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Final Fantasy XIV's newest producer letter addresses balance and changes
Final Fantasy XIV underwent some major changes last week with the release of the 1.18 patch, ranging from mechanical changes to combat to the introduction of new mechanics with the Grand Companies. It's enough for players to feel just a little overwhelmed by everything, and so executive producer Naoki Yoshida has taken his most recent producer's letter to talk a little bit about the overhauls from the patch. He's proud of what it accomplished, but in his own words, it might have been a bit much to drop at once. The biggest topic of discussion of late has been class balance, as 1.18 also ushered in some minor drops to the power of spellcasters and Archers. Despite this, however, Yoshida is happy to see how people have received the upgrades to combat and the introduction to the game's instanced raids, both of which require a higher portion of strategy from the playerbase. He also finishes off by noting that the game's summer event will be rolling out in August, giving everyone a chance to earn the swimsuits previewed in the previous letter.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite post-launch feature?
Single-player games can occasionally get major DLC or expansions to change the face of the game, but for the most part MMOs are the field where a game can change between two patches. Champions Online recently made a major change with the addition of hideouts, adding in a form of housing to the game that hadn't existed at all when the game launched. It's a recent example, but it's hardly the only time that a game or a expansion has gone live and later had a major addition to its features list. Sometimes features are added in shortly after launch as promised features not quite ready at the time the game went gold, but far more frequently an entirely new feature is developed and added. So what's your favorite feature that was introduced after the game's launch? A player-generated content system a la City of Heroes or Star Trek Online? The addition of instanced PvP such as World of Warcraft's Battlegrounds? Let us know! 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!
The Mog Log: Full auto
For this week's installment of The Mog Log, despite my hints last week, I'm going to do something fairly conventional. I'm going to type at about 500 words a minute. More accurately, I'm going to discuss the two-minute preview we received earlier this week regarding the game's combat with auto-attack, and at the usual length of this column that winds up at right about... yeah, you got the joke. Of course, it's not just the video preview that's interesting in the producer's letter. The preview is nice, don't get me wrong, and it gives a good idea of what sort of things we can expect to see when 1.18 launches... but we also have more specific information given on exactly what players can expect from the system changes. And there are some pretty big ones mixed in there, either stated or implied by the video, which ties into the state of Final Fantasy XIV at the moment and where it's going to be in the future.
The Mog Log: Pre-reaction
So Naoki Yoshida's producer's letter came just a bit too late last week for me to rewrite my column, which focused mostly on the dungeons and rampant speculation regarding same. This week, however, I can write about all of the things that came out of both his producer's letter and Akihiko Matsui's combat revision document, both of which provide a lot of meaty information for Final Fantasy XIV players to digest. Pretty much all of it is good, with only a couple of downsides here and there. Since there's way too much to possibly digest point-by-point, I'm going to hit the parts that strike me as having the most far-reaching impact and the most concrete data. A lot of this is going to pertain specifically to the combat revisions, as well, since let's face it -- the meat of the game is in fighting things off, solo or in groups. And it's with the battle revisions that one of the biggest changes is coming to Final Fantasy XIV, namely, the removal of physical levels altogether.
LEGO Universe opens the Nexus Tower
It's always nice to finish a big construction project of LEGO bricks, even if you're just making something out of spare bricks on your desktop instead of working. It's the same for LEGO Universe, but in a somewhat more substantive fashion -- the Nexus Tower, a massive structure composed of a huge number of bricks, has finally been completed in-game. Thanks to players donating bricks and working toward the tower's completion, everyone can start enjoying the features of this large-scale hub as well as several content updates due to accompany it. Players who explore the tower will find over 50 new missions to undertake as well as several faction leaders to work alongside as they learn more about the history of the game's multiversal setting. There are also new items, new pets, new daily missions, and a promise of more content to come down the pipeline following this. LEGO Universe players can check out all of the new stuff in-game now, but if you can't log in right at the moment, take a look at the trailer just after the break.
Newest EVE Online patch pushed live with controversial anomaly changes
The latest update to EVE Online has gone live, with Incursion 1.4 hitting the server today. Like any patch, this one has issues to be ironed out, ones that have already prompted an announced maintenance tomorrow to deploy a fix. But bugs are understandable with the wealth of updates in the new patch, which makes far-reaching changes to several parts of the game including a plethora of quality-of-life improvements. Parts can now be stripped from unpiloted ships, extra outpost information has been added, and you can see the portraits of other pilots in more places as well as zoom in for a hi-resolution look whenever you want. But the patch isn't all cosmetics and convenience; some functional changes have been rolled out as well. Chief among these are changes to the workings of anomalies, which were announced some time ago and caused something of a stir within the community. Whether or not players will be slightly more happy with the changes in actual play remains to be seen; for the time being, EVE Online players will need to start logging in and experimenting with the patch to determine how good (or bad) the net effect has been.
Lord of the Rings Online releases Update 2
If you've been waiting for the next installment of the epic story behind Lord of the Rings Online, today is your day. Update 2 is now live, containing among other things the beginning of Book 3 for the current story. Along with the revisions to make the preceding Volume II much easier to solo, players who love delving into the game's story and lore will have plenty to be happy about in this update. But there are improvements for the endgame as well. Aside from the previously mentioned removal of radiance, the update features two three-player instances, two six-player instances, a new 12-person raid, and three new scaling skirmishes from the depths of Mirkwood. Add to that the revisions made for monster players, class revisions for Hunters, Burglars, and Minstrels, and a variety of improvements to quality of life, and the most recent Lord of the Rings Online update should bring plenty for everyone. %Gallery-9579%
City of Heroes offering a sneak peek of Issue 20 content
The team at Paragon Studios is talking a pretty big game for Issue 20 of City of Heroes. We've already seen a preview of one of the major additions of content, which will also herald several new features to the game, including an auto-team queueing function. Not sure how it will be implemented? Then jump on in for the special sneak preview event on Wednesday, starting at 7:00 p.m. EST, when players on the test server will get to try out the upcoming Behavioral Adjustment Facility for themselves. As this event is taking place on the test servers, the usual caveats that content may change significantly before release do apply. That being said, it's an opportunity to put the major new systems into play, giving players a chance to test out the queue system as well as the League setup, and of course, the Incarnate trial. If that's not incitement enough, the development team will be on-hand to answer questions and take part in the experience. City of Heroes players with a bit of free time on Wednesday are encouraged to head over and adjust some behaviors with extreme prejudice.
Star Wars Galaxies looks to the latest update and beyond
The most recent update to Star Wars Galaxies was a big one all around, adding in the Wookiee Life Day event for the holiday and new content for the Witches of Dathomir. So it's no surprise that the newest producer's letter from Teesquared focuses on several sides of the multifaceted update -- but it doesn't stop there. The letter also addresses some of what players can expect to kick off the next year, as well as notes that the Rebels have regained control of the ongoing Galactic Civil War. For starters, players can expect the long-awaited update to Officers and the Galactic Civil War 2 update, with the latter bringing space and player cities into the ongoing struggle for the galaxy. Players can also look forward to some new old structures becoming available -- according to the letter, the models have existed in the game files but haven't ever been quite finished and implemented before now. And the update promises to give characters more ways to access Rare Loot System chests that don't rely upon the more frequent method of combat. Star Wars Galaxies players should take a look at the full letter and start getting excited about the new year -- it's not so far away.
Final Fantasy XIV's update dated and expanded
The first of two major updates for Final Fantasy XIV in the month of December will be going live tomorrow, according to the official word from Square-Enix. That's good news for the game's players, who have been looking forward to the previewed notorious monsters ever since the first of several teasers was made public. But that's not the only thing that players can expect, with the promise of another update later in the month bringing even further improvements to the game's mechanics and the market system. Among the more significant features that have not been previewed in detail are the addition of more guildleves and recipes for crafting, as well as another free retainer slot that will serve to boost inventory and marketing capacities significantly. The update is also scheduled to contain more UI improvements, including an increase on the maximum allowed input in the chat box (which is currently rather myopic). Further details on the second December update are promised for a later date, but this update alone should be a fine tiding for Final Fantasy XIV players the world over.
Issue 19 goes live in City of Heroes
While World of Warcraft goes through its own world-shattering events, City of Heroes is getting hit hard as well. Issue 19 has just gone live, allowing players to experience the first step of the Praetorian invasion. Luckily, the patch also brings with it the Alpha Slot, empowering players with the first tier of the Incarnate system and allowing characters to stand against the invasion at a heretofore unseen level of power. There's also a surfeit of assorted quality-of-life improvements, not the least of which is the movement of Fitness to a baseline set of powers. Issue 19's features have been getting talked up for some time, so players will likely find many familiar entries among the official patch notes. Most noteworthy is the free respec token that's being given out to all characters, with a second free token being awarded on December 8th for characters who have used the first free token. It's the perfect time for City of Heroes players to log in, get playing, and start fighting back against the Praetorian invaders with all the might they can muster -- and with the new systems, that's quite a lot of might indeed.
The City of Heroes team against the Apex task force
There are times when working with MMOs can be a bit of a mixed bag. You get some hate-filled feedback, you find that one of your major hobbies is now part of your job, and you're either a shill for the company or you're overly negative. And then there are times when you get to run the newest City of Heroes task force with the development team from Paragon Studios, and suddenly you remember why you got into the field in the first place. It's one thing to be told over and over that a task force represents a new high-water mark for City of Heroes, and another thing entirely to start playing it and realize that it's pretty much exactly what was advertised. The first phase of fighting off the Praetorian invasion required fancy footwork, careful play, and learning encounters without being overly tedious. And even aside from that, it featured giant robots and the explanation of the flying swords from the Issue 19 trailer -- both things that turned out to be even more awesome than I had dared to hope.
Issues 20 and Incarnates previewed for City of Heroes
If you were one of the lucky fans at the recent City of Heroes meet-and-greet, you were treated to a wealth of information from Paragon Studios about the future of the game. If you weren't, however, you still get a fair slice of luck with today's reveal on the official site about the Incarnate system, complete with lore illustrating the start of what promises to be a far-reaching storyline in the game. We've also gotten a look at the event's presentation on future content, which should give fans plenty to look forward to. The Incarnate system is kicking off with the Alpha Slot in Issue 19, which will be focused on wide-ranging enhancements to all of a character's powers. Unlike Enhancements, Incarnate abilities can be slotted and removed without destroying them. Each slot will have several branches that players can explore as well, allowing for a great deal of character customization. Moreover, the most powerful Incarnate abilities allow characters to improve their effective level in battle past the cap. You can head to the official site for more details on the next major system of City of Heroes -- or you can take a look at the gallery for a preview of what's coming and the slides which give us a sneak peek at a new warehouse map, new costume pieces, and the trials of Issue 20. %Gallery-107010%
The Daily Grind: What changes were you worried about that turned out fine?
Whenever a new feature is put into a game, there's a portion of the playerbase crying foul before it even hits the test server, and not without cause. Nearly every fan crying out that this change will cause huge problems has evidence, both anecdotal and otherwise, that will be pointed to as an obvious reason why the change is a bad idea. The developers listen, nod quietly, and push it live anyway. And as it turns out, the sky remains where it is, cats and dogs do not begin living together, and the hysteria is remarkably contained. To claim that we don't all have our pet causes is ridiculous -- we all have certain things that we know will break the game beyond a shadow of a doubt. But sometimes these game-breaking changes go live after all, and as it turns out they aren't actually such a big deal. So when have you been frightened of a major game change that turned out to not be all that important? Was it a class redesign, a major mechanical change, or an apparent simplification that wound up making the game more fun to play in the end? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of our 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 The Daily Grind!
Preview made available for Star Trek Online's Season 2
If the Season 1 patch for Star Trek Online pushed forward huge improvements to the game's engine, Season 2 looks to expand into several areas players have complained were lacking. Cryptic has just released a preview page detailing several additions, including added Klingon PvE play and six additional levels. The new levels let players reach the coveted rank of Vice Admiral in the Federation and Lieutenant General in the Klingon Empire, bringing improved versions of Tier 5 ships to coincide with the new maximum ranks. While it's not explicitly stated, it's implied that the new ships won't be mandatory upgrades, but rather options for players who want to fly some of the most iconic ships in the franchise's long history. Even with no other additions, the changes would bring new aspects of play, but the update also sees the launch of the Federation Diplomatic Corps (a separate leveling track of negotiation and social interaction) and a new minigame associated with anomaly scanning. Currently a passive form of resource gathering, scanning will be changed into a simple wave-matching game to help gather additional resources -- making it somewhat more interesting than walking to a node and pressing a button. That's still not getting into the special weekly content due to start arriving in August... there's a good reason Cryptic has made a large page to summarize it at a glance. Star Trek Online's second major patch is targeted to hit later this month, with a first impression from testing available from West Karana.
