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Flameseeker Chronicles: Looking forward to Guild Wars 2's feature pack
The dust has barely settled on the Battle for Lion's Arch: Aftermath release, but ArenaNet is already releasing blog posts to discuss Guild Wars 2's April 15th feature pack. What's a feature pack? Well, it's exactly what it says on the tin: We'll be getting a big chunk of gameplay updates, quality-of-life improvements, and balance tweaks that don't fit into the living world or have story components. I usually refer to this stuff as "stuff," but "feature pack" definitely sounds more classy. As I write this, we've gotten posts on three of the topics locked up in the official feature pack site's nifty little sidebar doodad: one covering updates to the trait system; another to outline balance changes for runes, sigils and professions; and another to talk about swapping critical damage percentage for a new attribute called Ferocity. I have a lot to say about traits, but I'm also going to spend some time speculating on the next two blog posts in the lineup. There's nothing I love more than making half-baked predictions.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite in-game outfit?
Every Monday night my cabal meets in The Secret World supposedly to run instances and tough group content. In actuality, we get together to show off whatever new outfit that we've put together over the week and see who looks the most dashing, fashionable, or interesting. Guys and girls alike, we're all suckers for an eye-catching outfit. Of course, I always have the best. Visuals almost always mean more to me than stats, which is why I prize a good-looking piece of gear highly. I love MMOs with wardrobe or cosmetic outfit systems, and I'm constantly fiddling with new outfits to see if I can make something that stands out from the crowd. So for my fellow fashion fiends, what are your favorite outfits? A description is fine, but bonus points if you can link to a picture! 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 Road to Mordor: Three things LotRO needs from Guild Wars 2 (and vice versa)
Whenever a new big MMO releases, it causes a shockwave of predictable conversations and comparisons. I'm not interested in the "winning/losing" or "killing/dying" debate so much as a contemporary meeting of minds to share ideas. MMOs used to develop in a vacuum, but now they're much more interconnected (for better and worse). The upside for consumers is that proven features often spread to the competition, hopefully improving the whole playing field. In our case, it's the impact of Guild Wars 2 on the industry and what it might have to teach Lord of the Rings Online. Yet I don't think it's quite fair (or true) to just look at it from the lens of "Everything GW2 has is better"; it's more productive to theorize how to swap the best of both games in order to improve them. So here are three things that LotRO could use to implement from Guild Wars 2 -- and three that Guild Wars 2 could use from LotRO.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Wardrobe blues
One of the aspects of RIFT that I keep trumpeting to friends and strangers alike is just how wonderfully quick, responsive, and engaging Trion Worlds' updates have been. It's almost as if the dev team is engaging in a pillow fight with players, swinging away and trying to pummel us into submission with great content that's not always perfect but usually is great. In comparison, many other MMOs have become stodgy dinosaurs, creaking along with long-promised but never-arriving features. So while I praise Trion for the bounty of nine major updates since launch, there's one feature that I've felt discontented with every since its inclusion: the wardrobe. For me to say this is kind of a big thing; anyone who knows me knows that I adore it when MMOs give us the option to dress up our characters the way we like. An appearance system was a big wish list item for me, and when Trion casually tossed it in the game early on, I was ecstatic. Yet over the months, I've grown to dislike the system as a whole, especially in comparison to cosmetic gear systems in other titles that I play. It's a little difficult to put a finger on why, but I've got another 1000 words or so to make the attempt and then discuss solutions. Let's get to it!
SOE defends EverQuest appearance system cost
If you've been a heady mix of excited and confused over EverQuest's upcoming Hero's Forge appearance system, then it's time to take confusion out of the equation. SOE's posted a nine-point FAQ on the system, explaining its various features and specifics. The Hero's Forge will not be free but instead purchased for each character you'd like to dress up. SOE defended this separate cost by stating that "because of the very intensive nature of developing features such as Hero's Forge, by selling this feature in the Marketplace [SOE] can make it immediately available to players who desire such content much more quickly and without tying it to an expansion." The studio says that there are over 10,000 items created for this system and that even those who don't buy the system can benefit by selling pieces they find or make. SOE has plans to expand the Hero's Forge in the future, including the possible addition of wizard hats and holiday-related outfits.
EverQuest gets a cosmetic system
It may be late to the costume party, but EverQuest is finally dressing up in its finest duds. SOE announced that the title will be getting its very own cosmetic outfit system come August. Called Hero's Forge, this system allows players to change the appearance of their character's armor without altering the stats. Fashion comes with a price, however: SOE will be charging per character to access this system. Once purchased, players will receive their first set of armor for free. Additional pieces of cosmetic armor will become available as both loot drops and Marketplace goods.
Fallen Earth kickstarts its second anniversary live event a week late
"At Fallen Earth? Our events are fashionable. We have fashionable events," the latest Fallen Earth blog begins. "How fashionable, you might ask? So fashionable that they arrive fashionably late." When the servers go back up today with the new patch, Fallen Earth's second anniversary live event will be ready to go. The six factions are duking it out over New Flagstaff and looking to recruit all the clones they can in order to win the war. Players can sign up for PvP or PvE service in any of the sectors and do their part for the glory of their faction (and be awarded a nifty novelty item for their participation). The live event will occur on Wednesday, October 5th, at different times for European and North and South American players. The patch contains a number of changes to the gathering and crafting systems in the game and also puts in place the new cosmetic appearance system. Unfortunately for the fashion-conscious, you can look at the wardrobe but not touch -- until October 12th, that is. When Fallen Earth goes free-to-play on that date, GamersFirst will flip on the switch for the wardrobe... and there will be much rejoicing.
RIFT's Spoils of War update deploys
It's a heady day for RIFTers as Trion Worlds has released the game's second major update. Titled Spoils of War, patch 1.2 includes several exciting additions to the game, most notably a Looking for Group tool, a cosmetic appearance system, and 10-man raid Slivers. The LFG interface will also offer daily dungeon quests with increased rewards as incentives to boost instance runs. The full patch notes are up over on the RIFT forums, and they're a doozy to read (but one has to have some way to pass the time while the game updates, right?). In addition to the headlining features, there is a metric ton of changes, tweaks and sparkling gems to absorb. Spoils of War will make the game's expert dungeons more attractive to run, and players who love tinkering with RIFT's soul system should rejoice at the addition of a fifth role. Trion's also added a lot more love for social media with increased integration between the game and Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr. There's really too much to cover in a few brief paragraphs, so after you read the patch notes, make sure to check out our larger coverage of this impressive update from a couple of weeks ago! If you haven't had a chance to get your hands on RIFT, Trion's also launched its seven-day free trial and Ascend-a-Friend programs for one and all.
Turbine: LotRO revenue tripled since going F2P
Lord of the Rings Online's future is so bright, it's wearing shades these days. At least, according to a new interview at TTH, where LotRO's Kate Paiz and Adam Mersky opened up about the success of the free-to-play conversion. Turbine has seen LotRO's profits triple since F2P along with a huge influx of new players, and that spells good news for the future of the game. The duo turned its attention to the upcoming year for LotRO, which includes the Rise of Isengard expansion. While Paiz and Mersky didn't indicate whether there would be any new zones between now and then, they did confirm that the epic story would be continued, leading up to the confrontation between the rangers and Saruman's growing forces. Rise of Isengard will feature a push to the south with the Dunland and Gap of Isengard zones, whereas Isengard proper will pit players against the foul forces of the Tower of Orthanc. Isengard isn't the only thing players have to look forward to in the next year -- a big cosmetic system revamp is planned along with non-combat pets. Hardcore players also have a new raid cluster to look forward to before Isengard's release. Other possibilities for the future? Cosmetic weapons, a Rohan expansion and the Battle of Helm's Deep are all on the table. [Thanks A Casual Stroll to Mordor!]
The Road to Mordor: Rise of Isengard is coming!
Tweet [Update: Made a clarification that there is no indication of "open-world" PvMP in the expansion.] Times are tough in Middle-earth, even after the inexplicable appearance of several hundred thousand new adventurers this fall. The Fellowship of the Ring is broken, Sauron is rising in power, and the White Hand of Saruman is marching across the lands. Even the bravest and hardiest soldier of the Free Peoples cannot be blamed for feeling disheartened, especially in the face of the monumental struggle to come. Welcome to the beginning of The Two Towers in Lord of the Rings Online. Welcome to Isengard. The rumors are true: Next year we will be venturing into LotRO's third expansion, titled Rise of Isengard, to confront evil in its own backyard. While this may not be the Rohan or Gondor expansion that we've anticipated, Turbine is fairly confident that it will be well-received by players and will represent an ambitious step forward on (wait for it) the road to Mordor. Turbine's Adam Mersky and Aaron Campbell were on hand to outline for us the company's near- and far-future plans with Massively, starting with the imminent November update and cruising all the way through 2011. Hit the jump as we look at interactive theater, busy bees, Monster Play improvements and, of course, Isengard.
