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Perfect World Entertainment posts strong Q1 2014 earnings
Perfect World Entertainment posted its earnings report for Q1 2014, showing strong financials that include an increase from the same period in 2013. In Q1 2014, the publisher made $143.3M in revenue, $105.5M in gross profit, and had an operating profit of $28.5M. Perfect World CEO Robert Xiao said he was pleased with the results, commenting that, "Our total revenues came in line with the high end of our expectations, which was slightly softer than the strong fourth quarter of 2013. In the first quarter of 2014, we decelerated promotional activities for our client-based MMORPGs and remained focused on content development of our portfolio and pipeline." Xiao focused on the expansion of the company's mobile lineup as a cause for hope for the future as well as the Chinese Dota 2 beta test and Neverwinter launch later this year.
Neverwinter announces its fourth module, Tyranny of Dragons
Stupid dragons. They think they're so special, with their wings and their breath weapons and their intelligence and their hides like armor. Sure, maybe all of that is pretty special when you think about it, but that's not the point. While we can't be sure just yet, though, it's a fairly sure thing that the next Neverwinter module will indeed allow you to put some dragons in their place; after all, the next module is dubbed Tyranny of Dragons. Seems like it would involve some draconic influence there. Tyranny of Dragons is due for release on August 14th, 2014. Unfortunately, we have no further details at this time outside of the fact that it will include dragons and will tie into the overarching story of the same name moving through the Dungeons & Dragons product line. Regardless, you'll want to get your best dragon-slaying shoes on for late summer because it's high time you showed those dragons what you think of them. (They're not so big.) [Source: Perfect World Entertainment press release]
Neverwinter's heroic encounters bring dynamic events to Icewind Dale
Neverwinter's Module 3 is on track to release tomorrow, and with it arrives a new type of quest for the game: heroic encounters. Cryptic put up an overview of heroic encounters today, calling these quests "challenging" and "exciting." They sound an awful lot like other MMO's dynamic events, as these variable-sized public quests will spawn on the landscape with different types of tasks. Some of the encounters will require more than one party to complete, and the biggest ones for each map will begin only about every 90 minutes. Rewards from heroic encounters include profession assets, Black Ice, weapons, and consumables.
Neverwinter offers doubled experience until May 5th
Are you ready for the imminent release of Neverwinter's next major patch? Oh, you're not. You aren't nearly ready. This is going to be a problem, isn't it? Quick, maybe you can catch up this weekend before it comes out. Helping you in that catch-up goal is the fact that the game is offering doubled experience from now until May 5th, 1:00 p.m. EDT. So what's doubled? Oh, just experience from killing creatures, clearing quests, professions, invocations, Foundry missions... you know, pretty much everything you could possibly be doing in the game. And even if you've already hit the level cap, Companions will still gain the increased experience, although those Companions will not get the upgrade from Sword Coast Adventures. So if you're looking to race up to the level cap before the next patch hits, you've got a weekend full of play ahead of you.
Neverwinter shows off new Black Ice armor sets
Neverwinter's Curse of Icewind Dale is two weeks away, and the team at Cryptic hopes to whip up interest by showing off the new armor sets coming with the update. Module 3 will allow players to forge this new type of armor from black ice, a special material that they'll be picking up from quests and adventuring. There are two different types of sets that each class can make from it, Corrupted and Purified Black Ice armor, each with its own stat builds and the ability to be powered up for a limited time. The armor not only looks all cool and jaggedy but it will help protect characters from the new black ice damage that's also coming in the new area. The studio posted pictures of the armor sets for each one of the classes, a few of which you can check out after the break.
Neverwinter previews post-60 advancement plans
You've hit the level cap in Neverwinter. You are officially as hardcore as you can ever be, and that brings a smile to your face. But it also makes you kind of wistful. After all, there are still so many roaming bags of experience points vicious monsters to fight, and all of the experience from those is going to waste. But that's going to change when Module 3 comes out and all of your otherwise unnecessary XP turns into sweet, delicious piles of extra loot. When Module 3 goes live, characters will continue accumulating experience as before when they hit level 60. Once they accumulate 250,000 XP, the character will be rewarded with a special pack that can contain extra Power Points, Enchants, account-bound XP Scrolls, and other useful goodies. The Power Points can only be used to add a total of 20 points to your character's Power Tree, but it still means that hitting 60 doesn't mean the end of your character growth. So go out, slay, and enjoy a little bit of extra potency as a result.
One Shots: Reflection perfection
"Take a picture of a picture in an MMO," I said to you guys a couple of weeks ago, and darn it if you awesome folks didn't come through! We have two entries from that screenshot challenge this week, starting with reader Chiara taking a look at her good looks in Lord of the Rings Online. "One of the things that impressed me the most when Riders of Rohan launched was the furniture," Chiara wrote. "I spent the whole day breaking into NPCs' houses uninvited (they weren't amused). The first time I saw a mirror, I squealed." I'm squealing right now myself, but that's mostly because a mouse just ran across the ceiling tiles. I need to throw a cat up between the floors one of these days to solve that problem. Anyway, let's take a gander at the other great entires from players' screenshot folders!
Neverwinter will make players choose between mercenaries
When Icewind Dale arrives with Neverwinter's Module 3, players will have a difficult decision to make: whether to join up with the Ten-Towners or the Arcane Brotherhood. In a new post, Cryptic explains that these two groups are at conflict with each other in the effort to collect the precious Black Ice. Ten-Towners want the Ice for profit and for those who have lived in the north, while the Arcane Brotherhood desires the substance to increase its members' knowledge. Once a group is chosen, that faction will deliver daily contracts that the player can take up. By repeating the dailies, players can earn enough Black Ice to create a new armor set. Players shouldn't fret too much about their choice, as their allegiance can change on a daily basis with no penalty. Cryptic will also be introducing account shared banks with the module to help pass items between characters with ease. Module 3 arrives on May 13th.
Neverwinter launching Curse of Icewind Dale on May 13th
If you're ready to have some chill adventures in Neverwinter, you'd better be ready on May 13th. That's when the Curse of Icewind Dale module will launch for players, bringing with it two new adventure zones, a new open PvP region, and new factions for players to fight over. Also a new Hunter Ranger Paragon path, but that really only affects Hunter Rangers, which as infographics show make up only half of the characters in the game. But why are you going to Icewind Dale? What's so important? If only there were some sort of lore trailer past the break that will give a concise explanation of exactly what's going down in the region and why players are taking part, as well as outline the factions fighting over the valuable Black Ice. That would be very convenient, wouldn't it? Perhaps you should click past the break to check out that exact trailer, then.
Perfect Ten: My favorite MMO April Fools' pranks of all time
There are two types of people on April 1st: those who are annoyed and indifferent to the tomfoolery going on all around them, and those who gleefully embrace the zany antics and baldfaced lies. For the record, I am of the latter crowd. I love April Fools' Day and the humor and creativity that it inspires. While this day is by no means contained to our neck of the woods, MMOs have a long-running streak of trying to pull the wool over our eyes. I think a good goof has to have several qualities to make it truly memorable. It needs to be original. It needs to be actually amusing, whether or not you "fell for it." And it needs to tweak our expectations and understanding of how MMOs work. Sometimes there are even important ideas that emerge from these jokes that could, indeed, make these titles better. So let's go through my favorite MMO April Fools pranks of all time, as catalogued by yours truly!
April Fools' Day around the virtual world
I was in Guild Wars 2 last night at 10 p.m. PDT when my Asura's head... grew. And wobbled. And bobbled. As did the heads of the not-so-scary-anymore Nightmare Court villains I had been murdering in pursuit of my dailies. Ah, I remembered. It's April Fools' somewhere! Here are some of the MMOs that tried to prank us today: Blizzard showed off a hideous new model for World of Warcraft's Draenei women and announced a new fighting game full of rejected characters. Neverwinter introduces a brand-new playable race -- the Dragon! EverQuest Next wants you to choose the next class: Duct Tapomancer, Rubberbandian, Origami Assassin, or Martinizer. Star Wars: The Old Republic introduced asteroid starships. Final Fantasy XIV teased the worst NPC companions ever. TERA has been overrun by beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! Lord of the Rings Online announced plans for a major sports league. DC Universe Online brought to life the Unicorn Trinket. EverQuest II celebrated Bristlebane Day. Path of Exile gave up and went pay-to-win. Destiny unveiled the "Get Your Ass To Mars" collectors edition. World of Warplanes promised playable UFOs. The Repopulation posted patch notes including The Adventures of Ding Veisel. World of Tanks introduced World of Tanks: The Crayfish. League of Legends turned its meta upside down with a goofy Ultra Rapid Fire mode. Finally, rather than add to the pranks, we sent you on an April Fools' Day quest. The first person to complete it was reader Nathan6! The words in order were waffle, platypus, macguyver, shazbot, and doge, and here is the "prize" page. Thanks for playing, everyone! ;)
Neverwinter spoofs game-within-a-game
Neverwinter has jumped the gun on April Fools' Day with its "preview" of Respen's Marvelous Game. The idea is that Neverwinter will add a game-within-a-game, allowing characters in the MMO to sit down and engage in some good ol' fashion tabletop D&D: "Respen's Marvelous Game takes place atop a table, with your character being transformed into a miniature statuette. This new event will challenge you on a whole new level. Now you will know what it is like to be on the other side of a tabletop game!" Of course, this is just a joke. Or is it? Cryptic teased the possibility of earning a green slime companion and said that it will be revealing more details tomorrow.
Neverwinter releases post-Shadowmantle infographic
So how is Neverwinter doing these days? The game's been a little quiet since the launch of Shadowmantle. But it looks as if it's doing fairly well, judging by a brand-new infographic, which is embedded just past the cut. More than 2 million new characters have been created since the launch of Shadowmantle, with Hunter Rangers turning up as the most popular new character and Devoted Clerics as the least. Beyond that, over 3 million characters have died in PvP matches and a combined total of 405 years' worth of experience has been gained. If you can't get enough of numbers about games, go ahead and jump past the cut to see exactly how the game has been doing since its last update. On a numerical level, it seems pretty solid. [Source: Perfect World Entertainment press release]
Neverwinter's Icewind Dale PvP factions detailed
Neverwinter's forthcoming Curse of Icewind Dale module will introduce two factions to the free-to-play fantasy MMO. Players will receive contracts from either the Ten-Towners or the Arcane Brotherhood and will subsequently be sent to collect black ice and fight monsters on behalf of their factional choice. In the process, adventurers will encounter players from the opposing faction in what Cryptic says is "a more developed PvP progression path for players who are seeking an alternative to the standard PvE content in Neverwinter." Cryptic's latest website update refers to Neverwinter's PvP as "open-world," and you can read more details via the links below.
Perfect World enjoys a profitable 2013
Perfect World Entertainment is celebrating this week as the most recent financial reports show a revenue increase of 11% for last year, thanks to forward-thinking initiatives aimed at investments in other companies and a focus on mobile gaming for the future. Most impressive was the Q4 results showing a net profit growth from RMB86.4 million to RMB209.8 million ($34 million), according to a report at Gamesindustry.biz. All of this, of course, is on the heels of DotA 2's upcoming release in China and Neverwinter's Chinese release later this year which both may play a part in even further growth for 2014.
Perfect Ten: Game franchises that became MMOs
Popular franchises have been known to jump between various entertainment media, from games to television to movies to comic books and even to pogs. We should not gasp in utter amazement that this is also the case with many of our beloved MMOs; we should nod sagely and accept the terrible truth. There are several video game franchises that have culminated in -- or at least have taken a detour through -- the land of MMOs. For gamers who wanted more and especially did not want to see their journey end, an MMO continuation is a welcome answer that's usually hiding its own problems. But nevermind that; let's march down the halls of history and see the yearbook photos of these franchises when they were young!
Neverwinter's next expansion heads to Icewind Dale
The name Icewind Dale conjures a lot of fond memories for fans of both the Forgotten Realms and turn-of-the-century RPGs. Fortunately for both groups, Cryptic and Perfect World are returning to the iconic locale in Neverwinter's next expansion. Module 3: Curse of Icewind Dale is slated to release "later this spring," according to a news blurb on Cryptic's Arc website. Players can expect "new PvE content," new features, and "completely different ways to PvP." The Neverwinter dev team has released a brief preview trailer for Module 3, and you'll find it behind the break.
MMO Mechanics: Predicting the future of MMO game mechanics
I've been thinking heavily about the future since our parent network's budget cuts were announced, so I decided it would be very apt to pen my last edition of MMO Mechanics with that same train of thought. The industry has changed remarkably over the last decade with trends like the free-to-play revolution and innovations in everything from loot distribution to quest design. In my previous article, I looked at the trend toward using procedural generation and what that might mean for the future of MMOs. In this article, I'd like to give a better overview of where I think the genre is headed in the coming years and what that means for game mechanics. My predictions are based on market patterns and technology developments, including the great indie revolution, the effects of declining subscriptions on investment, and upcoming virtual reality technology. Pie-in-the-sky fantasy or an accurate predictor of things to come? Let me know what you think.
Watch Neverwinter's PvP state of the game
It's no surprise that big PvP changes are coming to Neverwinter soon, and Cryptic Executive Producer Rob Overmeyer has a state of the game video to help sum up what's going down in this action MMO. Coming "early 2014," the PvP update will contain stat changes, a new stat called Tenacity, crowd control tweaks, and new armor sets. But as they say, seeing is believing, so check out the overview by Overmeyer after the break.
Jukebox Heroes: Top 40 MMO themes, #40-31
MMO main themes hold the potential to be some of the most powerful and magical pieces of music, partly because we associate them with particular games more than anything else. A great theme will dredge up intense memories or euphoria by the third note, and I see composers putting in their all with many of these themes. A long time ago I did an MMO theme countdown of 20 tracks, but since then I've heard a lot more and have wanted to do the list all over again. So this week in Jukebox Heroes, we're kicking off a countdown of the top 40 MMO themes -- in my opinion, of course. I listened to over 150 themes and spent hours ranking them to create this list. Because these choices are bound to be a little controversial and stir up debate (which is encouraged!), I set down a few rules that I wanted to share here. I limited myself to just one theme from a particular title, even if there were multiple themes in a game. Entries had to be a main theme or the closest equivalent of that; they had to be from MMOs, not from MOBAs; and I had to divorce my weighting of the track itself from the popularity of and my experience with that game. So no points added or subtracted based on the love of the game; I'm counting down the best music, period. Let's see what numbers 40 through 31 have in store for us!
