Virtual World News
Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, MMO industry, Guild Wars 2
"Because we've been adding a lot of reward systems, we've seen an increase in the number of currencies out there," Cartwright explained. "But we're getting toward the tail end of the number of systems we feel that we can put in the game. We'll be really working on improving the current systems we have and making them more robust."
Cartwright also addressed how the team is catering to guild content, saying that ArenaNet wants to give more of a boost to smaller guilds: "We know there was an initial influence cost that was very high that a lot of smaller guilds weren't able to get into it, so we're looking at ways that we can improve that, make smaller guilds more able to compete on the influence gathering area."
Guild Wars 2 to focus on improving systems, aiding small guilds originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Forbes
Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Lore, WildStar
While striking many as reminiscent of World of Warcraft's Barrens, WildStar's Deradune sets itself apart by populating the region with tribes focused on hunting. Er, hm. Anyway, players will embark upon a "Great Hunt" if they want to join the Drakens of Bloodfire Clan, and oh boy do you want to be a part of this exclusive club! The article references a terrifying creature known as Metal Maw, which may be the end goal of the hunt.
WildStar gives a briefing on Deradune, land of the Great Hunt originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: WildStar Wednesday
Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Free-to-play, Post-Apocalyptic
Aeria Games calls this a "monumental day" and says that Scarlet Blade already has one of the largest fanbases of any of the studio's titles. Players who hit certain mature milestones in beta testing will receive premier prizes when the game goes live.
Scarlet Blade also has several founder's packs available for those who want to stock up on bundled goods for a discounted price. There's no word yet whether the studio will be charging for character clothes by the square inch or for sex change surgery so that male characters can join the fun.
[Source: Aeria Games press release]
Scarlet Blade streaks into closed beta originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox, Camelot Unchained
Jacobs goes on to talk about how and where he decided to implement traditionally sandboxy elements into Camelot Unchained and where he decided it was best to go a different route altogether. For instance, he argues that "in a true SBRPG a player's actions within the game would dictate evolution and progression." Jacobs claims that while CU earns some "sandbox points" because of its relatively unrestrictive class system, it loses some simply because it utilizes a class system. He spends the rest of the post running through the game's list of features and explaining the rationale behind the sandbox elements (or lack thereof) in each one, so if you want to get into the nitty-gritty of Camelot Unchained's sandboxiness (which is now a word), settle in and read the full post at the game's official site.
Dig through the sand(box) in the latest Camelot Unchained devblog originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, News items, Free-to-play, Star Wars: The Old Republic
Items are divided up into Shipments, which share a thematic name such as "Cartel Packs" or "Contraband Packs." Opening these packs provides reputation tokens that allow players to gain reputation with a different faction for each Shipment. Eventually, the Shipment in question will be temporarily removed from circulation, but players with enough reputation will still be able to buy the items directly from reputation vendors. It sounds a little messy, but in practice it means that people who love some grab bags get a little more motivation to keep buying them.
Star Wars: The Old Republic adds a grab bag of grab bag reputation originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Catel Market Reputation article
Filed under: Historical, Economy, Opinion, Free-to-play, Guides, Crafting, Age of Wushu, The Art of Wushu
If you followed my advice from two weeks ago, congratulations. You probably noticed a huge nosedive in a few markets: hemp, ramie, iron, and mint all took a huge hit. It's a bit flattering to see how I can write a post on what to sell and readers like you guys take it to heart, flooding the market with supply and crashing the value of these commodities. If I gave advice on production crafting, the same thing would happen.
Instead, this week I'm going to talk about real market strategy. Pointing out things that sell doesn't help you if the market takes a nose-dive. Understanding supply and demand curves, market equilibrium, and the importance of market diversity are all long-term tools that will help you regardless of what you're selling.
Continue reading The Art of Wushu: Winning in market PvP
The Art of Wushu: Winning in market PvP originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, MMO industry, News items, Crowdfunding
While the game is not explicitly tied to the Ultima franchise for copyright reasons, Garriott sees it as very much being in the spirit of the older games, since Ultima IX ended with the world more or less destroyed. He also discusses influences on the game world's design and how players can switch between single-player and online modes of operation without a problem. If you're looking forward to the game, you can get more details in the full interview.
Richard Garriott explains why Shroud of the Avatar is on Kickstarter originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Mar 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Garriott interview
Filed under: Super-hero, Culture, Events, in-game, Endgame, Opinion, Free-to-play, Champions Online, A Mild-Mannered Reporter
Other times I'm told I don't understand an issue when I actually do, and the problem is that the issue under discussion is not the most relevant issue.
So let's talk a little bit more about Champions Online and the Lemurian Invasion. If you haven't been paying attention, this spawned a little bit of controversy among the playerbase and more when I said that the people raising a stink were wrong. They still are, even if they're also right about an unconnected issue I only brushed against before.
Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Champions Online, Lemurian events, and you
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Champions Online, Lemurian events, and you originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Mar 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Classes, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-play, Casual, MMORTS, Free for All
This time I thought it would be better to list some lessons on how I learned to love the MMO explorer lifestyle. It worked for me! (Cheesy theme music starts in the background.)
Continue reading Free for All: How to be OK with not knowing how to play
Free for All: How to be OK with not knowing how to play originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Mar 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous
As players, all we can really do is keep playing and paying for the games we enjoy. But sometimes it feels like the game is in trouble and that's just not enough after all. So out of all games, both available and not, which one are you the most concerned about right now? Which title makes you worry that it might be facing its twilight even if the development team insists otherwise?
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!The Daily Grind: Which game are you most concerned about right now? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Mar 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.