Eliot Lefebvre

Senior Reporter

Eliot Lefebvre has been writing on Massively Overpowered since it was created after a long and illustrious career of writing about video games for half a decade on some other site that you might have heard about. He currently pens Wisdom of Nym for Final Fantasy XIV, WoW Factor for World of Warcraft, and the rotating adventures of Choose My Adventure. He also shares writing duties on Perfect Ten and writes some nonsense for What Are You Playing. No photos of him standing next to Abraham Lincoln have surfaced, coincidentally.

Personal blog: Eliot-Lefebvre.com
Twitter: @eliot_lefebvre

Grand Theft Auto Online players are already nervous about a datamined vehicle

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It might seem a bit odd that Grand Theft Auto Online’s playerbase is up in arms about the Oppressor Mk. II because the jet bike is not actually in the game at the moment. It’s been datamined, but you cannot actually jump onto the bike right now. But that doesn’t change people being nervous, and for somewhat good cause; the description alone reads like an insanely overpowered toy, after all. It’s a flying jet bike with high agility and missiles, and it can also jam incoming missiles so that it’s hard to shoot down.

This would be unbalanced enough if you were playing on your own, but people are chiefly worried about the impact it might have in multiplayer lobbies, where it’d be almost impossible to stop and definitely not fun to play against. There’s no word on when or if it’s actually going to be released, of course, but some of the player anxiety is partly a matter of getting out ahead and hopefully causing the developers to tone down the vehicle ahead of a wider release.

Source: Kotaku

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MU Legend launches on Steam with big game-wide events

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It’s time for MU Legend to really go all out on launching. It’s launching officially today, so that’s a milestone. It’s also arriving on Steam, so you can pick it up there. It’s also delivering its Noria update, which has a trailer just below and includes fun things like an endless tower climb, new wing upgrades, and the eponymous Noria. And it’s launching all of this with a big set of events you can take part in.

That’s a lot of launch.

Players can get prizes for making progress on Steam or accomplishing various tasks within the Noria update itself; there are also a variety of goodies available for new or returning players who opt to pick the game up on Steam. If you’re dazzled by free stuff and enjoy hacking and/or slashing, you might want to check the game out; it is free-to-play, after all.

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Dauntless throws its grenades to players

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Grenades are a time-honored way of reaching out and touching everyone within a given area of effect, because… well, that’s how they work. They blow up and they hurt everyone in a compact area. Dauntless has grenades just like that, and in fact has five different varieties of grenades so that players can try out a variety of ranged explosives based on the situation. Including vampire grenades!

No, you don’t throw the grenade and then vampires come out, as cool as that would be. The Transfusion Grenade bursts and drains health which then transfers to you in the form of healing orbs. That’s the weirdest of the bunch; other grenades like the Barrage Grenade and the Concussive Grenade work more or less the way you would expect these tools to function. So get ready to have some fun lobbing grenades around when the game patches them in on August 8th.

Source: Official Site

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Amazon Game Studios hires Christoph Hartmann as Vice President

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The first big release from Amazon Game Studios, Breakaway, was pretty unceremoniously killed earlier this year. That means that the future of the studio’s other games, like the anticipated New World, feels somewhat in doubt. So it’s good news that the announcement of Cristoph Hartmann joining the team as vice president of Amazon Game Studios includes an explicit namedrop of New World as one of the titles he’ll be handling in development.

Hartmann joins the studios after his long run as president of 2K Games, so he’s got 20 years of experience in the industry. Of course, that’s not quite as calming as actual news about the game… but it’s not nothing. There are also promises of new titles to be announced, so it’s quite possible that Breakaway will turn out to be more of a hiccup than an indication of the future.

Source: Official Site

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World of Warcraft opens up the Siege of Lordaeron

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So, to the surprise of absolutely no one, burning down an Alliance capital city did not actually demoralize anyone other than players and now the Horde is getting one of its cities attacked in World of Warcraft. Equally unsurprising to anyone who followed reveals about this, that means the Alliance is marching on Lordaeron, and players can take part in this push right now in the game.

Players who have tested the beta for Battle for Azeroth will be familiar with the scenario, as it’s the same one kicking off the expansion in the testing cycle. If you want to get a start in on the pre-expansion hullabaloo and conclude the storyline before the full launch next week, hop on in and make your way to Stormwind for the Alliance or Orgrimmar for the Horde.

Also strap yourself in for the people trying to explain how capturing and holding a city in response to an unprovoked attack is the same thing as razing a city on a whim with no existing state of war.

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Final Fantasy XIV brings monster hunting with its newest patch

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The latest patch for Final Fantasy XIV has arrived today, and it brings all of the monster hunting you could possibly want within the game. Yes, it’s the crossover with Monster Hunter World, complete with new cosmetic gear, new minions, and new Orchestrion tunes for everyone. If you’re not interested in that, though, you can take part in the new Eureka – Pagos expedition, which brings characters to a snow-covered area to take on greater enemies.

Players also get a variety of quality of life bumps with the update, including the option to purchase weapon upgrade materials for Gougan currency, new crafting recipes, an experience buff in the original Eureka areas, and the removal of restrictions on Sigmascape Crystalloids. Check out the full patch notes to get an idea of what you’ll be able to do with the patch. You could, of course, also choose to totally ignore the patch if you’re over on the Faerie server as players put together an epic scavenger hunt for plenty of gil.

Source: Official Site, Reddit; thanks to Alex for the tip!

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Worlds Adrift promises that the developers are working on fixing lag

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Lag is no longer just your excuse for trading players melons in Worlds Adrift. It’s a very real problem that the development team knows is hitting players square in the playtime, and it’s also taking a while to fix it up. The most recent development update explains that while the team is well aware it’s happening, there’s still work to be done to actually fix the issue; the attempt to track down the cause and repair it last week didn’t actually work out, so it’s still being investigated.

The game’s test server has also been delayed due to some issues with Alliance chat, with the remainder of the team hard at work to fix that issue and let people start testing new patches sooner rather than later. On the bright side, the next announcement from the team is promised to include some actual updates instead of just work on bug fixes because players want more content too. Dude.

Source: Official Site

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Final Fantasy XIV prepares for the Moonfire Faire and the Feast championships

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The summer is at least theoretically waning, and that means it’s time for Final Fantasy XIV’s annual summer event, the Moonfire Faire. That, of course, means another new swimsuit, more house decorations, and even a new mote this year for those who wish to splash your friends regardless of the situation. It’s starting in Limsa Lominsa as always, so we may assume it also means a new round of beachside fun, although some acrobatics are promised for this year’s event.

Let’s face it, when you have a beach resort in a zone your summer event isn’t going to take place in the snows of Coerthas.

For those with an eye toward more competitive events, you’ll want to keep your eyes on the US Feast championships, which are still being fought over until early September. The current front-runners for US data centers are highlighted in the most recent entry from the team, but there’s still a month to go before the semi-finals, so there’s still time for a new challenger to sweep in with a spectacular record.

Source: Event page, The Feast championships

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Epic’s Tim Sweeney argues that Fortnite won’t be on the play store because of openness

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Did you think that Fortnite’s announced decision to avoid the Google Play store was just about money? Just because, you know, that was one of the reasons explicitly cited? Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney is walking that back and arguing that it’s not about that and it’s not about clones. In his words, it’s a matter of keeping parity between all of the platforms, and since Google doesn’t offer any sort of marketing push like console titles, he doesn’t see why Epic should distribute the game through the Play store.

Sweeney stresses that there is cross-purchase functionality between the various platforms of Fortnite (which is broadly accurate) and that the company would avoid the iOS marketplace as well if it were possible. He also states that the company is aware of concerns over spending limits, which will supposedly be addressed via the game not locking in payment methods after individual purchases. No word about phone security or avoiding malicious software, though. It’s still going to be a controversial decision, but it doesn’t appear the company is walking it back any time soon.

Source: Polygon

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Wisdom of Nym: Why Final Fantasy XIV’s role actions didn’t work

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Tucked away in the latest live letter was a bit of information that seems like it’s more relevant than its rather humble placement would seem to indicate. In the not-too-distant future, Final Fantasy XIV is going to remove all limitations on role actions. You can use all 10 of them at the same time! Goodbye, literally any remaining shred of character customization, you will not be missed.

Or rather, you will, but not for what you did but what you were supposed to do.

The big problem with role actions, simply put, is that they never actually accomplished their stated goal at any point. It’s part of the game’s complex relationship with character choices and actions I’ve discussed before, but seeing as role actions are soon going to be altogether yanked from their current state, it seems worthwhile to examine why they didn’t work and what (if anything) would be helpful in replacing them.

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Player-designed document combines Dungeons & Dragons with Destiny

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Want to play some Destiny or Destiny 2 material sitting around a table with friends? Then you will want to check out the D&Destiny project which combines Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition with the Destiny setting. It’s a mystery why it wasn’t called Destiny & Dragons, maybe, but it’s a fan project combining the two, so perhaps it’s best to rein in that critique.

Obviously, the material in question is all homebrew stuff, and there’s no assurance that it’s all perfectly balanced or refined yet. It does, however, already include rules for weapons, enemies, Light and Darkness zones, and specialized combat mechanics. So there’s enough stuff in there for you to playtest if you want to support the project on Patreon. And if you want to mash it up with basic D&D to pit your normal wizards from those found on the moon? Well, why not.

Source: Kotaku

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Albion Online’s shift away from mobile was a matter of market forces

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If you remember a lot of the early marketing for Albion Online, it focused quite heavily on how the game was going to feature cross-platform play for PC and mobile devices. The game has launched at this point, but the mobile versions are still in testing. A recent interview with CTO David Salz reveals that it’s hardly something the developers forgot; it’s simply that when the game was first planned, it seemed that mobile was the wave of the future. As the game acquired fans, it became clear that PC was the preferred platform for most of the would-be players, which caused a shift in design to emphasize desktops over mobile devices.

Salz also talks about the shifts in business models and the technical hurdles involved in building the game from the ground up, starting with a prototype that was built to see if the game could even be made fun or if the project was doomed from the start. Check out the full interview for a peek at the industry history as well as the technical roadblocks that hit the game over time.

Source: Gameindustry.biz

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The Daily Grind: What’s your favorite bragging rights reward in an MMO?

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The title I display most often in Final Fantasy XIV is “Sidestepper.” It’s not a flashy title, but it’s a bragging rights reward because you can’t get it any more. It’s only available for people who were playing during the original version of the game. The same is true of the various bits of armor I have to glamour for anything that aren’t accessible unless you have the “dated” items. They don’t boost my characters at all; they just are a neat little reward from back in the day.

Bragging rights rewards are something that I’m generally in favor of; instead of creating issues of rewarding the best players with the best gear and creating a vicious cycle, clearing challenges in World of Warcraft awards you appearances that can be obtained no other way. Getting Legacy achievements in Star Wars: The Old Republic can give you emotes that don’t make your life easier, but sure do look neat. So what’s your favorite bragging rights reward in an MMO? Something that doesn’t make you any stronger, but shows off an accomplishment?

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