character-wipe
Latest
The Daily Grind: When are rollbacks and wipes absolutely necessary?
In the last few weeks, two big games we cover on Massively have been slammed with exploits that have injured their respective economies: Diablo III and Neverwinter. In Diablo III's case, a gold duping bug apparently pumped insane amounts of cash into the economy. Neverwinter's exploits run the gamut from Foundry abuses to negative auction hall bids that don't consume gold to classes that can one-shot bosses making farming trivial. According to these claims, NW exploiters are making off with thousands of real-life dollars when cashing out their ill-gotten funds. In both cases, players called for characters wipes and rollbacks, believing each exploit severe enough to merit a clean slate. But in Diablo III's case, while the studio dealt harshly with the exploiters, the developers disagreed with the need for wipes and do-overs, presumably having concluded that such drastic measures would impact the legit playerbase far more than would a dented economy. Neverwinter, on the other hand, chose to roll back the servers, causing widespread uproar. That brings us to today's question: Which studio was right? How bad does an exploit have to be before character wipes and server rollbacks are absolutely necessary? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Ryzom allowing players to keep subbed characters
Folks upset by the announced changes in Ryzom that included complete character wipes will be happy to know that Winchgate has heard your pleas. Players with active subscriptions at the closing of the current servers will be allowed to keep their characters! This includes name, appearance, levels, and skill bricks for all characters on the account. Players who prefer a fresh start instead will also be able to do so. To facilitate this change and give players more time to win starter packs, the server merge has been postponed for a week and will now occur on Saturday, September 29th at 6:00 p.m. EDT. You can read more about the server merges in Massively's exclusive interview.
The Daily Grind: Do character wipes influence your beta participation?
A decade ago, there was never any question that characters you created during an MMO beta would be deleted. It was going to happen. You didn't really question it; no tantrums were thrown when it happened. But that's been changing in the last few years as more and more companies allow their open beta testers to keep their beta characters into launch, perhaps as incentive to get gamers playing and testing riskier, newer games. Of course, sometimes that launch never happens anyway, and the game just lingers on in beta forever, giving us the impression that keeping characters is not so much a reward for early adopters as it is a necessity for a game that will never emerge from its open beta. Would you be more likely to play a beta if you knew you could keep your characters permanently? Or do you just roll your eyes at the idea that such a beta is a beta in the first place? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Should characters always be wiped from beta to launch?
Who doesn't love a good beta? Right? Well, actually, lots of people don't like betas for several reasons, one of the biggest ones being the fact that your character's progression will usually be wiped clean before the game goes into launch mode. As you can imagine, this is a necessary evil. After all, betas are for testing, not for getting a head start on your leveling. But more recently, some studios have been allowing characters to stay from open beta to launch, essentially establishing that beta period as a headstart of its own -- often before the official pre-order headstart. This might just be another sign of that evolution of betas from a testing period to a marketing strategy, but we want to know how you feel about the character wipes themselves. Do you feel that erasing your character from beta to launch will stop you from playing in the beta, or do you see it as a fair part of the process? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Dawntide closing beta server for massive world revamp
The curious saga of Dawntide continues, and the next chapter includes a wipe, a world revamp, and two weeks of sheer unadulterated mayhem. The fantasy sandbox has had a rough go of it in 2011, first with funding issues and then with all of the trials and gameplay tribulations that come with bringing an indie MMO project to fruition. Due to the large-scale world re-design, the title will be going dark for a couple of months beginning on December 19th. The game's open beta server will be wiped, and the devs at Working as Intended will be constructing and populating "a new, more interesting, detailed and visually appealing world." Prior to the wipe, players will enjoy skill gains at five times the normal rate as well as no-holds barred PvP in every corner of the game world save for the starting towns. WAI is also allowing players to keep their equipment upon death until wipe day, but the official website notes that these changes are only temporary and will not be returning when the server reopens in January or February.
The Daily Grind: Would you keep playing if your character was wiped?
So the scuttlebutt has it that Darkfall is getting ready to give way to an entirely new version. The PvP sandbox has gone through several iterations since its early 2009 launch, but one thing that has always been consistent is the player characters. Aventurine recently hinted at character wipes in conjunction with Darkfall 2.0, and while front man Tasos Flambouras hasn't said definitively that there will be a fresh start, he also hasn't said there won't be. For today's Daily Grind, we'd like to know your thoughts on character wipes. Whether it's a game like Darkfall or any other sort of progression-based affair, would you keep playing if your progress was reset? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Aventurine talks Darkfall 2.0, character wipes, and more
Last week we told you about an Aventurine blog entry that touted Darkfall's forthcoming update as a "new game." This week, producer Tasos Flambouras sheds a wee bit more light on the Darkfall 2.0 situation, but readers of his latest blog post will likely be left with more questions than answers. To summarize, the new game is not a sequel but rather an iteration on all the lessons learned after two-plus years of operating and updating Darkfall. Aventurine now boasts a much larger dev team than the one that shipped the original game in 2009, and "no aspect of the game has been left untouched" when it comes to the revamp and relaunch. Speaking of relaunches, Flambouras addresses the seemingly odd decision to incorporate Darkfall 2.0's extensive siege mechanic changes into the current game. As it turns out, Aventurine is planning some sort of epic end-of-1.0 event before transitioning to the new game, and sieges will play a part in the action. Finally, those of you who have already purchased Darkfall will not be charged again for the 2.0 client. What about character transfers and/or wipes? That's a bit murkier, and though Flambouras says "it would not be necessary to wipe" in the new version, he also says that the topic is still under discussion. Head to the Darkfall Epic Blog to read this week's activity report.
WAKFU adding two new classes, political features
Two new character classes are coming to WAKFU's ongoing closed beta. The free-to-play fantasy title developed by Ankama is adding the Enutrof and the Ecaflip to the roster of playable classes as of today's patch. While the names are certainly an unfamiliar mouthful, the classes themselves embody two long-standing adventure archetypes: the treasure-hunter (the Enutrof), and the gambler (the Ecaflip). Ankama is also implementing major features of WAKFU's political system in today's update, among them various player governor abilities including the setting of policies and the appointment of various officials. Finally, existing WAKFU characters will be wiped, so you'll need to start anew the next time you log into the beta client. Check out the full patch notes at the official WAKFU website.
Black Prophecy blasts off in Europe today
T-minus three, two, one... and that sound you hear is the latest space-based MMORPG lifting off the launch pad, heading for the stratosphere and the stars beyond. At least, that's what gamigo and Reakktor are hoping when it comes to Black Prophecy, which officially takes a bow in Europe today. Beta characters, clans, and clan sectors will be wiped for the kickoff, and Black Prophecy will initially feature both an English and a German server. Snowcrash (no, not that one) has posted a note informing customers of impending forum downtime and has also let us know that game updates will be available via the launcher application while the launch-day forum restructuring is in progress. "This is not an end. It's a beginning; the foundation is laid and we will now move forward with the continued development of Black Prophecy after its release," says assistant production manager Chris "Snowcrash" Schutt. While you're waiting to log in -- or stuck at work -- check out our coverage roundup after the cut and get caught up on the biggest Black Prophecy news items from the past few months.
RIFT beta powow with Scott Hartsman
This is, by any measure, a busy week for RIFT. Fresh off the second beta event, Trion Worlds has dropped the NDA for the game and announced a third beta to take place over the holidays. As the process speeds exponentially faster toward launch, Scott Hartsman and his team have a white-knuckled grip on RIFT for all the bumps, shimmies, dips and hills that such a high-profile title offers. Even with a heaping amount of work on its plate, the team has been willing to share its passion for RIFT with the press and community. During this slight lull between betas two and three, Hartsman sat down with us over the phone to jaw about lessons learned from the beta, why Trion has dropped the NDA, how RIFT's already made history, and when we might be seeing this game on the shelves. Hit the jump and let's do this thing. As Hartsman is fond of saying about the game, "S**t just got real."
Dreamland Online drifts off into closed beta on November 21st
Feeling drowsy? IGG has two words for you: WAKE UP! IGG's Dreamland Online is making the transition into closed beta on November 21st following a period of intense alpha testing, and they're looking for a few good testers to iron out the bugs. Dreamland Online is an interesting fusion of anime and fantasy, dreams and reality, 3-D and side scrolling. In the game, players can tame wild beasts and raise them as their dearest friends or explore one of eight visually exciting zones in Dreamland. If you're looking to participate, IGG urges you to head over to Dreamland Online's site and sign up for a closed beta key. Unlike many MMO closed betas, character data will not be wiped at launch, so the character you make will live to fight another day. While IGG promises "tons of exciting events and rewards" in the beta, there are limited keys available, so don't delay!
Aion's Assault on Balaurea expansion coming to public test server
OK, Aion public test server (PTS) fans: would you like the good news first or the bad news? Never mind, here's the bad news: the PTS has been brought down and its database wiped (i.e., your characters and legions are now digital rubble under the NCsoft wrecking ball). The good news is that all of the destruction, terror, and mayhem is in service to the forthcoming Assault on Balaurea expansion and its eminent appearance on the testing shard. Beginning on August 18th, you can be among the first to experience the new content, in addition to sampling it with the significant XP and drop-rate boosts exclusive to the PTS. The expansion hits the live servers on September 7th, so be sure and read up on how to access the PTS client if you'd like an early start.
Xsyon working towards release
The last time we heard from the development team in charge of upcoming indie sandbox post-apocalyptic MMO, Xsyon, they had planned to let players in prior to launch in small groups. The primary reason was to allow the developers enough time to test, then let another group in, and repeat. Staggering the pre-order invitations to ensure they had bugs fixed sounded like a wise move to us. Now, in the most recent posting to that thread, the current plans are to let the remaining players in to get their hands on Xsyon starting this upcoming Wednesday. From there, they'll focus on fixing the last of the bugs and hopefully testing for two weeks. At that time, they intend to do the final wipe and then let players have their pre-order week.
