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The Repopulation will feature both standard and PvP servers
The Repopulation's going to have two distinct server rulesets when it eventually launches. Option one will be a standard PvE-focused environment with optional PvP and associated flagging mechanics. "The standard ruleset should be suitable for most types of players. You have a full compliment of resources and PvE tiers available in protected areas," explains the latest Repopulation dev diary. If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea, Above & Beyond Technologies is also hosting an open PvP ruleset with corpse looting, friendly fire, and EVE-like security sector mechanics. Some of the details are still being ironed out, but you should definitely read the lengthy new dev diary that lays out the particulars for each rule set.
EVE Evolved: Designing EVE Onland, part 1
When I'm not playing or writing about EVE Online, I can usually be found huddled over my computer typing lines of code into a compiler and chipping away at bugs that make varying degrees of sense. Designing my own hardcore space game is a really fun challenge and very fulfilling work, but I have a dirty little game dev secret: I've actually always wanted to make a fantasy game. While the budget and personnel required to take on a project the scale of an MMO remain quite far outside my grasp for the moment, it's still fun to think about how I might design such a game if the opportunity arose. The MMO genre seems to be heading for a sandbox revolution this year, and there's no bigger sandbox than EVE Online, but could all of EVE's gameplay translate to a fantasy game? EVE is probably the most atypical MMO out there, maintaining a subscription-based single-shard PvP sandbox in a genre that's typically headed in the exact opposite direction. There are several new sci-fi sandboxes on the way that may or may not qualify as massively multiplayer titles, but the vast majority of MMO gamers still prefer to keep their feet on the ground in fantasy lands. I often find myself wondering how much of EVE Online's core gameplay is possible only because of its setting -- and how much could actually be applied to a fantasy MMO. Not only should it be possible to adapt most of what makes EVE great to a modern land-based game, but many of the mechanics sandbox gamers now attribute almost solely to EVE actually started life in classic fantasy MMOs like Ultima Online. In this week's unusual EVE Evolved, I'd like to start a game design thought experiment as I delve into the hypothetical world of EVE Onland.
Some Assembly Required: Yet another FFA PvP sandbox
I dabbled in yet another alpha-state indie sandbox game this week. As you'd expect, the title is rough around the edges. Also as you'd expect, it boasts FFA PvP and the correspondingly godawful community for whom the game's "do whatever you want" mechanics immediately translate to "kill everything that moves first and ask questions later, if at all." Since it's still alpha, there's plenty of time for the devs to correct this unfortunate bit of business and separate this particular game from the legions of crappy FFA-PvP-with-zero-consequences titles clumping together in the vast litterbox of bad MMO ideas. Will they do that? Probably not, but at least I'll get a good rant out of it.
Albion Online trailer dives into cross-platform design
Sandbox Interactive today released a new trailer for Albion Online, a game the studio refers to as the "first true cross-platform sandbox MMO." In the trailer, employees of Sandbox offer details regarding the development of the game and the challenges of cross-platform design. Information revealed in the trailer includes the reason the team got rid of player leveling, notes on how the economy will function, an explanation of Sandbox Interactive's focus on social interaction as a gameplay requirement, and a brief glimpse of PvP. There's also plenty of gameplay footage on display in between snippets of various dev interviews. Check out the full video after the jump. Albion Online is due for release in 2014 and will feature territory control, corpse-looting, and other "hardcore" conceits along with crafting and class customization. [Source: Sandbox Interactive press release]
Nerd Kingdom details TUG's death mechanics
Nerd Kingdom has outlined its preliminary goals for death and death penalties in its TUG sandbox MMO. The devs are aiming at something that's prickly enough to discourage players from using it as ad-hoc transportation between spawn points and yet forgiving enough to avoid frustration. In a nutshell, your avatar's soul will vacate his body upon death, and it will do so in the form of a wisp. Wisps will gradually regain enough energy to reenter the avatar and awaken it, and doing so necessitates progressing through four distinct phases. Reviving your avatar in its optimal state is thus dependent on timing, and the importance of reviving in a weak state vs. a fully recovered state will vary depending on your chosen game mode. Nerd Kingdom is enabling corpse-looting in TUG's survival mode, but the devs are also intent on designing plenty of camping deterrents into the system. You can read all about these, as well as the rest of the death mechanics on the TUG Kickstarter project page.
Players, meet Albion Online. Albion, players.
Berlin-based Sandbox Games announced that it's working on a medieval sandbox MMO called Albion Online -- and it wants you to get to know the game a bit better. Albion Online is an isometric, stylized game that boasts a fully player-driven economy, a day/night system, PvP corpse looting, territory control, and make-your-own classes. The kicker? The studio says that this will be "the first true cross-platform" MMO of its type. Sandbox says that all items and buildings in the game will be player-created, with even the land up for sale or rent. The team stresses that it won't be pay-to-win nor will players be facing impossible zergs. The game will be made available for the iPad, Android tablets, Windows, Mac, and Linux. Albion Online is currently in alpha, will begin closed beta weekends this month, and hopes to release Q3 2013.
Aventurine hosting free Darkfall weekend, quadruple XP
If you've ever wanted to see what all the Darkfall fuss is about, this weekend would be a great time to clear your calendar. Aventurine is making the fantasy sandbox accessible to everyone for free, and the devs are also quadrupling the normal experience gain through Sunday. Previously active accounts have been reactivated, and new players can sign up on the game's official website prior to rolling a character. Darkfall is set in the harsh realm of Agon, a huge medieval fantasy world filled with dungeons, dangerous mobs, and open PvP. The game also features full corpse-looting, crafting, and clan-based warfare. Check out our Darkfall Choose My Adventure series for an in-depth look at the title's gameplay and community, and be sure to hit up the gallery below for the latest screenshots. %Gallery-139865% [Source: Aventurine press release]
The Anvil of Crom: Blood, glory, and some Deathwish impressions
Oy, Funcom, you're absolutely killing me here. Last week I had a column written prior to a guess-what-we're-launching-Unchained-today announcement. This week I was typing away on a review of some of the new instance content that showed up alongside the F2P update when the hey-Blood-and-Glory-launches-tomorrow bomb dropped. A veritable mad scramble ensued here at The Anvil of Crom offices, and as the piles of wadded up loose-leaf and discarded notes fluttered about, I was left wondering when my previous two pieces were going to see the light of day. If I sound somewhat perturbed, I'm not really, as this is a fantastic spot for any game columnist -- or Age of Conan fan -- to occupy. There's a lot of new content and not enough time to write about it; really we should all be so lucky. Sooo, that's my lengthy way of saying won't you join me after the cut for some initial impressions of hardcore PvP, AoC-style.
Age of Conan's hardcore PvP ruleset releasing tomorrow
What's a good encore for the week following a huge, game-altering freemium revamp? How about a new and much-anticipated server ruleset. Yep, Funcom is gearing up to release Age of Conan's hardcore Blood and Glory PvP shards tomorrow according to an update on the official boards. The American and European servers are scheduled to receive four hours of maintenance, after which time two new shards, Deathwish (US) and Rage (EU), will be brought online. These aren't just any servers, either. The Blood and Glory ruleset features free-for-all PvP throughout the game world, corpse-looting, and one character per account. Age of Conan's PvP community has been very vocal in its disdain for the game's turn towards the PvE side of the MMO street in recent years, and the new ruleset will finally give the die-hards an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is. For more on the ruleset, check out our exclusive interview with Funcom's Craig Morrison as well as our Blood & Glory opinion piece. [Thanks to Blasius for the tip!]
Age of Conan game director talks Blood and Glory server rules
Age of Conan's game director has penned a new developer diary at MMORPG.com. The subject is the new Blood and Glory server ruleset, and if you haven't been keeping up with Hyboria lately, suffice it to say that the initial announcement made a lot of waves last February due to its player looting and free-for-all components. Craig Morrison's new post talks about how the desires of MMO veterans are often mutually exclusive with the industry-wide accessible design trend, and he goes on to outline Funcom's desire to give its displaced PvP fans something to sink their teeth into. In terms of ruleset specifics, they include no transfers, no offline levels, no guards, no Shrines of Bori, limited player looting, and open PvP restored to White Sands and the Underhalls. PvP kills will also grant additional XP in comparison with the game's normal servers. Finally, Morrison says that Battlekeep rewards will be adjusted, though he gives no specifics as of yet. For additional coverage, check out our March 2011 Blood and Glory interview with Morrison as well as our server ruleset and sharding discussion.
Massively Exclusive: Age of Conan's Craig Morrison on Blood and Glory, grind, and the future
Interesting times are just over the horizon for Age of Conan, and whether it's due to the Dreamworld game engine upgrade or the recently announced Blood and Glory PvP servers, Funcom's sword and sorcery epic isn't standing still as it moves toward its third anniversary in May of 2011. On the heels of the PvP ruleset announcement, we sat down with Funcom executive producer and AoC game director Craig "Silirrion" Morrison for a chat about ruleset specifics, PvP balance, grind, and what we're likely to see once Dreamworld hits the live servers. Join us after the cut for all that and more.
The Anvil of Crom: Blood and Glory reactions and concerns
So the interesting news that Craig Morrison was hinting at via Twitter earlier this week wasn't free-to-play. It was, in fact, something altogether more surprising. For those of you hiding under a Bori rock and who managed to miss the announcement: Age of Conan is adding a couple of servers, one each to the U.S. and EU game regions. These aren't just any servers, either, but rather hardcore FFA PvP-enabled servers with custom rulesets (tentatively titled Blood and Glory) that make the pre-1.04 bloodletting on Tyranny look like a walk in the proverbial park. Player looting. Single character. No guards. These are just a few of the choice morsels Funcom has dangled in front of the snapping jaws of its ravenous PvP crowd. Join me after the cut for a bit of discussion on the potential impact of these new shards.
Age of Conan readying new hardcore PvP servers with corpse looting
Hardcore killas rejoice! Funcom has heard your cries of injustice and is in the process of putting together a new server ruleset for the old-school PKers in the audience. Age of Conan game director Craig "Silirrion" Morrison unveiled the news in his most recent monthly dev update, and while a few things remain up in the air (chiefly a release date and official server names), it looks like most everything else has been hammered out. In a nutshell, Funcom will be adding one new server to both the US and EU versions of AoC, each featuring the new PvP ruleset (tentatively titled Blood and Glory). The new realms will require players to start fresh -- i.e., there are no character transfers. The hardcore shards will also restrict players to one character and will lack NPC guards. PvP will be re-enabled in the Underhalls and White Sands portions of Tortage, and a player looting system will take effect (though details on this are scarce at the moment). Funcom hopes to have the new shards deployed in early May, with some version of the ruleset making an appearance on the test servers prior to that date.
