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The Elder Scrolls Online opens a grab bag of questions
Sometimes questions don't fit together in a nice theme. The Elder Scrolls Online often bunches questions together with an overarching element, but the most recent round of questions is a real grab bag. It covers everything from resurrection and PvP environments to mixing and matching armor, from weapon styles to disguises. So there's plenty to unpack, in other words. The discussion of Veteran Points and the corresponding Veteran Ranks is probably the most meaty part, shedding light on a system that's only been discussed in brief elsewhere. In essence, Veteran Points serve as a new form of leveling after a character has reached max level, awarded for tasks completed rather than simply slaying enemies. While players still gain stat increases for improving Veteran Rank, the major benefit is the continued acquisition of skill points, allowing players to broaden their abilities even after reaching the apex of power. You can read the full set of answers on the official site.
LotRO devs answer 'super-sized' Q&A about Helm's Deep
Turbine's developers couldn't pick just 20 questions about the upcoming Lord of the Rings Online: Helm's Deep to answer, so they decided to "super-size" the Q&A up to a nice round 40. The questions are grouped into sections including epic battles, class changes, mounted combat, legendary items, pricing, and more. Since we haven't heard much yet about how the epic battles reward players, the answer here is illuminating. As players complete objectives, they'll be awarded points for how difficult those objectives were (from bronze to platinum). After reward bars fill up, players can choose a piece of gear or to convert some of the points into the next tier (although gold cannot convert to platinum). The epic battle instances include Helm's Dike, The Deeping Wall, The Deeping-Coomb, The Glittering Caves, and the Hornburg. The promised housing revamp was also mentioned: "We have some of the early bits in (changes to house inventory). We are prototyping more features and will continue to develop and add to live. Housing work is going to come in phases." Of course, there's a lot more that's included in the Q&A, so check it out!
LotRO's new trait trees to 'stand out' from each other
It's safe to say that Lord of the Rings Online players have many, many questions concerning the upcoming class overhaul coming to the game with Helm's Deep. Turbine's devs took to Twitter and the forums to answer a few of these and give us a better idea what to expect when the expansion hits. Replacing the current trait system will be trait trees in much the same vein as the mounted combat trees. Players will get a point to spend every other level, although they will be able to get additional points through deeds. Early on, players will choose a specialization that will affect how points are spent, such as a Hunter's Bowmaster or Huntsman specializations, and by fully investing in a tree will a player be able to purchase a legendary skill. Players can save multiple builds; the studio is providing the first two saved build slots for free with additional ones available for purchase. So why the decision to overhaul the trait system? Turbine explains: "We wanted to design the trait trees in such a way that as soon as you leave the intro, your trait line starts to play as it was envisioned instead of later on down the road when you began to collect traits. We really wanted each trait line to sort of stand out from the rest and reduce some of the class homogenization that had slowly occurred over the years."
The Elder Scrolls Online answers questions about its livestream
If you're a fan of The Elder Scrolls Online, you were probably glued to the livestream earlier this month. But a single stream doesn't give you nearly as many answers as you'd like to have. So the development team took the opportunity to answer questions that potential players had about the stream, from game mechanics to elements as innocuous as UI components. And even if you were watching the stream with rapt attention, there are probably details that you missed. For example, the answers reveal that the game no longer includes a minimap, using a compass instead to encourage more player exploration. The party seen in the dungeon was also roughly level-appropriate, meaning that the healing and damage on display was roughly indicative of what players can expect from actual combat. Several of the animations shown were more or less finalized, but other elements (such as first-person mode) are still being tweaked. You can catch a few more tidbits from the full set of answers on the official site.
Turbine: 'We plan to support LotRO for many more years to come'
Twenty questions is one of the oldest car trip games known to humanity. Turbine likes to think that it's the best at it, especially when it comes to Lord of the Rings Online. In a new post, the devs answer 20 pressing questions that the community had this month. These questions range from the possibility of live events with developers, how horses are made and animated, the future of PvMP, how Turbine tunes zone difficulty, mailing more than one item at a time, and the proposed PvMP zone that ended up getting scrapped. Turbine also addressed the future of the game and said that its relationship with Middle-earth Enterprises is still strong: "We plan to support LotRO for many more years to come." The community is understandably curious about the seldom-heard player council, but Turbine says that the council is doing its job: "The council has been very helpful. It gives us the opportunity to have very focused conversations. The threads don't go on in to 40-plus pages and the topics are very pertinent to current development. So far it has been a great and responsive sounding board."
Hyperspace Beacon: The summer of SWTOR
Every time I listen to the BioWare developers talk about Star Wars: The Old Republic, I am impressed with how passionate they are about the game. When Producer Bruce Maclean, Executive Producer Jeff Hickman, and Community Manager Eric Musco spoke to us yesterday, they sat on the edge of their seats because of how excited they were about telling us about the next updates coming to their game. Despite the game being a year and a half old, these three appeared to be riding the same hype-train the game launched with. Although these three BioWare employees suggested that the majority of the conversation on the livestream would feature discussion about Game Update 2.2, they ended up highlighting features and events taking place beyond the next patch. The questions they answered, filtered from the forum, Twitter, Facebook and the chatroom, jumped all over the place, but I believe they can be narrowed down to three major categories of concern: events, PvP changes, and the valued subscriber.
Elder Scrolls Online elaborates on crafting and exploration
ZeniMax scooped up all of the questions that fans had after seeing The Elder Scrolls Online's crafting and exploration video, and answered several of the most pressing of them in a new post. TESO will feature five crafting professions: weaponsmith, armorsmith, enchanter, alchemist, and provisioner. Of these, players are able to train in two fields so that a robust economy will develop between crafters. While there aren't any recipes in the game, players have multiple avenues to combine ingredients and make the same item. The studio indicated that those who have played previous Elder Scrolls games might have an advantage in knowing familiar plants and crafting ingredients and how they interact. Other topics in the AMA include fishing lures, how big your library can get (there's no limit, basically), the use of Mundus Stones, and the difficulty of lockpicking. "Your lockpicking will automatically improve as you level, gradually making chests that were once very difficult to open a much easier prospect. Though your lockpicking skill will increase as you level, the chests you encounter in higher level areas will also be more difficult," ZeniMax explained.
The Elder Scrolls Online answers all your questions, assuming they're about lore
We're not kidding about that title. The latest set of answers for The Elder Scrolls Online's Ask Me Anything is full of lore. Spilling over with lore. Its lore cup runneth over. Do you want to know how old an elf has to be before he's actually old? 200-300 years is old. Want to know if there will be any Dragonborn running around a la Skyrim? Nope, and shouts are a thing of legend. It's all the lore you've wanted and were clearly not afraid to ask about. There are some other answers in the mix as well. Players will have to guess about the abilities of their opponents in PvP to some extent, since the armor system will not allow you to guess at abilities by appearance. Players can also expect to find puzzles in the game rather than pure combat encounters, although no details are given. So while you'll find the most meat if you're looking for lore, even more system-focused players will find some relevant answers in the full set.
Star Trek Online's newest Ask Cryptic takes aim at revamps and Romulans
The Romulan faction in Star Trek Online will be unique in many ways, but exactly how the addition will work within the context of the game is still unclear. That's why many of the questions in the latest edition of Ask Cryptic focus on Romulans, such as what ships they will have access to from the C-Store (all ships from a player's chosen allied faction) and how Romulans with different allies will interact (they will not be able to group together for Romulan missions but can group for cross-factional content). Other topics of discussion include the long-anticipated revamp to Exploration, which is being moved over toward encouraging the use of the Foundry to fulfill a similar niche. Klingon progression will be improved with a full leveling path, including episodes ported over and heavily tweaked from the Federation line as well as unique bits of content just for KDF characters. For the usual buffet of questions and answers you can check out the full installment on the official site.
Star Trek Online's Romulan expansion prompts special Ask Cryptic
Do you have a burning question about Star Trek Online: Legacy of Romulus? Get in line behind pretty much every single STO player, pal. But while your specific query may not reach the ears of top admirals, Executive Producer Daniel Stahl created a special edition of Ask Cryptic devoted to answering the most common questions out there. So what's included with the Romulan faction? Stahl says that there are three races (one free, one unlockable or purchasable, and one for subscribers only), adding, "The Romulan Republic was created from the ground up as a complete new faction. They have their own backstory, their own exclusive missions and episode series, exclusive costumes, faction-exclusive social hub, unique playable species, a full ship progression line from level 1 to 50, unique HUD UI, and more." While Romulans will be an independent faction, Stahl explained that these captains will choose to ally with either the Federation or Klingons for the purposes of storylines, PvP, and starbases.
The Elder Scrolls Online answers more fan questions about combat
How do you keep character skills interesting and relevant when you've only got six slots to equip them? According to the latest series of community answers for The Elder Scrolls Online, the key is what kind of abilities are relevant. The skills on those slots are meant to serve as utility rather than raw damage, with your main attacks serving as your primary means of doing damage. Although a few skills will have added damage under certain circumstances, that's not the overall goal. Beyond that, the answers also address the issue of charging attacks and moving, which is both allowed and encouraged. Crowd control can be reliably broken out of with Stamina, but if your Stamina bar is low you can be caught and held for a while. You can also rest easy knowing that there will be no ammunition in the game, freeing archers from the tedious process of acquiring arrows at the worst possible time. Check out all of these answers and more in the full rundown.
LOTRO confirms player skill trees, expansion in the works
While it didn't take much reading between the lines to realize that Turbine has an expansion in the works for Lord of the Rings Online this year, the team confirmed the terminology in a dev chat. The devs hinted that the full announcement would come around the game's sixth anniversary next month. Players had many questions regarding the promised but vaguely detailed revamp coming to characters. Turbine revealed a few more details in the chat: "Three trees per class. Some degree of blending at a higher cost than sticking with a pure build. Bonuses granted based on an early-level specialization choice that grows as points are spent. You can have multiple specs. You can respec." Other interesting nuggets to chew on from the Q&A session include the news that player housing will include crafting facilities, virtue acquisition may see a significant change, and that applications for the player council will begin tomorrow.
The Elder Scrolls Online serves up a stack of answers about combat
The Elder Scrolls Online is going to feature combat, which should come as a shock to precisely no one. But how is that combat going to work? How important will the holy trinity be in practice? How ornate will your attacks and counterattacks be? These and more are all excellent questions, and they're also questions that have been answered in the latest installment of community answers over on the official site. And that's only a small fraction of the information. At the moment, the trinity setup is not vital but is certainly helpful, as tester groups without a dedicated tank have managed to clear content (albeit with some difficulties). The soft lock system is based more around offense than defense, as healing abilities are not targeted. Players can also feel free to join in when they see other players fighting things, as all players who participate gain the rewards of fighting as in Guild Wars 2. For more information about the particulars of combat, check out the full set of answers.
You have questions about The Elder Scrolls Online, the development team has answers
Prospective players have a lot of questions about The Elder Scrolls Online. What will I need to do to be a tank? How will I heal other people? Will I be carrying around every wheel of goat cheese in the world for no reason? The development team has sat down and answered a variety of player questions in a new feature addressing several assorted topics. Players interested in tanking will be happy to know that while you will generally want to be in heavy armor, a properly designed character should be able to last for quite some time in light armor. Those who prefer playing a pure role will also be happy to note that while the developers have harped on hybridization a bit, being a "pure" role will be perfectly viable and possible. And lore fans will be happy to see a variety of lore questions answered, especially concerning organizations and races that are important in later games but aren't necessarily around in The Elder Scrolls Online. So odds are good that when you read through the answers, you'll be happy.
Dark Age of Camelot launches an update and answers player questions
If you've been playing Dark Age of Camelot for a while, odds are good that you've acquired a lot of things. You've got a set of Epic Armor, you've got tons of items clogging your bank, and you've got a pair of fuzzy bunny slippers that you don't remember buying but you now refuse to remove. The game's latest patch does not improve your slipper situation, but it does improve Epic Armor, add new Epic Weapons and Accessories, allow for remote bank access, and increase the stack limits on many items. So everything else gets better. Does that satisfy you? No? You want to know more about the future of the game? Well, then, you can feast your eyes on a new set of community answers from the development team addressing the future update plans for the game as well as which areas will not be seeing much improvement (throwing weapons, for instance, are pretty much up the creek). So there's plenty for DAoC fans to enjoy. However, no one enjoys those bunny slippers. Seriously. Wear armor like everyone else. [Thanks to Etaew for the tip!]
LotRO players pick devs' brains over upcoming changes
Lord of the Rings Online players had a third go-around with Turbine's staff in the latest dev chat series. Well over 50 questions were asked and answered during the Twitter event, many of which concerned the upcoming class changes, housing revamp, and player council. There was even talk of a new monster play class, although the devs were careful to cage answers in "maybes" and "we've discussed it." So what are some of the possibilities for housing? "Just ideas for this month but... more/better storage, better item placement rules, ways to display armor/weapons." The team also hinted that "rewarding choices" will be tantamount to class builds, getting away from the hybrid design that was prominent in the past. It's a long and perhaps rewarding read, so get thee to the transcript if LotRO is your bag!
February's Star Trek Online Ask Cryptic is all about May
Star Trek Online players have questions, and Cryptic Studios has answers. The latest installment of Ask Cryptic for the month of February mostly gives the same answer to several questions, however, and that answer is May. More specifically, it's something contained in the May update, which some fans are speculating will include a playable Romulan faction. Producer Dan Stahl does not come out and say as much, but he does agree that previously issued hints strongly suggest Romulans and that the design team is holding back iconic Romulan ships for a playable faction in the future. Beyond those updates, players can look forward to seeing a revamped and streamlined character creation process in May, as well as an overhaul to the game's existing trait system for characters. New equipment that allows for a socketing system is also en route. And there may well be a new tribble to unlock, if you like having a sentient furball sticking around. For more answers covering topics such as ship appearance, ship weapons, and Earth-based pets, read through the full list of answers.
Fifth live FFXIV producer letter to air next week
If you are fluent in Japanese and happen to be awake early on February 22nd, you can watch Naoki Yoshida answer fans' questions about Final Fantasy XIV in the the fifth live letter from the producer. The broadcast begins at 6:00 a.m. EST. For those who can't tune in (or who don't know the language), all questions and answers will be posted as they are addressed on the official Twitter account, and a full summary will also be posted on the forums afterward. Folks who want to ask Yoshida questions about the game's beta and official release can submit them either ahead of time on the official thread or during the livestream via Twitter using #XIVLive.
The Road to Mordor: Digesting the LotRO dev chats
Apart from the nightmare of Twitter spam that the recent two Lord of the Rings Online dev chats have produced, I'm pretty happy that Turbine's being more interactive with the community and taking on some of these topics head-on. Of course, everyone has his own areas of interest that were probably not covered to satisfaction, but looking through these two chats (December 20th and January 24th), we can deduce a lot of useful information about where LotRO is headed in the future. Personally, I am pretty excited about 2013 for the game. It feels as if the team isn't slacking at all, and while there are always my wish list items that go unfulfilled, often the devs add cool changes (like the Bree update) that are equally welcome. So let's sift the wheat from the chaff and see what we come up with from these dev chats as well as the recent producer's letter!
LotRO devs talk Updates 10 and 11
If you had questions that weren't answered with Lord of the Rings Online's last dev chat, then maybe you'll be covered with Turbine's latest Q&A between players and the development team. Today's dev chat took place on Twitter as the team tackled 40 questions from the community. Chief among the topics was Update 10, of which the team spilled a host of details. The update will go to the test server next week, and promises to contain new armor sets, standardized power pools, the removal of dread on the landscape, a big change to Wardens, and the second half of the instance cluster. Turbine also said that while Update 10 won't have a new book in the epic story, Update 11 definitely will (and it'll be "super-sized"). Update 11 is also slated to add a whole new region to the game that includes mounted and standard combat. We've got the beefy Q&A transcript for you after the jump, so check it out!
