for Fallen Earth, as well as a couple pieces of concept art for Sector 4.
Champions Online's State of the Game for April
Six months out, Champions Online has taken some punches here and given a few as well, but the game continues to press forward. With the most recent changes to leadership, it's fitting that the game has dropped a new address on the current state of the game, covering everything from the recent mini-expansion to the upcoming power revisions and future changes. Considering that the test build of the recent power changes has stirred up a fair boil of controversy over on the test forums, more communication from the development team is probably a very good thing at the moment. The next patch is apparently slated to contain not just the Supernatural and Melee adjustments, but also changes to offensive passive abilities and the recurrence of Blood Moon on the full moon. After that, the first major Adventure Pack is slated for sometime between late May and early June. Named the Serpent Lantern, the long string of missions will lead any hero level 11 or up on a quest into Africa to uncover the source of VIPER's power. The team seems to be hard at work bringing Champions Online up to being the best game it can be, which is good news for the fans.
Bill Roper no longer executive producer of Champions Online, game improvements promised
Most of the news coming out of Cryptic Studios of late has centered around Star Trek Online, which has garnered quite a following and looks to expand with the upcoming Season 1 patch. But Champions Online hasn't gone anywhere, and the game is gearing up for its mini-expansion and for the future. A state of the game letter has just been released, announcing both what's coming for the game as well as some management shakeups. The latter comes last in the letter but is worth noting early -- Shannon Posniewski, known as Poz on the forums, will be assuming the Executive Producer role for the game, taking over from Bill Roper. In terms of actual in-game changes, the letter reiterates many things we heard at the GDC: the team knows there are level bands that are a bit thinner in terms of content than the players (or the developers) would like. While they're not prepared to reveal details, they are looking to expand those areas with more content and more to do. There's also the promise of new Adventure Packs, which sound similar in concept to the packs of Dungeons and Dragons Online. The full letter also mentioned updates to powersets and melee damage that should be welcome news for all Champions Online players, a clear sign the game is moving forward and not forgotten.
Star Trek Online releases State of the Game letter
Star Trek Online released its first State of the Game letter yesterday, bringing players up to speed and offering some humor along the way. The letter covered several issues, the first being support. There was the inevitable "I'm givin' her all she's got!" joke, but in the end, "When -- if -- you see Queues, they should be much shorter and stability will be much better." Game adjustments are also getting a look, with the team asserting that they have been listening to what the players want and are planning some changes. A brief list of what's coming is included with the promise of even more on the way. Speaking of promises of things to come, Update 1 is getting its "final coat of paint" (and evidently a fancy name), and should hit the public test server soon. This State of the Game letter promises great things to come for Star Trek Online in 2010, so take a look for yourself and we'll keep our eyes peeled to see what comes of it.
Warhammer Online gets a new producer's letter
Hot on the heels of the 1.3.4 patch, we've received another letter from Warhammer Online's producer discussing the state of the game and its immediate future. Carrie Gouskos, who has apparently inherited the position formerly held by Bruce MacLean and Jeff Skalski, has taken the opportunity to share information of the coming updates to the game. It's also a chance for a new outline of how the team wishes to improve upon community relations, with the promise of more frequent news and updates along with early player involvement in the testing process. In addition for soliciting players for loading screen tips, the letter talks about what can be expected with the next two small patches for the game, 1.3.5 and 1.3.6. The former is slated to shift the core experience of cities and city sieges to an RvR experience, emphasizing PvP combat and with encounters balanced to shift based on population sizes. On the other hand, the latter is going to examine armor sets closely and try to provide a redesign for maximum player benefit. Warhammer Online fans can look forward to more about these features in the coming months, with any luck.
Champions Online gives a mini-state of the game
It's been a bit of a rough ride lately for Champions Online. Their initial plan for a paid mini-expansion met with a reception that could best be described as "frothing rage," and even their later reversal didn't exactly calm the waters. To make matters worse, their large "Kitchen Sink" patch met with equally mixed reviews at the same time. In hopes of stepping up their community relations, Cryptic has been pushing out a great deal more news to the players, including both their new GM Blog feature and a recent pint-sized State of the Game letter. A re-examination of the "Kitchen Sink" patch, affectionately dubbed the "Kitchen Sink Scrub," is being pushed out in the near future, with a week or so to go before it hits the live servers. The mini-expansion, dubbed Champions Online -- Revelation, should also be going live sometime in the middle of March. Players hoping to get a bit of an early start on it will be happy to note it's also going to be hitting the test servers some time within the next week, letting the new zone get a thorough examination. With the promise of an upcoming site devoted specifically to the expansion, it seems like Champions Online is really trying to wash out the bad taste of their missteps.
Champions Online expansion is now free
A lot of upset has been swirling around the Champions Online community lately. Much of it has been due to the announcement of a paid zone expansion and implementation of a "Kitchen Sink" patch that was pushed out too soon. In an effort to heal wounds and correct mistakes, Cryptic has released a new State of the Game targeted at addressing player concerns. There are a couple big things to take away from this news. For one, the expansion is now completely free. It's also now known as Champions Online - Revelation and is due out in mid-March 2010. New play areas, new powers, new rewards, and greater challenges are all promised by Cryptic. Expect a tidal wave of screenshots, videos, interviews and sweet juicy information in the coming weeks. The other big change is the way in which the Champions Online team is interacting with the community. They're adding a bevy of new features and community events -- like a Cryptic Studios Supergroup in-game -- that should help open up the lines of communication and hopefully add some much needed transparency to the game.%Gallery-85070%
New info and screens for upcoming Star Trek Online content
Earlier we got a small taste of what's to come in Star Trek Online through the State of the Game feature, but already Cryptic is treating the community to a brand new "What's Next" page that lays bare their free update plans for the next two months. While all the major points themselves are old hat, it's the details of those major points that are in fact, new. We've got a breakdown of the coming updates after the break, plus new screens in our gallery.
Fallen Earth's State of the Game: Upcoming additions and more
When it comes to transparency regarding patches, Fallen Earth might have just won that category in spades. The latest State of the Game article on their site is more than just an overview of the direction they want to take the game in, it's a patch by patch listing of the features that the development team will be bringing to the table. Patch 1.3 will be expanding the game with the introduction of Kaibab Forest and Deadfall Point, as players will run a brand new plotline to push back the radiation zone and find more secrets hidden in the wasteland. The new areas come with a brand new level added to the cap, so all of that experience gained from the new area won't go to waste.
Star Trek Online's State of the Game: The first patch
According to the latest State of the Game from Cryptic, Star Trek Online's first update will be surprisingly hefty. "The first update is going to have more PvP, Klingon exploration content, more ground fleet actions, more ship costume pieces, more playable species, and then some," says the executive producer Craig Zinkievich. Of course, that's only a small piece of the rather titillating article outlining the current plan for the first few months of updates. The future holds new Federation episodes, deep space encounters, Borg exploration clusters, quality-of-life updates, daily missions and an encounter with the Borg Queen. Cryptic teases at what they're calling "Raid-i-sodes" or high-end episodes requiring a five-person party to pull out all the stops for a win. The first of these will see players heading off against the Borg Queen, and we're quite excited to learn more in the coming months.
STO's 'Look out, Sulu's behind you!' state of the game
There's a lot to absorb in the new Star Trek Online official "State of the Game" but we'd like to focus on some key points found in the update from Cryptic. Akira Sulu? Yeah, he's on the other side of the Admiral's quarters, behind the other desk. We kid, but really, he's there. There's a bevy of future bug fixes, UI improvements, exploration and combat tweaks coming soon to open beta, which will soon see a level cap removal as well. That means DS9 and Memory Alpha will open up as well as the higher tiers of ships -- just keep in mind you'll need to re-do much of that work when the game goes live. Also well worth mentioning is that the open beta has had a huge turnout, which explains the stability issues. We kinda had a feeling that was the case, but it's nice to hear it from the horse's mouth. The near future sounds bright for Star Trek Online, and we can only imagine the first bouts of content updates the team is putting together already.
New producer's letter for Warhammer Online
As we approach the end of the year, which has been a pretty tumultuous one for Warhammer Online, it's not surprising to see a new letter from the producer. But this letter is also a letter from a new producer -- Bruce Maclean, who is apparently now taking on the duties as producer. There's no word on Jeff Skalski except that he is still "working hard" on the game. But we may as well focus on the positives, as the letter itself doesn't speak about the problems the game has had, instead focusing on the improvements that have come into Warhammer Online over the past year. The patch 1.3.3 graphical improvements are cited as a notable improvement, as are the many updates the game has seen over the course of the year and the launch of the Macintosh client for the game. There's also a brief discussion of what might be expected in the near future, which include useful weapons earned via RvR gameplay and a new scenario structure. How far in the future isn't mentioned, but they're hinted to be close, which could be excellent news for a game that's seen its fair share of ups and downs. As the letter says, however, now is the time to drink and relax and enjoy the game so far. Good advice, that.
Alganon's State of the Game address
Alganon is scheduled for launch in less than a week, and has already released its first State of the Game address. The first piece of information is good news: they are set for the December 1st launch with no delays in sight. The Alganon team has been working hard lately, taking the servers down more frequently to patch and update, which should help to minimize problems at launch. The address did mention the postponement of the original launch date, citing a desire for the most polished game possible -- reasoning that we can certainly support. The address sent out a big thank you to the Alganon community and beta testers, expressing appreciation for their enthusiasm in expressing feedback, opinions and suggestions, both in game and on the forums. Alganon didn't hesitate to tackle the tougher questions either, specifically those dealing with a rocky ride for beta testers, and the oft-asked question "Why does this game look so much like WoW?" The full address can be viewed at the official site, and we wish Alganon the best of luck on next week's launch.
Blood Moon releases, hints of future content for Champions Online
Blood Moon is out and Cryptic is ensuring everyone knows all about what's being offered in the first free content update / seasonal event in their newest State of the Game address. First and foremost is the news that Cryptic will be keeping their promise of people being able to earn things like retcons and additional characters slots simply by playing the game. You can still buy this for cold hard- er, Cryptic Points, but it's not the only path to acquiring said bonuses. Also, remember those new costume pieces we told you about? They're real, and really free, too -- along with a handful of other new pieces that came with the update. In addition to the pieces everyone gets from patching, there are new unlocks earned by playing Blood Moon content.
State of the ruined wasteland of Fallen Earth
There's definitely a developer communication theme running through MMOs these days. After one month of players being able to stomp around in Fallen Earth, the game has received its first State of the Game address from developer Colin Dwan, better known as "Ilkor" on the official forums. The address goes through some of the concerns players have had, some of the minor bugfixes and improvements, and what the developers are planning on introducing for patch 1.1 and 1.2. The former is slated to have a content improvement for levels 32-35, and the latter is intended to boost social content and group-oriented activities.The address also takes time to respond to some issues that have come up on a repeated basis. Faster travel is on the list to be implemented down the road, especially once later updates arrive, but it will be expensive and between very strictly delineated points for thematic reasons. Respecs are also on the table, but again will be expensive and limited. As Dwan himself puts it, "[We] would like to help the people who spend a few points wrong and want to fix those mistakes, not folks who want to rebuild their whole character. The specifics are still up in the air, but it will be expensive, slow, and limited." If you're interested in the near future of the game and are curious about the overall developer plan, take a look at the whole address at the official Fallen Earth forums.[ via WarCry ]
Aion players ding 50, reduce your ego
Every time an MMO launches, we're witness to a bevy of firsts. Aion has already has a few, like its first State of the Game address and first fortress defeat. Today, however, we're here to inform you that two hearty players -- Almisaela and Drno -- have reached the level 50 milestone in Aion.We'd like to offer our congratulations to both players, who're no doubt in the middle of a three-day sleep marathon in an effort to regain their much deserved sanity. It's never not impressive when people hit these numbers so fast, and frankly makes us second guess our ability to play these games. Then again, we've got that constantly nagging voice in the back of our heads telling us we should be writing more and playing less.
Aion gets its first State of the Game address
It's been a little over two weeks since Aion launched and NC West Executive Producer Lance Stites just released its first State of the Game address. These kinds of announcements have become more and more frequent as new MMOs launch and they usually cover the main successes and issues within a given period. This address is no different.Lance proudly declares Aion's "fun and polished" launch and goes on to talk about the incredible demand they've experienced. Perhaps the demand was too high because the main issue he covers in this letter revolves around the server queues players have been sitting in since launch. NC West ran the usual prelaunch calculations and even added a 25% buffer to determine the game's initial server caps but that just wasn't enough. It doesn't help that players have been playing long and hard either. "For example, we're seeing timeframes where 60 percent or more of our players are playing at any given time. This is a significant event by any MMO standard," Stites says. To address this problem, the studio is working on offering one-time free server transfers in the near future. Check out his full letter on the official site.
Next Champions Online updates focus on content, grouping and more
The newest state of the game is out for Champions Online and it discusses many upcoming changes that we think players will highly appreciate. Of particular note are three new repeatable missions coming soon to Monster Island. Interestingly, these missions are said to change as players repeat them, but that's all Cryptic was willing to divulge for the time being.Another significant change will be the ability to see mission objectives of another player's active missions on your team and be rewarded if you help them complete that mission -- even if you don't currently have it. That last part is an important change, because it's a new incentive to group that's currently only there because of the tougher missions.There are plenty more upcoming improvements, which can be found in a short-list after the break.
The Daily Grind: Champions Online launch day edition
Today marks the first official day Champions Online is fully available, and it also marks the first post-launch state of the game as well. Cryptic hasn't taken the smooth early start as an opportunity to slow down on adjusting and tweaking things in the game for the better. More importantly, though, this state of the game hints at the first free game update, which is being announced today.It's titled Blood Moon, and according to Cryptic we'll be hearing more about it later today. Other than that, we really don't know what it's going to be in it. We're fairly sure that new Celestial power framework is probably going to be included though, and potentially some kind of in-game event. But our guess is as good as yours, so what do you guys think?
