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Pantheon interview offers glimpse of economy, housing, and more
With the imminent shut down of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes on the horizon, eyes are turning to the upcoming Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen project spearheaded by one of the earlier fantasy game's creators. Brad McQuaid, first known for his work on the original EverQuest, is looking to fill the niche for old-school games that focus on group content and slow progression. How much will Pantheon fit the bill as the go-to game for all those old-school gamers looking for a challenging new home? Before the weekend announcement caught everyone off-guard, we nabbed McQuaid and Director of Development Salim Grant to find out a few more details about the game and its economy (no bind-on-pickup!), crafting, housing, and classes and races.
The Repopulation to feature instanced, open-world, and player city housing
MMO player housing usually comes in one of two varieties: instanced or open-world. The Repopulation, on the other hand, will feature both as well as a third option tied to player-owned cities. The instanced housing will be available to everyone, though players of different factions will be restricted to different housing neighborhoods. Open-world housing will be limited, of course, but players will also be able to buy and sell the plots. Player city housing will feature a similar plot system that is administered by the owner of the city in question. Above & Beyond Technologies has authored a new blog post explaining The Repopulation's housing systems in further detail. Read all about it at the game's official website.
The Repopulation's September update discusses housing and grouping
If you're wondering what's been changing for The Repopulation through the month of September, look no further than the just-released September update from the developers. Last month saw the introduction of two major features for the game: instanced housing and a new auto-grouping system. The latter is fairly straightforward, allowing players to automatically group with others when entering an engagement area instead of competing with other solo players for content. Instanced housing, on the other hand, is meant to cater to solo players and those who aren't interested in open PvP via the nation wars system. While your own personal housing lot won't have as many options as the full city interface, it will provide an option for players who do still want to enjoy some of the fun of building up a settlement. The past month has also seen updates to the game's armor system, loot distribution mechanics, and missions. If you want to know all the particulars, take a gander at the full rundown.
Wings Over Atreia: Much ado about housing
Although Wings over Atreia has covered Aion's housing before, both in anticipation and right after release, I still encounter some lingering questions and misconceptions regarding this new feature. This point was really brought out during Justin's Leaderboard poll about who had better housing, Aion or EverQuest II. While I laud anything that brings attention to one of my favorite features, and I do realize that the Leaderboard articles are made for a bit of fun, I had some concerns about that specific pair up. However, despite its disadvantages and underdog status, Aion held its own pretty well. Go team Daeva! To be honest, I admit I was a bit surprised (and pleased) by the fervor with which some fans defended the newcomer to the housing market. Daevas have really embraced this gameplay alternative to hunting and gathering -- just take a look at the bidding wars for prime housing or the recent decorating contest. Aion's housing might be totally new, but it's off to a pretty good to start and will keep getting better.
The Daily Grind: Must MMO housing be open-world to be good?
Whenever the Great MMO Housing debate rears its head, the "of course MMOs ought to have housing" players usually drown out the curmudgeons who lack decorating skills and prefer to live out of their banks and sleep on a bedroll on the public streets (you know who you are!). And then, inevitably, the housing fans turn on each other over which type of housing is best. Some of us are resigned to the belief that, at best, themepark MMOs willing to take a stab at housing are forever going to implement the instanced variety a la EverQuest II and Lord of the Rings Online, so we may as well get used to it. But sandbox zealots (a term I'm intending affectionately) insist that housing must be open-world, that players should be able to walk up to their own unique spaces within a game and build their abodes from foundation to rooftop. Instanced housing, they say, is just pointless when other people can't easily see what you've created. What do you think -- is MMO housing just a waste of dev resources if it isn't open-world? 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!
