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Tamriel Infinium: What to do in The Elder Scrolls Online besides PvP
As a part of my series of articles that explain some of the core features of The Elder Scrolls Online, I want to talk about what most people would consider obvious activities in the MMOs, but because of the way ZeniMax has advertised the game up to this point, many casual followers have come to believe that ESO will not have much in the way of PvE activities. Of course, players will level up via PvE, but beyond that, is there anything to do? What about group activities while you're leveling up? Are there endgame group activities? Is there raiding? Although I like PvP, much of my focus in MMOs is PvE-related. I enjoy story, exploration, and group activities. Save for the group activities, that's what The Elder Scrolls is to me. Exploring every ruin and cave or finding a hidden cult or hearing the NPCs talk about how they each took arrows to their knees defines the series for me. I don't think I could call a game Elder Scrolls without attaching defining PvE moments. I believe the developers at ZeniMax understand this, which is why they have hired some amazing voice actors to the game and why much of the website advertising revolves around the lore of the game. But is it enough to tell us what the game is about, and will ZeniMax finally show us?
Massive mounted combat update rides into Dragon's Prophet EU
European players not only fight along side their dragons in Dragon's Prophet, they can now battle atop them as well! Thanks to the massive mounted combat update, dragons now have a trio of healing, tanking, and damage skills available that can aid their riders in PvE. But that's not all that Infernum Productions has rolled out with this update: Players can dive (literally) into a new high-level, completely submerged dungeon called Shrine of Handras and fight five new bosses along with a host of other water monsters and dangerous whirlpools. Additionally, players can participate in random mini events throughout Auratia as well as earn XP while resting in their personal houses (how much depends on amount and type of Marketplace furniture in the dwelling). Get a taste of the mounted combat skills and tour through Shrine of Handras in the two trailers below. And for more details about the update, check out the official patch notes. [Source: Infernum Productions press release]
Vanguard's Cave of Wonders releases today
What once was lost is back again: Vanguard's Cave of Wonders, present back in beta but nixed from the launched version, has returned! And devs have not only excavated this long-buried cave but reworked it to fit the current lore and add all-new raid mechanics. In this next step in the City of Brass plot, players will enter the first wing of the Cave of Wonders and take on four new bosses in 24-man raids. This cavern reopens today, filled with treasures (and all-new raid gear) for those willing to brave the dangers. For a peek into the cave, check out the six new screenshots in the gallery below.
Hyperspace Beacon: Entering the SWTOR Kuati Drive Yards
You all remember the very first scene from Star Wars. A tiny ship carrying very important cargo was fleeing an imposing mammoth of a battle cruiser. The gigantic ship eventually swallows up the smaller one. We eventually learn that the Empire owns fleets of these Star Destroyers, but we never learn where they all came from. In the Expanded Universe, we find out that the Empire-loyal planet of Kuat manufactures these behemoths in the Kuati Drive Yards. During the time of Star Wars: The Old Republic, we really haven't heard much about this planet or its starship manufacturing. We know that Grand Moff Vaiken created the first dreadnaughts the Sith Empire uses now on Dromund Kaas. We could only assume that Kuat was a member of the Galactic Republic. And we had no indication whether the Drive Yards existed at all until the latest expansion and the flashpoints that hit the SWTOR test center this week.
Choose My Adventure: Deep in the dungeons of Allods Online
Last week, I presented Choose My Adventure voters with one simple choice: Where, exactly, should we go next in Allods Online? The community responded by sending my low-level Psionicist directly into what many consider to be a core component of the modern fantasy MMO, the instanced dungeon. Understanding how a game approaches bosses, loot, grouping, and raiding is key in understanding that game's design philosophy, so it makes sense to dip a toe or two into the instanced content Allods has to offer. Assuming, of course, that I can find a group.
The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot traps you for hours of fun
It might sound like a bad thing, but my favorite part of playing Ubisoft's The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot is logging into the game. I just love it when I get past the loading screen that warns "closed beta" to see who has attacked my castle and how the attackers fared during the attempt. Usually they have just blown past my defenses and humiliated me, but thanks to a wonderful replay feature, I can see exactly where my castle is at its weakest and can adjust accordingly. Every player in the game gets a castle like mine. They're all floating in the sky, chock-full of riches that are up for grabs as long as the attacking player can get past the castle's defenses. The gameplay is nothing really new. We have been playing castle defense or action-based puzzlers for a long time, but The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot delivers everything in such a polished, unique-looking package that it gets props for being unique. There's much more to the game, but you'll have to get past my glue traps to read the details!
The Stream Team: Tis the season for World of Warcraft dungeons
Massively's Mike Foster is still on the hunt for epic gear and items good enough to get him ready for World of Warcraft's lower tier of raid instances. Tonight, he's continuing his sometimes-frustrating habit of healing pickup-group heroic dungeons in the hopes of sweet loot drops. Perhaps he'll end up with a talented, over-geared group that clears dungeons in seconds. Perhaps he'll end up with a Death Knight tank who doesn't know he has more than one presence. Either way, it's going to be an adventure. Tune in for the action at 7:00 p.m. EST. Game: World of Warcraft Host: Mike Foster Date: Friday, December 17th, 2013 Time: 7:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below.
The Mog Log: A week of Final Fantasy XIV's patch 2.1
All right, I admit that the headline is a dirty lie. It hasn't been a full week however you slice it; the patch dropped on Tuesday, and I've only been able to play it for two days before writing this. To make up for that fact, I've devoured Final Fantasy XIV's patch with a zeal I usually reserve for hamburgers, although I still haven't seen everything there is to see. Though if I had seen all of it in two days, that would kind of be a problem anyway... The point is that 2.1 is pretty dang huge, even if it includes one feature that's a massive blemish. So let's take a look at what the patch has to offer, how the various new features hold up, and where the patch falls down -- other than with housing, which is already a great big "fall down" that will be addressed all by itself.
The Daily Grind: Are you talkative in random groups?
Final Fantasy XIV's Duty Roulette has had an unusual effect upon me: It's made me more talkative in dungeons. Oh, I've always been happy to talk strategies and let people know what we're doing, but with the added incentive of the commendation system, I'm far more likely to crack jokes, be silly, and generally aim for making the run more pleasant for everyone. As cynical as that may sound, I find that I'm having more fun as a result, even when I'm doing most of the talking. Not everyone likes to be chatty in groups, of course. Some people prefer runs that are silently professional, slicing through content without so much as a "hello." Me, I like to say hello, get to know the people in my group, even if only briefly. What about you? Are you talkative in random groups, or do you generally prefer to let your silent competence (or lack thereof) speak for you? 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!
Aventurine details Darkfall's new Sinspire Cathedral dungeon
Aventurine has designed a new dungeon for Darkfall. It's called Sinspire Cathedral and it's "an epic dungeon in size, difficulty, as well as denizens," according to the company's latest dev blog. If your party manages to survive Sinspire's "dynamic door system" and make it to the grand finale, you'll encounter Sir Davosh the Damned, a "monster of the highest difficulty that uses many new and devastating custom skills." The dev blog offers further details on Sinspire as well as some blurbs about lore and general changes from Darkfall's latest patch.
Warlords of Draenor: The return of hard heroic 5-mans?
Just occasionally I'll see a blue post that gets me really excited. And today, I saw one. Blizzard EU Community Manager Taepsilum posted in response to a thread about the difficulty of 5-man dungeons. It's a really long post, so do go and read it, but I'm just going to pull out the exciting stuff for now. He mentions, firstly, that Warlords will see the return of normal and heroic modes at max level, and goes on to add that "WoD heroics will be much harder than MoP heroics". This is music to my ears. MoP has been a terrible expansion for 5-man content. And, while I appreciate that my experience is not the same as everyone's, 5-mans are some of my very favorite content to do to grind points, to grind gear, just to do for the sheer fun of it. I have hated the absence of new, relevant 5-mans in Mists. It's also something Blizzard devs are keenly aware of. And the latter ones in Cataclysm weren't that great either, yes there were a few tricky moments in Well of Eternity, but as ever, Blizzard overcompensated for players' complaints that the early Cata 5-mans were too hard.
Dungeon Tours: Wish you were here!
Synergy? We've got synergy! Welcome to the unveiling of Dungeon Tours, a new multimedia miniseries playing out on both the Massively blog and Massively TV. What is Dungeon Tours, you ask? It's a tour. Of a dungeon. Many tours, in fact, of many dungeons. We're sneaky like that. But there's a method behind this particular madness. Have you ever wanted to see and experience every dungeon and instance in a game? Maybe you're interested in getting a sneak peek at what content is in store for you as you advance in a title you already enjoy, or maybe you want to see what you have missed. It could be that you'd like to get a feel for a game before jumping in yourself. And whether or not you ever have any intention of ever playing a game yourself, you're probably curious about what goes on behind those closed doors! This miniseries is your key to those doors.
Alter Ego: Issue #4 - Kid Critical in the Scarecrow's Lair
Last time in Massively's DC Universe Online comic, Kid Critical helped Batman foil the Scarecrow's plan to turn Gotham's East End into a living nightmare. The mad scientist subsequently retreated to his lair beneath the city streets, where he managed to capture Batwoman and unleash his hellish fear gas on the pursuing Kid Critical. Now, Batwoman and the Kid must join forces to survive Scarecrow's hallucinogenic traps -- not to mention his cheesy banter. Will they make it out of the Scarecrow's Lair with their sanity intact? Turn the page to find out!
The Soapbox: Developers build MMOs backward
How many of you MMOs players have ever maxed out a character's combat level then stood around wondering, "What do I do now?" I would venture to guess that a vast majority of you at one time or another have done that, and I'd also guess that it's been recently. That's because developers have built your game backward. Far too many MMOs rely on the leveling process to be the primary content for the game, and everything after max level appears to be an afterthought tacked on to the game until the developers can come up with new stuff for you to do. I propose that if developers would start building a game's endgame first, we would be looking at a very different kind of game, a more enjoyable game. If a game is intended to be played for months, then developers should spend the most time on the content that players will spend the most time on. It's only logical to me. However, if you ask most developers they will likely tell you that the most expensive or time-consuming part of the game is the leveling process. Why is that?
Diving into Guild Wars 2's Fractals of the Mists changes with ArenaNet
Last November, the Lost Shores content patch brought the Fractals of the Mists, a set of bite-sized dungeon scenarios that increase in difficulty as more are completed, to Guild Wars 2. As the anniversary of FotM rolls around, ArenaNet is adding brand spanking new Fractals to the rotational lineup as well as making changes to bring the content further in line with the developers' vision for the future of the game. We were invited to attend a conference call with Game Director Colin Johanson and content designer Anthony Ordon, where they gave us some insight into the design behind the new Fractals, the updated reward structure, and where FotM will head from here.
The Daily Grind: Do you like solo dungeons?
When you think "dungeons," more often than not you think of a hearty team of adventurers plumbing the depths of some ancient (yet oddly populated) caverns. But there's no set rule that says all dungeons have to cater to parties; in fact, there seems to be a movement in MMOs to creating more solo dungeons. Do you like this? I'm a fan not because I'm anti-social but because sometimes I want the dungeon experience without the hassle of a group finder or going at the team's pace. Hey, my dungeon runs have lots of breaks for alt-tabbing to see what's happening on Massively, so don't judge. Solo dungeons: Do you like them? 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 Daily Grind: Should old content be made easier or relevant?
There's probably no one in the world who really wants go back through the Cataclysm raids in World of Warcraft. It's something you do because you like the looks of items and want to walk around looking pretty, not because you just can't get enough of that content. Since this content generally can't be just powered through alone, you have to get several like-minded people willing to revisit old content in the hopes that you might get some vanity items... which is easier said than done, and it's not all that easily said. Pretty much any game has a backlog of old content that's no longer relevant. An obvious solution is to just make this something that players can explore alone and easily; if no one's going back here as a challenge, wouldn't it make sense to just let everyone cruise on through as a tourist? But there's also the option of making it relevant in some fashion again, some way to make you feel you're not just pounding your head against content that provides a non-trivial but irrelevant challenge. So what do you think? Should old content be made easier for newer players or characters? Should it be made more relevant in some way? Or is it just fine to let it lie and let the people who missed out just keep on missing out? 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!
Massively exclusive: Take a desert trip in Elsword
Do you want to take a vacation in the middle of the desert? Probably not in the real world, since the desert is generally known for being a place people try to avoid rather than a vacation destination. But Elsword isn't expecting you to go just for the screaming heat and lack of water. No, it's offering a whole pile of desert-based fun that revolves around smashing enemies, exploring new fields, and taking on dungeons. The region shown off in the new trailer gives a sneak peek at two new dungeons, Barren Sander and the Garpai Rocky Zone. There's also a level cap increase up to 64, giving you a variety of new tools for smashing the crap out of your foes in side-scrolling action. If that sounds like your sort of party, then by all means, check out the trailer just past the break and get ready to enjoy a desert vacation far more than you'd expect otherwise. [Source: KOG Games press release]
Dragons take flight in EQII's Tears of Veeshan today
It's all about the dragons. You just can't get more quintessential fantasy than dragons, and EverQuest II's newest expansion is all about dragons. Sure, there are goblins and bow-wielding healers as well, but you can't miss that the focus of Tears of Veeshan is on those massive fire-breathing beasts. From dragons attacking Qeynos and Freeport to the evil dragon arch-enemy bent on destroying all time and space to the dragon afterlife, it is all about the dragons. Heck, even the new AAs are from dragons! So it's safe to say if you aren't a really a fan of wyverns in all their forms (be they live or dead!), you might want to skip this expansion. If, however, you love them in all their scaly glory, you've got plenty to look forward to. While waiting for ToV to take flight on live servers, I got to tour the highlights of the expansion with Producer Holly Longdale, Creative Director Akil Hooper, and Game Designer Carlos Mora. And from them I learned a few interesting new tidbits about EQII's 10th expansion. Want to know how you, too, can get Qho killed? I thought that might get your attention.
The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's patch 2.1 on the endgame
Two months out from Final Fantasy XIV's launch, I haven't had a chance to talk about any of the information we've seen about patch 2.1. That is kind of great. I haven't been thinking extensively about what the next big thing will be because I'm too busy enjoying the game right now. But that patch is approaching, and you'd better believe that it's going to include enough stuff to shake things up again -- enough that I could really write four or five columns just looking forward to what's coming next. First let's look at some of the elements that are going to seriously affect the endgame this week.
