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Trove will rejuvenate MMO worlds by blowing them up
I'll confess that even after having chatted with Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman about this new Trove project and reading Shawn's very early impressions piece, I was still having difficulty understanding what, exactly, this game was about. Was it just some sort of kiddy LEGO hack-and-slasher with a nod to housing thrown in? How was Trion going to make good on its promise to continually provide a sense of new adventures? And was Trove just a blatant ripoff of Cube World, as some have claimed? Because Trove isn't quite a typical MMO, I needed another phone session with Trion to get a clearer picture of this game. Creative Lead Andrew Krausnick spent an hour with me patiently answering any and all of my questions. The big one had to be asked from the get go. Were you really going to be blowing up the world all the time? Krausnick confirmed that yes, Trion will be doing exactly that. More than that, he said that it would be the factor that would set Trove apart from all of the other games out there right now.
Final Fantasy XIV unveils the full scope of patch 1.21
The time is now -- Final Fantasy XIV's sweeping patch 1.21 is going live. That means players can experience the new Job system, do battle in two new instanced dungeons, and relax in their new private rooms. The patch notes make it clear that as with most of the game's patches, there's a lot going on even beyond the headlining features for the update, including intra-city teleportation services, new achievement categories to explore, and new ways for players to spend guild marks. Patch 1.21 also brings along a revision to the food and medicine of the game, with food serving universally as a small long-term buff and medicines working as short effects or buffs with a big impact. The team has also revised accessories, doing away with the previous mechanic of slot costs. And that's not even touching upon new missions for provisioning from the Grand Companies, the introduction of chocobo barding, or any number of other smaller features added with the list. It's a lot of stuff to absorb, and it should keep adventurers happy for quite some time.
Final Fantasy XIV's Naoki Yoshida talks patch 1.21 and the future
This Friday will see the release of Final Fantasy XIV's latest and greatest patch, 1.21. It's bringing the long-awaited Job system, several updates to the game's consumable items, new quests, new options for mounts, and the usual plethora of other improvements. Fans of the game have been eagerly watching the updates, keeping an eye on what's around the bend, and getting ready to enjoy everything the new patch has to offer. But even 1.21 isn't the big end goal of the game; that's the 2.0 relaunch happening in November. We had a chance to ask a few questions of the game's producer, Naoki Yoshida, regarding both the updates coming with patch 1.21 and Final Fantasy XIV's ongoing road of improvement as version 2.0 draws nearer. So what can players look forward to when they download the patch? What's coming before the relaunch? And how fashionable will your new armor make your chocobo look?
Final Fantasy XIV producer's letter looks back on 2011 and forward to 2012
In Final Fantasy XIV's latest producer's letter, producer Naoki Yoshida stopped by the forums to reflect a bit on 2011 and give fans a look at what's coming up in 2012. Yoshida notes that September 2011 marked the one-year anniversary of Final Fantasy XIV as well as the one-year anniversary of Yoshida's installation as producer and director of the title. He goes on to state that "2012 will see [the game] making even larger strides and will prove to be an even bigger test for FFXIV." Next year's first new patch, 1.20b, is already in development, and Yoshida says the team is working diligently on 1.21 features such as the job system, job quests, and two new dungeons. As his final announcement, Yoshida reveals that QA testing for the battle system for the 2.0 client will begin shortly after the new year. For the full details, click on over to the full producer's letter on the FFXIV official forums.
Final Fantasy XIV action revisions are up for preview
Patch 1.20 is bringing major changes to the way that characters in Final Fantasy XIV equip and learn actions and traits. The announcement of the general changes was made some time ago, but it was made with no hard data on what players could expect. Now, however, players have been given a full list of what to expect from the revised actions, including the various ability combo chains and some of the abilities gained via the upcoming Job system. While the preview does not include the traits that each class will learn, it does give a clear picture of the breadth of abilities each class can acquire. Each tanking class gains a variety of new ways to increase enmity, and each of the classes will have several exclusive abilities that help it maintain a unique identity. Players looking forward to the revisions should run down the full list -- there's a great deal to digest for when the patch goes live.
No experience, no levels in Final Fantasy XIV
Yes, you read the title correctly. You aren't hallucinating from shock or anything like that. In a recent interview with Famitsu, the development team behind Final Fantasy XIV has revealed that the game will not run on an experience and leveling system. This marks a major departure for the Final Fantasy series, as levels have been a staple to the gameplay experience.While the new system of progress has not been confirmed, the development team has said that the new job system will focus primarily on weapons rather than a "class.""We want to afford players enough variety to choose a different way to play on any given day," said Nobuaki Komoto, FFXIV's director. "If they could practice one skill one day, they could work on another one the next."This statement seems to support the idea of a skill system, similar to Ultima Online and Darkfall, becoming the main drive of FFXIV. However, as we've said above, the final system used for progression in the game has not been confirmed. For the full interview, check it out over on YouTube.[Via Eurogamer]
FFIII gameplay preview
Yeah, we know. Final Fantasy III overload. But what's a fanboy girl to do? We are powerless to resist the lure of the lovingly updated classic. This preview has no random chatter, but only the FFIII goodness we crave. Nice look at the use of the stylus, the battle system, and more. Doesn't look like there's an issue with loading times from one area to the next, but this is just a taste, after all.
