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Hyperspace Beacon: How do I play my SWTOR class?
I understand what some Star Wars: The Old Republic players are seeking when they ask how I play my class. They want to play the game better! If they ask me, specifically, then they want to play a Marauder better. I like these guys, and I welcome any questions they have. The other kind of SWTOR player who asks how I play my class looks for the faults in my playstyle. Well, there are many of them, but that doesn't mean that some of my choices are completely bad. And like most players, I didn't learn how to play my class completely on my own. I am, like most of you, an amalgam of several different teachers. Today, I'd like to take a moment not to look at the specific ways I play a Marauder (although I might use the Marauder as an example) but to examine methods for learning and elicit tips from players who are damn good at playing MMOs.
The Mog Log: Future classes and jobs for Final Fantasy XIV?
A long time ago, I speculated a bit on what classes and jobs we might see added to Final Fantasy XIV. And I do mean a long time ago in internet terms; this was back before we knew that Arcanist and Summoner were going to be linked, for example. A lot of new information has come to light between then and now, the sort of stuff that requires a whole new round of speculation. Some of that speculation is, of course, completely out there. Some of it isn't. And some of it is out there in a way that would be totally cool and would attract a whole lot of interest. So let's take a look at some potential jobs, classes, and whatnot to see where they might fit into the game... or even whether they'll fit into the game. There's probably no space for Celebrant, sadly.
Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online combat 101
As I had mentioned in previous articles, it's become apparent that readers don't have a clear picture of The Elder Scrolls Online. I can certainly understand where this comes from; the advertisers have held back a lot of specific information about ESO. Although we have had one trailer that included in-game footage, it didn't really give us a good taste of what it feels like to play the game. It certainly didn't show what the game has to offer beyond PvP. Although PvP will likely be a lot of fun in ESO, I know that not everyone will pick up or wants to pick up the game strictly for that reason. This week, I would like to dive into a bit of the combat basics. Creative Director Paul Sage and his crew have given multiple demos showing the combat of ESO, and even a few of our own reporters have hopped onto a demo PC at a convention or two to experience the game firsthand. I certainly suggest you read those write-ups if you're looking for the overall experience because today I'm talking about combat specifically. How does it work, and more importantly, what will it feel like?
Star Wars: The Old Republic highlights bomb(er) ships
Bombers are not the sort of ships that dart hither and yon in Star Wars: The Old Republic. They don't skitter about in elaborate dogfights. No, they are the ships that approach their targets, use heavy shields to weather some incoming fire, and then watch as a field of mines explodes around all those ships with the darting and the skittering. The latest development blog on the official site discusses more about how bombers play in Galactic Starfighter. Various mines are available to bombers, ranging from straightforward damage mines to shield-and-power draining Ion Mines to seek-and-destroy Seeker Mines. Bombers can also field stationary Drones for both offensive and defensive purposes, with Sentry Drones taking shots at enemy ships and Repair Drones fixing up the hull of allied craft. Take a look at the full entry for more details, especially if you think you're the sort of player who might want to drop a bomb on someone.
Trove will rejuvenate MMO worlds by blowing them up
I'll confess that even after having chatted with Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman about this new Trove project and reading Shawn's very early impressions piece, I was still having difficulty understanding what, exactly, this game was about. Was it just some sort of kiddy LEGO hack-and-slasher with a nod to housing thrown in? How was Trion going to make good on its promise to continually provide a sense of new adventures? And was Trove just a blatant ripoff of Cube World, as some have claimed? Because Trove isn't quite a typical MMO, I needed another phone session with Trion to get a clearer picture of this game. Creative Lead Andrew Krausnick spent an hour with me patiently answering any and all of my questions. The big one had to be asked from the get go. Were you really going to be blowing up the world all the time? Krausnick confirmed that yes, Trion will be doing exactly that. More than that, he said that it would be the factor that would set Trove apart from all of the other games out there right now.
Massively previews WildStar's character creation, housing, Engineer, and Medic
What do you get when you throw a bunch of Massively writers into the WildStar beta for a week and tell them they can roll a million characters, play the new classes, and muck around with floating houses in the sky? You get today's embargo-lift extravaganza, that's what, and a whole bunch of bunnygirls. Massively's Eliot Lefebvre, Justin Olivetti, and Gavin Townsley trekked to the planet Nexus and back to relate their deep-dive hands-on experience with the upcoming sci-fi MMO's character creation, Medic, and Engineer, as well as a take fresh look at the updated housing system. Enjoy our complete coverage! Massively's hands-on with WildStar's character creation Eliot tinkers with character customization, judging WildStar's somewhere between the extremes of World of Warcraft and City of Heroes. Expect an expert opinion on hair styles and body sliders. Massively's hands-on with WildStar's housing system In the wake of the latest housing demo, Gavin explains the differences between sockets, plugs, and buff boards, and then repeats rumors of a strip club for small stuffed animals. Massively's hands-on with WildStar's Engineer Justin is a sucker for Engineers: "This is my rifle and this is my gun; this is for fighting and this is for statistical improvements that help my gearscore for the inevitable raid gating." Massively's hands-on with WildStar's Medic Eliot covers the feel of WildStar's hard-to-master melee healer and his role in the overall environment: "Sure, I had moments of frustration, but I certainly wasn't ever bored."
Massively's hands-on with WildStar's Medic
My favorite classes in games are the ones that inspire spit-takes. The fact is that I don't really hate your bog-standard Warriors or Mages or whatever. But the classes that really get me interested are classes that demand that you explain what they do and how someone came up with that concept. Guild Wars has the Dervish, World of Warcraft has the Shaman, Final Fantasy XI has the Corsair -- they're flavorful, they're unique, and they're just plain neat. Combine that with my love of melee and WildStar's Medic had me from hello. I really like getting into the paint with things, I like the idea of a healer focused on getting up close and dancing, and I love the idea that medics balance between being doctors and technological shock troops. So jumping into the beta, I was happy to dive into the shoes of the doctor and start doing a whole lot of harm to anyone and everyone who opposed the Dominion.
Massively's hands-on with WildStar's housing system and new classes
Call me a pacifist, but housing and healing are two of my favorite aspects to any MMO. Maybe it stems from a deep rooted desire for safety and comfort, or perhaps I'm just a real-life Hittori Hanzo: no longer interested in making instruments of death. Either way, WildStar's latest reveals have me excited. In the course of the most recent press beta, I scored some hands-on time with both new classes and glimpsed the newest changes to housing at a press event last week. The two new classes, Medic and Engineer, add variety to the healing and tanking game, while housing improvements turn homemaking into more than just a hobby. The upcoming MMO from Carbine Studios and NCsoft is turning out to be one rich frontier, ripe with potential for anyone looking for a new MMO home.
Massively's hands-on with WildStar's character creation
Character creators are a big deal to me. If I didn't have to make my characters quickly enough at launch to avoid losing my precious names, I would probably spend the better part of a month before clicking "create" the first time. So you know that the first thing I did when I sat down to play WildStar's recent press beta was to play around with the character creator. All right, that's the first thing everyone does: You have to make a character, but I was playing that to win, people. Character creation in MMOs usually falls short of what's offered in games like The Sims and Saints Row IV. At the low end you have games like Final Fantasy XI (pick a race, pick a face, pick a hair color, am I seriously done now?), and at the high end you've got Champions Online or the dearly departed City of Heroes. WildStar does not hit the high end, but it does do some things pretty nicely, even if it also misses some opportunities.
WildStar unveils its final class, the Engineer
If you're headed to a distant planet of untold dangers, you'll want to be protected. You'll want to bring along plenty of armor, you'll want ranged weapons, and you'll want some nice bulky robots to keep you safe in the most dire of circumstances. In short, you will want everything that the Engineer brings to WildStar. It's a pet class, a ranged tank, a sniper, and a whole barrel of explosive mechanical fun all in one package. Engineers have access to a stable of reliable bots to perform several functions, ranging from dealing damage to tanking to providing quick heals. The class also features a variety of ranged attacks, heavy armor, and a special exo-suit that allows them to bulk up and smash everything in range. Take a look at the latest edition of DevSpeak just past the cut to see the class in action, and check out the official site for a brand new installment of the Tales from Beyond the Fringe comic. [Source: Carbine Studios press release]
The Daily Grind: Do visuals change your opinion on classes?
I had a reasonably high-level druid whom I had completely abandoned in World of Warcraft simply because I didn't like forever being shifted into another form. Then I found that Glyph of the Stars exists, and suddenly I'm not only playing the class but enjoying it again. There's no practical mechanical difference, just that I can actually see my character now. And that might seem like a trivial thing, but the decision of how classes move and look can have a pretty big impact. Think about it -- the Engineer of WildStar could just as easily be summoning animal pets, but a big part of its visual appeal is the fact that it carts around robots. Mesmers in Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 have a mechanical identity, but the pink-to-purple spell effects and obvious illusions are meant to impress players with a genuine sense of style. Do visuals change your opinions on classes? Or do you look purely at the mechanics and not care about how the whole thing looks in play? 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 Nexus Telegraph: WildStar's last two classes
In the wake of last week's class reveal, I'm going to start with a piece of information that was actually revealed shortly thereafter but might have been missed. According to the development team, the Chua can be Medics as well. So now, WildStar's full class and race layout has been made public, and what seemed to be a single odd omission is now corrected. You might recall that I did some serious class speculation when we didn't even know what the last two races were going to be back in March. Now we know the last two classes of WildStar and I can see how good my aim was. And once I'm done congratulating myself on fitting together pieces of obvious information, we can talk a little more about what the last two classes are actually doing within the context of the game. That seems fair, doesn't it? I'm glad you agree.
Tamriel Infinium: The true meaning of The Elder Scrolls Online skill lines
I have always thought it presumptuous to declare that anyone can know the true meaning of anything. However, I believe that players might be led slightly astray by the latest Elder Scrolls Online video. I don't think that the ESO creators were lying because I do believe that it is distinctly possible to take on nearly any role no matter the class or race choice. However, as in every other MMO in existence, only certain combinations will reign supreme, and unfortunately, I also suspect that if you wish to fill a specific role, you will have to pick specific classes. Thanks to some of the data fan sites have gathered from convention playthroughs, we can guestimate which combinations will fill which roles the best. In order to understand where I'm coming from, let's explore how the progression system works. The minimalistic user interface for ESO displays four components related to your skills. Your health bar depletes every time an enemy lands a hit. The magicka bar indicates the amount of spell-slinging power you have. The stamina bar depletes when you perform a physical action like dodging or swinging your axe. Then you also have the toolbar, which gives you five active ability slots and an ultimate slot. When you reach a certain level, you will be able to actively switch between two toolbars based on your weapon. Your weapon, armor, and skills determine which role you play in a group.
SMITE's Nu Wa uses the elements to smi... crush her enemies
Elemental mage-lovers have a new champion for their cause in Nu Wa, SMITE's guardian of heaven. Nu Wa is a half-human, half-snake master of elemental forces. She harnesses the powers of earth, water, fire, etc., to attack from a strategically safe distance. Some of Nu Wa's powers include throwing down a fog to stealth allies, summoning clay soldiers, launching a flame strike on a flammable foe, and casting the pillars of heaven to create an electrical field. Today's update also includes an optional Amethust Nu Wa skin, a revamp to the friends UI, and an improved beginner tutorial. You can check out Nu Wa's backstory and powers in her official video reveal after the break along with plenty of giant tortoise mutilation and gratuitous cleavage.
WildStar unveils its final two classes
WildStar has really drawn out this reveal as long as possible. We've known the game had six classes since more or less forever, that's fine. And we've known about four of them for a very long while now. So we've spent several weeks in the game's long, drawn-out reveal for all of the game's classes, which of course dealt with the four we already knew about first, leaving the lingering question marks of those last two classes. Finally, we can talk about those guys too. And those last two classes are pretty cool. You could guess some of the details from what we already know, but just like with WildStar's other classes there are some tricks and surprises along the way, and neither of the two previously unrevealed classes are one-trick ponies. So jump on past the break to finally find out the last two classes. What, you didn't think we were going to put that before the break, did you? We can draw out a reveal too.
WildStar shows off the Stalker
WildStar's recent class re-reveals have all lacked a certain something. A certain panache, a certain trait, a certain ability to sneak past a huge number of enemies before stabbing something in the back and walking away. That's what the Stalker brings to the table, and for everyone who loves classes that involve stealth and stabbing, you'll be very happy. Not that the class is that one-dimensional, of course; like all of the game's classes, Stalkers have a big bag of tricks. It's just that invisibility is a pretty good trick. Stalkers are equipped with twin retractable claws as well as nanoskin and a variety of other high-tech gadgets. The nanoskin serves multiple functions -- it allows for Stalkers to become tougher, more evasive, and even do that invisibility trick while in combat. Combined with their natural agility and controlling tricks, Stalkers can easily be on the front lines of a battle or tuck themselves away and assassinate key targets. Check out how it works in the video just past the break. [Source: Carbine Studios press release]
Neverwinter shows off Paragon Paths for more classes
The Paragon Paths in Neverwinter aren't just about making your character more powerful; they're about customizing your character to your playstyle. That's part of the reason why both Great Weapon Fighters and Guardian Fighters wind up sharing some potential paths. Yes, the Guardian Fighter is a tank and the Great Weapon Fighter isn't, but the added features of these paths make for very different characters. A Guardian Fighter on the Swordmaster path sacrifices some defense for more damage, producing a tank capable of hitting much harder than your average meat shield. Great Weapon Fighters who choose to be Iron Vanguards, meanwhile, pick up more control-based effects and wind up being more of a support archetype in the process. The latest development blog also shows off the new Control Wizard path, the Master of Flame, allowing this class to do some more serious damage over time by juggling flame and ice abilities. Check out more details on these new paths in the aforementioned development blog.
The Nexus Telegraph: Surprise! WildStar!
You might have noticed that there was an omission in last week's installment of The Nexus Telegraph. Every week I let you lovely people know what I'm going to be writing about next week, and when I can, the week after that. Last week I completely omitted what I'd be discussing in my next WildStar column, leaving you with no idea what I'd talk about today. Surprise! Yes, that was the thematic link. It seemed clever to me. One of the big elements that WildStar is embracing thus far is that trick of surprising the player. It's a tricky thing to pull off in an MMO because the entire genre is built around understanding and minimizing surprises as much as you can. So let's take a look at some of the game's approaches to surprise and how the game manages to create more surprises by giving you fewer surprises in some areas. Yeah, it's that sort of thing.
WildStar takes aim at the Spellslinger
There's a definite space western aesthetic at work within WildStar, the sort of thing that almost demands a character class who can stand out, one with two guns, a nice hat, and possibly the ability to teleport around. You know, exactly like the Spellslinger, the latest class to be (re)revealed for the game. But Spellslingers aren't just about shooting people and twirling around a bit, they're a magical class with a variety of options to take down enemies and look good doing it. Spellslingers supplement their guns with teleportation and sigils. The former works just like you'd expect, allowing a Spellslinger to jump to alternate dimensions, blink about the battlefield, and even phase partly out of reality for protection. Sigils, on the other hand, are symbols that the Spellslinger places to heal allies, swap places with enemies, lay traps, or otherwise mess with the flow of the battlefield. You don't have to take our word for it, though; check out the full DevSpeak on the class just past the break. [Source: Carbine Studios press release]
Tree of Savior preview sparks imagination with complex class combos
Take 80 classes -- some of which are hidden in the game world -- complex stats, and tons of skills, and then allow players to mix-and-match them. Chaotic? Genius? Tree of Savior might be both and then some. Steparu.com has translated a recent interview with IMCGames to pull some of the details about this Korean title. Tree of Savior has an interesting package that might be worth checking out above and beyond the intricate character development and its attractive visuals. The game will feature large maps, over 200 monster types, and automatic party formation and disbanding. Tree of Savior is scheduled to start limited focus testing in February 2014 in South Korea as the developer continues its hunt for a publisher. If you haven't already, you can check out the official trailer to get a feel for what this title has to offer.
