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Firefall is offering bonus rep this weekend
Firefall's offering up a reputation bonus weekend starting Friday, November 14th at 7:00 p.m. EST. The promotion runs through Monday, November 17th at 7:00 p.m. EST and includes a 25 percent boost to all collected rep vouchers. Visit the official Firefall website for more details.
Quirky indie MMOFPS Hunternet boasts 700-player battles
Indie developer Fernando Zapata of CPU Dreams is taking on a subgenre not often challenged by indies, the MMOFPS, but he doesn't seem daunted. In fact, his fledgling MMOFPS, Hunternet, can already handle 700 players on a map, more than PlanetSide 2 -- more "any other MMOFPS." The video below includes footage from a Hunternet network stress test, with "700 clients spread across the cloud connected to a single dedicated server," a server where "players are not limited in their interaction by network culling as done in other large scale MMOs that spread out players and limit when you can see other players." After two years in development, the game is in alpha, so placeholder art is seen throughout the tech demo video and screenshots. Zapata says he's revisited and rethought many genre tropes, like "controls, health, scoring, shooting, spawning, teamwork," along with more "mundane" bits like a scaling UI and integrated voice chat. The website welcomes tester signups from gamers who "embrace failure as an integral part of learning" and "value mechanics over aesthetics." Skip the signup, says the dev, if you think shooters must be ultra-realistic "big macho war fests." Check out the alpha assets below, and notice we didn't use the word Kickstarter.
Firefall teases update 1.2
An update is coming to Firefall, and it promises to be a big one. A brief overview of the game's next major update has been posted on the official site to show off some of what players can expect, starting with the new Operation: Miru. This is endgame instanced content designed for five players at level 40, featuring a combination of mechanics and gunfights that heretofore have not been present in the game. The update will also feature a new piece of open-world content via the Accord Skydock, a new form of watchtower content, and a new live event. Broken Peninsula has also received updates to make it less broken from a mechanical standpoint rather than a geographical one. You can read up on all the sketchy details here, and keep your eyes peeled for more hard information as it becomes available.
Heroes & Generals adds map, weapons, limited army resources
Heroes & Generals has updated with a new skirmish map, new weapons, a new battle briefing screen, a new messaging system, and more. The Village Skirmish map is located in rural France and boasts a chateau, a small farm, and a sunken ruin as objectives. New weapons include the German P08 pistol and the US M1917 revolver. It's also worth noting that players who favor the generals side of Heroes & Generals shooter/strategy gameplay will now have to "play smarter," according to developer Reto-Moto. This is because the new Spaatz update has introduced limited army resources for both factions. Reto-Moto has released a new Spaatz videolog, which you can watch after the break. [Source: Reto-Moto press release]
PlanetSide 2 patches in Directive improvements and space pumpkins
The latest PlanetSide 2 patch is a pretty big one even without the pumpkins. Yes, there are pumpkins. Space pumpkins. You will need to shoot them to get currency, which you can then cash in for Halloween-themed masks, maximizing your character's spookiness through the month. But the patch has a lot of other changes in it as well, starting with major improvements to Directive tracking and overall Directive progression, complete with a new Leadership tree. Experience awards are also adjusted slightly, changing certain bonuses and how they're distributed to make life a bit easier for players. Offline cert points have also been removed from non-Member accounts and added exclusively to Members, thus making your subscription seem just a bit more worthwhile. For a full rundown of these changes, other balance tweaks, and the like, check out the full patch notes. [Thanks to theKavorka for the tip!]
Firefall's having another devs-vs.-players event this weekend
Firefall's having another devs-vs.-players live event this weekend, with the former controlling bosses in the sci-fi shooter and the latter getting a shot at various in-game prizes including titles, currency, glider wings, and more. The official Firefall website has all the details including a list of rewards. Just past the cut we've got the full press release and a dev-produced Q&A with Scott Rudi, Red 5's director of design.
PlanetSide 2: Tramell Isaac out, Bill Yeatts in
PlanetSide 2 is losing one of the most public faces of its team but will be replacing him with another well-known figure from SOE. Senior Art Director Tramell Isaac announced today that he will be leaving SOE for a new opportunity. "I've had a blast working with you guys all these many months. I will certainly miss you all," he wrote. However, Isaac said that he's leaving his position in good hands, as former H1Z1 Art Director Bill Yeatts will be stepping into the role: "Bill was on the PS2 team from start to ship so he is very well versed in what is and is not PlanetSide 2. He is running the show now and he may contradict some of the 'rules' I set in the past, but that is now his prerogative." Isaac is moving over to Boss Key Productions to become that studio's art director.
Defiance prepares its Aftermath update
Now that it's a certainty that Defiance's tie-in television series will be getting another season, are you eager to jump back into shooting things in the Silicon Valley? The Aftermath update is coming, and it will bring with it plenty of new things to shoot. Seven new missions will be added to the game, bringing players from Silicon Valley to Paradise and back; a confrontation with the Pilgrims of the Guiding Light and an attempt to start a war between the Earth Republic and the Votanis Collective both await players taking on the update. New enemies, new pursuits, and new contracts will help to round out the patch, giving players new things to fight along with new reasons to take part in the battle. There are also several planned quality-of-life improvements, including mission replay and improved co-op balancing for the season 2 maps. No release date has yet been announced, but it sounds as if players will have plenty to do when the aftermath hits.
Defiance gets third season pick-up on Syfy
Good news for Defiance players who still believe strongly in the power of transmedia synergy: Syfy has elected to pick up the TV show for a third season. The series will return for a 13-episode season next year with Kevin Murphy as both executive producer and showrunner. Defiance averaged 2.7 million viewers during its Thursday night episodes in season two. News of the TV show is of importance to the MMO, as both mediums feature connected storylines, settings, and technology.
Mark Kern starts new studio, raises $1M for VR MMO
Ex-Red 5 CEO Mark Kern has been a busy little bee since his departure from Firefall. Kern established a new studio called MEK Entertainment with associates from Red 5 and Blizzard, raising $1 million in seed funding for his next project. While it doesn't have a name, this project is reportedly an MMO designed for the Oculus Rift. It will use retro-style pixel art and depend heavily on "creative contributions" from the game's community. "We can't build it alone," Kern said. "I've been looking for a way to let more gamers and modders realize their own virtual worlds, and I think we found it." Kern cited inspiration from other titles such as the SNES, Terraria, Starbound, and (of course) Minecraft. You can watch a teaser for the MMO after the break.
Firefall patch 1.1 brings elemental destruction
A major new update has gone live for Firefall, bringing with it new types of weapons and weapon damage types. As the name suggests, Patch 1.1: Elemental Destruction is all about ways to unleash different elements upon enemies to bring about their ruin. The update's newest weapons are the plasma flak cannon and bio injector, however even older weapons can get new modifiers to change their damage type. The additional weapon modifiers include thermal, flaming thermal, bioactive, virulent bioactive, electrical, charged electrical, beam, laser beam, microplasma, and emissive microplasma. Even grenade launchers have gotten love with new ways to throw out explosives in a spread or cluster. Patch 1.1 also adds five dynamic encounters, two new ARES job boards, and a hardcore version of Kanaloa the Destroyer. Check out Massively's previous in-depth look at the new weapon types of Patch 1.1.
Exclusive: The weapons of Firefall's Elemental Destruction
In the wake of Firefall's announcement of its September 16th Elemental Destruction launch date, Red 5's RudiKazootie returns with another dev diary about the update, this one focusing on the new elemental weapons, new weapon modifiers, and new primary archetype weapons arriving next week. Enjoy!
Exclusive: Firefall's Elemental Destruction update launches September 16th
It's official: The newly revitalized Firefall is due to release its first major update, Elemental Destruction, next week -- on Tuesday, in fact. The patch is bringing new dynamic encounters in addition to abilities and weapons. And if you're a Firefall nut, then today is your day because Red 5 Design Director RudiKazootie has penned an exclusive dev blog discussing in detail the five new dynamic encounters being introduced with the update. Enjoy the full read and new screens below, and keep an eye out for Friday's edition too.
E-thugs are actively attacking Trion's stable of MMOs, ArcheAge open beta 'going forward as planned'
Trion Community Manager Ocho has just posted an announcement to players of RIFT, ArcheAge, Defiance, and Trove that the studio is currently under a denial-of-service attack affecting some game services. He writes, Following last night's ISP maintenance, our overnight team has confirmed a DDOS that is currently aimed at Trion's services. We're actively working with our ISP partners and the authorities on both mitigating its effects and ensuring this group gets caught. Our live games are up and ArcheAge's open beta is going forward as planned. While the attack persists, there may be some effects on network stability and some website unavailability. You also may need to use the Resend Code option for our login security and RIFT's Coin Lock if the email doesn't reach you at first. We'll keep you informed as the situation evolves. If I'm bored of writing about the lame antics of script-kiddies, I'm sure MMO studios are livid about being forced to divert resources to combat them.
Firefall gets a Chinese publishing deal
It's been a long road to Firefall's release on its native shores, but the game has more places to go just the same. Red 5 Studios and The9 have entered into an agreement with System Link Limited to publish the game in China for a five-year period. This will result in at least $160 million being paid to The9 for licensing fees and royalties. System Link Limited is itself a joint venture formed by The9 and Qihoo 360 Technology Corp, so it's a fairly dense nest of interrelationships. It can only be hoped that the game's release will be met with open arms in China. [Thanks to SolaRSaphire for the tip!]
PAX Prime 2014: Defiance defies barriers to play
If there's one message that Trion Worlds wants to get out about Defiance from PAX Prime this year, it's that the game is bursting with content and absolutely welcoming one and all to play. While we're still waiting for the conversion of the Xbox 360 version to free-to-play, PlayStation 3 and PC players can already jump into the game and experience the title for free. The team's been hard at work refining and fleshing out the game, so for people who might have only dabbled in it shortly after launch, it's almost a completely new world to explore. As season two of the TV show recently wrapped up, so will the current Aftermath storyline in the game. Both the show and the game dealt with the growing threat of cults, and the MMO will be packaging up the entire saga for players to revisit later in September. The devs also shared with me that they used the real-world setting of the Bay Area to unleash some pent-up hatred toward the San Francisco airport and its parking in one of the new areas. Good to know that MMOs can be both fun to play and therapeutic for its makers! Massively's on the ground in Seattle during the weekend of August 29th to September 1st, bringing you all the best news from PAX Prime 2014. Whether you're dying to know more about Warlords of Draenor, The Elder Scrolls Online, Landmark, or any MMO in between, you can bet we'll have it covered!
PAX Prime 2014: PlanetSide 2 meets the PlayStation 4
PlanetSide 2 is waging a war for your attention on two platforms these days. The big push by SOE as of late is to prepare the title for its testing and release on the PlayStation 4. At this year's PAX Prime, the team said that the MMOFPS should be going into a beta later this year after the devs finish refining the UI for use on the controller. The PlayStation 4 version won't be sharing the same server as the PC, although SOE predicts that it will become the more popular edition due to the number of first-person shooter fans on the console. Great effort is being made to keep the game as fast and responsive as other FPS titles on that platform. As in many other FPS games on the PS4, voice chat will be a must-have for squads. The team will be attempting to keep the updates for the PS4 edition as close as possible with the release of the PC title. Because of the approval process by Sony, it won't be possible for the devs to assure a same-day release across platforms. We asked whether PlanetSide 2 could be coming to the PlayStation 3 as well, but the studio said that the older hardware simply can't handle the title without a serious compromise in game quality. Massively's on the ground in Seattle during the weekend of August 29th to September 1st, bringing you all the best news from PAX Prime 2014. Whether you're dying to know more about Warlords of Draenor, The Elder Scrolls Online, Landmark, or any MMO in between, you can bet we'll have it covered!
PAX Prime 2014: RIFT's Nightmare Tide expansion launches October 8th; Trove's closed beta begins September 25th
Trion made a bunch of ArcheAge fans happy earlier this evening, so now it's time to do the same for followers of RIFT, Defiance, and Trove. RIFT's Nightmare Tide expansion officially launches on October 8th, while Defiance will get "a massive end-of-September" update called Aftermath that includes new missions and events. Last but not least, Trove will enter closed beta on September 25th. Massively's Justin Olivetti learned today on the show floor that this phase of beta will not be wiped prior to launch. Players who have purchased currency will receive half again as much back. Massively's on the ground in Seattle during the weekend of August 29th to September 1st, bringing you all the best news from PAX Prime 2014. Whether you're dying to know more about Warlords of Draenor, The Elder Scrolls Online, Landmark, or any MMO in between, you can bet we'll have it covered!
PlanetSide 2 reveals its newest vehicle, the Valkyrie
SOE has today revealed the Valkyrie, the first new vehicle added to PlanetSide 2 since last year. What's the Valkyrie? Packed with a front-facing turret for up-close-and-personal air support, the Valkyrie is a fast-attack gunship that serves as a nimble transport for up to six soldiers (pilot, forward gunner and four rumble seat passengers). Whether it is flying over the dense swamplands of Hossin or through the narrow canyons of Indar, this fast-moving versatile aircraft is sure to change the war on Auraxis. In the making-of video below, Senior Art Director Tramell Isaac explains the process by which the developers conceptualize and then "jazz up" ship models.
Choose My Adventure: Firefall as it stands
As I noted in the first week of this month's truncated Choose My Adventure, Firefall is finally an honest to goodness real-life video game. The extended extended beta is over, the launch trailer has released, and the game has been cut loose into the world. One might argue that Red 5 is now officially out of excuses; if something isn't satisfactory in Firefall, it must be unsatisfactory by design. We have stepped beyond the point where "it's a beta" is a fair explanation of the game's rougher edges. Because what we're dealing with is theoretically intended to be a full retail product, it's not useful to talk about what Firefall used to be, nor is it useful to speculate on what Firefall might become. The only honest evaluation of the game, if evaluation is the goal, must center on the current iteration of the product, the one that Red 5 considered complete enough to release as the finished version of its vision. Is Firefall, in its current state, worth playing? Does it offer enough content to keep players engaged? Is it finally delivering on the promise we have glimpsed in its systems? For the first time since my initial encounter with the game in early 2013, I'd say the answer is yes.
