weather-systems
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Age of Wushu's Tempest of Strife expansion announced for Spring
While many people are looking forward to better weather and sunshine come spring, Age of Wushu players will have thunderstorms, blizzards, and even sandstorms thanks to one of the new features in the upcoming Tempest of Strife expansion. In addition to immersive weather that can trigger mysterious events, this fourth expansion also includes six new sects to join. Players ready to cast off the shackles of their old masters can betray their school and sign up with one of the three sects open to all (Villa of Beasts, Xu Family Manor, and Golden Needle Sect) or one of the three that require a large reserve of talent first (Palace of Shifting Flowers, Peach Blossom Island, Rootless Clan). Want to forgo masters altogether? Become a vagrant! Additional expansion features include the ability to change your looks through a face-lift and the opportunity to personalize your equipment by inscribing unique names on each piece. Tempest of Strife is due out later this spring. [Source: Snail Games press release]
Darkfall adds weather effects, duel system
Darkfall's sporting a new patch this week, and no, I'm not talking about one of those old-school iron-on things that your mom put on your jacket when you were a kid. This patch contains performance tweaks, new environments, a duel system, and the new weather effects system. Aventurine says that "74 new environments have been added all around Agon." The update post on Darkfall's official website -- viewable via the links below -- contains a full list of fixes and changes.
The Daily Grind: Should weather systems impact gameplay?
We've talked about weather systems and day/night cycles before, although generally MMOs and gamers seem to think of them mostly as cosmetic features that are fine to have as long as they don't get in the way. But what if they do get in the way? What if weather actually has an impact on your character and the game world? What if a pass got snowed in so that you couldn't reach a certain area? What if whiteout conditions kept you from seeing that face-eating monster 10 feet away? What if wind gave your character an extra bounce in his or her step if it came from behind or actually slowed you down if you were facing into it? What if lakes dried up in drought or lightning could strike metal objects (like, um, your plate mail)? Would it be more immersive for you or just more annoying? Seeing as most of the potential ways that weather could interact with us are negative, this might be a silly question. Still, I'm putting it out there: Should weather systems impact gameplay, and if so, how? 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!
Age of Wushu China introduces factions, dating, and weather
A content update is blowing in for Age of Wushu players on the Chinese server, one that adds a few new features to the sandbox game including factions, dating (yes, really), and an active weather system. Players who never settled on a school will soon have even more options to choose from; instead of joining a school, they can join a faction. However, players who're already members of a school can also join a faction either by school betrayal, requesting permission to wander, or facial surgery. Each method affects school skills to varying degrees. The two known factions are Rootless Clan and Palace of Moving Flowers, both of which feature very stringent admission requirements (castrated males and pretty females, respectively). Players can also participate in online dating, Age of Wushu-style. Dating allows players to choose an offline player with whom to build a relationship through various quests. On top of these changes, players will also enjoy a more robust and active environmental system that includes a day/night cycle, seasons, and weather -- even eclipses! Although this content update is currently slated for the games Chinese servers, you can still enjoy a look at the weather systems in the following trailer.
Gorgeous Black Desert trailer shows off combat, classes, and weather
Pearl Abyss has released seven minutes of stunning new footage from its Black Desert MMORPG. The clip features an eyeful of the game's unique weather and climate systems (which are specific to each region) as well as plenty of fly-through shots featuring varied environments. We also get a good look at mounts, combat, and closeups of various classes like the Valkyrie, Wizard, and more. Steparu has posted a brief write-up on the game as well as a couple of additional videos covering housing and the trade map. Combat is described as a hybrid between third-person action titles like TERA and Vindictus and FPS-style systems like those in the Elder Scrolls series. Head past the cut for the full trailer.
Free for All: The best weather systems in free-to-play
Perhaps someone can explain my obsession with in-game weather systems. I remember interviewing the lead designer for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes a few years ago. I had to stop him and ask for more details about the weather system the game used. He told me it was on a separate server, a pretty fancy program that ran independently of the rest of the game. It sounded as if he was telling me that there were real storms brewing in the game and the system knew when and where they were happening. I was fascinated. How cool it is to imagine in-game clouds forming at one point of the world and slowly moving across the land until the sky begins to rain on your character's head? Sadly, in-game weather seems to be either a low priority or a hard system to tackle. I'm guessing it's a combination of both. So I searched out those few MMOs that feature an impactful weather system. Not coincidentally, they also happen to be some of my favorite MMOs.
The Daily Grind: Is in-game weather important?
World of Warcraft introduced it early on, then largely abandoned it. Games like Battleground Europe, Fallen Earth, RIFT, and Lord of the Rings Online have it. PlanetSide 2 promises to have it. What am I talking about? Weather, of course (but you knew that because you read the title, you sly dog). Dynamic weather systems don't come standard in all MMOs, and even in the ones in which they appear, they aren't always noticed. For some, weather adds a layer of immersion that helps one pretend that one is in an actual world. For others, it's an annoying factor that reduces visibility and makes one wonder why the devs couldn't be putting their efforts to better use elsewhere. Storm clouds are sweeping in over this Daily Grind and a warm front of flames is predicted. What do you think? Are weather systems important (or at least welcomed), or are they just a waste of coding space? 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!
Massively's first impressions of Wakfu
If you are a fan of Dofus, you might be familiar with my current mania. I was asked to take an early look at Wakfu, the game that could be called "Dofus 2.0," and I was given permission to talk about it. That's right, if it were a horrible menace to my free time, I would be able to tell you. If it didn't run, or if it were nothing but a mess of bugs, I could tell you that as well. Of course, I wasn't forbidden from telling you how much I might have liked it or how confident I was that the game truly felt like a "2.0," so I might just do some of that. Remember, this is a closed beta I am about to talk about. Let's keep that in mind. OK, OK, I just have to say that -- sort of like an article disclaimer to do away with any responsibility I might have for my opinion. Now, I don't want to give you any spoilers, and I want you to promise to read to the end of the article, but let's just say that, closed beta or not, this game is really tight. But let's go ahead and click past the cut, mkay? I want to tell you more. %Gallery-116491%
Free for All: Revisiting the rules of immersion
Years ago, I found myself wanting something more out of my gaming. I never was a "typical" player; I never achieved max level or defeated the greatest enemies. After some thought, I realized that I played the same as I lived: always curious, needing to explore, willing to step into someone else's story, or wanting to create my own. I needed games to mean more than just a stat-sheet or a weekly raid schedule. I needed to feel more connected to this activity that was taking up so much of my time. Otherwise, it was just a job. At the time, I was very much into Vanguard. I still am, but my schedule has left me without enough time to play as much as I'd like. I loved how the world of Telon sucked you in with its massive landscapes and endless waters. Yes, the game has many issues, and yes, the community does as well. I wasn't going to let that stop me from writing up a series of rules -- more like guidelines -- that would almost force myself to slow down, to connect to the character I was playing, and to have fun. I've decided to re-examine and update the rules, especially because I could use them now more than ever. We'll start by breaking down the original set.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Community dancing
It's really hard for me to log in to City of Heroes recently, I have to admit. I know there are so many nifty things coming with the next patch that really, I just want to wait for Issue 19. I've got a baby Praetorian brute that will benefit from baseline Fitness to insane degrees, and it's really hard for me to convince myself that I should spend another minute leveling on a character without Stamina like an animal. Of course, I also have really been enjoying the game lately, so it's a difficult balance between the two opposing forces. That certainly hasn't kept me from enjoying the discussion about City of Heroes going down of late, nor has it stopped me from logging in to take part in our livestream event for the game. Click on past the break to see this week's highlighted discussion, and in case you missed the stream, I took the liberty of embedding it right there at the end of the column. If you were already watching, well, you get another chance to listen to my dulcet tones after reading. Aren't you lucky?
