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Wasteland Diaries: Fansites
Finding your way through Fallen Earth can be daunting at times, but there is help out there. Sometimes the people in the game might not be the most knowledgeable or helpful lot. I said sometimes. Luckily for us, even though Fallen Earth has a relatively small community, it is populated with knowledgeable and helpful people. If something has you stumped, and you just can't seem to find anyone in-game that can help you, there are alternatives. Most of your simple problems can be solved in the help channel by a HazMat Team member or by other players in region chat. Some of your more complex problems may require a bit of research. Researching can be quite fruitless if you don't know where to look. After the cut, I'll give you several resources that you should bookmark immediately if you haven't already. Some of these resources are more up-to-date than others, but even out-dated information is still better than nothing.
Rumor: Blizzard employees' real life names will not appear on the Real ID forums [Updated]
Recently a few forum goers have posted that they've been in touch with Blizzard phone representatives and have heard from them that Blizzard employee's real-life names will actually not be appearing on the new Real ID forums. So here's what we know: Bashiok / Drysc posted his real life name yesterday and had his privacy violated by people posting maps to his house, his parents' names and (potentially incorrect) cell phone numbers. We have seen multiple reports of WoW players who have called up Blizzard's support line and spoken with representatives who've told them blues will no longer be using their real names in the new forums. Josh, a Blizzard phone rep, said that Blizzard employees "cannot risk having their personal lives compromised by in-game issues." Blizzard blue representative Rygarius locked, but did not delete nor deny, a thread on this. WoW.com has emailed PR contacts within Blizzard for comment, and has not heard anything back. So there you have it. It's a pretty solid rumor at this point. The known facts speak for themselves. Update: Wryxian is referring people back to the original blue post language about the change. However, we're still hearing from phone bank representatives that Blizzard has changed its mind about blue posters. Update #2: According to Nethaera, they're going to stick with their original plan and have blue posters use their real names. As to why other parts of Blizzard are saying something different (WoW.com has verified what other parts of Blizzard has said), it appears they're having some internal communication issues.
Your real name to appear on Blizzard's official forums
Long a source of rampant trolling and epic flamewars, Blizzard's official World of Warcraft forums will soon be a lot less anonymous. The company announced today that it will be using the Real ID system, which was recently implemented into Battle.net, on its forums. Once Real ID is in place, each catty remark and witty comeback on Blizzard's forums will have the poster's real first and last name attached to it. (Previously, posters could hide behind their in-game character names.) Real ID will be rolled into WoW's forums by the release of the Cataclysm expansion later this year. Additionally, the system will be added to the StarCraft 2 forums before the game's July 27 launch. Blizzard's eating its own dog food, too -- its community representatives, previously known only by aliases, will also be posting under their real names. Additionally, forum posts will be subject to a new ranking system, replies to forum threads will be grouped, and Blizzard posters will be able to "broadcast" messages out to everyone on the game's forums. Blizzard says its goal with these changes is to form "a new and different kind of online gaming environment -- one that's highly social, and which provides an ideal place for gamers to form long-lasting, meaningful relationships."
Flameseeker Chronicles: Community guide, part two
As information about Guild Wars 2 continues to be made available, community activity has increased greatly. The sheer number of resources can be pretty overwhelming at this point, and for a while I considered updating the original community guide. However, there are new podcasts, fansites, images, and much more, so in the end I decided that it was more than enough to warrant a new community guide. So without further delay, I bring you Community Guide Two (go ahead and say electric boogaloo, you know you want to. I'll wait.). Hit the jump to see what's what in the Guild Wars 2 community these days.
The Daily Grind: How useful are your favorite forums?
We here at Massively spend a lot of time on game forums. Whether we're researching an article for a game like The Old Republic, taking the pulse of the community over in Paragon City, or even looking for info to tweak our EQII characters, it's a given that a certain portion of our week will be spent poring over endless walls of flam... er, threads. For my part, I've often wondered how many of my fellow MMORPG players spend much (or any) time on the forums. Inevitably during the course of a particularly polarizing discussion, someone will chime in to the effect of "only the hardcores even read these forums, 90% of the players are happily, you know, playing!" While there is a kernel of truth in such statements, they are impossible to actually prove, much less quantify. That said, I'm interested in your opinions, Massively readers. Are you a regular reader (or contributor) to the discussion boards of your primary game, and if so, what is your gut feeling regarding the percentage of your fellow players who do likewise?
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: We are gathered here today
As suggested in the title, we are gathered here today for a purpose: To celebrate the community of City of Heroes and all of the discussions that they've been taking part in over the past several weeks. (What, you thought it was for Terry? You clearly haven't been following along.) After several weeks with almost non-stop activity, the past couple have been fairly silent, with only a few tidbits off of the official Facebook page to discuss in any depth. But that hasn't stopped anyone before, and it's not likely to stop anyone now. After all, we've got chatter about when you've played far too much City of Heroes, the day that Mystic Fortune killed someone, and Santa as a crossdresser. No, really. So as long as you don't mind a somewhat more irreverent week of community discussions, click on past the break. (If you do mind it, well, we had a very serious illustration back around here. That's almost as good.)
Funcom's Morrison answers frank forum questions
Game developers are rarely forthcoming with their customers, and given the realities of competition and the amount of money funneled into marketing budgets these days, that's not really surprising. What is surprising is the accessibility and frankness of developers like Age of Conan game director Craig "Silirrion" Morrison, who recently took the time to post at length on the game's forums. The Funcom executive producer responded directly to a number of questions generated by an unhappy subscriber, and, even though the ensuing discussion occasionally veered into troll territory, managed to acquit himself (and the game) rather well. "Firstly I don't think we need a 'savior game plan' as we don't need 'saving'. The game is stable and has just had a succesful launch of an expansion pack. Is there stuff we still want to improve? Yes, there sure is, and is there lots of new stuff we want to add in over the coming years, yup, same again, definitely is. So no resting on laurels, MMO development is an ongoing affair and we are committed to keep on improving the game and what it offers," Morrison wrote. You can read the full exchange on the official Age of Conan forums.
Waging WAR: Patch 1.3.6 and the proverbial DPS-Healer
There aren't very many companies that open up planned patch changes to their players and fans for discussion; however, Mythic is one that does. This week, Waging WAR focuses on the suggested career balance changes for the Zealot and Runepriest coming in patch 1.3.6 for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. We'll cover the issue as well as the proposed solution for these careers. We'll also discuss the impact that these changes might have on the affected careers and on the community in general. There's also a part where Greg throws some drama at the fan and rants about "DPS-Healers." Let's start by clarifying the main issue and the proposed change. Currently, the other healing careers (Archmage, Shaman, Warrior Priest and Disciple of Khaine) have their mastery paths organized by the role which they might play (i.e. damage focus, healing focus, etc.); whereas, the Zealot and Runepriest don't. Their mastery paths are organized by the delivery method of their healing (i.e. over time, direct, or area). The problem is, after deciding whether to specialize offensively or defensively and gearing to that role (a freedom of choice that they should be given), the Zealot and Runepriest are left with only one-half of an effective skill-set -- the other half of their skills being rendered ineffective by role choice and gear itemization. To bring these careers in line with their archetypical cousins, a new mechanism is proposed which gives Zealots and Runepriests a chance to retain some effectiveness in skills that are outside their chosen role.
Ghostcrawler on guild organization in Cataclysm
In response to players' concern over guild organization and management in Cataclysm, Ghostcrawler's been frequenting a thread answering questions about their design goals for guild leveling and why developers decided to axe guild talent trees. While you should definitely read all of his responses, there are a few points concerning the new system that really jump out: They didn't want to encourage guild-hopping, and forcing a guild to pick and choose among talents would have wound up suiting some players and not others (e.g. a guild leader picking PvE-oriented guild talents and alienating the more PvP-focused players in the guild). Hence the leveling system rather than the almost-inevitable squabble over which talents to get. Because only a certain number of people in the guild can advance your "level" at one time, there's a cap on the advantage a large guild would otherwise have held. "The guild bonuses used to be talents. They are now more like leveling spells. We call them perks now instead of talents. We haven't cut any content, but just changed the UI from boxes with prereqs to a list." The hazing ritual to get into Ghostcrawler's guild "is pretty dehumanizing." The upshot is that Blizzard's trying to encourage guildies to stick together and reap the benefits of a strong guild without punishing players who don't feel they've got any choice but to move. I was initially worried about guild talents for just that reason, and the "leveling" system sounds like a much healthier way to do this.
An advance peek offered for the next City of Heroes Super Booster
The fifth Super Booster for City of Heroes has been the point of some debate. Players have known for a long time that it was going to be a mutant-themed pack, but that doesn't imply a great deal beyond having something vaguely organic going on. Luckily for players, the Facebook fan page for the game has been posting preview images to help players get a sense of what's going into the pack. And the best part isn't just that it has a set release date of June 24th -- it's that players might get to pick it up for free a day early. On June 23rd, the City of Heroes team will be giving away two codes per hour via their social networking outlets -- Facebook, Twitter, and the official forums. Where the codes will appear in the five-hour timeframe is a mystery until it happens, encouraging players to stay alert and keep their eyes on all of the above. For US players, the codes will be given away between 1 PM and 5 PM PST, while EU players will see the codes being announced between 5 PM and 10 PM British time. Keep your eyes peeled for your chance to get the newest booster a day early!
The Road to Mordor: Forum diving
[Special note: Obviously, the news that LotRO is going free-to-play hit after this article was already written, so stay tuned as we dissect what it means for existing and potential new customers next week!] Lately, it feels like we're in a holding pattern for Lord of the Rings Online. The last major content patch, Volume III: Book 1, is fading into distant memory, and we're pushing into summer without definite news of the next update -- or better yet, the next expansion. Players are also nervous about any changes or new directions the game may take after the recent acquisition of Turbine by Warner Bros., and the silence certainly doesn't help any. However, there's always hope in the darkest places of Middle-earth, and the same can be said for the game itself. The Summer Festival should be around the corner, and as for new news, Sapience handed out a bit of vague encouragement on the forums: "You guys know we're preparing an announcement. I can't give you a specific date as to when we'll make it, but I can say I just ran into Adam Mersky coming out of an E3 planning meeting and he was pretty stoked!" While we continue the wait for the next step forward for LotRO, I thought it'd be a good idea to head over to the official forums and do a little diving for some of the more interesting topics and discussions bouncing around the LotRO community today.
Ragnar Tornquist reveals more of The Secret World
The tantalizing bits of information continue to flow this week from the horror-laden streets of The Secret World for those souls interested in this dark MMO full of secret societies and mythical monsters. In the second installment of the community Q and A with the game's Director, Ragnar Tornquist, players are treated to another tasty batch of information on both PvP and PvE elements, as well as things like normal MMO-style classes (tip: better change your thinking about classes now) and how gear will work in the world. While there are many things that are still only being hinted at due to the complex (and still in-development) plans for the game, it's still an interesting glimpse into just what the development team is looking towards building into The Secret World. If your questions weren't answered this week, don't worry -- there's still another installment coming next Wednesday that will offer even more tasty tidbits of information on this anticipated MMO. In the meantime, you can check out our first look from GDC and spend some time sharpening up those puzzle-solving and zombie-killing skills. You're going to need them.
Free realm transfers announced
Blizzard poster Turrit announced yesterday that free realm transfers are being made available to address faction imbalance and overpopulation issues on the following PvE realms: Aggramar (Alliance only) Area 52 (Horde only) Blackhand Hellscream Stormrage (Alliance only) Thrall (Horde only) Undermine Destination realm: Drak'thul The free transfer period will run from Tuesday, May 25 (today) to Tuesday, June 1 at 11:00 a.m. PDT. However, Turrit did make a point of mentioning that Blizzard has a transfer goal in mind, and if it's reached, they may shut the free transfers down early. If you're on any of the affected realms and have been considering a transfer, this might be a good chance to save yourself $25. To my surprise, it turns out Drak'thul was actually a PvP realm until very recently, and after a quick look at WoW Progress's list of U.S. realms, I have to agree it looks like the server needs some love. While it's possible the page hasn't been updated, it's apparent that the Drak'thul's raiders are struggling -- and there's some rather illuminating commentary in this thread (I'll grant I can't verify the accuracy) on how some of the server's troubles may have gotten their start. Two things come to mind: Blizzard's observations a year ago concerning only PvP realms being low-pop, and: what's happening on Cho'gall. Interesting. The full announcement is past the cut.
Official WoW Magazine forums on Wowhead
Wowhead is hosting the World of Warcraft Official Magazine forums. This is now the place to go to ask questions about the quarterly, subscription-only, no-ad magazine. Skaarjonic aka Andy Salisbury, one of the magazine's editors, makes clear in the intro post that they are not Blizzard and will not be revealing any insider info that is under NDA. He is actively answering as many questions as he can, however. Here are some examples: There are no plans to make the magazine available digitally. The magazine ships anywhere in the world in four different languages. They will be offering back issues in the future. I chatted a bit with Andy, who is actually a guildie of mine (/namedrop), and he had the following quote for our readers: We're really excited about our new forums on Wowhead! It gives us an excellent opportunity to converse openly with the World of Warcraft community about their thoughts on the magazine. Additionally, we'll be out there picking brains for upcoming articles (for example, our Back to Basics articles that are focused on Battlegrounds) so you could end up being in the magazine! Plus, if you've got any questions for members of the staff, feel free to let us hear it. See you out there!
EVE Evolved: Sansha abduction live event
On Tuesday, CCP announced that the Tyrannis expansion heralded the rebirth of live events in EVE Online. No sooner had the post gone live than the planned events began to seriously kick off in-game. It all began when classified CONCORD documents were inadvertently leaked to the capsuleer community. Code-named "ISHAEKA", the documents revealed that a CONCORD task-force had been monitoring recent Sansha military build-up in their home region of Stain. Since then, Sansha fleets have been spotted emerging from wormholes and abducting citizens from the colonised planets of New Eden, leading to some huge clashes with players. In this lore-packed article, I look at the story behind EVE's Sansha abduction event, how you can get involved in some of the epic battles and what could be improved in future events.
Fallen Earth's Marie Croall takes on player questions
Curious about the folks behind the meticulously-assembled wastelands of Fallen Earth? Despite the recent layoffs, there are still a lot of personalities involved with the game's development, and it's always good to know as much as possible about the team behind your favorite games. This week, Senior Game Designer Marie Croall takes the opportunity to answer player questions on the forums, answering a bevvy of largely personal questions with a few game questions added to the mix. Although veteran Fallen Earth players might not find a huge amount of information on upcoming patches, there's something to be said for learning things about the designers other than when they'll give you a pony. If you're staunchly part of the "ponies only" crew, however, there's still hope. Questions will be collected and answered from the main thread all week, which means that if you have something more you want to know, you've got the chance to ask it. Head on over to the official forums and get typing!
EVE Evolved: A community guide to EVE Online
Some time ago, Massively started up a whole slew of new weekly columns, each covering a specific MMO. Each week, they bring guides, editorials, interviews and community news in a similar way to what I've been doing with EVE Evolved over the past two years. Each of the new columns started with a definitive community guide showcasing handy links to useful websites, blogs and tools. This week it's my turn to give EVE Online the community guide treatment. This article will be updated periodically with new links as they make themselves known. If you have a useful EVE link you think would belong in the community guide, leave a comment with it. Skip past the cut for a breakdown of some of EVE's most important community links.
The Tattered Notebook: The forum thread round-up
Greetings fellow Norrathian travelers! This week, right on the heels of the Dave Georgeson interview, we're back to investigating the issues in the community. So far, this Tier'dal investigator has uncovered some community gold! Plus, we've got some big events coming up for the EverQuest II community, including the annual Fan Faire registration and the Mr. and Ms. Norrath contest! And, of course, I'm still looking for great tip threads for all of the new (and old) players who are wondering on how to play their MMOs better. So come along and check out what's been documented in this week's notebook entry!
Breakfast Topic: 101 things to do before the world dies
On the EU forums, a character named Redbranch from Thunderhorn came up with what I thought was a pretty nifty idea -- getting his/her fellow players to chime in on a list of 101 things to do in old Azeroth before Cataclysm hits. It's sort of the WoW equivalent of The Bucket List, and the responses range from the violent ("Slaying as many people as possible") to the nostalgic ("Go base jumping again in Feralas") to the practical ("Prepare plentiful supplies of gold"). Then Slorkuz chimed in with the following: Slorkuz Quote: The old world is changing forever. Let's compile a list of things to do before the end. 1) Play through all the starter zones, to give some idea if each race's lore. Visit the Shimmering Flats! source We already know that Thousand Needles is going to be mostly underwater in Cataclysm, but it was another nudge to the realization that the world we know is going bye-bye forever. Right now, my personal "bucket list" includes doing the dungeon set 2 quest line, but I'd love to hear from other players on how they're approaching the "end of the world."
Keeping perspective
It's sometimes astonishing to me how passionate World of Warcraft players can be about the game. This includes myself: I have hot-button topics that absolutely flood me with adrenaline and cause me to rant (just ask my coworkers here at WoW.com all about that some time), and later I'll sit back and be amazed. I'm still amazed I managed to put out a thousand-word column about Sentry Totem. (You have no idea how sad it was for me to not be working on shaman content the day they announced they were going to take Sentry Totem out. Lost a chance for a thousand-word eulogy.) But as passionate and involved as we can get, and as excited about upcoming patches and new expansions and even sparkly ponies, sometimes we lose perspective. The infamous "slap in the face" forum ranting is based on a real mentality that X (fill in whatever you want) is the absolute ruination of the game. Downsizing raids to 25-man max is ruining the game. Arenas are ruining the game. The badge system is ruining the game, hybrids are ruining the game, pures are ruining the game, 10/25 variable raids are ruining the game, micro transactions, dual specs, what have you. The game has been constantly in a state of ruination since early 2005 when some realms were undergoing severe latency on peak nights and it was, you guessed it, ruining the game. Frankly, sometimes rather than posting that comment, forum post, or what have you, we as involved, passionate people need to take a couple of deep breaths and chill out.
