| Rise and Shiny revisit: Wakfu Posted: 29 Sep 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Video, Game Mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Rise and Shiny, Livestream, Sandbox, Dungeons One of the great benefits of this job comes from revisiting worlds that have gone unchecked for a while. These are games that I already know I enjoy but want to check back on in an "official" manner, every year at least. Honestly I visit many of them several times a year, but not in the same way I would if I were working. Wakfu is on the same list as Ryzom, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, Champions Online and many, many others. This time around I wanted to get out more and explore the surrounding areas, and I found that Ankama has made many improvements to the game that help make exploration possible. Granted, the changes that I noticed were not significant but notable, and overall the game appeared to be just as smooth, interesting, and original as before. The only problem is that many of the same issues I had with the game are still there, and I doubt they'll disappear any time soon. Continue reading Rise and Shiny revisit: Wakfu  Rise and Shiny revisit: Wakfu originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 29 Sep 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| One Shots: A lack of depth perception Posted: 29 Sep 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Screenshots, City of Heroes, Culture, Star Trek Online, One Shots, The Secret World, Final Fantasy XIV, Miscellaneous I don't know about you, but when I pick my mounts, I like to pick something that can manage depth perception. Reader Paul may be keen on this mount, but all I can think of is that his character's probably being led into a lot of bottomless pits, cacti, and stone walls. But who needs practicality when you've got awesome looks? Paul has nothing but the best to say about this Final Fantasy XIV creature: "It is simply because its the best mount I have ever come across in my entire career of mmo's. Also going by the census data that was released at the Tokyo Game Show, Roegadyn are somewhat of a rare race in the game, so I thought I would fly the flag for them too." We've got many more eyes for you in this week's One Shots after the jump. Enough, perhaps, to lend one to unfortunate souls like Paul who are perpetually in danger every time they take their ride out to the 7-11. Continue reading One Shots: A lack of depth perception One Shots: A lack of depth perception originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 29 Sep 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: What do you want from NPC companions? Posted: 29 Sep 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous More and more MMOs these days are including companion NPCs, it seems. From EverQuest II's mercenaries to Neverwinter's companions, there are plenty of options to party up with the computer and have HAL watch your back in a dicey spot. So what do you want from NPC companions, if anything? Do you like them around for the company and a person to share a little story with or engage in conversation? Do you want a companion to patch up a weakness in your class' build? Do you show companions off as prestige items to your adoring public? Or perhaps do you just want a poor mule to follow you around and carry all of your junk?  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: What do you want from NPC companions? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 29 Sep 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Darkfall looks at adjusting class balance Posted: 28 Sep 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Previews, PvP, Dev Diaries, Subscription The Darkfall team senses that something is off, and that something is the lopsided use of classes. Namely, more players pick Warriors due to high survivability while eschewing some of the other classes. This will be addressed in an upcoming patch to help even the playing field. A new forum post outlines the issue of Warrior dominance and the "very short duration" of fights involving Skirmishers and Elementalists. The patch that's planned to adjust this will be fully revealed next week once the team has finished with internal testing. "The goal is to make combat more fun, exciting and challenging, while achieving a healthy balance between all roles," the post declares. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!] Darkfall looks at adjusting class balance originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 28 Sep 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Latest dev blog highlights PvP aspects of Pathfinder Online Posted: 28 Sep 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox, Pathfinder Online In its latest dev blog, PvP is heralded as the core of Pathfinder Online. And designer Tork Shaw offers a broad overview of the different levels of PvP combat that players have to look forward to in the upcoming sandbox. One level is settlement conflict, or territory control, where hundreds of members can fight for and defend their player-run settlement when it's at war with others. On the other hand, since companies have between eight and 50 members, these conflicts are on a smaller scale. Companies can declare feuds with one another and participate in shorter bursts of warfare. An additional level of PVP in Pathfinder will be found in factional conflicts. The blog continues by stating that the idea of PvP flags is being revisited. It also outlines the basics of the alignment and reputation systems, and it assures players that bounties still exist. For more details on these systems and the various conflicts, check out the full blog post. [Thanks Chris!] Latest dev blog highlights PvP aspects of Pathfinder Online originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 28 Sep 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Tattered Notebook: What to do with your new level 85 in EverQuest II Posted: 28 Sep 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Endgame, Opinion, Free-to-Play, The Tattered Notebook, Guides, Dungeons It occurred to me as I was crafting up an EverQuest II leveling guide that a score of folks would be popping into the game on newly minted level 85s as soon as Heroic Characters go live next week. You might even be one of those who are taking advantage of this opportunity to see all of the upper content echelons. If so, let's be honest: You aren't necessarily going to care where the best place to go at level 38 is. You need to know what's happening in those later levels. So I switched gears; today I am offering a guide for life in the 80s and beyond instead. Whether you have played EQII before in the lower levels and are bumping up your first character or you are diving in for the first time and finally giving the game a go, here's what you need to know to acclimate to life in the upper tiers of Norrath. Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: What to do with your new level 85 in EverQuest II The Tattered Notebook: What to do with your new level 85 in EverQuest II originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 28 Sep 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Mog Log: You've got to make a living in Final Fantasy XIV Posted: 28 Sep 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Economy, Game Mechanics, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log There's a lot of stories to be told about Final Fantasy XIV now that I'm back up at the endgame. Amdapor Keep is an interesting dungeon, for example, and the mechanics of tomestones as a whole are fascinating to me. But it also brings me within spitting distance of what some have described as the true weakness of the game, which is that there's no way to actually make money in the endgame. That your repair bills mount and you don't get any further money to back you up, thus opening a drain that never really closes. I honestly find this kind of amusing, because I've made more money since the relaunch than I had when it started. And that's with buying relic precursors, gear, repairs, and so forth. There are some issues with the game's economy, definitely, but some of those issues simply come from people being unfamiliar with how the game handles things like making money. The past several years have taught us how to make money in an MMO, but Final Fantasy XIV doesn't back those ideas up. It's a different paradigm here. Continue reading The Mog Log: You've got to make a living in Final Fantasy XIV The Mog Log: You've got to make a living in Final Fantasy XIV originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 28 Sep 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Things are "starting" all over again
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