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Forget guild housing -- Spirit Tales is bringing guild islands
Because there are so many free-to-play games to choose from, developers who come up with something unique have an edge in attracting players. That's exactly what KoramGame Ltd. did with the guild island system in its upcoming title Spirit Tales. Why settle for just a house when you can own an entire private island? "Guilds have had a long standing tradition in most MMORPGs, but never has there been a feature this extensive and dedicated to guilds. We're convinced that our Guild Island system will not only add to the traditional guild experience, but also take it in an exciting new direction," says General Manager Yann Wang When guild members need a break from battling creatures and capturing magical pets, they can relax on their very own customizable guild islands, where they can access special buffs and content. Amenities that can be constructed on the islands include hot springs that provide power buffs, statues to immortalize guild members, a throne room meeting hall, a warehouse to store additional guild gear, and a buff vendor to access unique buffs. If you want to get a glimpse of guild islands live and in action, join the Spirit Tales livestream event on April 13th at 5 p.m. EDT. There will even be prizes!
Addon Spotlight: Mists of Pandaria Beta UI upgrades
Each week, WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. As one of the fortunate few with a Mists of Pandaria beta invite at this time, I have been excitedly snapping screenshots of some of the UI changes coming in the next expansion. While we still have not yet seen the Pet Battle system interface, arguably the biggest UI reveal this go-around, there are still a few tweaks to the game that are deserving of being pointed out. More quality of life improvements than anything, the changes to WoW so far in the Mists beta have been straightforward and welcome additions. I figured that since this is the beta process that we as a community can provide some feedback even if you haven't had a chance to see these tools in action. Since the tools are mostly quality-of-life improvements and not "boots on the ground," experience-dependent changes, these changes are something we can discuss and hopefully make better before the launch. Since this is the beta, things can and will change dramatically. This is only a quick look at some of the features and changes coming in Mists of Pandaria. As new features open up, like the aforementioned Pet Battles, I will be more than happy to show them to you. If you are in the Mists of Pandaria beta and want to help me out with some UI testing and screenshots or you're an addon developer looking to talk about your new Mists of Pandaria addons in the works, send me an email at mat@wowinsider.com.
Totem Talk: Enhancement buffs and debuffs in Mists of Pandaria
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement, and restoration shaman. Once a lonely tauren shaman in a bad Scarlet Crusade-themed transmog set, Josh Myers is now a female dwarf shaman with pigtails who raids as all three specs on a regular basis. He kept the same transmog set, though. I'm doing my best not to be excited for Mists of Pandaria yet. This is partly because we've not even seen a hint of the beta starting yet and thus have a few more months of patch 4.3 to play before MoP comes out. This is also partly due to the fact that my new guild just started heroic Spine of Deathwing attempts, and I'm not sure I'm ever going to look forward to anything ever again. Ever. Even though I'll never be excited for anything ever again, Blizzard has released some juicy new MoP information over the past two weeks, and a good chunk of it pertains to enhancement shaman. If you still have the ability to be excited for things, this something you want to read. If you're also progressing on heroic Spine of Deathwing, you probably still want to read this ... if only to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Ghostcrawler discusses Mists of Pandaria buff and debuff design
Ghostcrawler has continued his series explaining some of the system changes coming to World of Warcraft in Mists of Pandaria. The newest blog post discusses which buffs players will be bringing to groups as well as which debuffs certain classes can inflict on enemies. Blizzard is giving a variety of classes each category of buff and debuff in order to make setting up 10- or 25-man raids a breeze. First, Ghostcrawler outlined the main design goals of the new buff and debuff categories, saying that making the player feel more powerful in a group as well as making group-building easier were two of the biggest reasons for the changes. DPS classes should be excited to know that buffs and debuffs will vary per role rather than spec, so a DPS warrior will bring the same utility whether he is arms or fury. After discussing the design goals, Ghostcrawler gave some notes with regards to the new categories of buffs and debuffs, with the new categories as the big finish. Check out all of the categories in Ghostcrawler's post after the jump.
Final Fantasy XIV unveils the full scope of patch 1.21
The time is now -- Final Fantasy XIV's sweeping patch 1.21 is going live. That means players can experience the new Job system, do battle in two new instanced dungeons, and relax in their new private rooms. The patch notes make it clear that as with most of the game's patches, there's a lot going on even beyond the headlining features for the update, including intra-city teleportation services, new achievement categories to explore, and new ways for players to spend guild marks. Patch 1.21 also brings along a revision to the food and medicine of the game, with food serving universally as a small long-term buff and medicines working as short effects or buffs with a big impact. The team has also revised accessories, doing away with the previous mechanic of slot costs. And that's not even touching upon new missions for provisioning from the Grand Companies, the introduction of chocobo barding, or any number of other smaller features added with the list. It's a lot of stuff to absorb, and it should keep adventurers happy for quite some time.
Final Fantasy XIV previews its revamp to food and medicine
Final Fantasy XIV's foods and medicines have always been a major part of the game -- after all, both Culinarians and Alchemists focus on producing precisely those items. Unfortunately, the items have been awkward to make, unwieldy to use, and frequently unclear in their effects. That's why the game's next major patch is bringing along a major overhaul to the system, giving the two categories of item clear roles and more transparent effects. While the full list of item changes is not unveiled in the preview, the general philosophy is laid out in detail. Food items provide long-term buffs (including a small experience gain) with lesser overall values and a very short cooldown between uses. Medicines, on the other hand, provide a short-term buff with a long cooldown, but the buff is significantly larger. These changes will also tie into a revamp of several recipes to account for ingredient locations and overall synthesis difficulty. It's something to look forward to in the game's next major patch, and it promises to make your character's eating habits much easier to manage.
Massively exclusive: Luvinia Online equipment education
Gear in MMOs isn't just about making a fashion statement; it's often the difference between life and death, success and failure, envy and pity. So it is with Luvinia Online, as gear will be a primary focus of any adventurer who doesn't want his lifespan to be measured in minutes. Outspark has been gracious enough to treat us to a comprehensive introduction to how gear works in Luvinia. On top of the expected stats and rarity values, Luvinia has a few interesting ideas about how to modify gear and trade it between characters. Luvinia Online finished closed beta last month, but is heading for open beta fairly soon. Hit the jump to start your edumacation in the fine art of equipment, courtesy of the development team at Outspark.
Addon Spotlight: Adding on to the Blizzard Raid Frames
Each week, WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. One of the great joys of writing Addon Spotlight is watching the evolution of addons and their relationship to World of Warcraft over time and how the effectiveness and usefulness of certain addons wanes and waxes like the phases of the moon. Blizzard's new raid frames have not replaced my own custom job, but they have been getting progressively closer to a complete package, as I discussed only a few weeks ago. But there are ways, friends, of adding on to even the Blizzard default raid frame setup to give them just a bit more substance. Today, I've got three little additions to the default Blizzard raid frames that can help you with targets, marks, and debuffs. If you like options, these addons will add a ton of them to the Blizzard standard setup, making the entire package look a little more like Grid. So sit back, relax, and check out these new additions to the Blizzard default raid frames.
Mythos guilds get buffed the heck up
Mythos is already going through a few growth spurts in its first few months of life. Aww, look at it -- isn't it adorable? It's trying to talk... it's taking its first steps... it's buffing guilds and adding in a ranking system! Guild buffs are exactly what they sound like: buffs that go out to every member of the guild. These passive buffs to experience, health, defense and more can be earned by simply leveling the guild up. The higher the guild levels, the better the buffs become. In Mythos, guilds purchase these levels with gold. And for guilds who are out to truly excel, Mythos now gives each group a rank depending on its guild level and how much time its members spend in the game. The best of the best will get an even better guild-wide buff to experience gain and luck. The game will hand out rankings once a week during maintenance. You can get into the nitty-gritty details of these systems on the Mythos forums!
Superheroes get a helping hand with Champions Online's weekend boost event
Even the most self-sufficient superhero needs a boost now and then from a welcome ally, which is why Cryptic's starting Champions Online's summer with a weekend of love, boosts, and free content. Starting Friday, June 17th at 1:00 p.m. EDT and running until Monday, June 20th at the same time, Champions is giving its players a weekend worth of boosts. All players will receive a triad of helpful boosts, including Triumphant Recovery, Heroic Comeback and Team XP. Steam players get a little something extra in the form of a sassy Pistolwhip Sidekick to help with the fights. On top of all this, Cryptic is making the Demonflame adventure pack free to everyone. Normally this pack is behind a pay wall, so this presents a great opportunity for frugal capes to check out the content and earn a few snazzy rewards before Monday.
Eden Eternal turns the spotlight on the Cleric
Despite being deep in the beta process -- or perhaps because of it -- Eden Eternal has emerged to highlight another one of its 15 classes: the Cleric. Master of buffing and heals, the Cleric promises to be a welcome addition to any team (not to mention a very solo-capable class). Clerics are unlocked at level 5 and are the first characters to be capable of healing and supporting others. The class has access to seven Cleric-only skills as well as five skills available to all support classes. And while Clerics -- like all classes in the game -- can wield any weapon, they do the best when equipped with a mace. You can check out the class trailer for the Cleric after the jump, and make sure to check out our first impressions of Eden Eternal if you haven't done so already!
Addon Spotlight: Utilities with Bliky
Each week, WoW Insider brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. This week, Bliky will never, ever get his heroic bow. Addon Spotlight is a collaborative effort on occasion, when you fine community folks send me addons in my email or over Twitter to use for the column. Sometimes, a guildmate or Mumble compatriot will fire off some addons that they find particularly useful. One such compatriot is hunter extraordinaire and begrudging worgen Bliky. We have a special relationship; Bliky gives me misdirects, and I send him awful and weird whispers. It's a balanced relationship. When I asked Bliky for a few of his favorite addon utilities that might be able to help out my readers, he was happy to oblige, since he scours my columns each and every week to see if I made another terrible hunter joke about him. No, there will be no hunter jokes or snipes today. Instead, I will celebrate these recommendations, since they are some pretty cool utilities that everyone can benefit from.
Wasteland Diaries: Don't give up
In Fallen Earth PvP, there is a pretty wide rift between the haves and the have-nots. A novice will rarely fare well in Fallen Earth combat, but there are rare exceptions. There are some groups that fight so well that it might even seem like they are hacking or cheating in some way. Usually, this isn't the case. What they are doing, however, is using every advantage they can get out of the game mechanics. They are also working together like a well-oiled machine. This takes a bit of knowledge and a lot of practice. A well-trained and coordinated team will make short work of a rag-tag pick-up group. In this post, I will lay out the basic knowledge that you will need to PvP. If you take these few pointers to heart, you will be more likely to understand what happens when you lose and what to do to correct it. Overcoming the learning curve in Fallen Earth PvP requires two things. The first and most important thing is patience. When you get knocked down, you have to brush yourself off and try again. The second thing you will need is a firm understanding of the game mechanics. If you understand the rules of the game, you will be more likely to figure out what you did wrong and what your opponents did right. I can't teach you how to be patient, but I can tell you a few things about the game mechanics that might help you stay alive. Even if you never plan to PvP (mobs can be vicious too), click past the cut to start your training.
Wasteland Diaries: Don't fear the reaper
Dying in Fallen Earth is not much different than it is in most other games. It's usually just a temporary setback or a very minor inconvenience. But for some, it seems to be more than that. In this week's Wasteland Diaries, I would like to ponder what might go through the mind of a gamer when he takes a dirt-nap in-game. In the past few decades I've spent playing PC games, I've seen some pretty over-the-top reactions to dying. I've tried to infer what might be going through some of these extremely emotional people's minds when they buy the farm. Various death penalties evoke wildly different emotions in general, so I'll start there. When you die in Fallen Earth, you lose all of your current non-stance buffs. Most buffs can be easily re-applied, except for your food, drinks and other consumables. It's still not a major loss, especially now that food and drink components are ultra-cheap. If there's nobody around to rez you, you must respawn at the cloner and take a 5% durability hit on your equipped gear. It's still not a big deal. And you'll get cumulative cloning sickness, which can get pretty nasty, but you have to die a lot in a short period of time to warrant tier five. And the sickness only lasts five minutes. After the cut, I'll delve deeper into the plight of the struck-down avatar and try to determine what it all means.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: In the case of Controllers
Every game has certain classes that seem unique. I don't mean to suggest that the rest of City of Heroes isn't unique, but when the game launched, the Controller was definitely in a league by itself. Time has shown that the Mastermind's personal army makes the archetype a bit more uncommon than a class focusing on holds and control elements, but the Controller was pretty unique stuff when the game launched almost seven years ago. Or at least, it was to me. Other audience members may feel differently. These days, with the trinity in most games having supplanted any unique roles, it's even more odd to think of "support" as a party role to be filled. But we're not here to talk about the gradual erosion of what was once a far more robust party structure; we're here to talk about Controllers. They're one of the original heroic archetypes, and they're also a very odd class from a design perspective, with a lot of offensive abilities but very little direct punch. So whether you are new to City of Heroes or just have never played with a hold set before, click on past the break for a look at what makes the archetype tick.
Final Fantasy XI brings updates for adventuring fellows
While Final Fantasy XI's Adventuring Fellows have always been an excellent idea, some of the implementation hasn't been quite as strong. A combination of a short summon time and strict limitations on where your fellow can be active have always hampered the system. The next update for the game is aimed at addressing several of these issues, however, giving players more reasons to call a fellow out and more opportunities to do so throughout the world. Active duration for fellows has been doubled across the board, with new fellows staying for 90 minutes and increasing to 180 minutes at maximum bond. The number of enemies that can be engaged has been increased even more significantly; your fellow will initially engage 50 enemies before departing, rising to 100 enemies at the apex. Combine that with several new areas for Final Fantasy XI players to call their backup NPC, and there's the hope that your fellow will be less of an occasional buff and more of a near-constant companion.
Alter-Ego: An overview of the trinity in DC Universe Online
In DC Universe Online, all of the different powersets can pump out DPS -- however, the trinity is alive and well even in this superhero game. Thankfully, due to the way the powers are designed, our ability to stack effects, and the heavy utilization of combos, grouping or raiding in DC Universe Online doesn't generally feel like you're stuck simply mashing buttons. If you get in with a regular group, you'll learn the ways you can play your powers off each other using synergy, thereby adding an entirely new level of awareness to encounters. Unfortunately, endgame isn't just about going into an instance and unleashing everyone's max damage to tear through the place. While all characters can do damage in DC Universe Online, roles are still vitally important for group PvE and endgame content. As a preamble to a series that will look at builds for each role in the game and what they can bring to the table, I thought it would be a good idea to take this first week to look at which powersets go with the roles players use in endgame. Join me behind the break as I break it all down for those who are new to the game or perhaps are looking for a refresher.
Raid Rx: Patch 4.0.6 healing thoughts
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand pooh-bah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI-, macro- and addon-related. If you're looking for more healing advice, check out the Plus Heal community and the new healing, raiding and guild management podcast Matticast. Even though I wasn't responsible for it, its nice to believe that my little story in last weeks column might have influenced the Mana Tide change. What is the change, you ask? Mana Tide Totem has been redesigned. The totem no longer multiplies the Spirit of those affected by it. It instead gives a flat amount of Spirit equal to 400% of the casting shaman's Spirit, exclusive of short-term Spirit buffs affecting the shaman when the totem is dropped. In addition, its effects are now raid-wide. It won't be an overpowered mana reset ability anymore. I have to admit, I do miss having that synchronizing aspect that all the healers share. Having a shaman give a 3-second warning that he is going to drop a Mana Tide cued the rest of the healers to activate their spirit trinkets. I thought that was a neat little interaction. I wouldn't mind seeing more of it somehow later on -- little ways that help promote (but not so much require) healing coordination would be a cool addition. I'm just not sure what other ways methods can be explored. On the bright side, I don't need to figure out which players have the lowest mana regeneration in order to stack them into the healing group. But hey, enough about resto shaman already! Some additional healing changes (both nerfs and buffs) will be coming soon. No idea if any of this stuff is going to stick. Tell me what you think.
Ghostcrawler reveals upcoming class changes in Cataclysm
Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street has posted the blog post I think most of us have been waiting for ever since Cataclysm went live. It features a summary of where the dev team sees the PvE and PvP games at this point, including some analysis of various classes and specs, and some planned changes for those specs that are underperforming and overperforming. In PvE, Ghostcrawler mentions that Blizzard is mostly happy with the tank classes and notes that while healers do have it a bit hard, this is intentional. Heroics are meant to be a challenge. As for DPS, he offered that some classes, such as arcane mages and marksman and beast mastery hunters, are too low in their damage, while others, such as shadow priests and fire and frost mages, are being watched closely before final judgment is made on their numbers. In PvP, Ghostcrawler says Blizzard is satisfied with the decreased emphasis on healing prevention and burst damage. Crowd control and dispel mechanics, especially offensive dispels, may see some PvP nerfs, and priests will specifically be getting some PvP buffs. Stats also got some mention. A lot of stats are being neglected by some classes, and the dev team wants to fix this. Mastery will be either buffed or completely revamped for many specs, such as unholy death knights and retribution paladins. Haste may be made to scale with more attacks, such as Lacerate, Slam, and Steady Shot, in order to make the stat more desirable to certain specs. Check after the break for the complete text of Ghostcrawler's post, including a list of specifically planned (but not finalized) class changes for future patches.
King of Kings 3 shows off its world-class menagerie
King of Kings 3 recently launched amidst some rather elaborate promises the game may or may not be able to follow up on. (The verdict is out on whether or not it truly is the answer to all our dreams, for instance.) But gamigo's most recent game promises a fair bit of love for a longstanding player favorite: pets. We have a small preview gallery showing off a sample of the variety of pets available in the game, ranging from small helper fairies to class-specific helper pets. There are three basic categories of pets: imamus, class pets, and mounts. Imamus boost both the character's leveling rate and regeneration rate while serving as a remote vendor for unwanted items. Mounts come in a wide variety of flavors while offering players unspecified buffs, and class pets serve as a boon for several classes -- Sword Mages can conjure an animated sword as a companion, while Bishops get a guardian angel. If the description of the pets of King of Kings 3 interests you, take a peek at the gallery for some samples of the companions in action. %Gallery-108152%
