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The Elder Scrolls Online answers your launch questions in advance
Are you ready for the launch of The Elder Scrolls Online? The earliest access starts in just five days. But if you've got the five-day headstart, when can you actually log in? When can you first enter the game on launch day? The answer, as outlined in the new launch FAQ on the site, is 7:00 a.m. EDT on March 30th for 5-day early access, 7:00 a.m. EDT on April 1st for 3-day early access, and 7:00 p.m. EDT on April 4th for the full launch. There's more useful information in the launch FAQ, as well. Beta participants will not need to re-download the client, and the full retail patch can be downloaded as early as March 27th. You will be able to upgrade to the game's Imperial Edition following the launch, but the Explorer's Pack requires a pre-order. For any other questions you might have, take a gander at the full FAQ to make sure you're ready to go when the servers open up.
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.
Star Wars: The Old Republic posts another weekly question-and-answer session
This week's set of community questions for Star Wars: The Old Republic asked about classes. Specifically, there were two big questions asked about Deception-specialized Sith Assassins and Operative melee mobility. Consequently, the two big answers this week were about those two classes. Operative mobility is apparently a hot topic among the developers at the moment, as high-mobility fights are seen as an excellent mechanic and they can cause issues with the class. Deception spec, by contrast, received a more in-depth response explaining that the developers consider the spec to very much be a hit-and-run playstyle rather than a melee class meant for long engagements. Its performance winds up varying a great deal depending on the player: Those who understand the design intent usually have more success than those expecting higher endurance. But even if neither of these answers appeals to you, there are still other questions answered in the latest round, and you can always post a question for next week.
Star Wars: The Old Republic posts the newest community answers
Are you looking forward to playing a Cathar in Star Wars: The Old Republic? Or are you looking forward to playing a different species? According to the latest round of community answers for the game, the Cathar might be one of many new species unlocked if they perform well once players get their hands on the new race. Certainly there are some other species that players are clamoring for as well, and the team is investigating other options. The answers also go into the details regarding how a tiebreaker is determined in the game's Voidstar matches; a tie goes to whichever team cleared the most objectives in the least amount of time. If none of this round of answers puts your burning questions to rest, there's always hope for next week; head on over to the official question thread and post it for next week's questions.
MechWarrior Online serves up community answers on the details of combat
Whether you're a fan of the original BattleTech tabletop games, a fan of the MechWarrior series, or a fan of both, you know that the details of 'Mech combat are always important. MechWarrior Online is being fortunately developed with an eye toward the fine details, as explained in the latest round of community questions and answers. For instance, the developers are designing LRMs to retain their intended long-distance functionality, with any missiles fired too close to the target simply bouncing off as inert duds. The game is remaining very true to its source in many ways -- for example, location of equipment in a 'Mech will still play a major part in design -- but it's also changing certain elements. One of the team's major goals is to ensure that light 'Mechs are still a threat to assault 'Mechs, making sure that no pilot will ever feel as if his machine is useless in a given engagement. There's a great deal of attention to detail in the project, something that fans of the game should appreciate.
Star Wars: The Old Republic explains mechanical questions in a new Q&A
The latest community question-and-answer session for Star Wars: The Old Republic doesn't answer any questions you may have about the server change kerfluffle. It does, however, answer a large variety of questions about mechanical changes and upcoming improvements to the game. If you're wondering about acquiring your very own HK droid, for instance, you should know that the designers are currently thinking it's going to involve a galaxy-wide quest, a level-50 character on one faction, a mid-level character on the other faction, and some different approaches to the game as a whole. Most of the other answers are somewhat less far-reaching, such as the rationale behind limiting group finder flashpoints to instances within a player's level range to avoid abuse. Players wondering about the fact that you can't find certain sister stats on the same Enhancements (such as Critical Rating and Power) can also find an answer which breaks down how stats are grouped together and why obviously linked stats are kept separate. Players should take the time to examine the full list of answers, and add any new questions they may have to the official thread for next week.
Another round of Star Wars: The Old Republic questions answered by the developers
It's been two months since Star Wars: The Old Republic launched, and players have some questions. So it's a good thing that the development team is still hosting a weekly question-and-answer session for the community, with the latest installment addressing several new concerns about future updates. Among the answers are new features that will be coming with the second major patch, including animation adjustments for cross-faction parity and tweaks to docking at planets with orbital stations such as Tython and Korriban. There are also plans for players to gain the ability to roll on equipment specifically for companions; the Need option will be disabled unless the item in question is designed for your advanced class. Amidst all of the good news, however, there is some bad in the sense that new ship models and customization are apparently on the table -- but for much further in the future. Take a look at the full list of answers if you're interested in seeing what players can expect for new features in the near future and the slightly further future.
PlanetSide 2 webcast features lengthy community Q&A
If you're a PlanetSide 2 fan, you'll want to check out Sony Online Entertainment's latest webcast. The 30-minute affair features creative director Matt Higby, game designer Kevin Moyer, and senior art director Tramell Isaac. The trio field a whole bunch of community questions on the upcoming sci-fi MMOFPS, most of them centered around Nanite Systems vehicles like the Sunderer and the Galaxy. If you don't have time to watch the whole shebang, PlanetSide Universe has a good breakdown of the new stuff (including some awesome bits on vehicle customizations like hood ornaments, camouflage, racing stripes, and other visual tweaks). Click past the cut for the full video.
Darkfall dev blog talks armor system updates, roles, and PvP viability
The latest Darkfall dev blog update has an interesting new Q&A session dealing with the game's armor system (and ongoing attempts to balance it). Aventurine devs collected a sampling of related questions from users on the sandbox title's official forum, and Tasos Flambouras has a pretty lengthy list of answers that should be of interest to Agonian veterans and newbs alike. Aventurine's goals for the upcoming revamp are threefold: more diversity in terms of the number of combat roles available to the player, a reduction of the time it takes to become viable in PvP, and retaining the ability for players to freely select, combine, and change roles at any time. Flambouras also spends a bit of time explaining Aventurine's stance on Darkfall physics, particularly bunny-hopping. "It's a fun way of using physics," he says, "but we never intended for players on foot to be able to keep up with mounts." Head to the official Darkfall website to see the changes coming to Agon in the near future.
Community Detective Issue #23: Perpetuum
Welcome to the Perpetuum edition of Community Detective. Avatar Creations' mech-based sandbox MMORPG launched back in November, and despite being relatively new to the market, it has already had time to release a free expansion and a 15-day free trial as well as build itself a small but dedicated fanbase. I spent the last couple of weeks tooling around the game's tutorials and early mission content as well as observing Perpetuum's community and customer service offerings. Due to the size of the community and the bare-bones approach to customer service, this week's issue of Community Detective departs from my standard data-centric format in favor of some general impressions. Join me after the cut to see what's happening on the planet Nia.
Community Detective Issue #22: Allods Online [Updated]
My first few minutes with Allods Online were one part awesome and two parts aggravation. There was intrigue in the form of my research into player-crewed airships, and there was annoyance at the forced installation of Pando Media Booster, a third-party app that supposedly improves download speeds but is really little more than bloatware. Once I had the game patched and running (and the offending program removed), it was time to get down to brass tacks. Community Detective has largely been concerned with traditional subscription-based MMOs to this point (detours into the lands of Global Agenda and Runes of Magic notwithstanding), so I'm branching out a bit this week to the realm of free-to-play. Despite its cash-shop missteps and death-penalty brouhahas, Allods has a certain allure, and I figured it was time to answer a few burning questions. In no particular order: What the heck is an allod, what kind of community can you expect in one of the larger F2P games, and what sort of customer service is on offer from gPotato?
Community Detective Issue #21: Star Trek Online
Be gentle with me, Trekkies, for I have a confession to make: I've always found Star Trek to be pretty unwatchable. Whether it was because of the low-budget sets or the drunken TV writers prone to cramming every episode full of nonsensical techno-malarkey, I boldly went to another channel. Logging into Cryptic's Star Trek Online a couple of weeks ago, then, wasn't something I was looking forward to. I'd penciled it into the Community Detective schedule a while back and frankly put it off several times. I'll do it eventually, I kept telling myself. Upon logging in, I found that STO's source material is the worst thing about it, and in fact the game itself is quite well-made and a ton of fun (particularly the Foundry; I'm completely in love). In fact, I normally leave games behind when a particular issue of Community Detective is in the books, but with STO, I find myself logging in more and more each day during my off hours. I've renewed my sub beyond the free 30 days, and thoughts of the lifetime option have crossed my mind. Enough of all that, though; you're here to find out about my community and customer service experiences, amirite? Warp past the cut and we'll get started.
BioWare talks environmental polish in The Old Republic, answers class-related questions
Ever wondered what "polish" entails when it comes to an MMORPG? The word is tossed about on forums often enough, and just as often, newly released titles are lambasted by gamers who feel that polish is severely lacking in some form or fashion. Today's Star Wars: The Old Republic update goes behind the scenes at the Jedi dream factory to give readers an inside scoop on how the developers at BioWare define polish and how the team is implementing it into TOR. Senior environment artist Robby Lamb is our guide, and he walks us through the various stages of the art asset creation process, noting the various opportunities to polish and perfect along the way. Also new this week is a TOR Community Q&A with senior designer William Wallace (no, not that one) in which a smattering of class-related questions are summoned from the depths of TOR's pre-release fan community and subsequently answered at length. Check out all the details on the official TOR website.
Community Detective Issue #20: Xsyon [Updated]
Welcome back, intrepid readers. After a bit of a hiatus, Community Detective is back on the case (that case being the chronicling of various MMORPG communities and customer service experiences). When I left off a few weeks ago, I'd just completed a whirlwind tour of DC Universe Online -- the PC and console versions -- and this week's issue couldn't be more different. We're talking polar opposites here, as Notorious Games' Xsyon sandbox is everything that DCUO is not (although the two titles do share half-baked chat functionality). I'll be honest here: I tend to cut sandboxes an inordinate amount of slack because a) I love them, and b) they've been relegated to second-class citizen status on account of the casual MMORPG explosion. Join me after the cut as I attempt to maintain some semblance of objectivity while recounting a couple weeks' worth of Xsyon community and customer service adventures.
Star Trek Online Ask Cryptic talks starbases, ground combat, and more
How would you feel about a cover system and/or first-person-shooter elements in your daily Star Trek Online diet? Producer Dan Stahl tackles the feasibility of both of those features -- and a host of others -- in the latest Ask Cryptic. The STO version of the community Q&A feature went live last night on the game's official website and boasts a large number of subscriber-generated queries ranging from integrated voice chat to a time table on the ground combat revamp to the addition of starbase functionality to the Foundry. "We anticipate the next major feature to the Foundry being the ability for fleets to design and run their own starbases. This is a monumental addition to the Foundry, so don't expect it right away, but it is the next big thing for that feature," Stahl says. Check out the full list of questions on the official STO website.
Community Detective Issue #16: Lineage II
Welcome to a new year of Community Detective. To kick things off, I'm going back in time -- way back in time, to 2004 to be exact -- as this was the year NCsoft's Lineage II debuted in America. Why profile the community and customer service of a game that's almost seven years old? Well, Lineage II is still going strong and drawing players from all over the world. NCsoft also continues to pour money and developer resources into the game (the latest example being the new Goddess of Destruction expansion) despite the existence of newer, similarly themed fantasy projects like Aion and Blade & Soul. Clearly, then, Lineage II is still relevant in some quarters, and in light of that fact, I've spent the past couple of weeks toodling around the kingdom of Aden.
Community Detective Issue 10: Final Fantasy XIV
Welcome to the Eorzea edition of Massively's Community Detective. I've been spending a fair bit of time in Square-Enix's Final Fantasy XIV of late and have finally managed to collate some data on the game's community and customer service apparatus. Those of you looking for a ranty review of Square's much-maligned epic probably won't find what you're looking for here, although I'll occasionally offer a bit of side commentary on my in-game experiences to go along with the usual community questions and support tickets. Without further ado then, let's jump into the Age of Adventure.
Massively's Community Detective, Issue #6: Lord of the Rings Online
If you've been playing MMORPGs for any length of time, or you keep up with the latest happenings around the industry, you're probably familiar with Lord of the Rings Online's Landroval server. In addition to being the "unofficial" roleplay server for Turbine's Tolkien-based MMORPG, Landroval is consistently mentioned as one of the finest communities in online gaming. Whether it be in forum discussions on various gaming websites, chats with gaming buddies, or even internal discussions here at Massively, Landroval is almost always referenced when someone asks about a friendly server that offers a dense and mature population. For this week's issue of Community Detective, we decided to put Landroval to the test. While the community lived up to its billing, we did encounter some curious inconsistencies with regard to Turbine's customer service. Head past the cut for our findings and impressions.
Darkfall community Q&A hints at massive game expansion
Its been quite awhile since Aventurine first sat down for a community-based question and answer session with noted Darkfall blogger Paragus. Today, he brings us part two of the lengthy interview, which features a whopping 57 questions generated by Darkfall players. As you would expect, some of the answers are short and fluffy, but many are quite informative as to the future of the PvP sandbox title. Stashed away inside the deluge of queries are a few gems about upcoming content, including mention of the cryptically titled Darkfall 2010 project. "[It] comes after the next expansion and is a much bigger proposition. Darkfall 2010 is our internal code name for this project. Our intent is to have it complete within the year, but we can't rule out that it will take longer than that. We've been working on this for quite a while, it's parallel development to Darkfall and almost as big a project as making a new game," Aventurine says. Aside from that teaser, there is also talk of prestige classes, performance improvements, and the long-awaited four-legged running feature for the mahirim race. Sadly, it seems as if this particular fan wish isn't going to be granted anytime soon, despite the assets already existing in the live game. "Our main problem is that it is an unbalancing factor," says Aventurine.
[Updated] You have questions and developers have answers: Send us your burning E3 questions!
"When we're at a show, you're at the show." If you've never heard our event coverage motto before, well, let me tell you exactly what it means. It means that you're going to get up-to-the-minute news about your favorite MMOs, both current and upcoming. It means that you're going to get pictures, screenshots, videos, and more from the editors on the ground at E3. And, lastly, it means that you're going to get analysis from our opinion columnists and game-specific columnists on the MMOs you want to hear about most. If you don't believe us, take a look at our recent history. It means that the minute we hear it, you'll hear it and more. And, to that end, we want you to be more involved in our coverage! This year we have more appointments with MMO developers than ever before, and we want to make sure that we're asking the questions you want answered. So if you have a burning question that you want to make sure is asked, simply drop it here on this post in the comments section! Plus, we want to hear what you're looking forward to hearing about at this E3 too, so tell us your favorites! Keep an eye on the site next week for all of our E3 2010 coverage, starting June 15th! You won't want to miss it! For a full list of the companies we'll be interviewing, click past the break! [Update: Added Electronic Arts to the list for Need for Speed World.]
