mechanics
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The Daily Grind: How stat-heavy do you like your game mechanics?
Playing Allods Online, you will not find yourself simply raising one stat even if all you do is swing a weapon at something. See, there's one stat that increases your overall damage, another stat that improves the range of that damage (so you're more likely to hit for a higher number rather than a lower one), and a few other stats that also affect something as simple as "how hard do I hit." It's not simple by any means, but it does provide an interesting dynamic wherein your primary stat isn't all that high, and you hit for astonishingly consistent amounts. Is that a good thing? Well, some players will be quick to point out that the game is doing with four stats what could really be done with one. Others like to have that amount of fine control over a character. So today we ask: How stat-heavy do you like your game mechanics? Do you want even the simplest character to be looking at seven or eight different numbers at all times, or are you happiest when you've got a choice between three stats at most? 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!
MMO Blender: Game of Thrones, MUDs, and the perfect quest text
Nothing seems to suck me into a game more than a good story. The brilliant thing is that the story doesn't have to be complicated or intense as long as it's original and easy to follow. I want characters to meet, locations to discover. I need to immerse myself into a story more than I need to raise a level or obtain powerful loot. In this edition of MMO Blender, I wanted to use three main games as prime examples of systems that, when combined together in some form, would deliver the best story-driven experience I can imagine. There are several factors to consider: story, movement, character, and interaction. I want to use War of Dragons as an example of movement in a mostly text environment, Gemstone IV for character and interaction, and Game of Thrones Ascent for story. Hopefully, when I am done, I'll have convinced someone to give me a few million dollars to create this dream MMO.
Star Trek Online outlines the fine details of Romulan ship progression
The Romulan faction in Star Trek Online's upcoming expansion does not play like mirrors of the Federation or the Klingons. The race's ships are less diverse in some ways, but its cloaking devices that allow for stealth even in combat make it clear that this is a race about subtle manipulation and careful subterfuge. A new development blog outlines the fine points of ship progression including refit ships, retrofit ships, and small craft for the faction. In addition to the cloaking devices, all Romulan ships feature a powerful Singularity Core that allows access to a different tier of special abilities for each ship. As with other factions, refits and retrofits of lower-tier ships can be purchased from the game's cash shop, complete with new customizable skins and new consoles for these variants. Players interested in seeing the full details should take a look at the development blog and get ready to remind the galaxy why the phrase "warbird decloaking" is never a sign things are going well.
The Mog Log: On the eve of seeking Adoulin in Final Fantasy XI
A while back, I was upset that we hadn't gotten nearly enough information about Seekers of Adoulin. That's certainly not the case any more; we've gotten a fair bit of new information about the expansion, which is good considering that Final Fantasy XI players will be seeking the heck out of Adoulin on Tuesday. Of course, there's still some air of mystery about the expansion, which is appropriate. Final Fantasy XI's expansions always contain a few new wrinkles that aren't really previewed, and I think players prefer it that way. But there's a lot to talk about, starting with something that I find very interesting insofar as it's launching in the wake of a new philosophy for the game as a whole. Back in December I talked about how the game's future might be brighter than it has been for a long time. How Seekers of Adoulin works in practice will tell us a lot about whether or not that hopeful future will come to pass or not.
The Daily Grind: What game makes the best use of positioning in combat?
Guild Wars 2, The Secret World, and WildStar all have something in common: They all ask characters to jump around. Or roll around or dash around or just generally get out of clearly marked fields that indicate Something Bad Happens Here. Unlike some older games, none of these titles allows you to just fight by staying in place and swinging until your opponent drops. Of course, positioning has always played a role in MMO combat. Final Fantasy XI had Bards splitting effects between party regions and Rangers jockeying for the ideal range. World of Warcraft loves having damage fields in raid fights. TERA pretty much expects all players to be moving constantly. Then you have Star Trek Online's ship combat, where damage is almost entirely based on where you hit consistently. So what game do you think makes the best use of positioning in combat? Is it a system that would work in other games, or is it unique to one setting? 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!
Guild Wars 2 brings more tricks to the WvW experience, living story [Updated]
In Guild Wars 2 PvP, it's you against the world. Well, you and the rest of your world against the other world. Fans of the WvW system will be happy to learn that there are more tweaks coming to the system in the game's upcoming March patch, starting with the addition of ranks and abilities for players battling it out. The patch will also remove the culling system that prevented the game from displaying all of the players on the field at a given moment. Players will earn ranks in WvW by earning World XP, which is awarded for doing pretty much whatever your character would normally do in WvW. Each new rank provides points to spend on abilities, all of which will start off as passive improvements like the ability to carry more supplies or do more siege damage. In the future, the developers want to add more active options so that WvW players feel as if they have an alternate advancement system past level 80, giving just a little more motivation to hit the WvW maps all over again. [Thanks to Pete for the tip!] [Update: Just as this post hit the front page, ArenaNet published a dev blog by Angel McCoy that focuses on the living story. Not only does McCoy explain how the paradoxes of the living story will work themselves out, but she teases that ArenaNet has "increased the amount of content (it will) be delivering, starting at the end of March." Good deal!]
The Think Tank: What is the one MMO mechanic or feature you can't live without?
Your most popular MMOs usually share some type of common denominator. Whether that's a familiar UI, a skill tree that makes sense, or a cast of classes involving the holy trinity, it's safe to say that many MMOs are very similar. But in recent years, developers have been stretching their creativity bones to invent new ways to play a roleplaying game online with lots and lots of people. Some of these innovations have worked; some have not. This often leads us to yearn for the old familiar features and mechanics we fall back on as a security blanket of sorts. What does the Massively staff see as the most important MMO feature or mechanic? Read along after the cut to find out, and be sure to let us know your own opinion in the comments below.
New DCUO trailer highlights the mainframe feature
DC Universe Online understands that everyone, even mighty superheroes and dastardly supervillains, needs a place to call home. Home Turf, the upcoming DLC pack, will introduce custom player housing. Players will be able to pick from a variety of themes and hundreds of items to create a hidey hole that's unique to their tastes. As well as being a good place to plan operations and bask in the warm afterglow of success, players' bases will also be the site of 1:1 PvP matches. Nobody's Secret Sanctuary or Ha-Ha-Hacienda is perfectly safe, though: Player housing will include a "new combat dimension" to keep folks on their toes. What's at the heart of every dark lair and secret refuge? Why, the mainframe of course! Skip below the cut to get a video introduction to Home Turf's mainframe feature. [Source: SOE press release]
The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's Armoury system, yesterday and tomorrow
Final Fantasy XIV has always sold its class system on the idea that you use it more as an a la carte buffet. Abilities you learn in one class are useful in another class, and as a result, your Gladiator is a mix of several different abilities in a single package. The idea at launch was that mixing abilities and inherent mechanics would produce very different characters based on the needs of circumstance and your personal playstyle. This is not what happened. Nor is it what happened following the large ability revamp, which actually wound up making cross-class skills less useful in many areas. When the game relaunches, odds are good that the current system will be largely intact, at least at a conceptual level. (You have your class abilities and then a selection of abilities from other classes that you've learned, in other words.) And it's my hope that on this third pass through the system, the development team gets things just right. But let's take a look at the first two versions first.
Breakfast Topic: What's your favorite quest mechanic?
Remember when everyone loved to hate The Oculus? Group members dropped like flies the moment some hapless noob intimated not having flown a drake before. Or jousting in the Argent Tournament -- ah, yes, another quest mechanic that united many players with the burning passion of unmitigated hatred. The thing is, some players like varied quest mechanics, even flying things and jousting at things. They like a change of pace from MMO standards such as Kill 10 Rats and the Fed Ex breadcrumb delivery (or in Blizzard's case, anything to do with poop). Me, I usually resent the intrusion. I prefer to play my character, galloping around the hills to find things and using my entire arsenal of spells to peek, tweak, and then slay everything in my path. I must admit, though, that Mists of Pandaria could be swaying me from this stoic path. While I'm adamantly not a fan of the quests that put you in the shoes of the quest giver and his saga, the general variety of quest mechanics has been ... distracting. Refreshing. Dare I go so far as to even say they're downright fun? A little variety is turning out to possibly be a good thing. (I said "a little." I still want to play my character. Harrumph.) Do you enjoy playing a variety of quest mechanics as you move through WoW's storylines, or do you prefer to stay in your character's own skin with your own spells and abilities? What are your favorite quest types? Which would you be just as happy to never encounter again?
MMO Blender: Mike's spaceflight of fancy
You know what I love? Space. Not real space, so much; real space is a vast expanse of horrors that generally confound and cripple the mind if considered too seriously. I'm talking about "space," as in the setting of some of our favorite movies, games, and cancelled television properties. The problem with space, of course, is that it is a setting and not a story. You can't prime an audience by simply shouting, "Space!" The space needs context. Is it "final frontier" space? Is it the space in which your screams go unheard? The greatest space tales have always used the deep black as a backdrop, not a subject. My perfect MMO would almost certainly take place in space, but the way in which the space is used is what makes it worth playing.
Final Fantasy XIV previews levequests and group combat
Final Fantasy XIV is changing a lot with its relaunch, but many of those changes are a matter of giving the old a new purpose and function. Such is the case with the much-maligned levequest, previewed in the latest video update from the game's alpha version. The new system seems much cleaner, with more narrow level bands, a distributor right at the camp, and a much simpler interface for starting and finishing one of these quick repeatable bursts of content. Looking forward to working in a team a bit more? Then you'll be happy that the second half of the video is devoted to an early preview of group combat, switching back and forth between several members locked in battle with large opponents. While the abilities and balance are still rough, it's a clear departure from how the game looked and felt in the first version. Check out the full video just past the break.
MMO Blender: Eliot ponders a fantastical fantasy
Fantasy, at this point, is almost tragically boring. That seems like a contradiction in terms. A fantasy setting is supposed to be fantastic by its very definition; you should be surrounded by neat and astonishing things at every term, immersed in a rich and baffling setting where magic is a valid explanation for almost everything. Unfortunately, we've seen so many versions of the same old fantasy setting that it's become boring. It's another round of the same elements with slightly different names, and while you can give them floppy ears and call them Asurans, they're still just gnomes with better public relations. So let's stick a fork in it and say we're done... or maybe not. There's some fantasy out there that could be collected into an interesting state, I think, something a bit further afield of the bog-standard elves and humans and dwarves dealing with dragons and whatever else. So let's mash this stuff up in a blender and see if we can't come up with some fantastic fantasy again.
DUST 514 video diary explores the nuances of vehicles
When you're shooting your way across the planets in DUST 514, you don't want to be walking everywhere like an animal. You want to be riding in style, especially if you can be riding in something that also has armor plating and variable thrusters. That's where vehicles come into the game. A new video narrated by Ryan Thornton (also known as CCP Blam!) explains how vehicles will work in the shooter and what players can expect from their earliest rides and more advanced offerings. The game's vehicle system starts everyone with very basic items, but as time goes by you can upgrade your rides with the use of skill points and different configurations. You can make your dropship logistical support for other vehicles, or you can turn it into a heavily armed and armored transport that clears a landing zone and puts down troops. Or you can turn it into a lightning-fast transport that brings players across the map faster than enemy players can react. Take a look at the full video just past the break to see more of the vehicle system in all its glory.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's Lost Shores recap
I won't be the first one to point this out, but almost as annoying as his eagerness to tell the citizens of Tyria about his new tourist destination (he was so eager that he actually interrupted himself -- constantly) was Subdirector Blingg's use of the phrase "most unique." No idea what I'm talking about? Then you likely didn't get a lot of hands-on time with Guild Wars 2 over the weekend. While Southsun Cove and the Fractals of the Mists are still around for your enjoyment, you missed out on the Lost Shores event itself. Some people will dispute whether or not you actually "missed out." They'd argue, I suppose, that there wasn't a ton of missing out to do. We differ on that point. Anyway, jump below the cut to catch the skinny on this weekend in in Guild Wars 2: the good, the unfortunate, and the maddening.
MMO Blender: Beyond Shawn's Thunderdome
If there's one thing I've noticed about these MMO Blender articles, it's that the Massively staff members seem to really like their sandboxes. Maybe it's not even so much a staff preference as it is a statement about where we all are as MMO players. Themeparks have been done and have been perfected, but many of us want to stretch the limitations of a truly persistent and open online world. At least that's what I'd like to think. It's an ideal situation I can dream about, but do we all really want a truly open world with limitless possibilities? What would we do with so few rules? My perfect MMO has what I'd consider to be the best of all worlds. The trick is, of course, getting it all to work in one game.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The passion for City of Heroes
Chronicling the last months of City of Heroes has been a strange ride. A sad one, certainly, and that's part of it, but it's also just been strange in certain ways, such as how every single column on the subject -- and I do mean every single one -- has garnered at least one person acting shocked that this column would continue to cover the game on the way to its shutdown instead of just throwing in the towel back in October or something. I really don't get that, considering that this column has been running for nearly three years without interruption, even when I had to send the text off to someone else because I was out of power due to a hurricane. There's no way I'm not going the last few feet. But I think some of it comes down to not understanding what about the game makes some of the players so passionate about the city. Passion is a lot of things, none of them logical. It's not possible to just point to items on a list and say, "I'm passionate because of that." But I can try to outline what's made the game so special beyond just its length of operation, and I'll do the best I can with today's column.
MMO Blender: Larry's anti-power-creep MMO
On Tuesday, I suggested ways to get rid of power creep in MMOs. You know power creep: the constant treadmill of stats that keep getting better and strong but ultimately start to feel like more of a grind? It's very annoying to long-term players, and I'd imagine that it's frustrating to game designers because it's time and talent wasted when game content is no longer useful to anyone. In my quest to find the ultimate MMO, I have searched for game elements that reduce the amount of power creep but still come together to support a themepark game. Let's be honest: Sandbox games might suffer power creep, but because most sandboxes are skill-based, that power creep is not as prevalent or can easily be mitigated by tweaking classes. But themeparks are linear by design, and to remain fun, they have to retain part of that linear quality. Progression and continually racking up numbers and achievements is enjoyable to a large number of MMO players, otherwise it would be games like Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies dominating the market, not World of Warcraft. Believe it or not, there are online games that have done a tremendous job of trying to defeat power creep, but unfortunately, they do not exist as one game... until now in my Anti-Power-Creep MMO!
MMO Blender: Eliot's rock odyssey
I'm upset with bards in MMOs. Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that they exist. But every single game that features bards uses them wrong. The bard is always a back-line character, someone who sits in the back and heals people through gently strumming on a lute. And that depresses me, because I want to see some bards that actually rock. I want to see some music used offensively. I want to have the option of making my bard kill things through careful use of sweet riffs. You can say it sounds ridiculous, but tell me that it's somehow more ridiculous than having a bard heal you via magical singing and I will call you a liar. So let's go for it. Let's dedicate an entire MMO to bards who aren't about muzak and nurturing new age songs, but bards that are going to defeat things through the unmitigated power of rock. My only regret is that this is a week too late for Rocktober.
MMO Blender: Jef's SWG/Star Citizen mashup
Thus far I've managed to keep my nose out of Massively's MMO Blender column. This is primarily because I don't need 1000 words to describe the ideal MMORPG when a short phrase like "Star Wars Galaxies minus the IP" basically sums everything up. That said, something happened a couple of weeks ago that caused me to expand on this idea. Chris Roberts returned to the ranks of gamemakers, and when he announced his Star Citizen multiplayer title (which I desperately hope he renames, incidentally), it set in motion an MMO flight of fancy that I would love to experience.
