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The Repopulation looks back on December and Early Access
For the first time in testing, The Repopulation didn't quite keep pace with its normal biweekly update schedule for the test client. Why, you ask, were the developers being such lazy bums? Because of the holidays? Or was it because the game was busy launching on Steam as an early access title, thus requiring extra work by the team to make sure that previous backers and newcomers alike were having fun? Mostly the latter, as it happens; not so much with the lazy bums. Of course, a slight schedule slip doesn't change the fact that the team was hard at work on the game, with the biggest focus being bug fixes (as the new influx of players has resulted in many more bug reports). There are also improvements to the game's missions, with a focus on more challenging variations and the possibility of random fitting rewards from clearing them. Check out the full recap for a picture of everything that's been added or improved over the past month.
Shroud of the Avatar shows off zone diversity
If this week's Shroud of the Avatar newsletter is any indication, there will be something interesting to look at in this game no matter which direction you take. The team showed off several different areas and biomes in the letter, including the undead realm of Brightbone Pass, the craters of Shardfall, the graveyard of Wyrmsands, and the desolate Dragon Pass. The Shardfall biome will be available for the first time in-game with the upcoming Release 14. Shroud of the Avatar will be on the floor at CES in Las Vegas next week as part of a partnership with Plantronics.
Norrathian Notebook: Landmark's two-week PvE checkup
Happy New Year! It makes sense to start this new year off by talking about a new game, right? And let's face it, after the fabled PvE content update, Landmark feels like a new game! This massive addition to the core of the sandbox has been live for two weeks now; that means two weeks of spelunking, salvaging, and more often than not, surviving. While it's true we got a preview of the update back on the day, that peek involved neither the cavern system nor crafting. And it certainly didn't contain nearly enough time! So now that I've had the chance to canvass the caverns, play with particle emitters, kills various critters, and concoct some new crafted items, how is it? How are things in the not-just-about-building game doing? Do these new systems offer more staying power as the closed beta continues on? Let's give Landmark its two-week PvE checkup!
Gloria Victis plays host to Santa
Over this past weekend, Santa Claus had the opportunity to visit the in-the-making Gloria Victis and delight testers. In the newest pre-alpha patch, Santa appeared on Stoneholm Island and regaled listeners with his... rather unusual adventures. The patch also implemented a new gathering system, animations for said gathering, added in a few new locations, and buffed bow-and-arrow attacks. The team also had a special message for the game's supporters: "Thanks to all of you who put your trust in ourselves. You gave us the chance to continuously create the project of our dreams. You are our everyday Santa Clauses and support the Gloria Victis developing in any possible way." [Thanks to Chrysillis for the tip!]
Shroud of the Avatar lays out plans for early 2015
If stated plans are any indication, Shroud of the Avatar is in for a busy first few months of the new year. In a recent newsletter, the team recapped the "flexible" schedule for the game's early 2015 updates. January's Release 14 will expand zone connections, add in the Shardfall biome, begin testing on a new version of Unity, and add things like player banks, an encumbrance system, and in-game pledge rewards. February's Release 15 has its eye on several new mainland areas including the Necropolis, more magic spells, housing fees, dyeable outfits, teachable emotes, and crafting skills. Finally, March's Release 16 is going to add Steam achievements, a cover system in combat, and localization. The team also released one of the backer rewards, a cover version of the classic Ultima Stones theme by the band The Space Bards, and you can listen to it after the break!
Pathfinder Online ends its stress test and preps for early enrollment
The bad news is that if you had hoped to do nothing but strain the Pathfinder Online servers over your holiday, you were denied that option. The good news is that the test ended because the servers passed the stress test with flying colors, and that means it's time for the development team to move on to the next phase of access. Yes, early enrollment is just around the corner. Of course it hasn't kicked off just yet, as the developers behind the game are human beings who would like to actually spend some holiday time with their families. But it's coming soon. The change will mean that players who have alpha access via friends & family options or are normally slated to enter during open enrollment can no longer log in; so if you want to keep jumping into the game you may wish to upgrade your account. For those already happily waiting for early enrollment, nothing else remains to be done other than continuing to wait. Not much longer now.
Gloria Victis is all up in your beeswax
In yesterday's pre-alpha patch, Gloria Victis shattered all sense of boundaries and decided that it was going to make your beeswax its business. Yes indeed, we are finally living in an era when beeswax has been added to beehives in an MMO, and life will never be the same again. (Actually, my editor informs me that Ultima Online has that as well because it has everything.) Other changes with the patch included global buffs for capture-the-flag winners, cattle horns as "by-products of [the] animal skinning process," a buff to gear durability, a higher change to get weapon drops from humans, and a rework of the mob spawning system.
MapleStory 2 begins closed beta signups next week, will include a jail system
Another day, another game we can't have yet. This one's MapleStory 2, the sequel to Nexon's MapleStory, which in spite of its cuteness is still one of the biggest MMORPGs in the world. Steparu reports that MS2 is set to enter its first closed beta phase on January 21st; signups go live for Korean players on Christmas eve. Over on the official site (in Korean), Nexon further discusses the MMO's jail system, something fans of games like Ultima Online and ArcheAge know well. This particular jail is meant to hold those who make wreckage of chat channels, though Nexon says will punish counter-abuse "severely." What could possibly go wrong? We don't yet know whether the game will come here, but since classic MapleStory has a global version that's earned Nexon boatloads of money, it's pretty darn likely. We've embedded Steparu's MapleStory 2 customization video below.
Sandvox SkySaga hits alpha in the UK
Sandvox SkySaga has officially entered alpha, says developer Smilegate. The team announced the start of the testing phase over social media yesterday and today: Great news! We've just started up the Alpha servers (UK only still, I'm afraid), and from now on they'll be running 24/7 (with the exception of maintenance periods!). You read that right: The alpha's open only to UK players right now, though we've had reports that there's no IP blocking just yet. Release is still set for next summer. The game is a voxel-based sandbox with the usual trapping: crafting, harvesting, combat, arena PvP, and an "evolving" online world shaped by the players themselves.
Albion Online's winter test begins January 26th
Backers of Albion Online have been sitting on their hands for a while now, waiting for the next alpha test of this isometric sandbox. The good news is that Sandbox Interactive has announced that the alpha winter test will begin in a little over a month on January 26th. There will be plenty of new and updated systems to check out during this testing cycle, including an extensive farming system, consumables, more weapons, more skills, and player and guild islands. Another significant change is that players can flag themselves as friendly or hostile in PvP areas, effectively adding consensual PvP into the game. Albion Online's winter test will be available to legendary ($100) and epic ($50) founders and will last for four weeks.
Black Desert is officially in open beta... in Korea
Still pinning hopes and dreams on Daum's breathtaking sandbox MMORPG Black Desert? If you're in South Korea, those hopes and dreams are a reality this week, as the game officially entered open beta in that region yesterday. Blogger Steparu has already posted one video from the event, a snapshot of progress on a mid-level Sorceress. We've included it below. If you're bilingual and already enjoying the game, we'd love to hear about it, as those of us in the West will be waiting until at least 2016.
Shroud of the Avatar's Richard Garriott and Starr Long on MMO community
If you've been making a list of sandbox features and checking it twice, chances are you'll find many of those items in Shroud of the Avatar. And if player-generated content and a great community are near the top of that list, then this crowdfunded title might very well be the present you want to get yourself! While still under development, this sandbox has already grown exponentially from its humble beginnings of a chicken in a room to a current state that includes a bevy of features -- with more arriving like clockwork every monthly update. And plenty of those features are tools and systems that allow players to make the game a personalized experience for themselves and others. What about Shroud of the Avatar makes it so great for player-generated content? What makes the community great? And how has Steam affected the game? I sat down with Portalarium's Richard Garriott and Starr Long to talk about the move to Steam, updates, PGC, and the amazing community that's supporting the game. These guys had so much to share that this is only part one!
Echo of Soul has 'everything an MMO player could want'
"At launch, Echo of Soul will include everything an MMO player could want," says Global Development Project Manager Junhyung Jung. "With 68 areas and over 1,600 quests, EOS offers far more initial content than other games." Them's fightin' words, Mr. Jung. But also playin' words, too. The above quote comes from a new Echo of Soul video dev diary, in which Jung makes a case for why this title should have broad appeal. He runs down the features list, including PvE content, PvP battles, and solo and team challenges. The level cap is also mentioned as where the game "truly begins." You can watch the full dev diary after the break.
See Bless Online's character creation options
Getting a closer look at character creation options when a title is deep in testing is always useful, especially to those of us who lack access to the beta. Steparu.com took Bless Online's character creator out for a spin as the title's closed beta test revved back up, and you can enjoy a sneak peek as a result. Steparu noted that it doesn't look as though classes are gender-locked, although players may be wedded to a faction once they roll up their first character. You can watch the character creation video after the jump, and make sure you bounce over to Steparu.com for more videos on several of the game's classes.
Elite: Dangerous' launch-day roundup
Successfully Kickstarted just over two years ago, David Braben's space MMO Elite: Dangerous formally launched early this morning, a rare buy-to-play entry in the MMO market and one of the most high-profile Kickstarter MMOs to actually reach launch to date. If you're heading to the comments right now to inform us that Elite isn't an MMO because of its single-player mode, know that the tide's against you; even Frontier, in the midst of controversy over the cancelation of its originally promised offline mode, justified that decision because Elite is an MMO and "technically [...] always has been." Elite: Dangerous won Massively's Most Underrated MMO of the year by a hair just last week. Check out the launch trailer and our roundup of the best Elite news, streams, and hands-on articles by the Massively staff below!
True fans of the genre, get thee hence to Cabal II's closed beta
Are you a "true fan" of the MMO genre? If so, then according to a hyperactive press release by ESTGames, you'll surely want to sign up for Cabal II's closed beta on the official site. The beta sign-ups for the sequel to Cabal Online are indeed live, and a focus test is already in the works for December 19th through the 22nd. Cabal II is an action-MMO with "fluid, skill-based combat"; it's aiming for a 2015 release in both North America and Europe. [Source: ESTGames press release]
Gloria Victis pre-alpha patch adds weather system
While it's still very much a work in progress, a weather system (with clouds!) has come to Gloria Victis with the advent of pre-alpha patch v.0.1.1. The new patch isn't solely about additions that make Weather Channel fans geek out, of course. The title added an item decay and repair system, updated the world map, included more music, improved mob AI, and further optimized performance. Still, if gorgeous sunsets and foggy days are the sort of eye candy that gets you excited about an MMO, the weather may be the biggest addition yet to Gloria Victis.
Players power direction of Oort Online's development
Oort Online's dev team is not content to make this voxel sandbox in the isolation of its ivory tower (or the corner of a deserted warehouse, whatever may be), but it has been asking for constant input from backers for the direction of the game's development. "As the game currently stands, the playable features are quite contained as we've been focusing on establishing the core MMO services and game engine," the devs posted. In a recent backer survey, 43% of those surveyed asked for the devs to prioritize the creation of character races out of the four options presented. In addition, the team said that some of the biggest priorities for a 1.0 release include resource gathering, crafting, and PvE combat. At the bottom of the list? "Real money purchases -- I want short cuts!" Oort Online is a "universe-sized" sandbox that's currently in alpha testing and has raised over $123,000 in crowdfunding. [Thanks to Jose for the tip!]
HEX releases Shattered Destiny card set
Hearthstone isn't the only online card game that's getting an expansion this week; HEX launched its Shattered Destiny set today, vastly expanding the MMOTCG's play potential. Shattered Destiny, HEX's second set, comes with 200 new cards, five additional heroes, dual-shard cards, dual-socketing, and fun abilities such as tunneling, lethal damage, and skyguard defense. To celebrate the release, HEX is awarding two exclusive alternate-art cards to players who partake in Shattered Destiny-only tournaments this weekend. Whether you're playing or merely interested in what's been added, you can read both the patch notes and the card list for this update.
Echo of Soul story trailer tells of the war between gods and giants
With Echo of Soul heading from Korea to North America and Europe next year, it may be time for those interested in the fantasy MMO to discover a little about its world and lore. For those fans, we present Echo of Soul's story trailer, which gives an overview of the conflict and struggles that players will be facing in this game. Players will take part of an ongoing battle between gods and the giants by attempting to prevent the giants from assembling six fragments of a "shadow soul" (Arrogance, Sloth, Jealousy, Rage, Despair, and Discord) that could spell the end for, y'know, everything. You can watch the full minute-and-a-half video after the break.
