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The Repopulation looks back at its July test updates
The end of the month means a new update for those on the outside looking in at The Repopulation, and July brought with it some sizable changes. For example, the game introduced 27 new areas, with several existing areas seeing new improvements and a lot of extra paths opening up. Any explorer has plenty of new stuff to see throughout the game, from new ways to see old regions to old regions just filled with new things. July also saw the inclusion of the training mechanic, which allows players to spend training points to improve various abilities. Pharmaceuticals, equipment fittings, and music also saw large-scale overhauls for players, and the development team launched a survey to get a better idea of the player types watching the game closely. You can see the full list of patch changes with the official update, along with more details on the overhauls and plans moving forward.
UemeU shows off concept video and screenshots
If you want to roll your own game these days, you're certainly not lacking in tools to do so. UemeU is another game aimed at giving players the ability to do whatever they want, whether they'd like to build a huge, sprawling online game or just a nice house to settle down and call your own. The official reveal trailer past the break explains the goals of developer Omnigon Games in detail: The game is meant as a sandbox allowing players to create their own servers, structures, rules, and settings as they desire. Lead developer Jeremy Hindle explains that the game will allow players to both create and play, with creation governed by a simple set of basic shapes that can be combined as players wish. Players will be able to create and modify abilities, change the rules for servers, and create a robust series of interactions via the use of action triggers. Check out the full video just past the cut if this sounds right up your alley. [Souce: Omnigon Games press release]
The Repopulation improves abilities and combat in May
May has finally come to an end, and The Repopulation comes ever closer to release with a larger pool of testers on both weekends and a regular basis. It also means that more big changes have been rolled out to the game, starting with Ability Enhancements. These slotted tricks fit into abilities similar to item fittings, with a variety of different enhancements available to improve a character's skills. The enhancement slots are limited, however, which forces players to think about how they want to specialize their characters. Combat has also received a major tuning tweak, with a new off-hand option for those who'd prefer not to dual-wield melee weapons and a number of improved abilities. The refined combat system includes new openings and counter-attack support, which makes the system play nicer in a group setting. You can see the full patch notes and read more details on the official site. [Thanks to J.C. Smith for the tip!]
Ask Massively: Newsletters, EVE Online, and the value of alpha previews
Welcome back to a grab-bag edition of Ask Massively. First up is reader Roy, who asked, Do you have any kind of newsletter or weekly email on this site? Nope, no newsletter or email blasts! But there are lots of easy ways to follow our work. If you want the whole shebang, you can follow us through your RSS reader of choice as well as several social media avenues, all outlined in an Ask Massively from last year. If you want just a summary of our best stuff, you could follow just our Week in Review column, which runs every Sunday evening and might just serve your desire for a weekly summary of cool posts. We also publish weekly roundups of MMO in beta testing, crowdfunded MMOs, and pseudo-MMOs, including coverage of some games we don't traditionally cover separately. What else have we got this week? How about an internet spaceships question from Gabe.
ArcheAge alpha is officially underway
Trion Worlds has announced today that the alpha test version of XLGAMES' ArcheAge is now underway. Yes, that sentence was real. No, you don't need to rub your eyes and re-read it; the game is finally in testing after lying dormant for so long that many feared it had been quietly shelved. We're staring down the barrel of more testing and an ultimate release. You don't believe it? That's fair. Don't take our word for it; take it from the trailer just past the cut that's being used to advertise the start of testing. Admittedly, it isn't showing off in-game footage, but it is in English. Besides, it's cool. The long wait for English ArcheAge fans won't be quite so long now, especially as press (like us) has the testing NDA dropped and can start talking about our experiences in the client. [Source: Trion Worlds press release]
Heroes of the Storm enters technical alpha testing
Heroes of the Storm, the game previously known as Blizzard All-Stars, Blizzard Dota, and Blizzard Entertainment Presents A Bunch Of Guys Hitting Each Other, is technically in alpha. Wait, sorry, that's not right. It's in technical alpha. That means that it's in a phase of testing with an emphasis not on balance or gameplay but on making sure that the fundamental engine works. Testing is currently limited to a very small pool of players, but external players are being brought in to really put the game's network through its paces. Players who cannot wait to get in on the game, even with placeholder graphics and numerous bugs, should make sure that their Battle.net accounts are up to date and have opted in for the beta. Again, invitations will be extremely limited at first, although the roster of testers will expand as time goes by. If this sounds like your sort of gig, make sure you've opted in, and stay hopeful that Blizzard will grant you a coveted invitation mail.
DayZ griefers force victims to sing
It may be the most genial stick-em-up of all time. A group of DayZ bandits are ambushing players in game for a truly sinister purpose: to make them sing. In the following video, you can see and hear players sneak up on unprepared foes, force them to their knees at gunpoint, and then offer them a choice. Either they sing their national anthem or they get shot. The bandits don't make their victims sing the entire thing and are recorded saying that they'll help them out with in-game supplies if they go along with it. You can preview the spectacle after the jump.
DayZ won't be released in 2014
If all of the reminders from Bohemia Interactive weren't enough to convey the message already, DayZ is still very early in its testing process. A recent post summing up the game's third week in early access mentions that the team is not expecting to be further than beta testing by the end of 2014, stating once again that the only people who should purchase the game's early access are those who want to be a part of the development process. Aside from that, the development team is looking toward future features including customizable vehicles, structures, and in-depth mechanics for hunting and cooking animals in the wild. At 875,000 copies sold, it seems that the game is carving a niche for itself among zombie survival enthusiasts even if it is still very early in its development. Take a look at the full list of planned improvements to the game in the post.
The Soapbox: My lore problem
"In the distant forests of El'quen, a dark evil stirs. Marrowgore the Unhunter, imprisoned for a thousand years in Cauldron Lake by the Eye of Son'drak, has broken free. Now, he and his evil BoneSlurpers stage an all-out war on the United Provinces. You, a freshly christened hero known for valorous acts both on and off the battlefield, must take charge of the Sacred Axeblade of Loqtai, harness the power it contains, and send the Unhunter back to his watery prison. "But first, can you get me nine wolf pelts?"
Massively Exclusive: Gauging the pressure on the City of Steam alpha
City of Steam doesn't look good for a game in alpha; it looks good for a game in beta. And yet you can tell that the game is still in alpha testing if you read through our last tour of the game and compare it with the state of the game players will experience over the weekend. This is a game that's growing by leaps and bounds, making huge strides in development at each turn. And that's all the more impressive when you realize that it's a browser-based title from an independent studio working on what I can only assume is a shoestring budget. If you haven't heard of City of Steam before now, I invite you to take a look at our last tour through the game at the hands of the inimitable Justin Olivetti, who gives an overview of what the game is and how it played during the previous alpha test. But what about now? What's been improved and expanded? I took a brief tour with Mechanist Games' Gabriel Laforge to see the latest client and get a sense of the game for myself.
Storybricks demo and interview with Brian 'Psychochild' Green and Kelly Heckman
Namaste Entertainment's upcoming MMO-narrative-building toolset, Storybricks, is quickly picking up steam among the massively multiplayer gaming community. The quirky title recently released a public alpha client to coincide with the project's Kickstarter campaign, and I had the opportunity to sit down with Namaste's Brian "Psychochild" Green and Kelly Heckman for a tour of the client as well as a short interview on what the future holds for the toolbox-cum-MMOG project. Follow on past the cut and join me as I try to pinpoint Namaste's goals for the future of Storybricks.
Stick it to the world in The Missing Ink's open alpha
If you like your MMOs a little bit sandboxy, a little bit quirky, and 100% indie, then RedBedlam's upcoming title The Missing Ink might be right up your alley. The game puts players in control of a 3-D world which they can mold to their liking and also provides MMO mainstays such as combat, PvP, exploration, and more. The game is still in the alpha testing phase, so players should expect more than the occasional bug or glitch. But if you want to help an indie developer iron the kinks out of its Unity-based sandbox MMO, then just head on over to the game's official site to sign up. There's no selection process; just sign up, jump in, and shape the world.
Alphas glean some TR patch 1.7 details
If ever we wondered whether the Tabula Rasa dev team employed a staggered development schedule (and we have), I think we can finally put that question to rest. No sooner do we get our hands on the patch notes for patch 1.6 then we find out that many of the changes for patch 1.7 are already sketched out. The Alphas over at Tabula Rasa Vault recently took a number of community concerns to the developers and published the findings in a Q&A format. Much to our surprise, these include several things that are scheduled to be included in patch 1.7. We're all about aggressive content development schedules, but we're hoping they remember what happened the last time they pushed a patch out the door without letting it simmer in test for long enough.In any case, some of the fixes coming in patch 1.7 include a fix to Controlled Fission in PvP, some tweaks to the UI to encourage more player interaction, a nerf to some high level abuse of the Medic's Reconstruction ability, and the addition of repair tools (which are now affected by item rarity) to the loot drop tables. One last juicy detail was the development team is currently working on overhauling the ailing crafting system, but the timetable for release is slotted for a nebulous "future patch."
