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Looking back on busy times for City of Heroes with the development staff
There's been so much going on with City of Heroes over the past few months -- we've seen a new spin on older content and the anniversary and the new endgame system engaging the game's players in new content. It's a lot to take in all at once, and it's easier to process when you have the chance to talk it over with some of the development staff. During a special NCsoft event, our own Bree Royce had just such a chance to get some questions answered directly by the development team about Issue 20, the Incarnate system, and the state of the game both at present and going forward. Matt Miller and Nate Birkholz shared reflections on what has worked and what has gone a bit awry in the development, something that should be of interest to every City of Heroes player. Sadly, the discussion does not include any zombie catgirls -- just the parts that worked and the parts that wound up being problems.
Another month, another round of answers for Star Trek Online
About once a month, Star Trek Online has producer Dan Stahl sit down and answer the newest round of player questions regarding the game's future additions. It's May, of course, which means that it's time for the newest Ask Cryptic, covering the recent additions to the game's microtransaction store as well as plans for Season 4 and beyond. And as always, while there are more features being asked about than are planned for the next major update, there are very few elements not planned for eventual inclusion. Further ship customization is discussed, with the implementation of Duty Officers in Season 4 promised to help add more differentiation between individual ships. There's also mention of the debate about bringing lower-tier ships up to par for use in endgame activities, which is currently not on the table but is still under heavy debate in both development and on the forums. Players of Star Trek Online are encouraged to check out the latest round of answers for more info.
New zones and artifacts in latest Perpetuum devblog
Perpetuum has been stomping its way along after its fairly recent launch, doing its level best to prove that everything really is better with giant robots. While the development team has been a bit quiet the past few weeks, the newest devblog entry explains some of the reasons behind the silence. A lot of the team's focus has been on adding new zones to the game for players to explore, with six new zones in development -- three of them remaining safe and three allowing for the unrepentant robot warfare that drives the core game. The game's artifact scanning minigame is also nearing completion, and while the blog entry states outright that the mechanics will be fairly similar, it sounds like a good way to pass some time while there's nothing for your robot to shoot at. There's also official support for an emulation platform on Linux and OSX, which makes the game available to a wider range of potential players. Perpetuum players should take a look at the full entry for all the details. [Thanks to Roy Ary for the tip!]
Star Trek Online unveils plans for future improvements
The problem of dealing with a universe as expansive as the one in Star Trek Online is the simple reality of fitting more than 30 years of fiction into a single game. Still, as the latest Ask Cryptic demonstrates, the development team is trying to fit everything possible into the game, from a wider variety of pets to the whale probe from Star Trek IV. The latest batch of player-generated questions runs the gamut as usual, discussing everything from non-featured episode content to the possibility of expanded PvP arenas, and as usual Dan Stahl is on hand to give players some idea of what's coming. Among the more interesting news is how close the Foundry system is to implementation, with the current plan to release it not too long after the current featured series wraps up next week. Revised ship interiors are also potentially on the to-do list, as well as the promise of "storing" unneeded officers on a fleet-run starbase. Star Trek Online players have a number of things to look forward to with the latest round of questions, even if the answers are admittedly vague about a precise timetable.
Istaria's development team looks back and forges ahead
For a lot of gamers, Istaria's main point of fame is the fact that it's the game in which you can play as a dragon, which is a bit reductive of the game as a whole, a game that underwent significant changes and improvements over the past year. A retrospective was recently put together by the development team to highlight the upgrades that the game has seen, including a revamped mid-game content band and a general re-evaluation of some of the less clear-cut quest objectives. But there's always room to improve, something the team is acutely aware of. In a companion piece, the core principles of the game are outlined along with design goals for the next year, including greater integration between the bipedal and draconic potions of the game, more connection between adventurers and crafters, and a broad enhancement to keeping the first few moments in the game as memorable as possible. Istaria fans should be happy to see the design goals stated so openly, and it's to the team's credit that it's aiming high for this year's patches. [Thanks to Joe for the tip!]
Naoki Yoshida talks future plans for Final Fantasy XIV
Among the Final Fantasy XIV community, Naoki Yoshida has become quite the topic of discussion. While the first major content update produced under his tenure as director will be unveiled later today, there are still a number of questions in the minds of fans about what the future will bring and what his overall direction regarding the game will be. Popular wiki and fansite Eorzeapedia recently had the opportunity to conduct the first American interview of the director, taking the time to question several of his statements and see what's around the bend. One of the more interesting clarifications ties into Yoshida's promise to bring in the more traditional class names -- according to the interview, this may take the form of "advanced" classes for players to aspire to. There's also more details regarding the slow reduction of party sizes, a trend that Yoshida has seen in MMOs as a whole and which he wants to support in the game's development. Final Fantasy XIV players should take a look at the full interview, with some of the proof of concept coming today in the form of patch 1.16.
Naoki Yoshida releases another producer's letter for Final Fantasy XIV
Naoki Yoshida has been making big changes to the structure of Final Fantasy XIV ever since he took over as the game's producer, but the recent patch 1.15a was only the beginning. In the latest producer's letter, Yoshida not only discusses the recent changes and the reaction to same but also lays out further plans for game updates, as well as opens up the second player poll for the game. This time, the poll is focused around changes to the battle system, including the addition of an auto-attack and the future of the dual rank/level system. The letter itself contains several interesting promises, including plans to introduce a wider variety of world quests, instanced dungeons, and a reduced overall party cap of eight players instead of the current 15. While several of the changes listed are further in the future, Yoshida stresses that the team is hard at work on every aspect of the game, with the battle systems next up for the biggest review. Final Fantasy XIV players should read the full letter and take part in the poll, which closes at the end of next week.
The Mog Log: The directed route
First things first: I should have pimped this last week, but the Aetheryte Radio Network's community show had me as a guest for the most recent episode. If you'd like to listen to my dulcet tones alongside Steak and Fusion as we discuss the game, The Mog Log, and how much we all hate Final Fantasy VIII, you are most definitely in luck. And because we've seen the last Final Fantasy XIV update we're going to get this year, the game seems like the thing to discuss. With the most recent update, pretty much anything that players claimed was just plain broken has been trimmed up and cleaned. (Whether or not that should have been the case in September is another discussion altogether.) So we're moving into the new year with everything working and a new team primed to start taking the game forward. So what exactly will that entail? Now that the functional issues of Final Fantasy XIV are tackled, there's just the other half of the equation to deal with -- making the game more engaging for a broader playerbase. Or to be more specific: the easy part is done, and now it's time to work on the hard part.
Dan Stahl talks about Star Trek Online's user-generated content
With its first doses of weekly content a success, Star Trek Online is in a fairly comfortable spot at the moment. But there are still places to expand, including the often-mentioned tools for user-generated content. Although the tool isn't yet in the game, executive producer Dan Stahl has been discussing it for some time, and he goes into a bit more depth in a recent interview. He also discusses some of the upcoming changes scheduled for the game's later major updates, including interior interaction and bridge officer voices. Among the more interesting issues discussed is the impact of user-generated content on the game's licensing. Everything currently in the game required approval from CBS first, which Stahl states has led to some discussion about how the user toolsets will interact with the canonical fiction. He also discusses several improvements planned for season 4, and the possibility of more interaction with ship interiors starting in season 4 or 5. Star Trek Online players are encouraged to take a look at the newest interview for a clearer picture of the game's future.
Hiromichi Tanaka interview discusses the Final Fantasy online installments
There's a lot of material coming up for Final Fantasy XIV. So much, in fact, that according to Hiromichi Tanaka, the game has plans that stretch out for as far off as next winter. When we last took a look at the interview, it had only been translated up through the first section, but the two additional sections include further information on the future of the new game as well as Final Fantasy XI. Final Fantasy XI is slated for more high-level content with the climbing level cap, as much of the existing endgame content was balanced around players at the previous cap of 75. Final Fantasy XIV, on the other hand, was designed in many ways to break away from some of the conventions that its predecessor had in place, while at the same time retaining some of the elements that Tanaka believed were particular strengths. Take a look at the full interview for a rundown of what's in store for both games in the near future.
Difficulty sliders and grind reduction due for Champions Online
With additions like the melee review patch and the first adventure pack either out or coming on fast, the obvious question about Champions Online is also the simplest to ask: what now? The latest installment of Ask Cryptic certainly does answer the question; unfortunately, said response includes saying "no" to some things that players want. The addition of a base construction feature is a prime example and the biggest negative -- while it's acknowledged to be frequently requested, the development team apparently lacks the time to add it in a fashion that they find interesting. On the other hand, there are features which almost any player can welcome, such as the difficulty slider seen in Star Trek Online, currently slated for release along with the first adventure pack. There's also a promise that the development team will look into grinding as being the most "rewarding" activity in the game via adjusting drop rates and overall rewards. In the somewhat more mixed news category, the team plans to do another review of powers after the adventure pack goes live, although they're not yet certain which sets and mechanics will be undergoing examination. Read the full list of questions and answers at the official Champions Online site.
