quests
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Elsword Online unlocks the doors to two new dungeons
The comic book action-fest Elsword Online got a little bigger today, as Kill3rCombo expanded the newly launched title with additional dungeons, enemies and quests. The dungeons -- Nasod Foundry and Altera Core -- will offer tougher challenges to the three main characters, while 24 new quests should help to keep the playerbase busy. Since dungeons are run repeatedly, two new locales will be welcome across the board. When they're not beating up the bad guys, the principal characters can now learn a third cash skill and earn one of two new titles: Hero of Ponggo and Hero of Sonic. No, not the hedgehog or fast-food chain (we checked). You can get a peek at Nasod Foundry and Altera Core in the gallery below, and don't forget to check out our first impressions of Elsword Online from last month! %Gallery-120229%
Gods & Heroes releases estate system screens
Current-gen MMOs that ship with player housing options are seemingly a dying breed. Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, debuting next week courtesy of Heatwave Interactive, is bucking that trend by launching with something the devs are calling an estate system. In a nutshell, your Roman hero will inherit his very own ancestral estate. Unfortunately you'll take possession of the place after it's been razed to the ground by the evil machinations of the Telchinist cult. Part of the Gods & Heroes progression experience involves rebuilding your home, which in turn affects the power and quality of your NPC minions as well as other as-yet unnamed benefits. The rebuilding process takes the form of various quest lines throughout the game, and you'll get a glimpse of what's in store by checking out our new estate system gallery below. %Gallery-118322%
Alter-Ego: Spring has sprung
It's been a heck of a week for DC Universe Online. Not only did the team show off the sweet new trailer for Update 4, cool new screenshots, and the drop of the StationPass subscription price, but we've also gotten a surprise late-week patch with Update 3 going live on Thursday rather than on Tuesday like other releases. The patch notes are incredibly long and well-detailed, offering a variety of things from new content to a heaping helping of bug fixes for existing content, powers, and more. With the good in DC Universe Online, of course, comes the bad. Certain powers seem to be having issues, a PvP-flag bug allowing players to drop their PvP flags on PvP servers cropped up (as of this writing, this is reportedly fixed), and chat appears to once again be a cornucopia of frustrating issues. However, rather than dwell on the things that are starting to crop up (and because we're not going to have a solid picture of just what's shaken out of this patch just yet), I thought instead I'd offer an overview of the new spring-themed event for those who are curious as to just what's going on and why this one might well be the best holiday event yet.
Enter at Your Own Rift: The no-quest challenge
OK, I know you all probably want to talk about the news that addons are coming to RIFT, but the truth is that it's not that big of an issue for me. My feelings on addons are that I'm for them if they enhance the game and encourage player creativity, but I'm against them if they reduce players to mere statistics in the eyes of others (GearScore) or are absolutely necessary to tackle the game's content. So if you feel passionate about this topic, I give you leave to vent more about it in the comments below, but as for me and mine, we're going to look at quests today. More specifically, not doing them. Now, I generally like quests. They give me a feeling of accomplishment (as I am fond of checking off items from my to-do lists in real life), the stories are occasionally interesting, and they give nice boosts to leveling. But I've come to realize something interesting about RIFT that might run under the radar of most: Quests are superfluous to the game. Well, at the very least, they're optional and not the mandatory tasks that most modern MMOs make them out to be. So I had a thought. What about playing RIFT without questing at all -- taking on a "no-quest challenge" of sorts? Is it not only possible but fun too? Hit the jump and we'll examine this from all the angles.
Storyboard: Motivational seekers
Every character has a reason for adventuring. Call it what you will, depending on setting, but there's always a reason you're out in the midst of danger rather than sitting back at home with a nice cup of tea, even if that reason is "home isn't an option any longer." Motivation is one of the big elements informing the entire archetype discussion series of columns -- it's all about why a given character would do one thing and not another. Of course, the game itself doesn't have any way of integrating that motivation. Much like the issues with lore, the problems of reconciling a game's stated motivation with your character's actual motivation can be pretty thorny. Especially in this day and age of quest hubs and heavy storylines, it can sometimes feel like all the efforts to draw you into the game world are pretty severely curtailing your ability to enjoy it. After all, you've envisioned a set of reasons for your character's actions already, and by all accounts she shouldn't even be talking to a questgiver -- except that said questgiver is the only way she's going to keep advancing in the game.
Information posted on Update 10 for Dungeons and Dragons Online
Looking forward to the next update for Dungeons and Dragons Online? Of course you are, at least if you're in the game; there's a lot of new content to explore as well as the continuation of the crafting beta, enough to make any adventurer look forward to what's around the corner. In addition to making the content available on the test server for players, the development team has posted an abstract of what can be expected from the pending update. Following on the heels of Update 9's story, the newest patch continues to challenge sanity as players are forced to invade Stormreach's insane asylum to rescue some sane inmates in danger of rather horrible treatments. Players will also be tasked with taking part in the feud between the Lord of Stone and the Lord of Eyes, culminating in a plot beneath the Tower of the Twelve that should challenge seasoned warriors. Dungeons and Dragons Online players intrigued by the update list should take the opportunity to preview the content on the test server now.
'Living, breathing world': Martin Kerstein expounds on Guild Wars 2's dynamic events
We've heard the promises: No more grind. No more quests. A truly dynamic world. But can Guild Wars 2 truly live up to these lofty ideals, or will it come crashing down on us like so many other MMO promises in the past? Speaking with Rock, Paper, Shotgun, ArenaNet's Martin Kerstein says that no, this is the real deal -- Guild Wars 2 will feature a "living, breathing world" unlike anything we've seen to date: "What we try to do with Guild Wars 2 anyway is to break a lot of the existing conventions, like by getting rid of quests and basically totally focusing on dynamic events. So you just run through the world and happen on stuff, and that stuff has an impact on the world... The good thing is those events run even if there are no players involved -- if there are no players, the enemy will take over and you'll have to get it back before you can actually do anything. That's why it feels more organic and breathing." Shattering conventions is a favorite pastime at ArenaNet, as the company has made a public declaration that it is not afraid to go against the MMO flow. In the interview, Kerstein also addresses the cycle of dynamic events, World of Warcraft's subscriber decline ("It's an older game as well -- some people are maybe just tired," he said), and Warhammer Online's flawed Public Quest system.
Asheron's Call teases May event
While Asheron's Call players have a while yet to wait to get their hands on new playable races, Turbine has a bright shiny ray of good news to share: The May event is tentatively set to hit the servers on May 17th. According to the site, this event includes a new hunting area, a pair of additional dungeons, more quests, and "a couple of surprises." The Asheron's Call team boldly states that this will be "one of the most exciting updates" that players will see this year. The May event announcement ends with a sneak preview of sorts: two pictures showing off new sand textures surrounding a desert town. We've known for a while now that Turbine's been working on updating the game's graphics, so this is a welcome sight indeed. You can read the full article over at Asheron's Call.
Newest producer letter for Final Fantasy XIV talks patch 1.18, dungeons, and camps
Starting in the next patch for Final Fantasy XIV, the little aetheryte camps won't be the only signs of civilization outside the main cities. According to the newest producer's letter from Naoki Yoshida, new camps and hamlets will be added to the map with the next patch, which is also slated to include the first changes to the game's battle system and instanced dungeons for ranks 30 and 50. These are features that players have been hearing about for some time, and it's excellent to have a more definite timeline for the implementation. The down side to this, of course, is that the larger dose of content and upgrades will mean a longer gap between patches, as patch 1.18 is currently set to be released in mid-June. Yoshida goes on to say that it's quite possible the team will break some of the content down and release a 1.17b patch at some point in May, just to help tide players over. Final Fantasy XIV players are encouraged to read the full letter and get ready for more sweeping changes, along with further previews of the dungeons due in the near future.
Final Fantasy XIV unveils the Grand Companies
The nations of Final Fantasy XIV are scattered, and odds are high that if the Garlean Empire invades once again there will be no chance of resistance. But large-scale threats are nothing new to Eorzea, and the tradition that has defended the continent before is being revived once more, in the form of the Grand Companies. Hinted at several times by producer Naoki Yoshida, today's patch is the start of the new content associated with these overarching gatherings, with the corresponding lore page explaining what these companies are and what threats they face both within and without. Each of the three companies -- the Order of the Twin Adder, the Maelstrom, and the Immortal Flames -- is detailed on the official page, with information about the past and present of each organization. They also lie at the heart of some of the new sidequests released with this update. Patch 1.17 also contains new notorious monsters, new equipment that requires rather than favors specific disciplines, and changes to party size and Behest. Final Fantasy XIV players are encouraged to read the full patch notes as well as the Grand Company page -- it looks as if the game's storyline content is starting to move forward after the past several system tweaks.
New ARGO Online trailer shows off Naihill content
burda:ic has released the newest trailer for ARGO Online, the steampunk-fantasy MMO currently going through its open beta phase. The clip features footage from the newly discovered continent of Naihill, which has expanded ARGO's post-apocalyptic world and its content. In addition to new lands (and dungeons) to explore, Naihill offers new PvP battles, new mounts, and new pets and is currently available for open beta participants to experience. The video clip clocks in at just under two and a half minutes and is composed of equal parts fly-through footage, PvE combat, and PvP action. See for yourself after the cut.
Aventurine tweaking Darkfall's newbie experience
Darkfall can be pretty intimidating for newbs, and that's before they're killed and stripped of all their meager belongings. The game's learning curve is considerable, whether it's the unconventional UI or the vast world of Agon and the lack of themepark-style direction from one area to the next. Aventurine's latest activity report indicates that the dev team is hard at work on improving the new user experience. Over half of the game's quests (yes, it does have them, even though it's a sandbox) have been rewritten, and many new training quests are being added. Starting areas will also be seeing some changes in the upcoming relaunch campaign. New characters will no longer choose from three starting towns; instead, they'll begin in a single racial capital city. Additionally, NPC racial vendors will offer the same services regardless of whether they're located in the capital or the outlying faction towns. The activity report also drops a few hints about new art assets (including the infernal image above) as well as the new armor specialization system that is currently under development. Check out the Darkfall Epic Blog for further details.
King of Kings 3 Dragon God Resurrection expansion features dragon taming
April is a big month for gamigo's King of Kings 3. The free-to-play fantasy title will be unveiling its first expansion over the next few weeks, and the new Dragon God Resurrection patch looks to add a slew of content to the game. For starters, the level cap is being raised to 140 and a second level of specialization is being unlocked (which will increase the game's class total to 27). Crafting is also being expanded, with the available equipment now scaling to 140 alongside the new level cap. Seven new boss monsters have also been added, and each drops powerful artifacts that players can use to create valuable weapons. Finally, what's a Dragon God Resurrection expansion without dragons? King of Kings 3 has them in spades, including the big nasty boss monster variety as well as tamable dragons that may be used as flying mounts. "Dragon Knights can even raise their own dragons, nurturing a baby dragon into a fully grown flying menace" according to a gamigo press release. The expansion is also adding a good number of new items, quests, and dungeons, and you can read all about it on the game's official website.
RuneScape: Sixth anniversary retrospective
When it first launched back in 2001, RuneScape was a primitive beast. Its blocky three-dimensional world was littered with hand-drawn two-dimensional sprites, and most of its sound effects could have been created by whacking random objects with a hammer. Only a handful of quests and skills existed, and there wasn't much land to explore. After over a decade of development, the RuneScape we have today bears little semblance to its primitive ancestor. The map is an order of magnitude larger, the list of quests has grown immensely, and there are countless things to do in the world. With several million actively playing free accounts and over a million paid subscribers, RuneScape has risen from its humble beginnings to be one of the world's most popular free-to-play MMOs. It's been a long road, with a few important milestones along the way. Today marks the sixth anniversary of the date that the RuneScape 2 beta was officially completed and the game's first major overhaul was launched live to players. Anyone who played back then will remember the beta fondly as the rebirth of a game they loved. Since then, regular game updates have added a huge amount of depth and content every year. In this retrospective article, I look back at RuneScape's past to see how it got to where it is today and what's new to the game over this past year.
The Tattered Notebook: A rose-colored celebration of EverQuest
In honor of EverQuest's 12th Anniversary, EverQuest II is holding a special event in the game. Players can travel back in time to several instances, and they get to meet some of the infamous named mobs of EQ. If you've ever dodged Fippy Darkpaw's attack on the Qeynos gates, sailed far out to search for Allizewsaur, or camped for weeks at a time to find Quillmane, the elusive Pegasus, then you'll enjoy this trip down memory lane. In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll travel back in time to meet these legendary nameds. Be warned, though, this does contain spoilers!
Quest changes en route for Final Fantasy XIV on Monday
Final Fantasy XIV is only just coming back from its temporary shutdown, but it's a known fact that the team hasn't been sitting idle during the downtime, and it looks like the developers have been putting the finishing touches on another small patch. Patch 1.16a is slated to arrive during scheduled maintenance on Monday, and while it's not a major update, it does change one rather important issue -- the way that quest targets are currently handled. When implemented in patch 1.16, enemies intended as quest targets did not provide the player with drops, experience, or skill points. That factor is being changed, according to the preliminary notes for 1.16a, with the respawn timer correspondingly lengthened. While it's possible this might change in the short time remaining before the scheduled release date, the modification should be a welcome one for Final Fantasy XIV fans getting reacquainted with the newly restored game over the weekend.
TERA's David Noonan on building smart quests
Quests are such an integral part of current-gen MMORPG gameplay that players sometimes take them for granted. Collecting this or killing that is so ingrained in the gamer psyche that it's easy to overlook the work that goes into making a good quest (or the potential impact that unique quests have on the play experience). TERA lead writer David Noonan has been thinking a lot about quests, and he recently shared a bit of insight with GameZone regarding how the team of writers at En Masse Entertainment is building better quests. Much of the team's effort goes toward ensuring the quality (and relevancy) of a given quest regardless of when a player chooses to accept it. Quests that capture a player's interest before (or after) a villain or boss fight are the ultimate goal. "That's what we call a smart quest: a quest that's designed with an awareness of its emotional, storytelling, and world-building surroundings... When you see a smart quest... it's because someone thought through all the narrative, emotional, and gameplay implications beforehand," Noonan explains.
Ask Massively: Singing the praises of things edition
Holy crap, guys, have you heard about this? The world is full of things. There are big things, small things, some things to set other things on fire -- we've got tons of things. Unfortunately, you can only access most things via various cash shops that cost real money, so that's kind of lackluster, but some things don't cost any money and they're pretty cool. Those green leafy things look fun. I wonder if I can equip one as a weapon or a trinket. Let's hear it for things! If singing the praises of things isn't the sort of thing you're looking for today, however, you're in luck -- we have a different thing ready for you, an Ask Massively thing. It's the usual discussion of MMO things, in this case what players are actually looking for out of new things and this Star Wars: The Old Republic thing. If you've got a thing to ask about other things, you can leave your question in the comments, or you can mail it along to ask@massively.com.
Breakfast Topic: Where are the dropped quest lines?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. I am a reader, and there is nothing I love more than a well-written, intricate plot -- and nothing I hate more than reaching the end of the story, only to find some of those plot strings dangling unresolved, leaving me wondering exactly what happened. I run into the same problem with missing quests in WoW. There are a couple of quests that I desperately wish existed in the game for me to enjoy. Where is Magatha? There needs to be a quest to find and bring back Magatha Grimtotem to justice, and it would be even better if you had the option of bringing her back dead or alive. My tauren would cut her down where she stood, while my blood elf would shrug and bring her back alive. The Missing Eggs -- if you have read The Sundering, you know that Krasus rescued Blue Dragonflight eggs and set them outside of time to prevent them from being destroyed. I want to find them, to present them as the resurrection of the Blue Dragonflight and see it change the world. With the Battlemaid visions of the past, I would love to be involved in things that occurred during the Shattering or the Sundering, to see what happened and be there (in spirit at least) for part of it. What quests or storyline threads are dangling out there that you want to be involved in resolving? Do they take place in the past or the present? Who do you think escaped from their just desserts a little to easily?
The Tattered Notebook: Solving the mystery of Kael Drakkel
In last week's Tattered Notebook, I mentioned a mysterious quest given to me by a server Guide named Kaaell. It involved locating several spots in Kael Drakkel, which would be no easy task given the difficulty of the zone. As Kaaell himself put it, this was a challenge for only the bravest players of the highest adventure level. Kael Drakkel is the newest contested dungeon from Destiny of Velious, and it's the most difficult group content available. Fortunately for the guild, we happened to catch him offering the quest again, and we all set off together to explore the zone and figure out what the quest would award us. Did we solve the quest and discover the reward? Read on to find out!
