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Anti-Aliased: My first 30 levels with AFK... er... Jade Dynasty
So I learned a few things since last week. One, writing an opinion column on how much I like Final Fantasy XIV can push people into a frothing internet rage, and two, people apparently forgot that I write an opinion column.Therefore, because my column may induce emotional states similar to some drugs, I've been asked by the FDA to include a legible warning prior to each of my column topics.The FDA would like me to tell you that reading Anti-Aliased can, in rare cases, cause extreme emotional upset, eye strain, monitor punching syndrome, a feeling of discomfort around Mithra, itchyness, nausea, resurrection sickness, paralysis of the eyelids, and carpal tunnel syndrome. You should stop reading Anti-Aliased and consult with a World of Warcraft priest should you develop any one of these symptoms while reading.With that legalese out of the way, let's talk about Jade Dynasty -- dubbed by the illustrious James Egan as AFK Dynasty as it's the one MMO where you pay microtransactions to not play it. Yes, you heard me, it's more beneficial to not play Jade Dynasty than it is to play Jade Dynasty. EVE players, there is finally a game that puts your skill training system to shame.
One Boss Leaves: Anomalus comes up short
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's bosses come from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.For the second week in a row, the victor of Two Bosses Enter ... One Boss Leaves was determined by a margin of fewer than 100 votes. Anomalus fell short of his task of protecting Brann Bronzebeard throughout the Hall of Stone's Tribunal of Ages event, falling to the combined forces of the Tribunal's defenses."Anomalus wins this one without a sweat," wrote Saravok for the dissenters. "Anomalus engages the adds while moving around to avoid the mobs. When he opens a rift, his own adds join the fray. Soon enough, having lost about 25% of his HP, he shields himself. The Tribunal adds now fight Anomalus' adds. Anomalus' adds are losing -- but BAM, the AoE evens up the contest, and the fight rages on."Anomalus retakes the battle, with the Tribunal kicking it up a few notches to boot. Once again, our elemental hero takes a beating, pops up some rifts and hides in his shield. The multiple rifts now attack the adds, with lots of AoE. The Tribunal adds are quickly slaughtered."
Should MMOs have sequels?
From movies and books to computer games, the concept of the sequel is firmly embedded in the entertainment industry. It's usually a much safer bet to make a new part to an existing successful intellectual property than it is to back an untested product. In the games industry, sequels are a great way to make more money from the same game concept but as usual MMOs have proven to be something of a different animal. Subscription MMOs don't conform to the same rules as non-subscription games, favouring recurring orders and longer-term customer commitment over single purchases. While development studios often take sequels for granted, I'm forced to ask whether MMOs should have sequels at all or if a different paradigm is more appropriate.In this article, I explore the games industry's obsession with repetition as I ask the question "Should MMOs have sequels?"
WoW Rookie: Of hearth and home
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the resources they need to get acclimated. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic.Looky, Mom, we're all original: we didn't call this post "Home is where the hearth is" (but only because that title was already taken). And speaking of being trite, hearthstones may seem like a rather mundane matter -- not exactly high-value gaming strategy, eh? -- yet seasoned players manage to accumulate a little hearthing savvy that makes life in Azeroth (and the Outland and Northrend) a little more convenient. Hearthstones link you to an inn in a location of your choosing, allowing you to transport ("hearth") back there once every 30 minutes. Prior to Patch 3.1, when you could only use your hearthstone once per hour, choosing where to bind and how to most efficiently order your errands and quests called for more than an insignificant amount of thought. The lower cooldown time today makes planning simpler, but there are still a few points worth knowing to help tune up your efficiency and dial down your travel time.
Big gear changes coming to Warhammer Online in patch 1.3
After looking at the big gear changes coming to Warhammer Online in patch 1.3, Dorothy-type gamers might loudly exclaim "Sigils and vessels and scarabs. Oh my!" The first two features will be completely new to WAR, while the last one is an expansion of the current RvR token system.Let's first take a look at how players currently earn and use gear in WAR and then discuss how it's going to change once The Land of the Dead introduces sigils, vessels, and scarab tokens. For simplicity's sake we're going to only talk about the endgame, which is rank 31-40.
The MMO launch subscriber bubble
It feels like a new MMO is being released every month these days and the market for persistent online games is certainly expanding. At the head of this market is a set of games commonly referred to "triple A" titles. These are popular games from big name studios or games using popular intellectual properties. New games that are considered "triple A" have a unique ability to build unparalleled levels of anticipation and hype around themselves prior to release. In order to draw in as many players as possible, an obscene amount of cash is often spent on advertising to hype these games up for release. But is this appropriate and cost-effective or does it show a fundamental misunderstanding of of the MMO market?In this article, we look at what can go wrong with over-hyped MMO launches and what happens when the subscriber bubble bursts.
World of WarCrafts: Sugarrat's WoW Bleach Shirt
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players and fans, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction – and yes, (War)crafts. Share your stuff by tipping us off via our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts).This T-shirt from Sugarrat of Earthen Ring-US is crafting at its absolute best: a cool end product based on instructions simple enough that you could pull it off with your paws in bear form. We asked Sugarrat to send us the complete instructions and photos so we could host them here, to keep her guild's server from being splurched -- that's how popular we know this shirt will be. "I am a girly girl," Sugarrat explains. "I like my pearls and my bright colours and really wish there was more wearable Warcraft art. I saw a few sexy things on Etsy -- but I am also kinda cheap, so thought I would try and make my own."Click on the gallery below for step-by-step instructions on making Sugarrat's WoW Bleach Shirt. As Sugarrat puts it: "For the Horde! And swanky gear!"%Gallery-65461%
EVE Evolved: World events in EVE Online
In the early years of the MMO genre, developers and game masters routinely ran special once-only events to immerse the playerbase in a game's storyline. Storytelling has always been one of EVE Online's strongest features and in the early days of EVE developers showed a significant commitment to immersive events. These events unfortunately became plagued with difficulties and inadequacies, leading to the eventual shut-down of events altogether. Of course EVE isn't the only game hit by these issues, it forms part of what I consider to be a very disappointing trend. In recent years, many MMOs have opted to replace authored events with predictable seasonal festivals or have even eliminated events altogether. EVE's storyline is now simply a collection of stories and the news items tell tales of in-game events which never actually happened. In my opinion, this was one of the biggest mistakes the game's developers CCP Games have ever made.In this article, I grapple with the problems EVE's events have had and find potential solutions in some unlikely places.
[1.Local]: Shoved into the deep end
Reader comments – ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have been chatting about in the back room over the past week.Yeah, we know you've already got Algalon on farm -- WoW.com readers are just uber that way. But for the rare handful of you still playing at a somewhat less stratospheric progression point ... How about those patches? Is the flow of new content keeping pace with your playstyle and interest?"The pace of new content is fine – ooh, shiny :)," wrote Julie. "What worries me is the rate at which old content becomes obsolete (which is way too fast). For example, I'm glad Ulduar and Emalon are out. I hate the fact you can't do Archavon without doing Emalon. I also hate the fact that there's no reason to go into Naxx (Pro-Drake, badges, etc.) or heroic five-mans, for that matter. Basically I'm ok with the new content coming out; not ok with being forced to move to the new content the moment it does, however. There should be some balanced incentives to keep doing older content."Is your guild working patiently through the existing content at its own rate, or has the addition of new content shoved you out into the deep end before you were ready?
Anti-Aliased: Final Fantasy XIV is a good, good thing
So, unless you've been under a rock, you probably heard Sony squeeing in happiness about Final Fantasy XIV Online, otherwise known as just FFXIV. This is indeed the next MMO that Square-Enix has been hiding from prying eyes, and unlike the indications we got from the company a year ago, this is another Final Fantasy Online.The reception, however, is quite mixed. Some people, like myself, are really psyched up for this next release in the online series. Others, however, are questioning why make a game like FFXIV when you already have FFXI. Why not just keep on working on FFXI? Don't we all remember how bad sequels work out in the MMO market? Why tempt fate by making a sequel?Personally, I think the creation of this game is a good idea with all things considered. Final Fantasy brings a different perspective of play to the market -- one that it desperately needs at this point in time. What am I jabbering on about? Come on, follow me, and let's talk about why FFXIV is a good, good thing.
Massively webcomic: Grinders - MMOs for Anything These Days
I like to think of Grinders as having the potential to be a window into the absurd, which is exactly what category a Tom and Jerry Massive Multiplayer game would fall under. As it is with these things, truth is stranger than fiction. Still, if I had my hands on the art direction I'd gritty it up a bit.Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will probably not involve Tom or Jerry in any way, and will be worked into the comic somehow. Magic, I bet.%Gallery-63060%Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and making too many alts in City of Heroes, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.
E3 2009: Dragonica Online impressions
Continuing the somewhat recurring theme at E3 2009 of "what was old is new again," Dragonica Online has taken the traditional 2D side-scroller format and transitioned it to 3D. The resulting environment will be friendly to any of the Night Elves you see endlessly bouncing around World of Warcraft and fans of nostalgic action RPGs like Secret of Mana.The game sports fast and furious real-time combat, crafting, guilds, dungeon raids, PvP, and a light-hearted atmosphere. It didn't take us long to realize that Dragonica doesn't take itself too seriously. For example, in the demo, we saw an archer battling shark pirates who were wielding swordfish. We're obviously not in Middle Earth here.
E3 2009: Jade Dynasty at a glance
The third game in Perfect World's portfolio, Jade Dynasty, has been riding quietly in closed beta for a while. At this year's E3, however, the Jade Dynasty crew brought out their game and let us here at Massively take it for a test drive. They also hit us with an announcement as well -- Jade Dynasty will be jumping out of closed beta on June 15th, and a European server will be added in on that day as well.Overall, Jade Dynasty pulls much from Perfect World's other games: Perfect World and Ether Saga Online. The click on map to automatically move feature, cosmetic cash shop, and large amount of in-game quests returns, but a few new features have been added in that make this game a very interesting experience.Join us after the break as we break down Jade Dynasty's features, a few of which may be controversial for some gamers.
Two Bosses Enter: Anomalus vs. Tribunal of Ages
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches. This season's bosses come from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.This week's Two Bosses Enter is less boss-versus-boss than it is boss-versus-event: The Nexus' Anomalus versus the Tribunal of Ages encounter in the Halls of Stone. The Tribunal of Ages event tasks adventurers with protecting Dwarven explorer Brann Bronzebeard from waves of mobs as part of the Halls of Stone quest -- a boss-level encounter in terms of difficulty and loot, if not in actual boss-versus-boss combat. It'll be Anomalus' Chaotic Rifts and Crazed Mana-Wraiths against the Tribunal of Ages' Kaddrak, Abedneum and Marnak plus the cadre of Dark Rune Protectors, Dark Rune Stormcallers and the Iron Golem Custodian. The ground rules: For the sake of this deathmatch, we'll have to get a little (ok, a lot) creative with Anomalus' presence here in the Tribunal. In this scenario, we'll retain the basic mechanic of the Tribunal of Ages encounter. Brann Bronzebeard's survival still determines the success or failure of the mission. Anomalus is therefore challenged with holding the Tribunal at bay long enough for Bronzebeard to complete his task. This match takes place inside the Tribunal of Ages in the Halls of Stone. If you assume that Anomalus is "too dumb to move," we'll have a very boring match indeed. Be open to other possibilities. Assume that foes share similar levels, health pools and a comparative overall damage output. Don't get caught up in game mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter. Style and scale are your main considerations.
One Boss Leaves: Krik'thir wraps up a close victory
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches. This season's bosses come from the five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King. This was a close one: Krik'thir the Gatewatcher of Azjol-Nerub wrapped up a victory over Ingvar the Plunderer and Annhylde the Caller (Utgarde Keep) by fewer than 50 reader votes. Two Bosses Enter reader Rexton narrated the winner's path to victory. "It's close, but I give this one to Krik'thir," he wrote. "I'm doubting Krik'thir would just wait in the back and let his minions do all the work. Yeah, he'd be the prime target. Total, that's 10 enemies that Ingvar has to go through, and on top of that is the unmentioned ability Bugs. I'm not saying Ingvar will go down easily; I mean, he has Smash on his side, for one thing. As long as he keeps that and Cleave up, I can see his taking a at least four down before he dies. "Krik'thir: 75% health, 6 minions"Ingvar: 100%"Now Ingvar's back up, stronger than ever. Does more damage and switches some abilities around. Coupling Dreadful Roar with Dark Smash and Shadow Axe, this is where it gets deadly. Ingvar chews through the minions as Krik'thir starts standing back a bit, continually sending out Bugs and using Curse of Fatigue. Once the minions are finished off, Ingvar is at 40% while Krik'thir is at 55%. Ingvar rushes at Krik'thir, starting off with a Dreadful Roar followed by a Shadow Axe, as Krik'thir sends out more bugs. Some of the bugs are destroyed by the Dark Axe ability. Krik'thir's main attack is now Curse of Fatigue."Krik'thir: 25%"Ingvar:15%"The battle continues with the Dreadful Roar/Dark Smash combo and Bug/Curse of Fatigue spam, but ultimately, Ingvar loses yet again."
WoW Rookie: Tanking for beginners
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the resources they need to get acclimated. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic.You've always wanted to be the eye of the storm: a World of Warcraft tank. You're working your way up toward level 80, quest by quest and zone by zone. Maybe you've consulted a leveling guide and done some research around the internet, and you're sporting a shiny, efficient leveling spec. Or maybe you're taking things more casually, experimenting with different specs and abilities on your own and devoting most of your energy to soaking up the sights and the lore, meeting new friends and settling into your first guild. Either way, you're beginning to feel the first tendrils of apprehension curling around your ankles. You haven't been able to get many instance groups to knock the shine off that new armor. Heck, maybe you're not even tanking-specced yet at all. What's going to happen when you hit 80? Everyone's going to expect you to know the pointy end of the sword from what's under that fluffy tail you feel inclined to tuck beneath you ... What can you bring to the table with absolutely (gulp) zero experience?
WoW, Casually: Rating the classes for casuals
Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player with limited playtime. Of course, you people with lots of playtime can read this too, but you may get annoyed by the fact that we are unashamed, even proud, of the fact that beating WoW isn't our highest priority. Take solace in the fact that your gear is better than ours, but if that doesn't work, remember that we outnumber you. Not that that's a threat, after all, we don't have time to do anything about it. But if WoW were a democracy, we'd win. Hello, my name is Robin and I'm an altaholic. I'm not here to try to stop, however. I find it a lot of fun and playing games is all about fun. But it has prevented me from experiencing the endgame content when everyone is excited about it, rather than just spinning their wheels waiting for the next expansion. So, now I want to choose which alt to take to the end. But which one will be easy for leveling and still be valuable in groups when I reach the endgame?In my experience, the best class to play as a casual player is one that is easily soloable, with little downtime, but also able to find groups quickly when necessary, particularly at max level. Following is how I rate each class according to those criteria.
Encrypted Text: Rogue tips for raiding Ulduar, part 3
Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the Rogue class. This week, we talk about a few of the general raiding tips every Rogue should know.As a break in the boss-by-boss breakdown of Ulduar fights, I wanted to go over a few general raiding tips for Rogues. Some of them may be very old ideas that you've been using since level 60, while a few others are new tricks that we've learned in WotLK. Hopefully you'll be able to glean a few good bits of information to take with you the next time you zone into any raid. There's nothing more important than properly preparing for a new fight, but knowing the general tactics for any encounter will make understanding new fights much easier.First, however, I would like to comment on the new Overkill. Its new form is a significant buff when looking at total energy generated, and also for PvE Mutilate Rogues. However, it is a nerf to our 6-second burst window during a Cheap Shot -> Kidney Shot combo. I feel this will end up being a net buff for Rogues, as relying solely on the first 6 seconds of a fight in PvP has become far to gimmicky for us to rely on.
15 Minutes of Fame: WoW 101 -- yes, WoW for college credit
15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.WoW.com's Adam Holisky has been itching to take a WoW course for quite a while now -- so Adam, this 15 Minutes of Fame is for you. While some people still don't get that playing WoW doesn't lead to becoming a college dropout, there are plenty of others who recognize the game to be a rich resource not only as entertainment but even as a venue for anthropological research.And now, this: "Warcraft: Culture, Gender and Identity," a credit-awarding class being offered at Inver Hills Community College in Minnesota. At the helm of this innovative course is Landon Pirius, Ph.D., also known as Nodnal the Gnome Warrior of Blackwater Raiders-US. No stranger to the convergence of WoW and academia, Dr. Pirius wrote his doctoral dissertation on "Massively Multiplayer Online Virtual Environments: A Potential Locale for Intercultural Training." We didn't go quite that deep in this interview; we simply visited with him about his wildly successful college course and how it's helping shape modern educational methodologies.And before you ask -- yes, Dr. Pirius returned the answers to our interview questions in impeccable outline form.
15 Minutes of Fame: WoW 101 -- yes, WoW for college credit Part 2
Students interact with you and classmates via an online system called Desire2Learn. D2L is a course management system and is the platform we use to deliver all of our online classes. Students log into D2L and can interact with fellow students and the instructor.
