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Lost Pages of Taborea: A look into Chapter Three
It's been a fun week of questing and exploration for me in Runes of Magic. I've been digging deeper into the heart of the Savage Lands and learning more lore while discovering new visual treasures. When I first entered the level 53 and up zone, I thought it was some kind of tropical dinosaur utopia. Most of the areas I ventured into have that visual style, but there's also a mix of Elven villages, mountains guarded by apemen and tiki style huts to give the zone unique variety. Of course, I gave all that a break when the first part of Chapter III: The Elder Kingdoms came out. I was anxious to see the new content with its new systems and pretty graphics. After impatiently waiting for my client to update, I was able to journey to the new lands and see some pretty cool stuff. Now, I think it's about time I gave some of my impressions before all of Chapter 3 is released and I'm too busy playing to write about it.
The Daily Grind: Tokens or luck?
Back in the old days of MMO playing you had to hope that something dropped for you when a boss tipped over and gave up his precious loot. It was all about the luck of the draw -- praying that the rare items, first of all, dropped and then, second of all, were for you. But, as we continued forwards with our game design, Blizzard came up with the idea of giving every player involved in downing a boss a token. If a player participated enough, they were guaranteed to get something -- even if the luck of the draw was not on their side. This became a controversial topic for some, as accusations of "welfare epics" began to fly around. Today, Grinders, we're going to briefly revisit this topic. Do you prefer games that come down to the luck of the draw when loot drops, or do you prefer the new token system instated by World of Warcraft? Talk, discuss, and feel free to battle it out. Opinions, go!
Reminder: Today is the last day of Brewfest
If you haven't quite finished your Brewfest activities, today is the last day. Not only will you not be able to earn (and spend) tokens after today, but there are a few Achievements that can only be earned during the event. For example, even though you don't have to be wearing or drinking anything Brewfesty, you can only get the Drunken Stupor Achievement during the holiday. So go get virtually smashed and jump off a virtual bridge today, if you haven't already.Many of you will not be able to get Brewmaster before midnight if you haven't been diligent with your daily token earning. I highly recommend, however, that you get as much done as you can this year so you have less to do next time around. Check out our Brewfest Guide for any Achievements you might have missed.Warning: Tokens will not carry over into next year, so spend what you have today.Good luck ...hic!
Patch 3.2 brings universal tier armor tokens
I had concerns when Blizzard first announced the way bosses would be unlocked in Patch 3.2's new raid instance, the Argent Coliseum. Blizzard has announced that while the first boss is available immediately, other bosses will be unlocked week-by-week. It's not the first time an artificial barrier has been put up for raid progression -- hello Sunwell -- so I guess I'm not shocked by it, but progression wasn't really what I was concerned about.In our current raiding system, each boss drops a pre-determined set of loot. Some bosses drop a token which can be turned in for a piece of armor matching that particular slot, and the boss will always drop this same slot token. Thorim will always drop a shoulder token in Ulduar 10, for example. So the issue is, with the Coliseum officially being our new tier of raiding, with gear that far outclasses Ulduar gear, and with the Coliseum bosses being unlocked each week, it means that players could get screwed out of upgrades. Your chestpiece might not be the greatest, so if you were looking forward to upgrading it, you'd be pretty crushed to find out that the T9 chest token only drops off of the final Coliseum boss -- which will only be available (at best) a month or (at worst) several weeks more than that due to RNG. It turns out that Blizzard was thinking the same thing I was. That's why, with 3.2, Coliseum bosses all drop one of three universal armor tokens -- the Regalia of the Grand Protector, Vanquisher, or Conqueror.
Runes of Magic community manager Jörg Koonen on game currencies and reducing gold spam
With only two months of operation under its belt, fantasy game Runes of Magic already seems to be enjoying a great deal of popularity. Runes of Magic uses the free-to-play business model, which is discussed in an interview with community manager Jörg "Kerensky" Koonen. Sam "Azerian" Maxted from ZAM caught up with Koonen to discuss the game's launch and where the title is headed in future updates, but their talk quickly turned to some of the details of how the game's economy operates. Koonen discusses how players have responded to Runes of Magic's microtransaction system through the in-game Item Shop, and that by design the Item Shop doesn't sell certain types of items. "We do not sell any weapons or armour or such," he says. "All of this has to be collected by the players through the game." However, Runes of Magic also uses non-microtransaction currencies and some players are concerned that their gold lacks real value in the game. Koonen says that the developers are looking into this. They're presently gathering feedback from the playerbase and are willing to introduce other measures, if necessary, to ensure that non-microtransaction currencies serve a purpose in RoM.
The market crashes... for WAR's token system
This may be one of the few times a market crash is seen as a good thing. Mythic just released a hotfix that greatly reduces the pricing of RvR quartermaster token set gear, improves the drop rate of RvR set gear, and gives tokens as rewards for keep and battlefield objective defense.Players were begging for a token system shortly after Warhammer Online's launch in late 2008 and finally received one about a month ago. The only major complaint about the new system was that prices seemed extremely expensive. Some players on the forums even claimed they were leveling out of a tier before they were able to afford the gear for that tier. Rather than rush to immediately drop prices, Mythic stated they would monitor the new system and adjust prices accordingly.We think it's pretty safe to say that most subscribers will be letting out a big "Woot!" for this news. The amount of medallions required for quartermaster sets has been reduced by up to 50%. Some set items are now much cheaper while the more rare pieces of the set are only slightly cheaper. Officer medallions now drop off players rank 30 and above. Invader city gear can now be earned more quickly. Finally, the repeatable chain quests from war camps and defense of keep and BO now reward tokens.
Dealing with old currencies
Gaviedrummer has exactly the problem that I have, only mine is probably worse: he has about 50 Badges of Justice left over from the last expansion. True, I've only got about 30, but I've also got stacks of Apexis Shards, Spirit Shards, Halaa Tokens, Obsidian Warbeads, and pretty much every other old reputation and currency item from the Burning Crusade sitting around clogging up my bank. And while some of it is just me being lazy (I could turn the Warbeads in, and I think I could probably grind out a few more Halaa tokens to pick up something there), as gaviedrummer finds out, most of it is completely useless. Yes, we can still trade for level 70 items, but who needs those any more?It would be nice, especially with the soulbound stuff (I presume I will someday have an alt coming up through Outland that might need some help), for Blizzard to give us an out. Even if it requires level 80 to do, and even if the exchange rate is terrible (something like one level 80 badge for five or ten level 70 badges), at least we'll be able to get rid of the old stuff. Obviously, they're worried that if they offer exchanges for new items, people will go back and grind the old instances for the old currency. But there has to be some middle ground or a level requirement or something, some rate that allows us to get something for the old junk, while keeping current level 80s from exploiting the system. Heck, even cloth has a reputation turn-in value, at the very minimum.The Stone Keeper's Shards at least have a turn-in for honor, and at the bare minimum, that's what you'd want for any currency -- something cheap that you can just cash out of the system with all of your leftovers. Blizzard may say what's past is past (and like I said, I may just need to spend a weekend cleaning out the bank), but it would be nice to have an NPC in Shattrath that can say "Oh, you're level 80? Let me just take those old tokens off your hands at a discounted price!" And it would be an Ethereal, of course.
WAR patch 1.21 may be interim, but its beefy taste surprises
Mythic is patching Warhammer to 1.21 today, and while the number suggests that it is an interim patch, its beefy flavor suggests otherwise. In true WAR fashion, this new patch boasts a number of big additions and improvements, including upgrades to keep siege, tweaks to combat responsiveness, and a brand new RvR token system.Guilds that claim keeps can now upgrade them in various ways. Players can upgrade doors, add special merchants (e.g., siege, door repair, guild banker, etc.), add special guards, and increase the overall guard patrol sizes. On the other hand, attackers can now use a special new currency called Ordnance to purchase new and improved siege weapons.Combat responsiveness issues have plagued WAR since launch and Mythic keeps promising fixes with each new patch. Hopefully, they have nailed it this time around. Players should no longer experience casting bar delays under normal RvR conditions and animations will be improved if everything goes according to plan.Phase one of the token system introduced in 1.21 will focus on the RvR campaign. New medallions and crests will drop off players of appropriate renown throughout all tiers, which can then be exchanged for RvR set gear (e.g., Annihilator, Invader, etc.). Tokens will also be rewarded for capturing keeps, zones, forts, and completing various stages of city siege.For more information on these items and much, much more, read the official 1.21 patch highlights as your client updates.
Warhammer getting a token system for RVR gear
Since Warhammer Online's launch, obtaining powerful RvR gear has been subject to lots of luck and a broken contribution system. Mythic intends to supplement this by adding a new token system that will reward players for RvR participation and dedication.Players will soon be looting common medallions and rare crests from player kills (in oRvR and scenarios), keeps, fortresses, zone locks, campaign locks, and various city siege phase completions. These tokens can be used to purchase RvR set gear (e.g. Annihilator, Conqueror, etc.) and special potions from quartermaster merchants.Tokens will not be tradeable but they do scale throughout the tiers. For example, players can convert 5 common T1 medallions into 1 common T2 medallion. Players can also backwards convert 1 rare conqueror's crest into 5 common T4 medallions. Higher rank set gear will require a combination of rare crests and common medallions for purchase.Mythic is currently seeking feedback on this proposed new token system on their official forums, so head on over to have your voice heard (game account required). They plan to initially launch with tokens for RvR set gear only but future patches will bring expansions to this new currency system (e.g., PvE dungeon gear).
New Play Control Metroid Prime games get Corruption's token system
If you played through any significant portion of Metroid Prime 3, then you likely encountered a colorful token or two during your progression through the game. These tokens were awarded for a variety of reasons and were a lot of fun to compare with your friends, so it's nice to see them being utilized in the New Play Control versions of Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime: Echoes. Anything adding replay value to these great games is just fine by us!
LotRO token collecting game extended until November 4th
If you've found yourself excited by the tin, silver, gold and platinum token drops from Lord of the Rings Online this last weekend, you'll be happy to hear that these token drops have been extended until November 4th. These tokens were brought back as part of the Welcome Back Weekend, encouraging previous players to come check out LotRO for free before Mines of Moria releases, later this fall. What use are these tokens? Free stuff! What other reason do you need? Ok, to be more specific, you can get some amazing items by trading these tokens in to the trader NPCs. There's crit consumables, special cosmetic outfits, Beryl shards and much more! So if you missed what you thought would be an event that only lasted through the weekend, this four week extension gives you no more excuses. Get out there and grab some tokens!
Breakfast Topic: Honorary wipe
Well so much for the honor wipe. As you can already see from the comments on that post, players have all kinds of opinions about this -- some believe that Blizzard should have gone through with the wipe, giving everyone a clean slate as the expansion started. Some players disagree, saying that honor is honor -- if you earned it, you should keep it. Some players are unhappy that the prices for level 80 items are going to be raised as part of the non-wipe, leaving new players in the dust. And even other players are just angry because they listened to Blizzard, and already spent the honor they thought they were losing anyway.So the question this morning isn't how you feel about the Honor non-wipe, since odds are you've already expressed that. But it is: where do we go from here? Are you going to step up Honor farming in the hopes of picking up new, expensive items right away at level 80? Or are you just done with the system completely, and planning to worry about what's available at level 80 when you get there?You should keep in mind that for all of the gnashing of teeth, we still don't know for sure how rewards will worth in Wrath -- Tigole has even said that tuning is still happening, and so any tweaks Blizzard may make might actually turn out to make the whole thing easier on everyone. But now that you know the Honor isn't going anywhere, what's your plan before the expansion?
Blizzard retracts honor point changes: honor points will not be reset
Bornakk has announced on the forums tonight that the honor points wipe they were going to do before Wrath of the Lich King will not be happening after all.Once again for clarity: honor points and PvP tokens will not be reset when WotLK is released. According to a post by Zarhym today, Arena points and teams will still be wiped immediately prior to Wrath's release.This is a very interesting change of policy. Blizzard announced last week that all honor points and tokens would be reset. Since that announcement, there has been significant outrage by many players that have saved up large amounts of honor and tokens. With this change players will be able to stockpile points and purchase level 80 PvP gear. However this gear will be "significantly more expensive" than current level 70 gear.We'll bring you any updates that develop on this breaking news.
Interesting items in the data files
I've been looking through the Wowhead latest additions page, and found some interesting-looking things. Caveat: some of these are probably datamined, we may never see them in game, etc. Still, it's fun to look at. Intravenous Healing Potion. This does the same thing as Mage-summoned Conjured Mana Strudel (except for the whole group), and shares a cooldown with food. Despite the name, I'd say this is not meant to be used in combat. And based on the medical-themed name, I'd say it's probably going to be created via First Aid. Wintergrasp Commendation. Apparently bought with marks from Wintergrasp; the interesting thing here, of course, is that these are bind to account (BtA), so you can effectively PvP on one character and send honor to another. Does this open the door for my much-coveted BtA badge-type tokens? I hope so. Ghostly Skull. This small pet is apparently sold in Dalaran for 40g, and it looks awesome, in my opinion (see screenshot above -- the skull is in the top-left corner). I will be getting one as soon as possible on my DK. Tacky? Maybe. But I don't care. I like that Blizzard is going in a lot of different directions in LK; this really seems like more innovation than it was from classic to BC, from items to class skills to world environment. I'm sure there's more cool stuff that I've overlooked. Have you come across anything interesting, either in the beta or on the various sites?
Breakfast Topic: Direction for professions
Over the last few days, we've been given some exciting new details for craftsmen everywhere. Haven't been keeping up? Here's a quick summary of some of the more interesting developments: The alchemical discovery system might become a feature of all professions, although it would likely be restricted to "fun" recipes. Daily quests awarding tokens to craftsmen to use at a special vendor selling recipes might be implemented. In this way, there would be a bit more individuality between players. The best items you can craft for any given slot will be available around 350 instead of 375, as in The Burning Crusade. Tailors are getting their own flying mount, the Magnificent Flying Carpet. Fishing will become more interactive. Blacksmiths will be socketing. Enchanters will be able to sell their enchants on the Auction House. Engineers are getting a form of enchants, rather than having to cart around so many items. The list goes on. In fact, there are several interesting and fun abilities and recipes on the horizon for all professions. Which changes are you most excited about? Are you thinking of switching trades because of some of the upcoming goodies? If you don't currently have a crafting profession, are you considering getting one?Edit: The best items you can craft for any given slot in The Burning Crusade came at the skill cap (375) and Blizzard now feels this was too late. In Wrath, you will acquire them earlier.
Token system discovered
They're getting serious about easing inventory headaches in Wrath of the Lich King. Recently we heard all about the new storage system for mounts and vanity pets (you'll learn them as spells; they will not occupy space in your bags). Shortly thereafter it was hinted that tokens (such as Badges of Justice and Battleground marks) would face a similar treatment. An enterprising and clever beta participant by the name of Xabora has discovered what form this treatment will take, by typing /tokens and hitting return. This is reminiscent of the way Achievements were first discovered to be in WoW, which was by someone in the alpha typing /achievements. Yay slash commands! Anyway, it looks like the new system will track all your tokens, as well as your honor points and arena points, with categories for each phase of the game (Classic, BC, Wrath), PvP, Holidays, Raid, Miscellaneous, and Unused. I'm not entirely sure why there's a category for "unused" tokens, or why Raid is separate from Classic/BC/Wrath – are they planning on putting tier tokens into this system? Will raids in Wrath award different tokens than heroics? No telling just yet, I guess. But it's nice to know that even more bag spaces will be freed, and we won't have any more issues from having left our tokens in the bank.
Badges in Wrath
As we were promised, the latest Blizzcast episode talked some about the Badge of Justice system, and where they want to take it in Wrath of the Lich King. Specifically, Tigole said the following: Badges will definitely be back in Wrath, in some form. Like how it's ended up in BC, they want badges to appear in both Heroics and raids. However, they want to stratify it more, so it's not just one gigantic pool of items. (They also want to spread the vendors around the world, so it's not just "one dude in Shattrath and one dude out on the Isle of Quel'Danas"; this sounds like an annoyance to me, and at any rate will not make a real difference in how the system works.) Proposed stratification options include: "A token from different levels of content" as well as badges that would need to be turned in for the different levels of items Different kinds of badges
Raid Rx: Are tier token drops fair?
Raid Rx is designed to encapsulate and cure the shock and horror that is 25-man raid healing. Ok, so it's mostly horror... Anyways, if you're a big fan of X-TREME Whack-A-Mole (or are being forced into it against your will) this is the column for you. People sure can be pushy when it comes to drops. Hands off, ladies. That Netherweave is mine! Today I share with you one of my deepest secrets. There isn't a week that goes by that I don't lay awake at night, seething about the unfairness of raiding drops. Oh, sure, there's always that elusive piece that has a 0.0002% drop rate that every healer wants. Those are pie in the sky dreams of healing uberness. No, that's not what I mean. I'm talking about the regular gear that's supposed to be dropping at semi-predictable intervals every week. Most bosses have a fairly limited loot table, and in the raiding world, most of that centers around the tier token system. You are supposed to have a 1 in 3 chance of seeing your token on any given kill. But what if that goes horribly wrong? And worse, what if it starts hurting progression? Join me after the jump for a tale of woe and angst, plus what Blizzard has been doing to unintentionally fix the situation (sorta).
Has TR's cloning system become obsolete?
The clone credits in TR were originally created in lieu of an easy way to freely change your character's skill and attribute points. This pertains both to the storyline, and a more hardcore approach to skill point changes. We tend to think NCSoft had the right idea with this, as do most game developers in their MMO's infant stages. Does anyone remember the attribute point system in Guild Wars when it first launched? Now skills and attribute points can be reallocated repeatedly with no penalty or cost at all. This seems to be the lay of the land with most current games, but we wonder if Tabula Rasa will soon follow that trend.So now the question is, what's easier: completing a Target of Opportunity for the clone credit, or gathering 600 control point tokens for the respec? The opinions seem to sway for either side, but there are certainly pros and cons for both. With cloning, you can remake your character completely, while keeping the same class and points. This can also be a con though if you've grown rather attached to your character. In that case, a respec would be the appropriate course of action. Whichever you decide, it is nice to know we have a choice to use either now, depending on the situation.
PvP for PvE on the PTR
The changes just keep on coming, and at the oddest times too. The following was just unlocked on the patch 2.4 PTR: Arena gear is now obtainable in exchange for PvE tokens. According to World of Raids, Tier 4 tokens will get you season 1 gear, T5/6 will get you season 2, and the new Sunwell T6 tokens will get you Vindicator gear. You can also, apparently, exchange Badges of Justice for "all PvP gear," as pictured.What does this change signify? Yet again, Blizz is trying to open up progression. Whether this is in advance of Wrath, when this all will be relatively meaningless, or simply in response to continuing pressure for advancement from players, this is probably a change that will be lauded by those who don't already have what it gives. If you've got this arena gear already, it might seem unfair that people can get it through alternate paths, and maybe it is. But I like that Blizz keeps trying to make it easier to be versatile in the game, to not just have to devote yourself to either PvE or PvP. Players being able to take advantage of all the game has to offer is key to its continued success.
