combat-changes
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The Evolution of Combat coming to RuneScape for player testing June 26th
What words are music to players' ears? "Biggest content update in its history." And RuneScape fans are getting just that! Jagex announced today that a massive content update bringing the all-new combat system, dubbed The Evolution of Combat, is on its way to the free-to-play fantasy game. The game-altering new system is promised to be more immersive and more involving. Lead Designer Mark Ogilvie noted that a combat revamp was the community's most requested update and he emphasized the value of community feedback. To garner more feedback, Jagex is offering RuneScape members the opportunity to test the update starting June 26th. This limited-access beta will then run through September, giving beta participants the chance to help "shape the future of one of the most important elements of the game." For the opportunity to participate in this exclusive combat system beta, players need to be an existing member of RuneScape or sign up for membership on the official site by June 1st. [Source: Press release]
Masthead releases first Earthrise expansion, reactivates old accounts
Today marks a significant milestone for Earthrise, the indie sci-fi sandbox from Masthead Studios. A rather large patch has made its way to the live servers, and the changes are so numerous that Masthead's press release labels the update as Earthrise's first expansion. The big kahuna in terms of new content is the Territorial Wars functionality, and the patch notes mention new zones with bases ripe for the capturing as well as the ability for guilds to construct various economic and military structures. Speaking of guilds, leaders can now make use of a new ranking and permission system, and Earthrise now sports both friend and ignore lists in addition to improved client performance. The patch also brings a laundry list of weapon effect changes, combat re-balancing, and bug fixes, all of which are viewable via the patch notes on the official Earthrise forums. If all that's not enough to whet your appetite, consider that Masthead has reduced the initial client cost by 40% as well as gifted all previous account holders with 10 days of free play.
Wasteland Diaries: New skills
Clones of the wasteland: We are heading toward uncertain times. The February State of the Game was announced last week, and there are some massive changes to Fallen Earth coming our way. The 1.4 patch changed the way we fought, and so did the 1.7 patch. This next patch, which will likely be 1.8 (if not 2.0), will probably be the biggest change to the game mechanics since launch (and 1.4 was no slouch). The uncertainty will not be allayed until we see the new system on the PTS. It's slated to hit the test server in "the middle of the month," so we may see it soon. In this post, I would like to analyze the SoTG and try to infer what kind of implications this new system will bring forth. There will be some pretty obvious changes but also some subtle changes that nobody will foresee. Although the new skills and mutations system isn't the only thing coming with the next installment, it will be the focus of this post. There is also a new area called Ruination on the way plus major economy changes and scavenger bosses, but I am more interested in the skill revamp. Fallen Earth will be a different (hopefully in a good way) game by the end of the month.
TERA interview translation hints at targeting and combat changes
Despite the recent rumors of a prolonged delay in the North American/European testing and release schedule, there are still plenty of interesting goings-on in the world of TERA. ThisisGame.com has once again published an interview with Bluehole Studio heavyweights (including TERA's executive developer, CEO, and lead graphic artist), and once again the Korean original has been translated by the folks at TERAfans. There are quite a few interesting nuggets to be found throughout the piece, none more curious than the apparent closed beta tweaks to the game's much-ballyhooed targeting system. We'd like to stress "apparent" here because in the absence of confirmation from North American publisher En Masse Entertainment, these translations fall squarely under the rumor sub-heading. That said, if the info is accurate, it represents a shift from what we've heard of the game's combat thus far. "TERA is an MMORPG with action elements, but the game itself is not an action game. If we call TERA a non-targeting game, many people expect an action game. Throughout the game's various tests, we tried to make TERA easier to get into, adding a lock-on system and many other improvements. After those changes we also decided to rename the non-targeting system to "free targeting system". Let's be honest free targeting rolls off the tongue better doesn't it? It doesn't sound so negative," the article says.
Wasteland Diaries: Patch day mayhem
In Fallen Earth, patch day is always a happy day (for me, at least). But this most recent patch (1.7.4) brings in some sweeping changes. The changes that came with this patch were far-reaching enough to get us another full respec. I don't forsee myself using one yet, but they are nice to have. I actually still have my injectors that we got with the 1.4 patch. In fact, this patch changes so much that I spent the past couple of days preparing (in-game) for it. I haven't had time to even grab all of the new skills that all of my clones will now have available to them. An Enforcer rifleman with Fitness? Yes, among other things. Everyone in Fallen Earth now has more health, but it gets taken away much faster. Combat seems more intuitive with reliable damage from weapons. Without glances and extreme damage variance, combat feels crisper and less clunky. It's going to take some getting used to. The PvE combat has changed the most. There is actually an element of danger involved when fighting mobs, especially large groups. I find myself actually using contingencies and heals during combat with NPCs. I never really had to before, but now the mobs rarely miss (rather than rarely hit). While I didn't get to see everything we got with this patch, I did get some hands-on PvP action (and broke a tradition that had lasted some 292 days in-game) under the new system. I'll give up more about that after the cut.
Fallen Earth preps new patch, roach pet
If your wasteland abode is feeling empty this holiday season, the team at Icarus Studios is here for you. Fallen Earth's 1.7.4 patch is on its way, and with it comes a pet sure to please the gross-out fan in all of us. Yes, you can now snuggle up to your very own roach, the better to help you cope with all the changes the update has in store. For starters, 1.7.4 is adding an AP spent cap, a new random AP system, world PvP updates, and a rebuilt Boneclaw. Significant combat updates are also on order, and Icarus is gifting all current characters with a Pristine Recombinant Injector (which grants a full respec) for their trouble. You can read about all the changes in detail via the testing patch notes as well as get an early look at the update by heading to the public test server.
Wasteland Diaries: Tester-day
I spent an entire day on the Fallen Earth Public Test Server (PTS). I have to admit, I was pretty impressed with what I saw. The development team over at Fallen Earth, LLC is making some sweeping changes to the game. I wasn't just impressed by the new artwork and the smoother game mechanics; I was also impressed with the amount of communication the Fallen Earth dev team is giving to its testers. And why not? We pay the devs to test their product. While there is a lot of new stuff to check out, I spent the majority of a day trying to digest as much of this new content as I possibly could, and I didn't really even scratch the surface. I spent a good eight hours on the server, though about four of those hours were devoted to testing the combat system. I did a few bug reports, but aside from grenades being totally broken, most everything seemed to be in order. After the break I'll give you some first-hand accounts of what I've discovered. You could just read the patch notes, but it just isn't the same.
Wasteland Diaries: New direction
The state of the game announcement for Fallen Earth was a bit vague, but it did contain some good news. It seems the game, now under new management, is headed in a new direction. Does new mean good? All outward indications say yes. I have never been accused of being overly optimistic, but I like where Fallen Earth is headed. Most of the big news is still over the horizon, and the combat changes are the first order of business. With new management comes new direction. It's nice to know what that direction might be. Of the three who were let go, I have nothing negative to say about any of them. Marie Croall has taken the reins at Fallen Earth, LLC and seems to have a clear plan. That's not to say there wasn't a clear plan before, but we are finally getting definitive answers on huge questions that we have been demanding responses on for quite a while. More details await you after the cut.
Wasteland Diaries: What's next?
There isn't yet a known release date for the next Fallen Earth patch. The 1.7.1 patch will make some fundamental changes to the combat system. These changes will be far-reaching, but they will not alter gameplay drastically. Mainly, we will see an increase in damage dealt across the board. This will make combat in Fallen Earth seem a bit more dangerous than it is now. PvE just doesn't quicken my pulse like it did when I was a new player in Sector 1. The patch will also address this. It will also add the faction control points. The main focus of the patch is the combat re-vamp and the control points. The Armor Use skill and the Dodge skill have been redesigned, and the way that damage mitigation works is a bit different in version 1.7.1. The faction control points will give the clones a reason to fight, and the victorious faction will reap far-reaching rewards. I'll go into more detail about these tidbits and more after the break, so without any further ado, let's move on.
Fallen Earth producer talks major combat changes
Things have been pretty quiet on the Fallen Earth news-front lately. Aside from this week's patch and the announcement of an upcoming customer rewards program, the team at Icarus Studios has been rather scarce for much of the summer. Happily, a new State of the Game letter from producer Dave "Archangel" Haydysch outlines everything the dev team has been toiling away on behind the scenes. Haydysch kicks things off by mentioning Fallen Earth's fall update schedule, currently slated to begin with a major patch in late September. "This will be the beginning of several major patches in which we will roll out combat and faction improvements as well as many other new features," he says. What sort of features, you're probably wondering? For starters, the team will be adjusting combat formulas with the goal of creating a faster, more visceral overall experience. Significant tweaks will occur with regard to high-level mitigation, random damage spread, and statistical requirements on armor. Faction skills, mutations, and regular skills will also receive additional balancing after the major combat changes are in place. In addition to combat, Icarus will be adding content in the form of Progress Towns, as well as Faction Control Points, clothing color customization, camp improvements, and more. Check out all of the details in the State of the Game letter on the official forums.
The Anvil of Crom: A tale of two Conans
It was the best of games, it was the worst of games, it was the age of PvE, it was the age of PvP, it was the epoch of skill-based, it was the epoch of gear-based, it was the season of battlegrounds, it was the season of FFA, it was the spring of Wiccana, it was the winter of Tyranny, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way -- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. Whoops. It seems I've gone and butchered another literary quote in service of my column, and while Dickens may not have had a pulp lit-based MMORPG on his mind when he began his opus, his line of thought nevertheless applies to Age of Conan (and really any game that undergoes radical change). Head past the cut for more on Age of Conan's intriguing duality.
Encrypted Text: Dual specs will make Rogues twice as deadly
Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the Rogue class. This week, we look at the upcoming dual spec feature and what it means for Rogues.If you've been keeping tabs on what everyone's favorite crab has been disseminating to the community, you're familiar with the upcoming Dual Spec feature in patch 3.1. In an interview between Nethaera and Ghostcrawler, he goes into all the details of how it is planned to work and what to expect in terms of functionality. There are still a few unknowns, but for the most part it seems like they're ready for us to start testing it on the upcoming PTRs.Rogues are one of the 4 classes that are considered to be "pure" DPS, as we have no other role to play besides damage dealer. While Mages and Warlocks have very different PvE and PvP specs, for most Rogues it's just choosing between daggers and everything else. So how can we take advantage of this feature to its fullest? Read on for a few ideas I have for the new dual spec system come 3.1.
