expansions
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World of Warcraft's lead content designer on the future of the game and the franchise
World of Warcraft has had a tumultuous time. The past three years have seen the game shed about five million players, but it still counts 7.6 million subscribers, far more than its closest competitor. And the most recent expansion announcement has certainly generated plenty of interest. But lead content designer Corey Stockton explained in a recent interview that the game still has more places to go. He mentions exploring the recent trends toward user-generated content and procedural content to allow more variety at the top levels, something to ameliorate how quickly players consume the elaborately designed dungeons and raids of the game. Stockton doesn't see that sort of content ever replacing the core of the game, of course, but he does note that there's a persistent issue with new content not coming out as fast as players can go through it. He goes on to explain that the developers would like to have a new expansion out every year, certainly at a faster rate than the team's previous content releases, and that the current goal is to work several expansions ahead rather than focusing on the immediate future. For more details and talk about the potential for Warcraft IV, take a look at the full interview.
The Art of Wushu: Thoughts on the winter expansion
We looked at a lot of the details of Age of Wushu's Ultimate Scrolls expansion last time, but we should also reflect a bit on the implications of the new changes. The Mt. Hua expansion was mostly positive, and I was very excited to see the new mentoring program and token systems. I'm not as hyped for Ultimate Scrolls. Whereas Mt. Hua added accessibility, a new battleground, and more fun things to do for everyone, Ultimate Scrolls is primarily an expansion for top players. There is very little to do in this expansion if you don't have leveled meridians and a maxed second or third internal skill. Even though I'm in the one percent, I don't think it's very fair to the majority of players who are not.
Players show off Lord of the Rings Online's epic battles in Helm's Deep beta
The central feature of Lord of the Rings Online's upcoming expansion is battles of a truly astounding size. Battles large enough to truly earn the name of epic. With the drop of the NDA, players have taken it upon themselves to produce an equally epic assembly of footage for these epic battles. Narrators Andang, Ethelros, and Pineleaf have created five videos walking through all of the enormous battles, from smaller scale to the biggest possible encounters. As the videos show, success in these battles is not simply a matter of killing all of your enemies, focusing instead upon tactical management of the supporting NPCs while keeping an eye toward how many enemy forces are incoming. It also requires some amount of the calculation you'd expect, allowing some forces to fall so that your main force remains healthy. But you don't need to take our word for it -- click on past the break and start watching. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Lord of the Rings Online dev diary digs into Helm's Deep's epic story
Players of Lord of the Rings Online must certainly be looking forward to the continuation of the game's epic storyline in the upcoming Helm's Deep expansion. Unfortunately, they're going to have to wait just a little longer, but on the bright side, the folks at Turbine have released a new dev diary that delves into the next three books of volume III that will be added in the expansion, plus "some of the interesting challenges [the devs] faced while bringing this section of the story to life." One of the main issues that the devs must confront is the challenge of allowing players to play a significant role in the ongoing story while not directly interfering with the main narrative of the Fellowship. On top of that, there's the small detail that while many player characters are Hobbits, there were no Hobbits present at the battle of Helm's Deep. So how do the devs deal with these lore conundrums? Well, you'll have to check out the full dev diary to find out, so for all the tasty details (and a few teasers of upcoming content), just head over to the LotRO official site.
Diablo III dev diary delves into the history of Westmarch
Diablo III's upcoming Reaper of Souls expansion will take players to a number of new locales across the world of Sanctum, such as the kingdom of Westmarch, the subject of Blizzard's latest dev post on the game's official site. Long-time Diablo fans probably know Westmarch best as the home of the Knights of Westmarch, the order from which Diablo II's Paladin hails, but there is much more to the realm's deep lore. Westmarch's history is one -- as is expected in the Diablo universe -- steeped in blood and conquest. The kingdom was founded by the Zakarum zealot Rakkis after a crusade that drove him across the Twin Seas and over the bodies of legions of conquered foes, but there is a second, "secret" history to this place. Near Westmarch is a "sprawl of fetid marshes," littered with the ruins of an ancient Nephalem civilization said to hold the power to ward against angels and demons alike. It was to these ruins that the now-mortal Tyrael took the Black Soulstone, and it was there that the former archangel Malthael, at that point neither angel nor demon, stole the Black Soulstone from its hiding place. And that, of course, is where the tale of Reaper of Souls begins. If you're a lore junkie looking for all the details, check out the full post on Diablo III's official site.
Diablo III dev blog demystifies the Mystic
Diablo III's latest dev blog unveils more tasty information about a new artisan NPC, the Mystic, coming to the game in the Reaper of Souls expansion. As many Diablo III fans are undoubtedly aware, Reaper of Souls will mark the introduction of a set of features, known colloquially as Loot 2.0, which aims to rebalance Diablo III's loot and item systems in an effort to make loot more interesting to players. The Mystic is an integral part of this effort thanks to her unique skills of enchanting and transmogrification. Through Enchantment, the Mystic is capable of rerolling a single property on a piece of equipment, making her the go-to artisan for those items that are almost-but-not-quite perfect. While you can choose only a single property to reroll on each item, that property can be rerolled as many times as you can afford. Don't worry about buyer's remorse, though; if the newly rolled property is worse than the old one, the Mystic can reverse the process. The Mystic is also the number one stylist in Sanctuary thanks to her transmogrification ability which, as World of Warcraft players know, allows players to replace an item's visual appearance with that of a different item. To get all the arcane details on Myriam the Mystic, you can check out the full post on Diablo III's official site.
The Road to Mordor: Ranking LotRO's expansions
I'll admit that Helm's Deep has really started to grow on me as of late. Perhaps it's the dev tours, the increase of official posts on the expansion, or the fact that my Captain is finally done with Wildermore and ready to go, but I'm excited about the next chapter of the game. More than anything else, I'm dying to see how the class changes and trait trees are received. But any time that we're anticipating a new expansion, there's a natural desire to want to look back and see where we've been in Lord of the Rings Online. It amazes me just how big this game's gotten since 2007, and now that we're on the cusp of seeing a full Rohan, I feel like I'm almost at the summit of an important mountain in the game. So for fun and debate, I'm going to rank LotRO's four expansions to date, from best to worst, and share what I liked and disliked about them. This list comes with a caveat that I've never been much of a dungeon runner, so instances and raids do not factor into this ranking.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite MMO expansion?
I was thinking about MMO expansions the other day, particularly after I realized that both EVE Online and EverQuest have now released 20 of them! Oh, and Star Wars: The Old Republic's Galactic Starfighter reveal brought back pleasant memories of what is easily my favorite MMO expansion of all time: Star Wars Galaxies' Jump to Lightspeed. It's not that the JtL and SWTOR: GS are at all similar, but hey, both are Star Wars and both are in space so my mind made the connection. In any event, what's your favorite MMO expansion? 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 Game Archaeologist: A history of EverQuest expansions
This past week, EverQuest made history as the title published its 20th expansion, Call of the Forsaken. Seriously, I cannot get my head around that number: 20! It's even more astonishing when you consider that contemporaries that launched in that early generation have gone many, many years since their last expansion. SOE's commitment to EverQuest's continuing development, even as the fourth and fifth titles in the MMO series are coming in the next year, is pretty inspiring. What's even more inspiring is the community that continues to prefer EQ as its stomping ground of choice. Today I want to pay tribute to the 20 expansions of EverQuest by going through them, one by one, and seeing how they grew and enriched the game over the past decade-and-a-half. I would also love to hear testimonies in the comments as to which EverQuest expansion you enjoyed the most!
The Mog Log: After the story of Final Fantasy XIV
First of all, putting this front and center: there are spoilers aplenty in the article past the cut. You have been warned, and will be warned again. I wrapped up the main story of Final Fantasy XIV a little while ago, got to see the final cutscenes that last for about a month, and was rewarded with a nice new mount for my trouble. I also got some big metaplot advancement and access to the endgame dungeons that I'll be running until we get more of them, so that was nice. But today I don't want to talk about how Amdapor Keep and Castrum Meridianum do an excellent job of being an endgame without being one, I want to talk about the actual story as a whole. Including the final revelations, the pacing of the plot, and where the game has to go from here. Again, spoilers past the cut. If you have not beaten the main story and want it to remain a secret, please, don't read past this point.
Possible trademark filed by Blizzard for Heroes of the Storm
We've seen the (presumed) big ending to the last World of Warcraft expansion... so what's the next one? That's the source of much speculation, and it's been fueled by the fact that Blizzard has possibly filed a new trademark for Heroes of the Storm. What does this mean? Possibly nothing. It could be a hoax, it could be an unrelated property, it could be almost anything. There's certainly some possibility that it could be a new expansion to World of Warcraft, with plenty of possible meanings for what it might contain. So is it a hoax, the next expansion, or something else altogether? That's up to the individual to guess. What we can say with certainty is that if these heroes don't get to ride on the storm, the game will have missed a golden opportunity for a pop culture reference, and that's just not likely to happen.
Lord of the Rings Online details Minstrel changes in Helm's Deep
Lord of the Rings Online players are almost certainly foaming at the mouth for the game's upcoming Helm's Deep expansion. Unfortunately, it's not going to be dropping for another month and a half. In the meantime, the kind folks at Turbine are hoping to satiate some of that hunger (or perhaps further whet fans' appetites) with some details on the myriad changes the expansion will bring. Specifically, the most recent dev blog is dedicated to taking a closer look at Middle-earth's most eminent musician, the Minstrel. Minstrels have always been a versatile class, and the new trait lines arriving with Helm's Deep continue that tradition. Minstrels who choose to follow the Watcher of Resolve trait line will be masters of raising morale thanks to a number of traits that buff outgoing heals, increase critical heal potency, and reduce cast times. Those who prefer causing wounds to closing them will find their calling in the Warrior-Skald line, which can turn even the most timid troubadour into a battle-hardened balladeer specializing in single-target damage. And finally, Minstrels who wish to embolden their allies and enfeeble their foes will be right at home in the Protector of Song trait line, which focuses on bestowing powerful buffs and debuffs to shift the tide of battle.
The Art of Wushu: Talking Mount Hua with Age of Wushu's Peter Kang
A day or two after writing about the Mount Hua expansion last time, I had the chance to sit down with community manager Peter Kang -- better known to the Age of Wushu playerbase as Earthquake -- and talk about the various changes in the expansion. We had a fairly long talk. Like true wuxia fanboys, we derailed quite a bit to talk about Legend of Condor Heroes, but we discussed where Wushu is, where Snail would like it to go, and the relationship between Snail USA and the dev team in China. It was pretty enlightening because he clearly plays the game and is acutely aware of the impact the company's decisions has on players.
SOE Live 2013: EQII's Destiny of Velious will be free, Age of Discovery split
If you didn't have the chance to sit in on the EverQuest II expansion panel at SOE Live, you didn't get to hear the outright confirmation that Producer Holly Longdale hinted at in Thursday's keynote address, namely, that the Destiny of Velious expansion will soon be bundled with the previous expansions and available to all free-to-play players. Yes, that means that the game updates including SkyShrine, Scars of the Awakened, and Darkness Dawns will open up to all! How else could everyone get free access to the level 85 Heroic Characters and experience the high-level content? Longdale also added that the dev team has been listening to community feedback and that the stand alone Age of Discovery expansion will be split into its components so players can buy the features they like and not have to shell out for those they don't. This expansion contains the Beastlord class, the dungeon maker, and mercenaries. What happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas, at least where SOE Live is concerned! Massively sent intrepid reporters MJ Guthrie and Karen Bryan to this year's SOE Live, from which they'll be transmitting all the best fan news on EverQuest Next, EverQuest II, DC Universe Online, and the other MMOs on SOE's roster.
SOE Live 2013: Thursday keynote announces expansions, release dates, and more
SOE Live 2013 kicked off in the new Planet Hollywood venue with a keynote full of information as well as frivolity. The night started with a rap performance by a PlanetSide 2 player and continued with plenty of humor and even prize giveaways. Fan favorite Brasse, aka Linda Carlson, then lit up the stage (literally) in her PlanetSide 2-inspired Dwarven armor set and plugged Player Direct, a way for player-made gaming videos to gain more exposure. And then came the gaming news. Although even more details will be forthcoming as the convention progresses, there were some definite highlights shared by SOE CEO John Smedley, EverQuest Producer Thom Terrazas, and EverQuest II Producer Holly Longdale, including expansion announcements, release dates, and even some EverQuest Next tidbits.
Dungeons & Dragons Online shows off A Lesson in Deception
If you can't trust the mastermind behind a gathering of criminals, whom can you trust? Dungeons & Dragons Online seems to imply you can't trust the mysterious benefactor uniting the criminals of Wheloon in the upcoming Shadowfell Conspiracy expansion. Calling the dungeon A Lesson in Deception doesn't imply that you'll reach the end and find out that everything is perfectly awesome... even if you'll be doing most of the deceiving early on by posing as a new recruit and infiltrating this den of thieves. If you're reading this and immediately want to get down and dirty with the infiltration of said thief-den, you're still going to have to wait. But you can examine several new screenshots showing off the dungeon, which looks to be ranging across quite a bit of territory in the city. So get ready to play cutpurse on August 19th and enjoy the preview until then. [Source: Turbine Entertainment press release] %Gallery-190160%
Guild Wars 2's Zadorojny clarifies that Cantha and Elona are still possible
There's a lot of space covered in Guild Wars that doesn't exist in Guild Wars 2 at this time, the sort of space that would seem to be tailor-made for expansion content. Yet earlier this week Mike Zadorojny, the game's lead content designer, told reporters that expansions are off the table at least for the moment. But if you're worried that the regions of Cantha and Elona are equally inaccessible, fear not: Zadorojny has clarified that he will not rule out either area for inclusion. Zadorojny explained that these regions still have stories to tell and that the living world setup allows the Guild Wars 2 devs to explore these regions in the future and add permanent content down the road if they so choose. He further stressed that the game has added what he considers to be an entire region's worth of content since its launch, with more coming as part of the game's current update schedule. [Thanks to Andy for the tip!]
Guild Wars 2 might never have an expansion [Updated]
Whether or not you like the "Living World" style of Guild Wars 2, you may very well see it as a long-running prelude to a full expansion. ArenaNet's lead content designer Mike Zadorojny recently went on record puncturing that particular balloon, saying that if the team manages these updates correctly, it will "probably never do an expansion and everything will be going into this Living World strategy." This stands in direct contrast to previous speculation and forecasts that the game would receive one on some sort of timetable. According to Zadorojny, the end goal is to provide the same sort of content as in an expansion, simply at a faster pace with a more episodic nature. He likens the experience to television, providing constant motivation to tune in next week for something new and exciting. While he declined to offer hard numbers on the game's performance, he did say that the game is doing quite well and has no plans to sell powerful items in the gem store, with the current business model supporting the game without any need for an expansion. [Update]: Game director Colin Johanson has posted a clarification on the GW2 forums. Just to clarify a bit, as Mike said there are numerous teams beyond our Living World teams, and some of them are working on much longer term projects which we'll go into details on much further down the road. It's entirely possible some of the types of content which you might traditionally find in expansions would be released through an expansion in the future for Gw2, and it's possible we'd try something different when it comes to integrating those type of releases. We have no final plans one way or another about expansions at this time, and certainly haven't ruled them out, it's something we'll discuss more in the future. Edited to add: Our primary focus right now is on making the core Gw2 experience as strong and compelling as possible, we'll release a blog post later this month detailing more specifically our plans for Gw2 in the second half of 2013.
The Road to Mordor: But what if I'm three expansions behind?
One habit that I'm constantly trying to break myself of is assuming that everyone who reads this column or plays Lord of the Rings Online is going through (or has finished) the most recent content that Turbine's pumped out. Over the past few weeks, I've had discussions with Massively staffers, guildmates, and podcast co-hosts who all have admitted to being way behind the content curve in LotRO, many to the point where catching up to the endgame crowd seems like an insurmountable task. As a particular person asked me, "But what if I'm three expansions behind? Is it even worth paying for all of these expansions and pushing myself to get to Rohan?" This is a valid concern and obviously one that several folks have, so for today's column I want to talk to those of you who aren't level 85. Maybe you haven't even seen the interior of Moria yet, or maybe you have been following the most casual, sporadic path through Middle-earth possible over the years. Maybe the one-expansion-per-year pace is actually pushing you away from the game. Here's what I think will help.
EVE Evolved: Get ready for Odyssey
With just two days to go until EVE Online's exploration-focused Odyssey expansion goes live, players have been scouring the test server for information that can give them an edge. Some have been practicing moon surveying techniques for the upcoming redistribution of tech 2 minerals, and others are hoping to get rich quick by speculating on battleship price changes. Explorers are kitting out new exploration ships, theorycrafters are working on new setups for rebalanced ships, and pirates are setting up base in lowsec areas that are about to become fertile hunting grounds. Odyssey isn't quite the Apocrypha-level expansion I've been hoping for, but it certainly seems set to shake things up. Changes to moon minerals will throw nullsec into chaos and hopefully ignite some big territorial wars, and battleship buffs may change EVE's popular fleet compositions. The Discovery Scanner Overlay will make exploration much easier for new players to get into, but will also give pirates another tool with which to hunt down explorers. A new co-operative hacking minigame will also make exploration more of a team sport. But how can you make the most of the expansion from day one, and what can you do today to prepare for it? In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the new exploration system and other changes you can expect when you log in on Tuesday, and what you can do now to make the most of them.
