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Elder Scrolls Online walks you through crafting writs
Fun fact: Elder Scrolls Online's Update 5 is about a month old at this point and is now able to roll over and distinguish shapes. Among its treasure trove of new features was the introduction of crafting writs. However, in case you are a little confused or curious what these are and how to do them, ZeniMax has crafted (get it?) a new dev diary to walk you through the process. To be able to take on writs, players will first need to become certified in a desired crafting profession by undertaking a related quest. Once completed, players can accept a task from a writ board to craft specific goods and turn them in for rewards. Each category of writ can only be fulfilled once a day, and completing them can even net you survey reports to point you toward a cluster of harvest nodes.
The Secret World's nightmarish Issue #10 coming 'in next couple weeks'
Content-loving The Secret World fans will be happy to hear that the next issue is just a couple weeks away. Joel Bylos' November Game Director letter has announced that Issue #10 Nightmares in the Dream Palace will go live "in the first half of December." That means more Tokyo locations, a new mission chain, new AEGIS shields, and more interesting characters will soon be available to enjoy. Want to wander the docks and the shipyards? How about prowl around an abandoned quarantine camp or the Orochi tenements? Those locations and more will be available for exploration. Can't wait to hear and see more? Keep your eyes peeled for Massively's hands-on with issue #10 this week! Not all the goodies are dependent on owning the issue, either. The accompanying patch brings quality-of-life improvements including bug fixes, a UI editing mode, and an updated con system to help newer players. And what's TSW without a great holiday event? The letter also introduces this year's new Christmas event, which will run from the middle of the month until just after the new year. Called The Christmas Conspiracy, it begins with an invitation to see a performance of "The Magic Flute" at the Albion Theatre and entails working to stop the Phoenicians from stealing the very heart of Christmas itself. Previous Christmas events will also return.
Chaos Theory: Five fantastic NPCs in The Secret World
Before I was sidetracked by Sidestories and totally engrossed in the Halloween event, I talked about quests that I felt were top notch in The Secret World. At that time I also promised to give the NPCs of the game their due with their own spot. And here it is! Why would I devote an entire column to singing the praises of Non-Player Characters? Because it is the characters within the story that make the game so compelling! The characters' lives, their mannerisms -- they really bring TSW to life. From deep and perfectly quirky personalities to the top-notch voice acting, it's the NPCs that tie everything together and make missions so memorable. And while all of the characters play vital roles (even those who just pop in for brief appearance as supporting cast), these five stars steal the show.
Global Chat: Why we blog
Why an MMO player decides that he or she needs to take up an additional hobby of writing about these games isn't much of a mystery. We may all blog about a huge variety of topics, but the impetus behind it tends to be very common: We have so many thoughts about and so much love for these games that we can't hold it in. To blog is to open up and share experiences, observations, and hopes. It's to connect with others and to perhaps give another layer of meaning to the time that we spend in-game. We don't blog because we have to; we blog because we simply could not not blog. So let's see a few examples of what MMO bloggers couldn't keep inside of them! From spooky stories to rapturous tales of exploration, it's a testament to the power of words and goofy rejoinders.
The Secret World's Issue 10 characters, locations, and shield upgrades
First things first: Funcom's Joel Bylos is still not revealing the release date of The Secret World's Issue 10, so don't get your hopes up when you read through today's October game director letter. However, if you can get past that disappointment, you'll find a treasure trove of information about Issue 10 details, such as the descriptions of four key NPCs that players will meet and four fascinating locations that players will explore (love palace, anyone?). Bylos also discusses how players will be able to wield AEGIS technology to create protective shields of their own. The Secret World's Halloween event will continue through November 13th and be followed by a scenario bonus weekend.
Elder Scrolls unveils its six-month loyalty reward
ZeniMax has revealed its six-month subscriber reward for players of The Elder Scrolls Online. The devs are continuing with the vanity pet theme introduced for the three-month reward, only instead of a High Hrothgar Wraith, this time we have the Dwemer Sphere. Keep in mind that the reward months accumulate whenever you have an active sub, so if you leave for a month or two and then resubscribe in the future, you'll retain your progress in terms of loyalty rewards.
Elder Scrolls Online's Update 5 goes live, reduces VR grind
ZeniMax has published Elder Scrolls Online's Update 5. The patch features improved facial animations, chat bubbles, dungeon and solo-instance scaling, and the Veteran City of Ash. Speaking of veterans, they'll probably be happy to know that the devs are continuing to roll out the previously announced veteran rank revamp with Update 5. Veteran Ranks are now earned via experience points, and each rank will grant an attribute point and a skill point. It now takes 1,432,550 experience points to earn a VR, and ZeniMax says that it expects "this to reduce the amount of time it takes to gain a Veteran Rank." [Thanks Matthew!]
Chaos Theory: Exploring the Halloween that almost wasn't in The Secret World
Funcom just about blew it. I have cut The Secret World plenty of slack for hiccups and bumps over the years (and I am willing to do so in the future because it just doesn't have an equal in the MMOverse and it does what it does so well), but this last one can't be brushed off. This latest misstep could have cost TSW dearly in good will, patience, and even players. You don't take the holiday that the game is essentially based on and not celebrate it! Luckily, TSW's much-anticipated Halloween event did finally show up, albeit 10 days late -- barely in time for the holiday. I am betting that the delay has cost the company some cash. The build-up to this holiday is a huge part of the excitement; the weeks preceding All Hallows' Eve is the perfect time to get people who are in the Halloween mood to return to the game or dive in and try it for the first time> Not to mention it's the time when folks are more apt to buy costumes! Funcom squandered that. And why the delay, anyway? During my Issue #8 tour last year, Creative Director Joel Bylos teased, "Our Halloween next year is going to be amazing! I wrote it for this year, but we didn't get done in enough time." Wasn't 12 more months enough time? We've been waiting with bated breath! So after all that wait, and then even more, is the event worth it? My answer is...
The Daily Grind: Do you defend your favorite MMO?
I think I'm getting old, because there was a time when I'd wade into a forum discussion about my favorite MMO and defend it to the death against all comers. I still catch myself doing that on occasion, but said occasions are getting rarer. The passion hasn't gone anywhere, but I'd rather just go play it than argue about it, you know? What about you, Massively readers? Do you defend your favorite MMOs? 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!
Elder Scrolls Online is getting some scary monster face hats
When Massively newswriters are looking for news to write, they generally look first to the Massively newsroom. The Massively newsroom is a place where editors dump links that can be turned into stories, and more often than not said links are labeled with funny/sarcastic/bitterly angry temporary titles. The temporary title for the news post you're currently reading was "ESO Hats... you'd think a game this big could manage more than hat teasers on Twitter, but you'd be wrong!" It's quite a long temporary title as temporary titles go, but that's fine because it really captures the essence of this particular news post. The Elder Scrolls Online is in fact coming out with some new hats. OK, they're actually monster helms and they look pretty badass. You can expect them in Update 5!
Delve deeper into Elder Scrolls with two new book series
Why have Elder Scrolls Online only on your gaming machines when you can also have it on your bookshelves? Bethesda has partnered again with Titan Books to create two new series that delve deeper into the world of Elder Scrolls, one focusing on ESO and the other on Skyrim. A March 2015 release date is planned for the first volume of each series. The Elder Scrolls Online – Tales of Tamriel will be split into two volumes, the first titled The Land and the second, The Lore. Both will expound even further on the lore of the game and feature never-before-seen art. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – The Skyrim Library consists of three volumes (The Histories; Man, Mer and Beast; and The Arcane) that moves the all of the game's in-game text to out-of-game print that players can grab and read at their leisure.
This weekend's golden in The Secret World
Got MMO plans for your weekend yet? If not, you might want to check in with The Secret World, since Funcom is hosting what it calls a Golden Weekend with "massive bonuses" and a "gilded rage event." Yes, you can hunt down that rampaging golden Guardian of Gaia, and you can also enjoy double AP as well as 30 percent extra Funcom points on every purchase. Get all the event details via the links below!
The Secret World adds new mission for the Halloween season [Updated]
The Secret World's Halloween offerings are expanding this year with a new mission chain called The Broadcast on October 20th that sends players to investigate mysterious radio signals affecting the dead. Funcom said that it will also be offering "a new loot setup" for the holiday as well as the return of the Cat God and Spooky Stories missions. Today's newsletter also announced a special double AP golden weekend starting on October 9th that will feature the encore of the golden guardian fight. Producer Joel Bylos spent some time in the letter discussing Issue #10, of which he said that the team is working on a nightmare monster section for Tokyo, postponing the release of the new auxiliary weapon, and allowing players more freedom to customize their user interfaces. [Update: Funcom has delayed the Halloween events but expects them to go live before Halloween itself.]
Guild leaders converge for The Elder Scrolls Online's first guild summit
If you weren't invited to The Elder Scrolls Online's current guild summit... well, don't feel bad; only the leaders of 20 guilds and online communities were invited. But it's still kind of nail-biting. What could they be talking about in there? What strange and arcane topics will be brought up? Will special items be handed out? Are there designer cheeses available? Lucky for you, though, the folks at the Tamriel Foundry have taken the time to transcribe what's going down in Maryland so that even those not at the summit can get a sense for what's happening. The first day of the summit covered combat responsiveness, system design, AvA mechanics, and the Champion system. This means both detailed examinations of where the game is currently lacking and what's coming in the future; the Champion system and the rework of the veteran experience is slated for "when it's done" rather than a specific date. So sit back and take a look at all of the hard details on display, possibly whilst eating some designer cheese of your own.
Chaos Theory: New Sidestories show The Secret World's innovative side
When I talked about 10 of the most compelling missions in The Secret World last time, I purposefully left out the new Sidestories mission packs. One reason is that I've already spoken a bit about Further Analysis; the other is that the third and latest pack was slated to arrive soon and I intended to talk about all of them together. As it turns out, it actually released the same day that Chaos Theory did! Since then, I've had the chance to dive in and experience some of those missions. As usual, I was not disappointed. Besides providing the expected interesting new characters and great stories, The Last Pagan highlighted something else: TSW continues to be innovative!
The Elder Scrolls Online asks players for a tale of the dead
Aw, jeez. That can't have been happy. There's a story behind that picture, you just know it; people don't just grow spears while sitting down with some wine and cheese. And what is that story, you ask? Well, that's up to you! The Elder Scrolls Online is challenging players to construct yet another tale of the dead, a 500-word story in any format outlining how the unnamed skeleton in this screenshot wound up in this unfortunate predicament. Players who'd like to participate need only post their entry to the official contest thread before 11:59 p.m. EDT on September 26th. The three winners will each receive a $25 electronic gift certificate to the Bethesda store as well as a free t-shirt. If that sounds good to you and you think you can tell a convincing story about this guy, it's time to crack your knuckles and get writing.
The Elder Scrolls Online pushes players to Upper Craglorn in Update 4
You've been to Craglorn? Pff, that's boring now. Upper Craglorn is where the real action is these days. And by complete coincidence, Upper Craglorn is now open on The Elder Scrolls Online's servers, as the game's fourth major update has just dropped. The zone will wrap up the Celestial storyline as your character takes on the Scaled Court. That also ties into the new trial, Sanctum Ophidia, which is a direct strike against the heart of the Court; players will take on the minions and end up fighting the Celestial Serpent. The new Dragonstar Arena also debuts with this patch, asking players to fight against waves of oncoming enemies. Plus there's a new crafting trait available, improved grouping mechanics, various bugfixes, the usual assortment. So if you can't wait to go knife up a really important snake and check out the places that all the hip new kids are heading for, go check out the update.
Elder Scrolls ups VR cap, adds upper Craglorn and more
Did you know that Elder Scrolls Online's fourth major content patch came out today? It sure did, and judging by the 1.4.3 notes it's a biggun. ZeniMax has added the upper region of Craglorn and a new trial called Sanctum Ophidia. The four-player Dragonstar Arena with its 10 stages of monsters is live, too, along with a VR level cap bump to 14. That's not all, so click the links below to read about the additional changes.
Massively's ArcheAge launch diary: Day two - Classes, skills, combat
Welcome to day two of Massively's ArcheAge launch diary. Technically, by the time you read this, it'll be day three, but you know how these things work. And I know, I know, it's not really launch; it's head start. But Trion's not wiping this weekend's progression, so I'm going to keep referring to this as a launch diary! Thanks to a bunch of virginal script kiddies who thought it would be cool to DDoS the ArcheAge servers on Saturday, I didn't get to play all freakin' afternoon as planned. That's OK, though, because we've got a lot to talk about with regard to the game's basic mechanics.
Chaos Theory: Ten compelling Secret World missions
One thing that The Secret World does extremely well is story. Few would argue that point: It's compelling, surprising, even chill-inducing, packing enough emotional punches to leave you stunned on occasion but always eager for more, which is what makes doing missions in TSW so much more enjoyable than many other MMOs. And it isn't just the overarching main story line, either. All the missions spread throughout the zones, from investigation to sabotage to even the piddliest of little side missions, tie into the story in some fashion. So missing a mission means you might miss some tantalizing tidbit. Fortunately, you needn't be a completionist to have a drive to seek out and experience every single mission. Instead of being faced with the usual desire to just move on ahead once you've "out-leveled" a zone, you literally scour to make sure you don't leave any task undone lest you miss out on any of the story. Now that said, there are some missions that are just jaw-dropping for one reason or another, ones that stop your heart or tear at it. All missions have merit, but some are just so amazing you wish you could do them for the first time over and over. There's even a grieving period when you know you can never relive that initial rush! Here are just a few of the missions that I'd personally recommend that all players experience (with as few spoilers as possible).
