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The Soapbox: RuneScape is a proper MMO
Most of us will remember RuneScape from its first incarnation: a tiny and blocky world with simplistic gameplay, no sound, and only a handful of quests. The product of two brothers operating out of their parents' house in Nottingham, the original version launched in 2001 and slowly carved out its niche as a game for kids that could be played in a web-browser. RuneScape has a special significance for me as the first MMO I ever played, and it's responsible for starting my life-long love affair with online gaming. A whole generation of gamers grew up with that primitive, blocky world and eventually left for more polished games. But RuneScape has grown up too -- and boy did it have a growth spurt! Today's RuneScape bears little resemblance to the classic version many of us played as kids. The graphics are now considerably better, the world map is about five times the size, and it has features most people dream of getting in their favourite MMOs. RuneScape now has player housing, guild halls on huge floating islands, a full player-designed battleground system, procedurally generated dungeons, regular content updates, and 186 quests packed full of British humour. People sometimes say that RuneScape isn't a proper MMO like World of Warcraft, but I'd argue that it's actually more worthy of its "massively multiplayer" title than most of the MMOs released in the past decade. In this editorial, I look at just how far RuneScape has come and argue that RuneScape may be more worthy of being called a proper MMO than some triple-A releases.
Pro Tip: Start earning rested XP ASAP
If you, like me, have a whole lot of warriors (or some other classes, if you're into that kind of thing) that you'll be needing to get to 90 at some point, remember that any current alts you may have will need to be logged on and moved to an inn or capital city in order to start gaining rested status. They won't start getting rested until you log them on since Mists of Pandaria, like all expansions, resets rested XP. However, you can stockpile up to 25 quests (the maximum your quest log holds) and turn them all in as soon as the level cap is raised. These can be daily quests. If they keep to the same format as they did when Cataclysm launched, the value of Cataclysm quests to a leveling character will be reduced, but it can provide a bit of a boost. It's worth keeping in mind. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
The Daily Grind: Have MMO standards changed for the better?
When Ultima Online launched in 1997, most of us were happy just to walk from one end of the city to the other without crashing. EverQuest didn't actually offer any quests in those early days. Star Wars Galaxies launched without vehicles, let alone starships, and World of Warcraft issued forth without any sort of formal PvP at all. But in 2012, our standards have changed. Now we complain when Star Wars: The Old Republic launches without a dungeon finder and when Guild Wars 2 dungeons feel a bit loose two weeks into the game. Our complaints are no longer about basic gameplay bugs and functionality, and so our discussions sound esoteric to all but the most die-hard MMO gamer. Does this mean our MMO standards have changed as our games have grown up -- and have they changed for the better? Or do we expect more from games than they can reasonably provide? 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!
Mists of Pandaria beta: Who needs Frostmourne when you've got Lobstmourne?
The Mists of Pandaria beta has had some bizarre moments, but the last thing I was expecting was an epic lobster chase across the lost continent. While exploring off the coast of Krasarang Wilds, I stumbled across Damlak, a level 90 elite makrura who was strolling just off the shore of a small island to the south. After gleefully murdering the lobster, I was rewarded with a book and an item called Damlak's Clamshell. The Clamshell may vendor for a gold, but its use effect is far too fascinating to pass up. It was the book that was even more interesting, however. Titled Troubles From Without, the book detailed the locations of several different elite makrura scattered all over Pandaria, with a basic rundown of their abilities. And so off I went to murder a fleet of elite lobster, collecting shells from each. After collecting all six shells, the book then advises you to head to another small island off the south coast of Krasarang Wilds to summon Clawlord Kril'mandar, The Pinch King. Yes, you read that title right.
WoW Archivist: Burned by Hellfire Peninsula
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? When Mists of Pandaria goes live later this month, players will all begin leveling in the same zone for the first time since 2006. In Cataclysm and Wrath of the Lich King, Blizzard gave us two zones to choose from at the beginning of our adventures. Wrath split players up on either side of Northrend with Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord. Cataclysm's starting zones put players on different sides of the planet with Mount Hyjal and the less popular but unique underwater saga of Vashj'ir. In contrast, The Burning Crusade's Hellfire Peninsula put us all on opposite sides of the street. That is not a joke. It is literally true -- see the image above! As you can guess, this led to problems. Let's look back at the Hellfire experience and try to gauge what we're in for when we arrive at the Jade Forest shortly after midnight on September 25.
RaiderZ shows off the Broken Mast
Every character needs to start somewhere. In RaiderZ, "somewhere" is the Broken Mast. It's a coastal zone filled with marauding pirates, malicious sea creatures, and plenty of magical ruins. It's also the first zone to receive a video preview showing off these highlights as well as some of the action combat that defines RaiderZ's gameplay. The video gives an overview of the major threats to adventurers in the area, showing off some visually appealing locations as well as what appears to be the option for environmental destruction. There's also a preview of the magical constructs guarding the heart of the area's ruins. While there's only so much to be seen in a minute-long video preview, it's enough to get a feel for how diverse the zone is. So if you're eager for a look at what you'll be able to smack around once you get in in the game, take a look past the break for the full preview.
The Soapbox: The quest to save quests
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Semantic shift is a phrase I've recently acquired for whenever I want to sound insufferable at parties. It refers to the phenomenon of a word's usage changing over time, sometimes to the point that it's completely the opposite of whatever it originally meant. I believe that the word "quest" has undergone a semantic shift in the MMO community (and video games at large). What once had roots in the long, difficult journeys that take place in life and fiction has quickly become reduced to a trivial task of gathering, killing, or clicking in-game. The sheer volume of such quests and that meaninglessness of their charges has reduced the word to bargain basement kitsch. If we're supposed to be heroes, why then are so many of the quests we're given are no more exciting than going to the grocery store? "Quest" as a word has lost much respect in the community, almost completing its semantic shift such that it's almost pejorative. Yet there is a movement right now to reclaim the word and restore it to its proper meaning, and it's happening right in front of our eyes.
WoW Archivist: The most painful attunement of all
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Attunement has been a hot topic across the WoW blogosphere of late, and WoW Insider has been no exception. Some believe that attunement is an archaic concept that only serves as a pointless, artificial gate to content. They appreciate the fact that Blizzard has almost entirely done away with attunements. Others see attunements as opportunities for extra content and a way of filtering lazy players out of raid groups where they don't belong. They want attunements to return. Attunements used to be a big deal in WoW. As the first steps toward endgame raiding, completed attunements were a hallmark of a serious player. Lest we forget what we're debating, I thought it might be the perfect time to revisit the single most grueling and aggravating attunement process in WoW's history: Horde-side Onyxia.
Mists of Pandaria: 48 daily quests available on any given day
We all know that Mists of Pandaria is removing the daily quest limit, meaning that you can do as many dailies as you want. And now we have numbers, courtesy of Vaneras, explaining why that is -- specifically, because if you limit yourself purely to the new dailies coming in Mists of Pandaria, you still could barely do half of the ones available per day with the old limit. Vaneras - Quests As things are right now, it looks like there will be approximately 1300 quests in Mists of Pandaria. This is a very rough number though, and this is of course still subject to change. There is some overlap between Alliance and Horde, but the majority of these quests are neutral and because of this we do not expect there to be more than 200 or so faction-specific quests. Of these 1300 quests, roughly 300 of them are dailies. Right this moment we don't have the numbers off-hand to show how that that compares exactly to the previous expansions, but the quest count seems to more closely mirror Wrath of the Lich King, however with a much greater emphasis on dailies. Mists of Pandaria is actually the expansion where we have emphasized dailies the most... ever! The dailies are of course randomized, which means that you will never log in and find that you have 300 daily quests to do. We expect that if a player has progressed sufficiently with the neutral factions, and thus advanced to their maximum possible quest availability, you would have around 48 quests available on any given day. source While risking sounding like Matthew Broderick in Godzilla, that is a lot of quests. When you combine those 48 available dailies a day with older rep grinds some players are going to want to complete such as those at the Argent Tournament, the Molten Front and even Ogri'la or the Isle of Quel'danas, it seems that it was a very good call to remove that cap. It also sounds like I'm going to have a lot of questing to do. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Star Wars: The Old Republic teases the upcoming HK-51
Observation: If you are playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, you have likely accumulated a variety of enemies within the game. Query: Perhaps you would enjoy having some assistance in removing those enemies in a more permanent capacity? Entreaty: Consider employing the coveted HK-51 assassin droid, a mobile platform capable of dispatching even the most stalwart foes when given the proper direction by a master. Aside: Even if said master is a sniveling meatbag. Anecdote: BioWare first showed off the trailer for the upcoming HK-51 companion during the recently concluded San Diego Comic-Con. Observation: The trailer can now be viewed by players who missed the convention, allowing everyone to see a first glimpse of this special companion. Caveat: It has not yet been revealed how players can acquire their own assassin droids, although hints have been dropped that the process will require a great deal of questing, possibly on both factions. Encouragement: If you aren't daunted at the prospect, by all means, take a look at the trailer and start clearing space on your ship for a new droid. [Acknowledgement: Thanks to Michael for the tip!]
EVE Evolved: Themepark quests in EVE
EVE Online has always had a reputation as a hardcore sandbox MMO, a game in which the players build the world as they see fit. While developers build the core gameplay systems, it's what players do with that gameplay that makes EVE special. It's the political hijinks of nullsec alliances, the massive heists, and the stories of people forging their own directions that drive people to play EVE. I've often said that EVE is less a game and more a story about what players do when left alone with each other. It's a story of conflict driven by simply having so many players in one universe with limited resources. Not everyone likes that sandbox angle or plays an MMO primarily for the social interaction; some like to be presented with a fully crafted story that they can play through or be a part of. Most themepark MMOs cater exclusively to this type of player, with stories told in quests that send him across the landscape. In the summer of 2005, EVE Online almost started to cater to that type of player with its COSMOS constellations, areas filled with once-only missions and valuable rare items. The constellations were later practically abandoned to work on other new features, but I think they should make a return -- they could revolutionise EVE Online for themepark fans. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look back at the ancient COSMOS constellations and consider how they could be brought back to breathe new life into every area of EVE.
Choose My Adventure: TERA questing with Rielene
Last week's polls sent Higiri off to handle horrible dungeons, while Rielene continued to quest across the land. Much as in a certain famous fantasy trilogy that may have won our first bonus poll, this means that there are two distinct paths now being following by our intrepid TERA protagonists, and that means more time to focus on each. So I'm starting off with Rielene and her quest into the depths of Arcadia, beginning with the unexpectedly tumultuous Fey Forest. The opening explanation behind the quests here is fairly well handled, and it actually gives a reason that adventurers are being sent off into the depths of danger when an army would seem more suitable. Put simply, the Valkyon Federation's armed forces are primarily focused against the invading Argon, and that means that the rest of the world has kind of gotten messy. Adventurers aren't meant to represent some strange amalgam of soldiers and free operators; they're the last-ditch reinforcements for a home front that's deteriorating rapidly.
The Daily Grind: Are you a fan of repeatable quests?
I recently returned to Age of Conan, and I've been doing a lot of factional quests for tokens and gold in the game's Khitai expansion regions. Many of these quests are repeatable, meaning that once you've completed them and a cooldown timer has expired (usually 12 hours to a full day), you can do them again. This is great if I'm in the mood to grind, but it's also hard on my OCD that compels me to "finish" a questing zone before moving on to the next one. Repeatables are also a slick way for developers to artificially extend the shelf life of a particular zone without adding any new content. What say you, Massively readers. Are you a fan of repeatable quests? Why or why not? 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!
Leaderboard: Escort vs. limited drop quests
We love complaining about quests in MMOs almost as much as we love doing them. Maybe you wear hipster glasses and say bold statements like, "I hated quests while they were still the cool, new thing," but it doesn't make you special and nobody likes your glasses. Sorry. It's Blunt Truth Day here in the Massively offices. If there are two types of quests that seem to drive everyone bananas, however, they would have to be escort quests and limited drop quests. Escort quests in any video game, not merely MMOs, are aggravating because they take some of the control out of the hands of the player and force them to babysit an often slow-moving, death-seeking sack of idiocy. Limited drop quests can be just as frustrating, because it's here that you know the game is just screwing with you. "Go get six werewolf eyeballs," the quest-giver says, "But, for no good reason other than to suck up your time, not every werewolf will drop an eyeball. Lots of blind werewolves in these here parts, you see." Today you're voting on the quest type that's the most frustrating: escort or limited drops. Which causes you to rip out your hair? Vote after the jump!
My own private faction bias
There's a lot of talk about faction bias in the game among the designers and even in terms of the playerbase. Some realms have heavy faction representation issues; some players would never, ever play a member of the opposite faction; and so on. Around this time last year, I transferred my main (a character who had been Alliance since his creation) to the Horde to raid with a guild that ended up being an excellent home for me and a great place to raid. I stayed with that guild up until we'd completed heroic Dragon Soul, but recently I transferred to a new guild. And one of the biggest reasons I moved back had nothing to do with either guild (both are fine guilds) or the people in them. My Horde guild was full of people I enjoyed raiding with, cracking wise, doing old content, even making occasional forays into PvP. No, in addition to feeling burned out and needing to raid less, the main reason I transferred back was related to the faction concept in WoW. Frankly, I wish WoW didn't have factions -- at least, not the big Horde/Alliance split. Because it's made my game playing experience less fun over the years.
Elder Scrolls Online devs talk questing and public dungeons
There are a couple of new Elder Scrolls Online features on tap at Edge. First on the agenda is a piece about the game's public dungeons, which game director Matt Firor says haven't been seen in an MMO since EverQuest. "When you think back to the fun MMOG moments in the first generation, it's standing there, terrified, in an enclosed space, waiting for someone to come along and save you. We can't do that punitive gameplay that they did in those days, but we can put people together in places where they want to work with others," Firor says. The other feature centers on the game's questing mechanics, and it finds Firor and creative director Paul Sage talking at length about what makes a good quest as well as various high-level creative approaches taken by the dev team.
Discussing the design of quests in The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online has certain player expectations going in, such as an expectation of the sort of quest structure you usually find in the series. More specifically, it's the sort of structure in which you start off on some simple quest and wind up wandering off into some completely unrelated point of interest. A recent interview with creative director Paul Sage and lead content designer Rich Lambert reveals that the team is aiming for just that sort of model in the game. As Lambert explains, the team wants to move away from the usual hub design in favor of several points of interest, each of which provides a little snippet of content and story. The points aren't meant to be structured as an A-to-B affair; instead, you have several points of interest in a given region which build into a large overarching story. Take a look at the full interview for more information about how quests will work in the game and how players will be guided through objectives as they play.
Choose My Adventure: Patrolling the park
Yes, Virginia, there is a game after character creation. With such extensive customization available, it is quite likely that I would have spent the duration of Choose My Adventure without ever actually logging in to play City of Heroes. For all of the hours I spent in character creation with all the options (enough to completely blow a fuse in your mind), it was easy to lose sight of the fact that there was actually a game to go play once I finally made my character. Now I see the real appeal of the VIP pass with all of those character slots; it has even me thinking wistfully of all the alts that could be. Luckily I have you folks directing me, forcing me past the costume creator and into my role as defender of truth and justice. If it hadn't been for you, I would have never embarked on my journey of flight and fricasseed evil doers in Atlas Park. Or participated in an impromptu street band performance. Yup, it is all your fault! And I'm looking forward to what we do next as we continue our City of Heroes adventures together. But first, let's take a look at what mayhem I caused... er, put an end to this past week.
Allods Online to add new features, anniversary gifts
Allods Online is barreling down the road toward Patch 3.0.0.02 (the extra decimals denote quality!), with an array of fine features to anticipate. Chief among those is an overall improved questing experience. The patch will give players additional ways to track and find quests, not to mention a new "auto-move" feature that will whisk you away to your desired destination. Next on the patch's agenda is the game's second PvP skirmish map: Deserted Farm. Deserted Farm will be a 6v6 skirmish where players will struggle to control a central flag. The twist to the map is that a pair of cannon can focus-fire onto this location, so obtaining one or both of these is mandatory for success. Finally, 3.0.0.02 (the extra decimals are a secret code that tells you gPotato loves you) will add a new raid boss to the Kingdom of Elements. His name is Gen'ul, Lord of the Volcano, and he'll be very pleased to meet and then wipe the floor with you. Multiple raids can attempt to down him at the same time and then squabble over the huge treasure chest that he drops. The Allods site has also been updated with details on the anniversary celebration and gifts.
Iris Online opens the Lost Temple of Atlantis
Iris Online players are in for a treat today because it's patch day. And not just the small sort of patch with a bunch of bugfixes, either -- this is the big kind, the kind that opens up new areas and expands the level cap. In fact, it's exactly that kind, as today's update opens four new zones and the Lost Temple of Atlantis for player exploration. The temple is meant as the most challenging dungeon in the game and contains a variety of treasures for players braving its depths. Beyond the temple, the new zones give players new chances to strike back and liberate the land from the Sahar, complete with new quests to enjoy. Those new quests will also help as players head for the new level cap of 75, but if that alone isn't enough, the development team is doubling all EXP and SXP rates until April 29th. Players can also earn special treasure boxes for a limited time, a little extra boost for enjoying the game's new content. [Source: gPotato press release] %Gallery-104882%
