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DayZ has sold over 3 million early access copies
DayZ has been on Steam early access for over a year now, and what does the post-apocalyptic zombie sandbox have to show for it? Well, over 3 million customers, for starters. A new Bohemia Interactive press release touts the 24 updates the game has seen since its "launch," and it also mentions ongoing improvements including a core engine rewrite begun in 2014. The new engine is called Enfusion, and it includes renderer upgrades and corresponding performance upticks as well as "vastly improved" particle effect aesthetics. Bohemia also notes that the DayZ dev team now boasts over 80 people. [Source: Bohemia Interactive press release]
Pathfinder details corpse looting and more
GoblinWorks CEO Ryan Dancey has published a new blog post touching on today's Pathfinder early enrollment release. Version two of the fantasy sandbox adds player husks, which is another way of saying lootable corpses. "The extent of your losses will be related to how quickly you are able to return to the site of your husk and if you are able to recover the inventory that remains on the husk before others are able to take all of its contents or its timer expires," Dancey writes. There's a bit more to the update, but you'll need to click through to the GoblinWorks website to read it!
Leaderboard: Are you playing H1Z1 this week?
SOE's zombie-flavored sandbox comes to Steam early access tomorrow, and despite the under construction warnings of CEO John Smedley, I'm betting that lots of people are going to buy it. The question, though, is whether or not you have bought it. How about it, Massively readers? Are you playing H1Z1 this week? Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Salem lead mulls solutions for sub-par combat
Are you a fan of indie fantasy sandbox Salem? Do you like walls of text that give your mousewheel a serious workout? You might enjoy today's Salem update, then, as Mortal Moments project lead John Carver has a lot to say. And why not? It's been nearly six months since the last such dev blast. Carver writes with affection of Salem's refusal to "cater to the masses" and its similar disdain for "polygon counts over content." Combat, though, isn't quite where the devs would like it. Carver says that combat is "by far the dumbest thing we do," and that despite the intentional learning curve, some sort of "upper level strategy is missing." While Carver doesn't outline specific remedies, he says that the first step is to expand Salem's available combat moves. [Thanks Chrysillis!]
PvP sandbox Life is Feudal hits Steam early access next week
Life is Feudal is one of several indie sandbox MMOs striving to become this generation's Ultima Online, and next week, you can actually play it... if you fork over a few bucks for early access, that is. The game unlocks on Steam on September 19th; existing alpha players will be able to claim their early alpha keys on Steam and partake in the smaller-scale, non-MMO test version of the game. Billing itself as a realistic medieval sandbox, Life is Feudal includes city construction and invasion, a freeform character building system, a single seamless world, terraforming, farming, crafting skills like cooking and alchemy, and full open PvP with looting. The developers maintain a document explaining how the game is similar to and different from other MMOs with such features, however. The game failed to reach its Indiegogo goals last year.
Stick and Rudder: Should you be scared off by Star Citizen's community?
Massively's Justin Olivetti and I were talking MMO communities recently. Star Citizen came up, and my esteemed colleague mentioned that the constant hubbub surrounding the crowdsourced space sim sandbox has made him a bit wary of getting invested in the title for the time being. From the inside looking out, I can see how the game's community sometimes seems like a roiling mass of internet rage and entitlement, but I think it's worth mentioning that -- like the game itself -- it's also what you make of it.
Working As Intended: The unfortunate conflation of sandboxes and PvP
A certain perplexing belief about sandboxes pervades the blog comments, forums, and general chats of MMOs: All MMO sandboxes are free-for-all PvP games. If it doesn't have free-for-all PvP, it's by definition not a sandbox because sandboxes let the players make all the rules and decisions. Free-for-all PvP adds the necessary spice to keep you on your toes and keep a game fresh. Without it, you may as well be playing The Sims. All of these statements are wrong.
Leaderboard: Will you be trying ArcheAge?
ArcheAge's closed beta is coming in a couple of weeks, and if Trion stays on schedule, the long-awaited sandpark's western launch will happen some time prior to year's end. The only real question, then, is will you be playing. There's clearly a lot to like about the game in terms of features, but there's also the specter of open PvP, which has traditionally hamstrung MMO sales and retention figures in the West. So, how about it, Massively readers? Will you be trying ArcheAge despite (or perhaps because of) its PvP? Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
