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‘Destiny 2’ tackles the original’s biggest problem: storytelling
The first time I played the original Destiny, I felt frustrated and annoyed. It was a fun online co-op team shooter but the game's narrative was insultingly shallow -- a poorly written space opera where a vague "darkness" was out to destroy a mysterious entity called the Traveler that somehow thrust humanity into a golden age, but also might be dead. It took a year for Bungie to patch in interesting characters and emotional hooks with The Taken King expansion, but by then, I had moved on. Destiny 2, however, has my attention. Not only does it look like a good starting point for new players, but it has the one thing every epic story needs: a great villain.
‘Destiny 2’ has the fundamentals to be a solid sequel
When it comes to serialized media, be it film, comics or video games, rarely does someone say with conviction that "the sequel was better." The expectations are always too high. A good sequel not only has to embody the best of its predecessor, but also be new and original enough to stand on its own. Destiny 2's gameplay premiere event didn't completely assure me that it would surpass the original game, but it's off to a great start.
'Destiny 2’ plays matchmaker so you aren't stuck with weirdos
Bungie wants to make it easier to join and play with other people in Destiny 2. Previously, clans were a complicated affair, making you log on to Bungie.net and connect your PSN or Xbox Live account to join them. During a live event today, Bungie revealed that a revamped Clan and matchmaking system will exist in the game itself. This and other new features fell like a welcome push to make the Destiny 2 experience more comfortably social.
'Destiny' to add private matches and user-hosted tournaments
The reasons for Destiny splitting paths between the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions and their current-gen counterparts are becoming a lot clearer. With the "Rise of Iron" expansion, the team is adding private Crucible matches, support for clans and user-hosted tournaments with cash prizes.
Platoon support now available to all Battlefield 4 soldiers
Following its initial debut at the end of last month, DICE has now revealed that Battlefield 4's platoons are available to anyone playing the game, whether they paid extra for a Premium membership or not. Though the developer has saddled the feature with a genre-appropriate name, the "platoons" found in Battlefield 4 are essentially identical to the "clans" found in many other online games. Each platoon features a unique name tag and emblem, as well as a private Battlelog feed. Up to 100 players can join a single platoon, and each virtual soldier's success on the battlefield will contribute to the group's overall rank. Those hoping to create their own platoon of hardened online warriors will find full details under the "Home" tab on the Battlelog website, while those hoping to join a ready-made group of likeminded virtual killers should pay a visit to the "Platoons" section of the Battlefield 4 forums. [Image: EA]
Battlefield 4 enlists platoon support on February 27
The chaotic, virtual warfare of Battlefield 4 is about to grow more organized with tomorrow's addition of platoons. Despite the thematically-appropriate name, these platoons are best thought of as the Battlefield 4 equivalent of officially supported online clans. Up to 100 soldiers can join a given platoon where they will share a unique name tag and emblem with their fellow grunts. A private Battlelog feed will be available to each platoon, alongside a public feed useful for kicking off fights with other other groups of virtual soldiers. Developer DICE also notes that each member will have the "ability to earn stats for your platoon and rank it up," though those ranks are ornamental and offer no tangible reward beyond bragging rights. Hoping to avoid another Battlefield 4 server crush, DICE plans to roll out platoon support gradually over the course of a week. Both Premium and Standard iterations of the game will receive the feature at the same time, though a Premium membership and a rank of at least 10 will be required to create your own platoon. [Image: EA]
Diablo III works on new community tools
Getting together with a buddy to slay the forces of Hell should be a lot easier when Diablo III: Reaper of Souls comes out, as Blizzard is adding in a couple of new social tools for the expansion. The first tool is the addition of clans, Diablo III's version of guilds. Anyone can form a clan, although a player may be part of only one clan at a time. Clans are limited to 120 members and will be searchable with a clan finder feature. Then there will be communities, which are larger and more casual social circles within the game for like-minded players. Unlike clans, communities can support unlimited members, and players can be part of more than one at a time. Communities and clans will be supported by a new interface in the game that includes messages of the day and achievement notices.
How social slaying works in Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls
Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls will serve social slayers by giving them formal and more casual options to band together and go a-lootin' in Blizzard's popular role-playing game. Clans, which are invite-only, have a 120-person maximum and were designed for smaller, more tight-knit groups of players to coordinate schedules and gameplay goals. Anyone can create or request to join a clan, but players may only be enrolled in one clan at a time. Communities, on the other hand, are a more casual means to essentially the same end. They can be open or closed, and players can be members of multiple communities at the same time. There are also no player caps on communities, so they can be as small or as large as players see fit. Both features are live in the ongoing Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls closed beta and will be unlocked in the full game prior to the expansion's launch next month, on March 25. Custom tabs in the user interface of Diablo 3 will keep clan and community members up to date by displaying news, recent Legendary Item drops found by members (which you can ogle from within the menu) and a dedicated chat channel for direct lines of communication. Good hunting! [Image: Activision-Blizzard]
Star Citizen's Organizations get their engines humming
Cloud Imperium Games have run a thorough pre-flight check and flipped the switch on Star Citizen's clan system, referred to as Organizations. Eager citizens can now register or join an Organization, but you only get to align yourself with one for now, so choose wisely. Organizations will get their own URL and customizable websites (think of it like Facebook for space flight aficionados) where users can interact with one another and ... well ... organize themselves. The launch of Organizations also brings with it a new Live Chat system, which allows users to separate themselves into their own rooms, so that the rest of the universe doesn't have to know what you and your crew are up to. Organizations are pretty basic right now, but Cloud Imperium Games notes on the announcement page that they have "extensive long-range plans" to improve the experience over time. "Our goal with the Organization system, like the Hangar and Dogfighting modules, is to allow the Star Citizen community to get a foot in the door and start experiencing (and expanding) the Star Citizen 'verse as soon as possible," the post states. "Remember: organizations isn't just about letting you group together with friends and gamers, it's about backers beginning to shape Star Citizen's lore!"
Clans gang up on Killzone: Shadow Fall next month
Killzone: Shadow Fall's most-requested feature is clan support and developer Guerrilla Games plans to add the functionality next month. Version 1.09 of Killzone: Shadow Fall will drop in early February, adding clan support to the game and the official website. Clan names will display in-game and basic clan management options will be available through the website, allowing players to create clans, add and remove clan members, and promote clan members to officer status. Subsequent free updates will expand on clan functionality based on fan feedback. Guerrilla Games will expand upon its PS4 launch game with free multiplayer maps and has already revealed the first two locales. A $20 season pass for Killzone: Shadow Fall is also available and guarantees a total of six DLC packs, the first of which Guerrilla promises to announce soon.
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MechWarrior Online's Bullock on golden mechs and future content
Pirahna Game's president Russ Bullock is listening to the playerbase of MechWarrior Online. He is very aware of the number of complaints that have come in after a recent announcement of the pre-order sell of Clan 'Mechs, with prices ranging from under $30.00 to $500.00 for a gold-plated version. Although the complaints come from a range of topics, many concentrate on the timing of the announcement. After all, the developers only recently announced the Project Phoenix pre-order program. Some players see this new DLC pre-order only as a chance to make more money in lieu of producing more content. Other complaints stem from the prices of the pre-orders, and it's easy to see why. When we sat down with him recently, Bullock explained the costs in a few ways. First, the highest-priced items are simply collector's items. They look cool and do not have extras that go along with them that give them an advantage during combat. Second, all of the 'Mechs on the list can be paid for with in-game funds once released, minus some of the non-combat bonuses attached, meaning that any player who wants to can continue to pay nothing at all. Bullock wanted to emphasize that despite all of this, he knows that what the playerbase is really asking for is community-based features.
Warlords of Draenor: Why more diversity will be better for the expansion
One of the things we've only seen so far with Warlords of Draenor are the heads of the largest and most important orcish clans, clans like the Frostwolves, the Warsong, the Blackrock, the Bleeding Hollow and Shadowmoon Clan which were led by the most famous orc historical figures. It makes sense that we've seen them, of course - they're the big names, after all. Grom Hellscream, Durotan, Blackhand, Ner'zhul, Kargath Bladefist, Kilrogg Deadeye and Gul'dan are extremely famous, and it makes sense that they be featured. But they're not the only orc clans, nor the only clan leaders, and if we just focus on them we're missing out on the potential of the lesser known clans. Clans like the Thunderlord, the Bladewind, the Rageroar and others, which were wiped out or otherwise not as important but which can rise to prominence in this new Iron Horde. Why should they concern us? Well, several reasons. They give us a chance to see a less monolithic side to the Iron Horde. Orc society was based entirely around the clan - it's about time we get to see this. Show us some clans. Give us a chance to observe how one goes about welding a nation out of them without the use of demonic magic and coercion. There's been a lot of discussion about the lack of representation of female characters in Warlords of Draenor. Since we can't just gender flip established lore figures, these lesser known clans provide a perfect opportunity to establish new characters and have them rise to prominence through their actions in the story. The Rageroar, for instance, are barely known - their only real appearance was in Cataclysm. We have no idea who their leader was back on Draenor - therefore, there's no good reason for it not to be a woman. Some of these clans defied the Old Horde of Ner'zhul and then Gul'dan. They could well defy this new Iron Horde as well, and it's simply better and more believable if we get to see some orcs preferring to keep to their older clan based way of life and rejecting new siege technology and all that the Iron Horde brings as being simply not orcish enough. Let's talk about it in more detail. How do we make use of the clans?
Clans get an upgrade, new app for Call of Duty: Ghosts
Clans in Call of Duty: Ghosts are no longer separated by platform, so your clan can span Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3 and PC, Activision says. No matter which platform your friends are competing on – granted it's not Wii U – you can all enjoy the additional Clan XP that yields exclusive unlocks for the whole clan as you play together. Early registration for clans is open right now. If you're in an existing clan in another Call of Duty game, your leader can now transfer over to Ghosts – or you can wait until the game launches and manage your clan in-game. There will also be clan-versus-clan playlists for multiplayer. A new free app for clans will aim to make communication and "rallying up" for play sessions easier. The app features a Clan Wars metagame where, depending on which game types you're playing in multiplayer, you'll battle other Ghosts clans in a war of sorts over territory. Placing in the top three of Clan Wars will then yield additional rewards to your clan, both in the app and in the game. Finally, we've got the minimum system requirements for PC after the break, but first clear up some space on your hard drive. You're going to need it.
The Think Tank: What do you look for in a guild?
Guilds are what make MMOs. It's that social interaction among real people that defines a massively multiplayer experience, but our guild preferences differ greatly. Some of us like to stick with the same guild throughout multiple games, some of us only play with real-life friends, and some of us seek out new guilds as part of the adventure in each new game. The Massively staff is certainly no different as we all have our own way of interacting with guilds in the MMOs we love so much. How do you think each team member likes his or her social interaction? Follow along after the jump to find out.
Choose My Adventure: Building on the clan experience in Darkfall
Boy, MJ's Misadventureland is really coming along! Hiring a few more hands sure has sped things up; you wouldn't even recognize the project now compared to even just one week ago. But isn't that the whole point of Choose My Adventure -- to watch the adventure that you're building develop and unfold? Well, that and to snicker at your Massively guinea pigs... we know. Having gone into this particular adventure knowing that Darkfall Unholy Wars was not a game meant for the solo soul, I knew that it was only a matter of time before I found myself in a clan to experience more of the heart of the game, which just so happens to be clan warfare. And trust me, the clan wasted no time throwing me into the thick of things once you put me in one. Although I do think starting off solo was important to get the real experience Darkfall any new player would (after all, most find a clan after first logging in), this week really has shown me a whole new game. I'd just scratched the surface before, the skin if you will, and now I've peered into the heart and seen the seedy underbelly as well.%Gallery-187735%
Choose My Adventure: Beyond the walls of safety in Darkfall
Man up MJ, you said. Forsake the fetters of safety and wander the wilds of the world. Yes, folks, for the next phase of our Choose My Adventure project, you directed me to leave the confines of the starting cities and surrounding lands to explore and harvest in the unprotected areas in Darkfall Unholy Wars. That, and get familiar with the workbench for crafting. So said you all, and so I did. I ran little Emey Brokenclaw beyond the bounds of the safe zones and introduced her to the vast lands stretching across Agon. I enjoyed some exciting experiences as well as learned quite a few things during that journey, though not necessarily what you'd expect.%Gallery-187735%
Darkfall Unholy Wars dev diary addresses changes to the clan system
Another Darkfall Unholy Wars dev blog hit the interwebs today, this one focusing on the many changes to the clan system that will be coming with the game's reboot. One of the largest tweaks to the system is in the way that clan ranks will operate. Previously, a player's clan rank (and corresponding clan privileges) was determined by the number of enemy clan members killed. This will no longer be the case in Unholy Wars, which will instead allow clan leaders to set the ranks and privileges of each member, therefore allowing more control over who has the ability to invite new members, access the clan vault, and so on. The old clan rank system will still exist but will be known as military rank and will have no bearing on a player's privileges. In addition, the founder and leader of the clan are no longer tied together, so the clan's creator can easily transfer leadership to another member. Aventurine also wants to "give clans a greater sense of ownership over the world," so the studio is implementing a system that will "link villages to nearby clan holdings." By improving the rewards for village ownership, the team hopes that clans will consolidate their power thus creating more border conflicts as clans attempt to extend their reach. Aventurine realizes that villages "have always been hot-spots for PvP activities," however, so a resource-stealing mechanic is also being added. This will allow any player to steal resource rewards from a clan-controlled village, which means that clans will have to keep close watch over their domain to ensure that they receive all of their rightfully earned resources. For further details, check out the video below.
The Soapbox: RuneScape is a proper MMO
Most of us will remember RuneScape from its first incarnation: a tiny and blocky world with simplistic gameplay, no sound, and only a handful of quests. The product of two brothers operating out of their parents' house in Nottingham, the original version launched in 2001 and slowly carved out its niche as a game for kids that could be played in a web-browser. RuneScape has a special significance for me as the first MMO I ever played, and it's responsible for starting my life-long love affair with online gaming. A whole generation of gamers grew up with that primitive, blocky world and eventually left for more polished games. But RuneScape has grown up too -- and boy did it have a growth spurt! Today's RuneScape bears little resemblance to the classic version many of us played as kids. The graphics are now considerably better, the world map is about five times the size, and it has features most people dream of getting in their favourite MMOs. RuneScape now has player housing, guild halls on huge floating islands, a full player-designed battleground system, procedurally generated dungeons, regular content updates, and 186 quests packed full of British humour. People sometimes say that RuneScape isn't a proper MMO like World of Warcraft, but I'd argue that it's actually more worthy of its "massively multiplayer" title than most of the MMOs released in the past decade. In this editorial, I look at just how far RuneScape has come and argue that RuneScape may be more worthy of being called a proper MMO than some triple-A releases.
Darkfall update brings new clan permissions system
The folks at Aventurine are still working hard on a number of improvements for Darkfall such as new weapons styles, performance optimization, and UI modifications, but in the meantime they've decided to roll out a new feature that should be a great boon to clan leaders and officers. Currently, clan leaders are only allowed to grant clan-related permissions to their members based on clan rank. With the new system, clan leaders will be able to assign permissions to individual players, regardless of their ranks within the clan. In addition, each clan permission will have an associated title that any member with that permission can choose to display if they so desire. For instance, a clan member with permission to recruit members can choose to show the "recruiter" title. Military ranks will remain in the game, but they are now governed by PvP performance and each new military rank is granted automatically upon the completion of specific goals. These ranks have no bearing on clan permissions. The full details on the new system are available for perusal over at the Darkfall official site. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
Human Head 'fully intends' to make a more savage Rune sequel
Now that Prey 2 has been pushed back, it seems that Human Head co-founder Ted Halsted wants to put up the green light on bringing back the 10-plus year old action title, Rune. "I can't reveal what we've got planned," he says, "but we fully intend to bring digital viking mayhem into the here-and-now."There were rumblings of a sequel a few years ago, but the potential game's publisher at the time decided to pass on funding development. These days, Kickstarter is the funding method of choice, but Halstead only says he's glad there are multiple methods to funding, and the team "certainly wouldn't rule out Kickstarter."What else can we expect from this not-officially-announced project? Halsted says a second game would offer a more savage viking world, with updated combat, and a big emphasis on clan-based multiplayer. "We're envisioning an action-world of warrior tribes," says Halsted. They're just not, you know, announcing it yet.
