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Firefall getting 'rare legendary weapon drops,' lots of other stuff [Updated]
Did you catch Red 5's dev round table on Twitch earlier today? I didn't either, but fortunately the Firefall Twitter account susses out several of the more interesting tidbits. The team mentioned the MMO shooter's revamped progression curve, which has changed to the point that "you will feel the difference." In-game mailboxes, separate chat channels, "rare legendary weapon drops," and clicking-on-player-names-to-whisper are just a few of the features in the works. The game's HUD is now drag-and-droppable, and the crafting UI has a new and less confusing layout. There's more where that came from, too, so click through the links below to read all about it. [Update: The official site has updated with a dev blog outlining the Q&A!]
Free for All: The confused state of Firefall's first few hours
As part of my research for an upcoming article about MMO shooters, I have been playing a lot of Firefall. There are definitely worse assignments in the world. I really, really enjoy the game; I love the fact that I can do almost anything I want even within a short play session and feel as if I accomplished something. Of course, the current enlightened state I am in does not reflect the game's non-newbie-friendly designs. As a matter of fact, the only place I was able to turn for reliable explanations and non-stop answers was a reader of Massively who recognized my name in the chat. This reader and I have played together several times, and he went out of his way to answer all of the newbie questions that should have been answered by the game. I know that the developers have said (through Tweets to me and in other places) that a better newbie experience is on its way. There are also friendly little helper robots sprinkled throughout the game and a handful of helpful videos that can be found as well. So why are so many new players still confused about Firefall?
Mark Kern addresses his departure from Red 5 Studios
Using a mixture of geek culture references, former Red 5 Studios CEO Mark Kern posted a brief statement on MMORPG.com to address his departure from the Firefall studio. Kern referenced the event as his "Kobayashi Maru test" and insinuated that fans shouldn't fully believe what they may have heard. "While there have been rumors about whether I was demoted, terminated, or maybe even corporately executed, I will only say this: Remember that Han always shot first," he wrote. Kern said that he had fond memories of his time with the company and wished the studio success in the future. Mark Kern was let go from Red 5 on December 19th and replaced by acting CEO James Macauley. [Thanks to ArchDevi for the tip!]
Mark Kern removed as CEO of Red 5 Studios [Updated]
According to a recent report from Gamefront, Red 5 Studios CEO Mark Kern has been terminated by the company's board of directors, effective immediately. Vice President of Development James Macauly has apparently sent an email to all employees informing them of the change in leadership, with this latest dismissal coming in the wake of several previous layoffs at the Firefall studio. No official statement has been issued to the public by the company at this time. An anonymous source within the company has also spoken out against Kern in The Escapist, claiming that the CEO was frequently absent and arrived sporadically to hand down arbitrary decisions. How true these statements are cannot be confirmed, although the company does hold a low rating for employee satisfaction overall. We'll have more on the situation if and when a statement is issued regarding Kern's continued employment or lack thereof. [Update: Red 5 Producer Matt DeWald has issued a formal statement on the now-confirmed rumors: "As of Thursday, December 19th, Mark Kern is no longer the Chief Executive Officer of Red 5 Studios. Mark founded Red 5 Studios in 2006 to provide exceptional game entertainment along with a world-class team of developers working on the MMO Shooter, Firefall. Red 5 Vice President of Development, James Macauley, will be moving into the role of acting CEO. The team at Red 5 continues work on Firefall and looks forward to all that we have to offer in 2014."]
Firefall update talks quest system, bug squashing
It's time for a Firefall development update direct from Red 5. The most interesting tidbit has to do with a new content creation tool that the devs hope will provide quest-like missions. The team "made tremendous progress" on this little ditty "that will allow us to string together multiple encounters with branching trees all wrapped up in a loose narrative structure." Red 5 also managed to clean up its creature database and roll out additional bug fixes. You can read further details on the Firefall forums.
Free for All: MMOs for players with a penchant for The Wolf Among Us
Ah, graphics. It's hard to describe why we like the graphical styles we do. I like the stylings of many games, but some are just so perfect that the graphics reach beyond a visual style and become a sort of textural memory in my gamer's heart. Each year, scores of games come out, and though I enjoy many of them, most do not affect me the way the look of games like The Chronicles of Spellborn or even Free Realms does. There are a lot of single-player titles that just blow me away as well. Recently I was absolutely transfixed by Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. I stayed up late one night to finish it, and the graphics just kept getting better the entire time. Then there's The Wolf Among Us, a new title by Telltale Games, the same studio that made The Walking Dead series. It's made me remember just how amazing graphics can be without requiring a massive gaming rig. Did you like the look of The Wolf Among Us as well? Here are some MMOs that feel similar.
Red 5 Studios' parent company lines up $24 million Firefall investment
Anyone who has played Firefall wouldn't associate it with more standard free-to-play Chinese MMOs, but the game is certainly generating a lot of financial interest in China. The9, the Chinese gaming company that owns developer Red 5 Studios, is lining up for the game to get a major investment from Oriental Pearl Culture Development Ltd., a major entertainment development organization. That investment shakes out to around $24 million and would make Oriental Pearl one of the largest minority shareholders in the company. Overall, Firefall is apparently valued around $100 million based upon statements released by the companies. This latest investment is still in a non-binding stage and could be cancelled if Oriental Pearl changed its mind and decided against investing in the company. Preliminary reports suggest that the deal will go through, generating quite a windfall for the not yet technically launched game and demonstrating once again just how big the MMO scene is becoming worldwide.
Red 5 doubles Firefall's internal QA team, focuses on bug-squashing
Red 5 has a new Firefall development update initiative in the works, the first entry for which went live on the game's website recently. The dev blog mentions that bug-squashing is currently a major point of focus, so much so that the studio has doubled its internal quality assurance team. The team is also hard at work on the UI and a new HUD as well as the game's dynamic encounter systems. The details are fuzzy at this point, but Red 5 says that "Firefall is meant to be a living, breathing world with things happening at all times and something that reacts to player involvement." The rest of the dev blog covers the game's story, character progression, crafting, creatures, combat, and social integration. Read all about it via the links below.
The Soapbox: Stop hurting the people who love you
Over the last few years, we have been witness to dramatic shifts in the way the video game business does its...erm...business. Crowdfunding appeared out of nowhere and turned people like Chris Roberts into money tornadoes. Digital distribution created an environment in which anyone with an internet connection and a laptop can create and release a game. Here in the MMO niche, early access, paid betas, founders packages, and extended soft launches became the norm. My opinion on soft launching and paid betas has been well established on this site. I dislike the idea that players must jump in to aid a flailing development team while it buys time on a project the team clearly should have reigned in. I also hate the environment soft launching creates in which studios are not accountable for their mistakes; a game like Firefall can have its entire PvP system wiped while its developers say, "Oops, our bad, beta! But thanks for all the money." However, there is another enormous problem with the prevalence of the soft launch system. Namely, it kills fans.
The Stream Team: Decisionally challenged weather edition, October 7 - 13, 2013
I don't know about you, but in my neck of the woods Mother Nature is suffering some kind of identity crisis. In the span of a single day we have had bone-chilling cold and frost, sun-scorching heat, and monsoon-inspired rainstorms. Every time we have a season-appropriate cold snap, the second I go to remove my air-conditioner, we have a blistering heat wave. People were pumpkin harvesting in shorts for heaven's sakes! Is it fall? Or is it summer? If the weather is any indication, we need to institute a new season. We could call it Summall. Or maybe Falmer. Then people can just expect to employ heavy coats and shorts within hours. Like they do in Colorado! Like the weather of late, I'll admit to being decisionally challenged at times (especially when trying to pick what to do in a game with so many options!). Luckily, for any who suffer that same affliction, your favorite Stream Team hosts will never conflict on the Massively TV schedule. So who's playing what when this week? Check out the schedule and see!
One Shots: The people pillar
How are MMOs different than real life? There are many answers to that question, but our opening screenshot today reminds me that I don't actively seek to run into a sweaty, heaving mass of humanity just because they'll provide localized healing and damage boosts. Everyone always tries to use that excuse at conventions, and all I come away with is an intestinal debuff. Reader Eri had this observation while playing a recent beta: "Firefall seems to have quite a few community events regularly going on and it always amuses me at the end how it devolves into the ancient art of people stacking. This tower was during the stress test a month or so ago after a few invasions had finished. There were a lot of people around and a rival tower was being built in Sunken Harbour as well. Everyone was laughing and having a lot of fun, talking in chat while serving as a human pillar, and there was usually a dance party going on at the bottom of it. While this one did get big, apparently the dastardly Sunken Harbour Folks beat us." Are you ready to jump into the people pile? If so, we've got more for you after the break!
Firefall's Red 5 Studios lays off 10% of staff in 'pre-launch reorganization'
The Twitterscape is abuzz tonight about fresh layoffs at Firefall's Red 5 Studios as current and former Red 5 employees have announced that they're now on the market. A formal statement from the company calls the layoffs a "reorganization": Red 5 Studios announced today that the studio is being reorganized prior to the launch of Firefall. "As Firefall matures, we must transition our priorities and our development strategy to focus on streamlined operations and live product support," said Mark Kern, CEO and founder of Red 5 Studios. As part of the reorganization, Red 5 Studios confirms that it has released about 10 percent of its staff, the majority from Red 5's video internet entertainment channel, Stage 5 TV. Development of Firefall is unaffected by the reorganization and Open Beta Stage 2 is well underway with a major patch scheduled for later this month. Last week, Red 5 shocked players by announcing it was temporarily disabling and retooling Firefall's PvP mode, on which it had based its e-sports platform; apparently, only 3% of the beta playerbase participated in it. [Source: Red 5 press release]
Red 5 Studios to suspend Firefall PvP, wants to 'get it right'
Red 5 Studios will suspend the Player vs. Player (PvP) elements of Firefall at a "near future point" to focus their resources on improving the game's Player vs. Environment (PvE) aspects, CEO Mark Kern announced on Thursday. Kern explained that Jetball, Firefall's "last big attempt" at a PvP mode that was designed for eSports, was fun but didn't "attract many of our players (less than 3% PvP in Firefall)." Kern described PvP as an important part of Firefall and said that the studio will "regroup, rethink, and deliver the best PvP system we can." Kern said the studio's most immediate efforts will focus on PvE, as players want "more content, fewer bugs and more polish." Although Kern did not have a date for the suspension of PvP, he said it will eventually return to Firefall "when it's ready."
Firefall disabling PvP for retooling
The current iteration of Firefall's PvP mode is not long for this world. Red 5 Studios CEO Mark Kern wrote a letter to the community stating that the studio is displeased with the current PvP state in the game and wants to "regroup, rethink, and deliver the best PvP system [it] can." Kern said that less than 3% of the player population in the game engages with PvP: "Firefall started with PvP. We have gone through several iterations, and for some time, pursued the controversial e-Sports route. As many of you know, its not working very well." As a result, Red 5 will be shutting down the PvP side of the game in the "near future" to retool and relaunch the system.
Stage 2 of Firefall open beta begins, human race strikes back
Stage two of the open beta for free-to-play, first and third-person-shooter MMO Firefall will focus on "expanding the world," an announcement on the game's website revealed last week. While the beta previously focused on surviving attacks from the Chosen, a mysterious species that doesn't seem keen on the existence of humans, stage two of the beta turns the tables and places humans on the offensive. Players will work to expand the inhabitable portions of New Eden by fueling machines that repulse the Melding, an ominous cloud that the Chosen seem to originate from. The more Firefall's player base works to power the machines, the farther the Melding will be pushed back, revealing "more playable space with ARES missions and dynamic events." Chosen outposts will be revealed as the Melding recedes, the defeat of which will convert the warfront into a "full zone and a new story-based instance will become available to pursue, unlocking the next chapter of Firefall." The more a player helps push back the Melding, the greater their reward will be. Avid players will earn "rewards and commendations" and statues of their avatars in the warfront's to-be-established capital, leaving the king of the leaderboards to name the city itself. Firefall's player base will then collectively vote for which warfront to unlock next. Previously obtained warfronts that are neglected will be subject to Chosen counterattacks, "shutting down that warfront entirely, at least for weeks on months." Those looking to join the fight against the Chosen and compete to name a digital capital something undoubtedly appropriate can do so here.
Your guide to MMOs at Gamescom 2013
Can you believe it, Gamescom is this week already! The massive trade show in Cologne, Germany, will run from August 21st to the 25th. Of course, if you're reading this, then you have one pressing question in mind: Which MMO studios will be there, and what will they be talking about? While we can't answer the second part of that, we can give you a heads-up regarding the studio attendance. Hit us after the jump for the run-down of which studios will be there along with their Twitter handles because you just know that any big news from the show will be insta-tweeted two seconds later.
Firefall announcing next open beta, starting sale during Gamescom
If you are eagerly anticipating the next stage of Firefall's open beta, your wait is nearly over... for the details, that is. Red 5 Studios plans to unveil the details of Stage 2 during Gamescom this week. Mark Kern, CEO of Red 5 Studios, also noted that a hinted-at feature will be included, and stated, "Players will directly have a hand in shaping this new phase while playing the game. It's a game changer for shooters, let alone MMOs." In conjunction with the announcement, Firefall's $100 Starter Pack will be 25% off starting August 21st. However, come August 31st the packs will be permanently discontinued when the sale ends; then the studio will instead focus "on new in-game cosmetic and convenience products." [Source: Red 5 Studios press release]
Firefall open beta weekend includes dev-hosted missons
Been dying to try out Firefall but have had the worst luck obtaining a beta key? Sir or madam, this weekend is for you (and everyone else). Red 5 is kicking off the first of Firefall's open beta events with a weekend packed full of activities and specials. The open beta weekend begins today at 8:00 p.m. EDT and continues until Sunday at the same time. During the weekend, players will enjoy a 2X bonus to all Crystite drops, easier access to Firefall's newer zones, and discounts on battleframe unlocks. Red 5's devs will also be hosting missions through the five-man Blackwater Anomaly. If you're able to get in on one of these instance runs, you'll be treated to special rewards and be able to tell your jealous friends and family that you rubbed shoulders with developer royalty. [Source: Red 5 press release]
Red 5 CEO details Firefall fixes, apologizes for open beta issues
Firefall jet-booted into open beta on July 9th, but the transition ended up being a bit trickier than Red 5 expected. Tutorials broke, crafting crashed, abilities vanished from hotbars, and logins were jammed. CEO Mark Kern offered a letter to Firefall players today apologizing for the problems encountered and detailing all the fixes the team has put in place. According to Kern, login errors are resolved, server capacity is raised in all regions, instances are stabilized, tutorials are un-stuck, and calldown menus function again. Additionally, dropships are cruising along the correct flightpaths and the game's crafting and customization menus are smoother, faster, and more responsive. Kern conceded that Firefall isn't perfect (or even finished), but wants players to know that he and his team are working on it: Please accept our apologies for the rocky start, and while we are not past all of it yet, things have improved tremendously and we are working on resolving the remaining issues. Meanwhile, please join us for a series of new content and features that are rolling out regularly. It's been an incredible experience and only made possible by you, the community. Thank you and see you in Firefall. Red 5 has an open beta Firefall tournament scheduled to start this Sunday, August 4th.
One Shots: Peering over the edge
I do not like heights. By transitive properties, I do not like Cyberpunkhobo for sending in this photo that is capitalizing on my deepest fear. Did Cyberpunkhobo know that he was establishing himself as my lifelong enemy by the very act of this photo submission? Yes, I think he did. Vendetta accepted, sir. Cyberpunkhobo attempts to dismiss the seriousness of his actions in his description of this screenshot: "If there's one thing Firefall does well, it's making you feel vertically-challenged. I don't know how many times I've been met by a giant wall of rock on my merry way to an ARES mission. But when I found my way to the top of this particular precipice, I literally felt like I was on top of the world. So I took a screenshot, unfurled my glider, and proceeded to fly away as far as I could." You better fly, Cyberpunkhobo. I'll give you a 10-minute head start, and then all bets are off. So while we wait for this deadly cat-and-mouse game to begin, why not take a look at the other One Shots for this week?
