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Ask WoW Insider: The rate of release
James G. has been debating an issue with his guildies for a while now, and he wanted to put it to you, the readers of WoW Insider:Basically, Blizzard said shortly after the release of Burning Crusade that they would ideally have one expansion released each year. Do you feel they can keep up with this or that they will ease back between expansion releases in future?He says that Blizzard has been learning and improving the whole time the game's been out about how to make content and release it, and that they should be more than capable of making an expansion every year or so. His guildies, however, point to the big gap between 2.1 and 2.4, and claim that even if Blizzard can release content faster, there still needs to be time for people to play it.What say you, readers? Obviously, Blizzard is likely releasing content as fast as they can (and let's be fair, no one is really holding them to that "once-a-year" thing -- their games are quality enough that we're ready to play them "when they're ready" anyway). But is Blizzard releasing content too fast for people to play through it, too slow to keep people interested, or just right?Previously on Ask WoW Insider, you answered questions. Want your question answered? Send it along to ask@wow.com, and you might see it here next week.
No Wrath without Burning Crusade
We kind of already figured this (and who is really jumping into Northrend without first having finished up with Outland anyway?), but Datth has confirmed it on the forums: in order to install Wrath of the Lich King, you'll have to have Burning Crusade installed as well. Not a huge surprise, but just in case you were recruiting someone to come up to level 80 with you, make sure to tell them to buy all three versions of the game when Wrath comes out, because they'll need them.The bigger question is: when will get a battlechest? It took about seven months for Blizzard to put Burning Crusade and World of Warcraft in the same box, but can we expect them to do it faster with Wrath of the Lich King? Probably not -- while the price may drop a bit on the current Battlechest (if you wanted to jump into the game the day of Wrath's release, it would cost you $70 total, and our guess is that that's about $10 more than Blizzard will end up charging), odds are that anyone getting in now would have to buy that and Wrath to play.Of course, odds are that you've made up your mind about buying the expansion anyway. Anyone out there still playing with vanilla WoW? As much as Blizzard has been about skipping past all that 1-60 content as fast as possible, I wouldn't be surprised at all if they even tweaked the subscription pricing on that end to try and pull more people into buying the expansions. They already will let you try the game and first expansion for free, and you'd have to think eventually they'll try to convince the last few demographics holding out to join up as well.
New details surface about EVE's 'Walking in Stations' expansion
Ambulation, or 'Walking in Stations' as it now seems to be known, is a hotly anticipated feature coming to EVE Online. It represents the first effort by CCP Games to add a more interactive dimension to the game, where players will finally be able to step out of their ships to socialize, play games, and ... modify one another's bodies? Apparently so. While some information about Walking in Stations is already known, EVE Stratics recently turned up more details. Trish "Seridove" Bennon and Michael "Solace" Lutes recently got some face time at PAX 2008 with CCP Games devs Jeremy Albert (Associate Producer) and Noah Ward (Lead Game Designer, aka CCP Hammerhead) who talked about aspects of the expansion.
The Daily Grind: It's expansion season!
It's expansion season in MMO-land. World of Warcraft will of course see the Wrath of the Lich King, which will add the continent of Northrend, a prestige class, and numerous enhancements. The Lord of the Rings Online will open up the Mines of Moria -- a massive dungeon environment for levels 50 and up. There will also be two new classes, and yes, numerous other enhancements.Then there's EverQuest II's The Shadow Odyssey, EverQuest's Seeds of Destruction, and Asheron's Call's just-released 100th update. If you've got long-inactive accounts with any of these games, the devs are trying to win you back! If you're still there, they're trying to keep you from leaving for Warhammer Online or from freeing yourself from the genre completely.Are any of these expansions going to do the job for you? And if so, which ones?
Sins of a Solar Empire sells 500,000 copies
Stardock has revealed that its sleeper PC hit Sins of a Solar Empire has sold over half a million copies. The company's CEO Brad Wardell tells Gamasutra that 400,000 units were sold at retail, while 100,000 in sales came from digital downloads. Not bad for a full-bodied PC strategy game that cost less than a million dollars to make. Wardell is certainly becoming an interesting character in the narrative of this industry, with relatively small publisher Stardock really stepping up. He explains part of Sins' success is that it was designed to run on a "four-year-old video card" and still look good. He says there might be a "piddly super-mega effect" that gets missed, but the result is more sales for the game, a strategy which sounds similar to Blizzard's take on being a PC developer. Sins' first mini-expansion, Entrenchment, will be available for $10 later this year. [Via Big Download]
CCP Games video interview on player interaction with fiction
The backstory of EVE Online is something that CCP Games has put a great deal of time and effort into creating. As all MMOs are ongoing works, so too are EVE's backstory and the storyline that players experience. To that end, CCP has people like Lead Writer Tony Gonzales (author of The Empyrean Age novel) and Lead Content Creator Scott Holden to flesh out the setting's past, while ensuring that the future of EVE's story remains open enough to allow players to do as they choose. MMORPG.com caught up with Tony Gonzales and Scott Holden at Gen Con, and got them to speak about the story of EVE in a video interview. They discussed how factional warfare finally came to be in EVE, player response to the Empyrean Age expansion, and how CCP is working to better integrate the backstory with gameplay. Be sure to check out MMORPG.com's Empyrean Age interview if you'd like to hear CCP's views on player-driven versus story-driven action.
EVE's Empyrean Age 1.1 patch to bring "power to the people"
CCP Games promised a number of fixes to EVE Online in Empyrean Age 1.1, the "power to the people" patch. Now that the patch notes are up, it seems they weren't exaggerating the extent to which the game is being tweaked. The patch will be deployed on Tuesday, September 2nd. Although it's a lengthy downtime (11:00 - 17:00 GMT), they don't anticipate the forums being taken down. The patch notes themselves are... extensive -- approaching YellowPages length -- and will continually be updated (in green text) as the September 2nd rollout approaches. Empyrean Age 1.1 primarily consists of bug and exploit fixes, and overall is aimed at making gameplay smoother, regardless of what your activities in EVE are. Player responses in the forums seem positive thus far, but questions about the changes are being addressed by the devs presently. As always, complications with patches and expansions can arise, so CCP recommends setting a long skill in training before the extended downtime.
Stardock reveals Sins of a Solar Empire: Entrenchment
Did you ever finish a six-hour long match of Sins of a Solar Empire and think, "What I really want is more"? If so, you have some serious, clinical mental problems. But, you've also got some good news coming your way: Today Stardock announced the first expansion to the game: Entrenchment.We're not even going to try to decode what the $9.95 expansion (due late this year) adds to the game, so here it is straight from the space horse's mouth: "Entrenchment promises to bring fans a Starbase defense platform for each race (extremely powerful and armored bases housing a variety of weapons and other upgrades capable of defending an entire planet), turret upgrades for each race to make them more powerful mine fields and a Subspace Inhibitor platform that will slow enemy ships within its range."...Umm, great?
World of Warcraft's graphics engine to be upgraded incrementally
In the wake of a series of comments by Blizzard reps hinting at an eventual overhaul of World of Warcraft's graphics engine, Worldofwar.net contacted Lead Producer J. Allen Brack for clarification. Brack responded by describing specific changes to the engine that will be in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, and then by making a pretty major revelation about the nature of the overhaul.According to Brack, Blizzard will be making the changes bit-by-bit rather than all at once. "We're taking an iterative, organic approach to graphics upgrades," he said, "going feature by feature as opposed to thinking in terms of an overall new graphics engine."As for the WotLK changes: those will include a new shadow engine, some new shaders for "even better looking terrain, as well as cool ice effects," and an increased view distance to make those expansive Northrend wastelands look, well ... expansive. He also noted that new water effects will be coming in "a future content update or expansion."[Via WoW Insider] One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
EVE Online video interview maps coming evolution of the game
New information has come to light about what CCP Games is planning for EVE Online players as the Empyrean Age progresses. EVE Associate Producer Arend Stührmann spoke with MMORPG.com's Jon Wood in a Leipzig video interview about the releases slated for the rest of this year, and how CCP views their accomplishments thus far. The goal of the Empyrean Age expansion was to create a lower-risk PvP environment that would encourage more players to experience this aspect of the game. Stührmann says that there is a solid core of players who've made factional warfare their livelihood, with over 40,000 players that enlisted in the first few weeks. Stührmann also spoke about the effect of factional warfare on non-participants. War can invigorate an economy and this idea holds true in New Eden as well. Factional Warfare in the Empyrean Age has had an impact on the market, particularly with tech I ship and module production.
BusinessWeek inside the world of Blizzard
BusinessWeek spent some time examining the indisputable success of our Blizzard overlords. At the very beginning of the article, BusinessWeek credits Blizzard's mastery of gaming to the often-spoken, often-hated "when it's ready." In a quote from Jay Wilson, Blizzard says that if "a product isn't good enough, we cancel it." The BusinessWeek article talks a lot about the overwhelmingly involved culture of Blizzard employees. The developers play their own games, both on the clock and off the clock. Dedicated "strike teams" spend lunch cruising the games' latest builds. Players in beta provide instant feedback, which executives and designers hungrily consume to make the best possible decisions. And if a game isn't deemed "fun enough," it's sent off to black-can land, where it will never see the light of day. According to the article, though, Blizzard still plans on releasing a new expansion every year. This is in addition to Starcraft II and Diablo III. While we can obviously expect these games to show up "when they're ready," it paints a very active, competitive future for the Activision Blizzard group. The article does credit a new milestone for our beloved World of Warcraft. According to BusinessWeek, the subscriber base is now nearly 11 million. With the Recruit-a-Friend benefits, I hope we see this number grow to 12 million by the end of the year.
Blizzard interview focuses on Wrath and the changing player experience
As the Wrath of the Lich King expansion gets closer to release, World of Warcraft players have a number of questions about how the game experience is going to change for them as the title moves forward. Co-lead designer Tom Chilton and producer J. Allen Brack spoke with Oli Welsh from Eurogamer at the Games Convention in Leipzig, about where the Blizzard title is now, and where it's heading. The interview touched on how Blizzard will handle instances in the Death Knight starting zone in Wrath of the Lich King, with Brack stating that instances won't actually be used. Rather, a player's environment will shift between different world states dependent upon quest progression. Other highlights of their talk include the design aspects of the hero class, faster leveling, and whether new players can really have the same experience that drew so many gamers to World of Warcraft years ago. Be sure to check out the Eurogamer interview for the full story on Wrath of the Lich King, particularly the Achievement system and how Blizzard feels about its growing competition. One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
Lineage II becomes more accessible for new players
Among the fantasy MMO titles out there, Lineage II has gained a reputation for being a bit grindy, requiring hardcore dedication to get the most from the game. The latest update, Gracia -- Part 1, is changing all that. Players now have easier leveling thanks to the new Vitality System, which gives an 'experience bonus for time either spent away from the game or in safe zones.' Starting characters begin the game with maximum Vitality and enjoy increased rewards for quest completion, taking down bosses, and a wider array of items available in general, allowing for faster leveling. A recent press release quotes Tim Tan, NCsoft's North American producer, as saying, "The increase in leveling speed allows players to create new characters and advance nearly twice as fast as before. This will allow players to experience the meat of Lineage II quickly, giving them the ability to visit new and exciting areas and cool high-level content much quicker than before. While this game is still a hardcore game, these changes with Gracia -- Part 1 make the game much more accessible to new players." Do the changes make the title more appealing, or do they detract from the 'hardcore' aspects of Lineage II? If you're a serious Lineage II player, how do these changes sit with you? [Thanks, Torak]
EVE Community Spotlight: Jade Constantine
Jade Constantine is a veteran player of EVE Online, long known for having a forceful personality and a flair for writing. As the CEO of Jericho Fraction and the head of The Star Fraction alliance, Jade has become a pioneer in EVE roleplay, upholding ideologies of freedom that run counter to some of the very systems that define the game. Along the way, Jade has made some enemies, but clearly some allies as well, having garnered the most votes in the Council of Stellar Management (CSM) election. As Chairman of the CSM, Jade Constantine is a magnet for controversy, but as an elected delegate, is also in a unique position to deal directly with CCP Games and potentially change EVE. Massively recently spoke with Jade on the state of roleplaying in EVE Online, the challenges that the CSM faces, and what it's like to be under the magnifying glass.
Era of suicide ganking in EVE Online coming to a close
CCP Games has addressed the long-standing problem of suicide ganking in EVE Online in their latest dev blog, titled "Serious Security." CCP Fear stepped up to inform the player base that, yes, the devs do take the issue of suicide ganking seriously, and that they're going to take action. The proposed changes, outlined below, are not going into effect immediately, nor do they impact actions taken as part of Empire war declarations. However, they will be implemented with the next major update to EVE, which will be Empyrean Age 1.1, rolling out this Fall. The dev blog focuses on CONCORD improvements and the increased consequences of suicide ganks. CCP Fear states: "We have been looking at suicide ganking and overall security standing issues, and how these features affect the general landscape of EVE. We are not happy with the current ease of suicide ganking and the relative 'no hassle' it has become. In many cases, unsuspecting victims have no chance to escape, nor any help from CONCORD. We want to change this."
The Art of War(craft): A guide to obtainable PvP Achievements before Wrath
If you've been paying close attention to the Wrath of the Lich King Beta -- and let's be honest, how could you not? We've been covering it like crazy over here are WoW Insider -- then you might have noticed that Blizzard will be implementing a nifty little feature called Achievements. Of course, the first thing that jumped out at me (and probably you, too, since you're reading this column) were the PvP Achievements. I didn't plan to pursue Achievements actively. Not before I heard about the PvP Achievements, anyway. Now, it's one of the things I can't stop thinking about... more accurately, I can't stop thinking of how to complete them. There are quite a bunch of PvP Achievements to pursue, and most of them will only be tracked once the expansion goes live. But there are also some achievements that you can start working on right now because they'll be tracked retroactively (as far as I can tell). Let's take a look at those Achievements so you can get them out of the way before Wrath.One word of caution: all these Achievements are in beta and can change at any time before (and possibly after) the Wrath launch. So proceed at your own risk.
EQ devs talk upcoming expansion, old zone revamps
A half dozen EverQuest developers sat down with their faithful players and discussed the details of the new expansion, Seeds of Destruction, which old zones were next to be hit with the revamp stick, and what other changes were on the horizon for SOE's most venerable, but still popular, game.The next expansion will continue to require faction grinding to progress, similar to that in Secrets of Faydwer, though some changes will be made to address player complaints. Still, World of Warcraft-like faction grinding seems to be a big hit with EQ devs since its introduction in the Dragons of Norrath expansion, and we wll likely see it continue in the foreseeable future.
Frogster will drown you in new MMOs ... if you live in Europe
Frogster, noted European and Asian MMO publisher, has released a flying voidship-load of information about their upcoming MMOs for the European market.Long awaited fantasy MMO The Chronicles of Spellborn is still due out late this year, with open beta to begin in October. We've been following this game closely for some time, but it looks like the rumored US publisher (given their prior relationship, perhaps Aeria Games) is not yet ready to announce North American release dates for the game. The World of Warcraft-ish Asian Import Runes of Magic, newly rescored and tuned toward Western tastes, will enter closed beta in September, for a European release about two months later. Isometric pet-raising, caveman-themed MMO StoneAge 2, already in open beta in North America, will be entering European closed beta in August ahead of a fall release. Next week, Frogster will release more information on its latest MMO, soccer-themed Kickster (formerly Kick Off). And they want us to keep an eye out for an expansion to the Bounty Bay Online pirate MMO.Assuming you live in Europe, which ones should you particularly keep your eye on? If you bought a Gameboy just to play Pokemon, you might really enjoy StoneAge 2. If a subscription fee is keeping you from playing World of Warcraft, Runes of Magic might just be different enough to get you interested, and it will be free to play. If you liked Age of Conan's innovative combat system but couldn't get into the world of Hyboria, Spellborn's unique setting and combat system combined with its lush visuals might sell you.Check out screenshots from each of these games in the gallery below.%Gallery-28277%
Massively takes on EVE Online's learning curve
EVE Online is a complex game. There's no doubt about that. That complexity is a large part of the draw, but that doesn't mean learning about the game has to be a daunting experience. With that in mind, Massively has EVE Online in its sights. We've brought solid writers on staff who are quite knowledgeable about the game and are here to give some in-depth info on how EVE is played. CrazyKinux and Crovan of The Drone Bay podcast joined us in April, and since then have provided Massively's readers with some helpful columns. CrazyKinux, aka David Perry, writes the Have Clone, Will Travel column. David's most recent piece, 3 Essential Tools for Capsuleers, provides a great overview of some of the third-party programs and resources available to help you plan your skill progression and your ship fittings. But we're also running two more EVE-centric columns at Massively. Read on after the jump to see what else we're bringing to the EVE community, and how we're easing that learning curve.
Empyrean Age warfare takes its toll on new recruits
It's hard to be a noob, or at least a noob character, and simply drop into EVE Online's factional warfare. But that's just what Van Hemlock has been doing. Although he's learning by trial-and-error, he does have significantly more experience than someone who's new to the game and impulsively enlists in a factional militia. Van Hemlock's latest dispatch from the front lines imparts his readers with some more lessons, building on what he's already relayed to fledgling capsuleers in recent weeks. Despite what he's learned, Van Hemlock also faces what most combat pilots in EVE Online have at some point -- knowing what you should do, but then (in panic) doing something entirely different that gets you killed. Also knowing the Tech II variants of standard ships will allow you to avoid fighting against hopeless odds, as Van Hemlock encountered the much-feared Ishtar and Sacrilege heavy assault cruisers, which quickly reduced he and his wingman to flaming escape pods. Check out Van Hemlock's 'The Skirmishes of Space' to read about the exploits of a new pilot up against sometimes overwhelming odds.
