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A look at the current endgame for Blade & Soul
If you're looking forward to playing Blade & Soul when it finally comes to this side of the pond, you probably want to know what to expect from the endgame mechanics. Fortunately for you, the game has just released its newest endgame dungeon, and a preview is available of the final boss fight within that dungeon as well as the process for gaining and powering up loot from bosses. Which is... ornate, for lack of a better term. The short version is that everyone present for the kill gets a loot box containing a weapon. You can either pay money to ensure that the weapon is right for your class, or you can buy an ordinary key and take your chances. Once you've gotten the right weapon (with the right stats) after however many trips, you can start leveling it up... but in order to really advance it, you'll need to get two more weapons and level those up. Take a look at the full preview for details on boss mechanics and the weapon upgrade process. [Thanks to Steparu for the tip!]
SOE Live 2013: Dragon's Prophet on what makes it so metal
One of the more eye-raising moments this weekend at SOE Live came when President John Smedley showed off the newest trailer for Dragon's Prophet. The video, which we highlighted here at Massively earlier this summer, made an appearance at the keynote and left many in attendance curious about what makes this title so #supermetal. As the game approaches its launch date of September 18th, the development team at SOE took some time this past weekend to give a progress report of how the game is coming together and show off some big changes and additions that are sure to please fans. And if that isn't enough, the team unveiled a new dragon that EverQuest fans will surely appreciate!
Guild Wars 2 discusses upcoming arena changes
Guild Wars 2 isn't always about stories or elections or even dynamic content. Sometimes it's just about players getting into an arena and smashing each other to pieces. Players fond of the game's Rated Arenas can look forward to some upcoming improvements and additions, starting with a split into solo and team formats rather than the current catch-all header. While the game mechanics will be identified as both, Solo Arenas are composed solely of people queueing up alone, thereby ensuring that both sides of a match are thrown into a random group rather than a premade team facing several assorted members. The arenas will also implement a 72-hour debuff for players who abandon their matches, with five stacks preventing players from queueing up again. The full discussion of these changes goes on to promise more map randomization, spectator mode, and new permanent finishers for fans of rated PvP. It's good news for everyone, unless you made a long habit of joining rated games and then leaving for no reason.
Subscription server bound for Allods Online
A lot of games have gone from subscription to free-to-play, but that's generally been a one-way street. Allods Online is walking in the other direction. After the game opened a subscription server in Russia a while back, the most recent roadmap for the game reveals that a subscription server is due for release over here after the game's next expansion. That presumably means a lot of the perks from the cash shop will be simply available in-game for a flat monthly rate. The letter doesn't mention an exact timeframe or what players can expect from the subscription server, but it's quite clear that the development team has heard the demand and is moving forward on the project. There's also talk of hosting a convention for the game's community in the real world, which would be a first for the title. Allods Online fans should stay alert for more news on both the next expansion and the new server type in the coming months. [Thanks to Mikey for the tip!]
SOE Live 2013: EverQuest Next explained
With that pesky SOE Live embargo out of the way, we can finally stop speculating and start talking about EverQuest Next! And if you're a sandbox fan, you're going to love it because when SOE declared last year that it was doing something really, truly different with EQ Next, it wasn't kidding. EQ Next is set in the realm of Norrath, but this is a rebooted version of those lands. Veteran players will find familiar places and names in the lore and setting, but they won't have a monopoly on the knowledge of this world; players new to the franchise can be equally comfortable because everyone is discovering this new world at the same time. On two separate occasions over the last few weeks, I got to sit down with Franchise Director Dave Georgeson to learn even more details about the game in preparation for today's SOE Live reveal. Want to see what all the fuss is about? Then join me for a tour through some of the key aspects and features of the upcoming sandbox.%Gallery-195288%
Face the trials of the Arena in Hearthstone
If you've played a lot of the Hearthstone beta, odds are you think you're pretty good at the game. If you've read up on it, you might still think you have a solid grasp of the strategy. So maybe you'll want to test your skills in a format that requires a different sort of strategy, something that will put your ability to build a deck on the line. If that's like your sort of game, perhaps you'll look forward to paying the entry fee and stepping into the Arena, a draft-style format that forces players to construct decks on the fly and pit them against similar constructions. After paying the entry fee, either through in-game gold or real cash, players will be presented with three random heroes. Picking one will set you to work building a deck of 30 random cards out of several selections, with each choice being final. Once you start in the arena, you'll try to accumulate as many wins as possible before hitting three losses, earning a more powerful key for better rewards each time you win. The game isn't released yet, but this mode is all the more reason for beta players to keep practicing and aspirants to keep their eyes peeled once it's available for everyone.
Pathfinder Online asks what's in your backpack
Are you the sort of player whose inventory is forever overflowing with items of indeterminate source? You'll want to break that habit before Pathfinder Online is released, because you'll have more to worry about than just the upper limit on items in your inventory. The latest development blog on the official site explains the Encumbrance system, another limit on how many items you can carry due to a combination of size and weight. Hauling around a lot of large and awkward items is going to mean less ability to carry everything else, while lots of little things like herbs will be more easily carried up to the inventory limit. The blog also has more details on what happens to your inventory when you die -- some of your items are instantly destroyed, and only those items specifically bound to you will be exempt from looting. The game is also implementing an item decay system, ensuring that nothing you have is all that permanent, although with the encumbrance system in place that might be something of a blessing in disguise at times.
Mountain hiking in DDO: Shadowfell Conspiracy's Stormhorns
Dungeons and Dragons Online: Shadowfell Conspiracy, the game's second expansion, isn't just mucking about in a trashed prison city with your new premium classes. Turbine is taking us beyond Forgotten Realm's civilization to the Stormhorns, a mountain region that comprises DDO's first mountain wilderness area. For our third tour through Shadowfell Conspiracy's new content, we put on our hiking boots and headed out for some fresh mountain air. Will this region bring out the beauty of Faerûn or show the creaky underpinnings of this aging title? And why are we going out there to begin with?
Returning to Prime World in its English open beta
Back in April, I had the opportunity to explore Prime World in its Russian beta. Now, the game is in open beta for English-speakers, so I wanted to update my impressions. Unfortunately, Prime World has developed less than I had hoped in the interim. For example, the screenshot above shows off my mate's Prime World home in contrast with the one I showed you last time. My friend is a bit of a nature lover, so I told her we'd try the red team this time. It's a lovely layout, but this playthrough marked the first time I've seen it because we couldn't see each other's bases -- just as in the old Russian beta. Playing with other English speakers this time instead of Russian players means I could have chatted about this with them about it but for the game's deafening loading screens (no, really, take off your headset when loading a match; volume control is mute or nothing). A lot of the non-MOBA complaints from my last review sadly still hold true, as do a few issues with the tutorial. While the new additions to the game greatly increased my satisfaction with the combat parts and I want to talk about the new game modes, I still must readdress my issues with the game that haven't changed at all.
Guild Wars 2 celebrates the Queen's Jubilee
Citizens! Queen Jennah, ruler of the human kingdom of Kryta, is preparing to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of her reign in ArenaNet's latest living story update for Guild Wars 2. All of Tyria is invited except bad guys, presumably, but we're beginning to notice a pattern in these little celebrations and won't be shocked if some show up to crash the party anyway. If you're not bent on the subjugation or destruction of the entire world (or can at least keep quiet about it for the first act or so), you're welcome to hitch a ride in one of the nifty hot air balloons Her Majesty has provided to take guests to the brand-new Crown Pavilion in the human home city of Divinity's Reach. Fighting stuff is de rigueur for any Tyrian social event, and players can earn rewards through single combat in the Queen's Gauntlet, where the value of the rewards increases as challengers take more risks and fulfill special conditions. The crown is also employing a new technology known as watchwork; players will be able to gather it themselves for use in crafting new recipes and purchasing the new Sovereign weapon set. Completing the meta-achievement for the event will earn you a sweet miniature replica of one of Jennah's intimidating Watchknights. They're pretty creepy-looking, but they seem a lot less prone to putting their feet in their mouths than Logan Thackeray is.
Revival is a story-driven sandbox in the making
Lovecraft-inspired Revival's recent reveal caught our attention with its promises to "revive the MMORPG" by way of a gorgeous sandbox. Developer IllFonic went on record stating, "It's a genre that has a bad name. There are hardcore fans in the genre, but there's no reason why the whole world shouldn't be playing this genre. The genre has been locked out with a bad taste for a decade. It's time to rethink it, go back to the drawing board, start from scratch and tell everyone that an MMO isn't a stat-chasing, quest-ignoring snorefest." Music to sandbox fans' ears! Naturally, we were keen to hear more, so we spoke with IllFonic Creative Director Kedhrin Gonzalez and surprisingly received very few "we can't talk about that yet" responses. Just remember as you make your way through our interview: A lot can change between the prototype and final release version, so don't unbridle your skepticism just yet.
Creating the DDO: Shadowfell Conspiracy character of your dreams
Last week, we sat down with Turbine to look at Dungeons and Dragons Online: Shadowfell Conspiracy's new adventure hub of Wheloon. But running through these special missions and dungeons are only part of the expansion, as your character's growth and build are always at the core of DDO. So for our second sit-down session covering the upcoming expansion, Turbine chose to focus on the three new iconic classes coming to the game and the overhaul to the enhancement system that should make building the character of your dreams a lot easier. Prior to adding new enhancements, reincarnations, or epic destinies, DDO had only a meager 250,000,000,000,000 possible builds to choose from. No, we didn't fall asleep pressing the "0" key. But now the choices are even greater, which is why it's of increasing importance that players understand what their characters are capable of doing and how to best build a functional toon. After all, even Turbine admits that many of the 250 trillion builds "are not really great to play with." So what will be fun to play? And why should players be interested in rolling one of the new iconic classes instead of sticking with their tried-and-true Bards?
Hands-on with ArcheAge's Japanese open beta
So Japan recently had it's ArcheAge open beta, and the Massively crew was kind enough to allow me to write a bit about my experience. As a close follower of the game and someone who played a little in the closed Korean beta, there is a lot I could write about, but I'm going to try to limit this primarily to Japanese localization and what that may mean for westerners. While the game has gotten a lot of coverage for an imported MMO that only recently started western beta recruitment, I feel like some readers have missed important details about AA that I'd like to address. This may build or break hype, but I've thought long and hard about what I'm about to say, and I think it deserves mentioning: ArcheAge is to sandboxes what World of Warcraft was to themeparks.
Fight for your chosen candidate in Guild Wars 2's Cutthroat Politics update
Whether you're a fan of the Black Lion Trading Company's Evon Gnashblade or you're rooting for Lionguard-investigator-turned-airship-captain Ellen Kiel, chances are pretty good that you like playing games. Heck, even if you don't like either Kiel or Gnashblade, you probably still like playing games. On the other hand, if you hate games and just like to vote, you're in deep trouble because the Lion's Arch political process is all about games, which sounds like a great way to let off steam when you feel like literally pummeling the supporters of the candidate you hate. Maybe Tyrians are on to something. In a recent conference call, ArenaNet released plenty of details about what Guild Wars 2 fans can expect to find when they head to the voting booth on July 23rd. Or is it more of a voting arena? Either way, jump past the cut to find out exactly what you'll need to do in order to exercise your ruthless, hardcore, no-holds-barred right to democracy.
WildStar reveals its final two races, the Chua and the Mordesh
Everyone has a dirty little secret -- maybe not something he'd be ashamed to admit in public but something he doesn't necessarily want to talk about freely. That's definitely the case for WildStar's Exile and Dominion factions, both of which consist of four races... of which we've seen three. Until today. Revealed today at SDCC are the last two races in the game: the Chua that round out the Dominion and the Mordesh that round out the Exiles. Even at a glance you can see why the last two races are a bit less likely to be discussed by the other races. The Chua don't have that certain sense of decorum the Dominion likes to account itself with, and the Mordesh don't have... well, a pulse. So let's learn a little more about both of these races between the official reveals on the WildStar website and the introduction trailer just past the break. We've also got some charming details from Carbine Studios about these two dirty little secrets.%Gallery-194204%
RIFT kicks off Summerfest on July 25th
It's getting hot out there. Like, really hot. Hot enough to melt plastic, even. But as long as you've got air conditioning in your house, why not stay inside and get in the spirit of summer fun with RIFT's Summerfest? It's all the fun of relaxing in the sun without the heat, risk of sunstroke, or potential for melanoma! (Please note that without air conditioning your computer will heat up your room until you burst into flames, probably.) This year, Summerfest starts on Thursday, July 25th, and brings with it a whole host of new achievements. It's also probably going to contain other treats aside from the normal seasonal events; statements from community managers imply that this year will finally see the inclusion of swimsuits, quite possibly in the cash shop. Even if you're not the sort to enjoy summer fun, you can still enjoy the event when it goes to the live servers late next week.
Guild Wars 2's Colin Johanson outlines big plans and 'course correction' for the game
The past two weeks have seen a veritable flood of information about ArenaNet's plans for the immediate future of Guild Wars 2, but are you ready for even more details about the long-term goals for the title? Well, ready or not, it's comin' at you: Game Director Colin Johanson published a blog post today that outlines some of the features and changes players can expect to see in the latter half of the year. Curious about ANet's answer to character progression after the release of Ascended gear? The blog post has it covered. Tired of beating up Champion enemies for their lunch money, only to find that their moms packed them nothing but pairs of blue-quality trousers? Read up on how ANet plans to make them worth smacking around. Do you spend your days weeping softly over that 600 gold precursor that is the absolute last thing you need to complete your Legendary weapon? Boy oh boy, today is your lucky day. That's not all; Johanson's mammoth blog post also discusses the expansion of the crafting system, plans to add new Legendary gear and player-crafted Ascended items, improvements to structured PvP and World vs. World, and more. He was also kind enough to take the time to answer our questions about ArenaNet's vision for GW2's future, so be sure to check out our interview summary after the break!
Looking into the Heart of Fear with the EverQuest team
SOE Live is just a couple of weeks away, but before the EverQuest team heads to Las Vegas, it has launched a brand-new update for the game called the Heart of Fear. It continues the storyline of the House of Thule and Cazic Thule, the god of Fear, that began three years ago. The team led a tour of the new areas and gave some insight into what new goodies players will discover along the way. Check out the highlights of this final chapter in the Thule storyline.%Gallery-194040%
Massively's Guild Wars 2 Cutthroat Politics patch preview
ArenaNet's next patch for Guild Wars 2, titled Cutthroat Politics, will allow players directly affect the living story by giving them the ability to vote in an important election. During the Dragon Bash storyline, Theo Ashford was murdered, causing a vacancy on Lion Arch's prestigious Captain's Council. Two candidates have stepped forward, Ellen Kiel and Evon Gnashblade, and players will cast votes using support tokens to decide the winner. While choosing which NPC will become a more prominent figure in the game is a nice twist, apparently there is more at stake. The winner of the election will express his or her gratitude by reducing the cost of certain goods and services, bringing back various minigames, and even sponsoring Mist research so players can re-live one of two historical events. This Cutthroat Politics game update goes live on July 23 and is full of new events, rewards, and features, so check out the preview video after the cut to hear me dissect all of the details. We've also got a screenshot gallery to accompany the official site release!%Gallery-193932%
Massively Exclusive: Red 5 talks pay-to-win and Firefall's open beta
If you haven't yet noticed, Red 5's open-world, MMOFPS, action-adventure, jet-boot-featuring Firefall is now in open beta. The sci-fi shooter saw an extended closed beta period marked by major overhauls to core systems and a slow-but-steady trickle of new content, and last week's open beta launch is the next big step in pushing Firefall toward its eventual release. We posed a few questions to Red 5 about the nature of beta testing, the complications brought on by monetizing a game in progress, and the future of Firefall.
