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The Mog Log: The end of Final Fantasy XIV's 2.0 cycle
It's going to be a little while until we see the next major patch for Final Fantasy XIV. I'm not expecting to see patch 2.5 in the wild until February, to be honest. That's a little longer than the standard three months, but we've also got a holiday season through there and a not exactly clockwork schedule to begin with. It's enough time to get plenty of Poetics kit, make headway into Second Coil, and get thoroughly sick of the expert roulette dungeons. Perhaps the game shouldn't always just keep the three most recent dungeons on there... But we still have interquel patches to consider, starting with the promised inclusion of Eternal Bonds in 2.45. While we've still got a little bit of time until the next Live Letter (which will no doubt reveal more about what's coming for the next few months), we've got enough information to speculate, prognosticate, and forecast, which is exactly what I want to do for this week. It's a thing I do.
Warframe's Archwing update hits consoles
Ready to go to space in Warframe? Just kidding! You're already in space. The whole premise is robotic space ninjas, after all. But the Archwing update that just dropped for consoles yesterday lets you slip past obstacles like "not being able to fly in space" by... well... allowing you to fly in space. The Archwing is a harness that lets you fly in space. This, from a practical standpoint, means that you get to enjoy spaceflight antics without spaceships. Aside from the eponymous Archwing systems, the update also adds a new (equally eponymous) Warframe, more visual customization options, and a new reputation system allowing you to represent one of six Syndicates. So if you're floating about on consoles with Warframe, you too can now enjoy all of the fun of spaceflight without a spaceship. Hopefully not including the harness accidentally detaching whilst you're accelerating, leading your body to go hurtling off into space at a trajectory you can no longer control forever. [Source: Digital Extremes press release]
Gloria Victis implements dialogues and other improvements
The Gloria Victis pre-alpha is getting a bit more chatty today with the implementation of the dialogue system in the most recent update. Said update also contains the first implementation of bow-wielding NPCs defending cities, the addition of buff and debuff descriptions, and various bugfixes and improvements -- all good things unless you try to open a dialogue with a bow-wielding NPC and get an arrow in response. The design team promises that this is just the beginning of major changes, however, with the next patch slated to add the first pass of the questing system into the game. Territory capture mechanics are also coming, allowing an entire nation to benefit from captured lands. So onlookers can enjoy a more robust rollout in the coming weeks as the game adds more features in.
Neverwinter: Rise of Tiamat goes live today
Who's afraid of the big bad dragon goddess? Wait, scratch that, who isn't afraid? She is a dragon with five heads that can breathe fire, chlorine gas, lightning, acid, and frost. She is enormous. That is scary. Unless you're a player character in Neverwinter, which launches the Rise of Tiamat expansion today; then she's just another target down the inevitable road of dragon-slaying. Technically your goal is to stop her from being summoned altogether, but let's face it, we know how this sort of thing works out. So what else awaits adventurers aside from stopping the Cult of the Dragon and saving the eponymous city of Neverwinter (and by extension the world)? Well, Scourge Warlocks can pick up the new Soulbinder paragon path, and players of all stripes can pick up new artifact equipment for four different slots (neck, belt, main-hand, off-hand). This is, of course, assuming going toe-to-clawed-toe with the queen of dragons herself wasn't motivation enough. [Source: Cryptic Studios press release]
World of Warcraft deals with downtime, bugs, DDoS attacks [Updated]
If you had been hoping to experience the launch of World of Warcraft's expansion without queues, well, that was never going to happen. If you had hoped to face the launch without issues like disconnecting from the servers as soon as your character moved or major Garrison bugs, well, that shouldn't be happening, but it apparently is. A number of hotfixes have already been applied to the game with more on the way, including several increased spawn rates for enemies in heavily congested zones. This comes on the heels of DDoS attacks that have made logging in and playing even more difficult and make it difficult to identify genuine bugs amidst server issues. Fans have compiled a list of the most common errors experienced on launch, some of which seem perfectly normal (long queue times after many server merges prior to launch) and some of which are not (server crashes from flying mounts). If you want to take a little time off from trying to get in and play, you can take a look at the recently posted glance at the creatures of Nagrand. Otherwise, there's not much to be done other than waiting for the latest round of hotfixes and hoping that corrects the major issues. [Massively's sister site WoW Insider has published a detailed editorial explaining the launch issues and who bears responsibility for which ones. Managing Editor Adam Holisky argues that while Blizzard is responsible for the quest bottlenecks, broken terrain, server funneling, and griefing toys, it can't do much about DDoS attacks and their resulting latency and lag and queues, and therefore the studio should not be blamed for them.]
WildStar's Mystery of the Genesis Prime is live today [Updated]
It's been a long road getting from there to here, but players who have been waiting patiently for the next WildStar patch can stop waiting. Mystery of the Genesis Prime adds two major new pieces of content: the Defile, a new zone extending off of Blighthaven; and Journey to Omnicore-1, a new solo instance that allows players to explore more of the story behind Nexus. The Defile includes the Black Focus (which we toured), the Siege of the Lightspire, and a variety of solo quest chains. Journey to Omnicore-1 kicks off the game's ongoing story, exploring more of the details behind what took place on Nexus and how the events on the planet could have long-lasting consequences for everyone on the planet and off. The patch also increases loot rewards from enemies fought in groups, adds rental mount vendors for low-level players, and increases money rewards from quests and junk items. You can take the patch for a drive today; it took a while to land, but there's a lot of new stuff therein. [Source: Carbine Studios press release] [Update: Carbine has posted a list of known patch issues on the official site; they include currency display issues, non-functioning gardens, and borky public events.]
Shroud of the Avatar preps for Steam launch
On November 24th, Shroud of the Avatar will be launching on Steam's Early Access service. Backers of the game should already have their Steam keys. Once the game is launched, the development team wants to keep the game's servers on at all times, leading to the current state of the game. In this round of testing, contrary to past tests, players can this time access the game servers according to the game's most recent development update. The newsletter also highlights the ominous Tower of the Shuttered Eye, a rather unpleasant place that will be added to the game with the next major patch scheduled for release on November 20th. There's also a post-mortem on the launch of the game's most recent test patch, which saw a big increase in numbers over previous events. Take a look at the full update for a clearer picture of how the game is doing and what's just around the corner.
EVE Evolved: Clone upgrades and skill loss are gone!
While the player activity stats might suggest otherwise, the past few years have been a real rennaisance for EVE Online. Developers have gone back and iterated on dozens of old game features that were starting to show their age, and some of them have been pretty huge. The war declaration and criminality overhauls in 2012 were fundamental changes to core gameplay that had been stagnant for almost a decade, and the recent industry and warp acceleration changes were equally fundamental shifts. These were all features we had previously been told were essentially off-limits for iteration because they relied on undocumented legacy code from 2003, and none of the programmers wanted to poke that sleeping beast. Now it seems that no idea is off-limits, and developers aren't afraid to challenge fundamental parts of EVE's original design that may not make sense today. This week's Phoebe update revisited capital ship force projection for the first time since the ships were added in 2004, for example, and it removed the 24-hour skill queue limit that CCP insisted on adding in Apocrypha. In Thursday's episode of The EVE Online Show, developers announced the next big legacy feature to be put on the chopping block in the game of progress: As part of December's Rhea release, clone upgrades and skill point loss on death will be completely removed from the game. In this edition of EVE Evolved, I look at the problems caused by the cloning system, why it needs to be removed, and what could possibly replace it.
The end is coming to Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin
All good things must come to an end. So it goes for Final Fantasy XI's most recent expansion, Seekers of Adoulin, which will be wrapping up its story in the version update going live next week. Players will be pitched into a final battle to determine the fate of the land, lest darkness overtake it... and it probably won't. These stories don't usually end with the heroes totally failing, after all. It'd be a downer back in Jeuno. The rewards available for clearing the main scenario include a special coat and matching gloves as well as a dozen different rings that should prove quite useful for filling out any player's equipment sets. Tanking, dealing damage, using pets, and even crafting can be improved through use of these rings, giving players more than enough incentive to see the story through to the end. Along with finishing out the story as a whole, too, that's incentive.
Final Fantasy XIV opens up a free login weekend, Steam demo
Have you been taking a break from Final Fantasy XIV recently? Do you want to see what the game's most recent patch brings to the table before deciding to resubscribe or not? Then go ahead and log in over the weekend because everyone with a registered copy of the game will be eligible to log in and check out the game for free. It might not be enough time to check out everything in the patch, but it's enough time to see some of it, at least. If you don't already have the game, you can play the free 14-day trial demo on Steam, where the game is on sale for $12 for the next week. The free reactivation starts 3 a.m. EST on November 7th and runs until 3 a.m. EST on November 10th. This latest patch adds the new Rogue class, three new dungeons, a new battle against the primal Shiva, and several other quests and quality of life improvements. But you don't have to take our word for it; you can dive back in and give it a shot for yourself.
Trove enters open beta, ArcheAge deploys Auroria in the EU
Have you been looking for another pixel-polygon building game to call your home? After being in the test phase for so long that you could be forgiven for speculating that it would never be released, Trove has hit open beta, letting everyone log in and try the game for both bugs and just for the heck of it. There will be no more wipes of the database, so you could easily regard this as something of a soft launch for the game. If you're not feeling that particular sort of building and you're over in the EU, you can instead try your hand with the latest update for of ArcheAge, which mirrors the patch deployed earlier this week on the US servers. Hopefully the EU rollout will not include the same login issues that hit the US servers as well. The patch is scheduled to go live today at 5:00 p.m. GMT. [Source: Trion Worlds press release]
A tour of WildStar's upcoming Black Focus area
The next update for WildStar has some pretty big shoes to fill. Arriving on November 11th, it's the first update the game has seen since August, when the game abruptly peeled back from monthly updates to quarterly ones. It comes after a round of server merges. It needs to prove to fans who are still subscribed to the game that there's good reason to keep playing and that more content is on the way in the near future -- that there's a reason to hold out hope. Earlier this week, I toured the Black Focus, the five-person group content releasing in the new region of The Defile in the upcoming patch. Not all of my questions about the zone as a whole were answered since I didn't get to go through all of the quests leading into this particular encounter. However, I did get a chance to form at least some first impressions and see how well this bit of content holds up. And there's a new trailer past the cut if you just want to watch that.
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.
ArcheAge scrambles to fix disconnection issues after update
ArcheAge launched a big update yesterday filled with exciting new features -- chiefly, new territories that players can capture, build castles upon, lay siege to, and so forth. At least, you would be able to do any of these things if you were one of the lucky few players capable of logging into the game, which has not been the case for a great many players since the update went live yesterday thanks to serious disconnection issues. As of 7:45 a.m. EST this morning, the official Trion post on the subject says the studio has devised a new build to correct the issue, and the servers were brought down early this morning to apply the patch (they're back up now). However, that might not be enough to pacify the players who are agitating for a rollback under the perception that the update's new territory was claimed while significant portions of the playerbase were forced offline. We'll have more on this situation as it develops. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in! Our own AA players are in the same boat!]
WildStar shows off the Mystery of the Genesis Prime
The nature of the Genesis Prime is one of the major elements of WildStar's story as presented to players on the road to level 50. Even once you get there, though, you still have questions, ones that will hopefully be answered by the end of the game's next update. Lucky for you, a new trailer for the Mystery of the Genesis Prime update is now available, along with a look at the Defile region that should help bring much of this storytelling to a conclusion for the time being. Inside the Defile, players will be exploring solo content in the Sonic Plaza and the Strain Maw, taking on five-person tasks in the Black Focus, and fighting through large-group challenges with the Siege of the Lightspire. Carbine intends to have content in place for you no matter what your preference is. The update was originally scheduled to launch in November, but no formal date has been announced. Check out the trailer past the break, scope out the locations available, and get ready to find some answers to one of the game's biggest mysteries. [Source: Carbine Studios press release]
ArcheAge's Auroria launches today
ArcheAge is scheduled to launch a big new update today on its North American servers. How big? Well, you can get a pretty solid idea just from the patch notes. The game is adding four new zones to be conquered and claimed by players, complete with space to build castles and houses once the claims have been made. There's also a new dungeon being added to the game, giving players uninterested in the land rush something to do with their time. New recipes have also been added for high-end weapons requiring Gilda Dust to craft. Vehicle stats have seen a rebalancing in an effort to make sure that no single vehicle is the unquestioned best in every field at all times; the vehicles retain unique abilities, but their performance is identical. Check out the full patch notes on the official site and start downloading as soon as you can since this patch is a big one. [Thanks to Robert for the tip!]
Salem updates inheritance and witchcraft in October
Your characters are going to die if you play Salem. That's the nature of the game. It's an open PvP sandbox with permanent death mechanics; your end is forever waiting just around the corner. So doesn't it make sense to prepare for your demise by setting up your inheritance ahead of time? The game's October patch allows you to do just that, improving the inheritance mechanics and allowing heirs to pick up more resources from a player who plans in advance for the inevitable. The October patch also adds the start of the game's witchcraft mechanics and sees a number of under-the-hood polish changes, like a reworking of player character skeletons, which will be invisible to most players but significant to the team moving forward. That's in addition to a variety of other fixes and improvements; check out the full list of updates to see what your character can do while on the road to the grave. [Thanks to Chrysillis for the tip!]
War Thunder prepares to roll out Steel Generals
Do you enjoy being able to roll around on the ground in War Thunder while taking out anything on the business end of your tank's main guns? Good! The game's next update is giving you new ways to do just that. War Thunder: Steel Generals is due out by the end of the year and is aimed at spicing up the ground game with the addition of US military hardware to the game's lineup. How many pieces of hardware, exactly? Try 30 new tanks and AA units from the appropriate time period. It's exactly the sort of update that can appeal to players who like the game so far but feel it just doesn't feature quite enough tanks. No specific release date has yet been announced, but it's due out before the end of the year, so you won't have to wait long to get your US-based tank on. [Source: Gaijin Entertainment press release]
The Mog Log Extra: Hands-on with Final Fantasy XIV's new Ninja
This week's patch 2.4 for Final Fantasy XIV added in a new class and job: the Rogue and Ninja. It's the first addition to the game since 2.0's Arcanist, Summoner, and Scholar, and as was true with those classes those, this week you could not take two steps outside of Limsa Lominsa without seeing a flurry of Rogues everywhere, thus rather obviating the "stealthy" part of the whole stealthy assassin gimmick they have going. Of course, only a few Rogues reach maturity from their Limsan spawning grounds. But maybe you're in it for the long haul. You want this to be your new main, you want to understand how to play this class in the endgame, and you want to be one of the best darn dagger-wielding maniacs the game has ever seen. I cannot tell you how to be one of the best, but I can at least give you the benefits of my insights from having relentlessly pushed at the class and learned what makes it tick.
World of Warplanes rolls out MiGs in update 1.6
Ready to fly some of the most iconic Soviet airplanes in history? World of Warplanes update 1.6 introduces the Soviety MiG line at Tier V and above, allowing players to take the controls of these historic crafts and use them in mid-air dogfights with other planes. There are also five new premium aircraft available in the game, offering another way to take to the skies with this patch. Aside from new vehicles, the patch also adds in a new multirole classification, placing some planes between fighters and heavy fighters. The net effect is creating planes that can use a more varied loadout and switch roles in battle more effectively. Map boundaries for the El Halluf location have also been extended, giving the update plenty of features for players to enjoy.
