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MMO Week in Review: Beyond ArenaNet’s ‘PR nightmare’ (July 15, 2018)

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Were you too busy gaming this week to pay attention to MMO news? Get caught up every Sunday evening with Massively Overpowered’s Week in Review!

Guild Wars 2’s “PR nightmare” and the industry reaction to it dominated headlines and comments this week, but that’s not all that happened in the realm of MMORPGs. Defiance 2050 officially launched, Star Citizen players waged a protest, Wild West Online floated a reboot, Trion began compensating Marvel Heroes refugees, Crowfall announced plans to license its engine, and MJ brought back the Warframe goods from TennoCon. Plus, we got some useful dates for Monster Hunter World, Rend, and WoW’s expansion pre-patch.

Read on for the very best of this week’s MMO news and opinions.

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First Life is Feudal content update unites the worlds, introduces PvP arenas, and adds clergy and slavery

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Bitbox recently released the first major content update for its medieval sandbox survival game Life is Feudal, and it brings with it a slew of new features, including the uniting of the game’s numerous worlds, a PvP arena, the slavery system (really), and the clergy system. And to celebrate the new update’s release, Bitbox is granting all players a set of “God’s Favor” currency, the total amount of which is valued at over $2 million US.

With the new united map, players can now travel “freely” (i.e., with subscription-based restrictions) between the game’s worlds as well as trade between worlds via trade posts. For those who want to test their combat prowess against other players, the update introduces new PvP arenas, which pit up to 20 players against one another in free-for-all battles, with the top three players in each match taking home prizes of coins and PvP ranking points.

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Skyforge revamps PvP with the Gods at War update

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The newest update for Skyforge is now live and changes a lot about the way PvP works. Before, PvP had gear scaling to the point that it was almost irrelevant while walking in, but now gear scaling has more factors affecting that scale. It also introduces the new PvP-based Honor stat, which affects your overall stats and how much damage you’ll deal on balance. Players who wish to accomplish a lot in PvP will want to stack on Honor via stat adjustment. There’s also the new Happy Hour system, which encourages you to take part in PvP at set times for increased rewards across the board.

Speaking of increased rewards, the game is also rolling out the myLoot Marketplace as a means of getting more stuff for myCoins. Taking part in events and purchasing items earn myCoins, and said coins can be used for purchasing items in the marketplace, a sort of “here’s your extra for buying something” reward. Check out the full rundown if you’re looking for more details on the new system.

Source: Patch Notes, Official Site

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Make My MMO: Aria’s second closed beta, Star Citizen’s protest, and Crowfall’s engine on the market (July 15, 2018)

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This week in MMO crowdfunding, we got our first hints of “emergent gameplay” in Star Citizen as a group of players took over a refueling hub and began blasting everyone who came near it out of the sky. Why? Oh, they’re not just griefers; they’re specifically protesting CIG’s backburnering of the Arena Commander mechanics. I suppose it got them some attention, but also now all the people whose alpha ships they blew up hate them rather than CIG.

Meanwhile, Legends of Aria launched its second closed beta, Pantheon unveiled its character creation system, Saga of Lucimia riled everybody up over its grouping stance, City of Titans posted an epic teaser, Shroud of the Avatar opened a new cash shop to fund the next season and began optional subs, and Fractured’s Kickstarter has leaped up to $88K of its $116K goal with 10 days to go.

Finally, Crowfall had a big week, as its studio, ArtCraft, announced a second studio to license Crowfall’s engine to other companies building MMOs; we chatted with the company’s J. Todd Coleman about it too. There’s a huge chunk of new guide videos out on the game now too.

Read on for more on what’s been up with MMO crowdfunding over the last week and our roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’re following.

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Reign of Guilds shows off environments, castles, and magic in latest dev blog

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The latest dev blog for Russian indie dev Atlant Games’s upcoming Reign of Guilds has a veritable smorgasbord of detailed information about various facets of the game, ranging from the technical tools being used to create the open world to the game’s magic system and more. A great deal of the blog post is devoted to discussing the design and creation of the game’s open world, detailing the tools the devs are using in order to generate the world’s mountains, forests, streams, and other natural splendors. It also takes a look at the first of the game’s counties, called Daerkunn, which the blog post says is about 50% complete.

The dev blog also delves into the construction of the castles that will play key roles in the game’s guild-vs-guild warfare. From simple wooden outposts to grand stone citadels, the team is aiming to provide a diverse array of locations for players to kill each other over. In addition, the post highlights some of the elemental magic players will be able to wield as well as detailing the game’s inventory and trading systems. If you’re interested in checking out this behind-the-scenes look at Reign of Guilds’s development, you can check out the full post over on the game’s official site.

Source: Reign of Guilds devblog #4

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The MOP Up: Star Trek Online’s DS9 expansion gets a console release date (July 14, 2018)

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The MMO industry moves along at the speed of information, and sometimes we’re deluged with so much news here at Massively Overpowered that some of it gets backlogged. That’s why there’s The MOP Up: a weekly compilation of smaller MMO stories and videos that you won’t want to miss. Seen any good MMO news? Hit us up through our tips line!

Maybe you’ll discover a new game in this space — or be reminded of an old favorite! This week we have stories and videos from Elsword, EVE Online, Soulworker Online, League of Legends, Realm Royale, Survived By, EverQuest II, Prosperous Universe, Black Desert Mobile, and Star Trek Online, all waiting for you after the break!

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Multiplayer survival sandbox Outpost Zero hits Steam early access

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The super pretty survivalbox Outpost Zero has planted roots in Steam’s early access program. It’s currently $15.99; tinyBuild and Symmetric Games say it’s a fully featured version of the game, though the devs are still working on more mechanics and balancing, particularly in regard to PvP and base raiding. The full launch is expected early next year.

“This Early Access version is a fully featured version of the game. Animals, Pirate Raids, PvP combat, Base Building, Corporations, and Bot AI are all implemented to create a full cohesive survival experience. We will continue to polish and improve these systems over the course of Early Access release. […] In the final version of the game we will be introducing many more powerful and fun Bot AI classes to craft, many additional Pirate Raid mechanics, Flying Vehicles, Massive Battle Mechs, several additional game modes (like horde mode and team vs team base defense), and of course a ton more content, from Equipment and Weapons, Structure types, Animal classes, and more.”

Massively OP’s MJ has been touring the game this summer as part of her deep-dive into multiple survival games for her ongoing column; you can check those streams out below, along with the official quickstart tutorial and trailer.

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Monster Hunter: World teases Final Fantasy XIV crossover in new trailer as Capcom stocks drop

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Capcom has released a new trailer teasing the upcoming Final Fantasy XIV crossover with Monster Hunter: World, which will allow hunters to square off with Final Fantasy’s own Behemoth as a large monster encounter, among other FF-related additions.

In addition to the Behemoth fight itself, the trailer shows off the new armor set that players can (presumably) craft from Behemoth bits, which is an exact copy of FFXIV’s iconic Dragoon artifact armor, complete with the Gae Bolg spear. The spear appears to be part of the Insect Glaive family, thus allowing the would-be Dragoons to perform the class’s signature Jump ability, after a fashion.

Other Final-Fantasy-themed inclusions include Cactuars, which seem to function similarly to MHW’s status-inflicting toads that can be kicked or hit with a slinger to trigger status effects. The Cactuar, when triggered, appear to perform their signature Thousand Needles attack, damaging anything in the vicinity.

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Pokemon Go 2 Day Community Event for Eevee, tons of content this weekend and on the horizon

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It looks as if the upcoming Pokemon Let’s Go games are affecting Pokemon Go once again. I doubt it’s a coincidence that the next Community Day Pokemon is Eevee, the second, non-Pikachu version of the upcoming Switch games. Even better, Niantic may finally be listening to players (including our staffers), as Community Day will be held on two days this time: August 11 and 12.

As some people have noticed, the text mentions that Eevee and its evolutions will receive a new move, in addition to the longer lures and bonus stardust for catching Pokemon. There’s just one problem: Umbreon, the Dark-type Eevee, can be obtained only through the naming trick during the day. Espeon and Umbreon are normally earned by walking an Eevee 10 kilometers or more and evolving it when it’s your buddy, but the time of day matters: It becomes Espeon during the day and Umbreon during the night. As Community Day is only three hours long and still seems to be during its usual hours (11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the west coast), that sounds like Umbreon won’t be available.

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Betawatch: Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen kicks off character creation (July 13, 2018)

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It’s important in an MMO to feel like you own the bundle of stats and spells that you lovingly refer to as a character. Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen has taken a step toward improving that feeling with the first version of its character creator, just patched into the game’s test client. Hooray for making characters!

Meanwhile, Defiance 2050 has moved out of its test phase and into full-on relaunch territory. Hooray for launches!

There has been some other beta movement, too. Some of it is rather silly. Cases in point:

So, somewhat silly, but rather quiet. Not a bad week! We’ve got our usual list of games in development just below, and as always we appreciate anyone letting us know if something swapped phases without us noticing down in the comments. It’s very kind of you.

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Twin Saga patches in a new class, new zones, and new chibi companions

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At a glance, Twin Saga does not seem like a game that would be replete with firearms. It does not look like a setting in which you gun down your foes. Yet the new Cannoneer class is all about blasting things to pieces, so we must conclude that looks can be deceiving. It’s one of the big new additions with the newest patch, but it’s hardly the only one; players will also be able to explore two new zones in the northeast of the map, Black Hill and Moonlight Valley.

Players can also take on a new dungeon, Boreas Tower, whilst picking up two new Senshi (those are the cute little chibi things in the header, for reference). Add in new story quests and a new level cap of 80, and players will have plenty to do with the latest patch. Including blasting adorable monsters and scenery into bits with cannons, if necessary.

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Bless Online outlines next week’s Migra Turis update, plus balance and combat changes to come

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It’s Friday, and that means the requisite Bless Online producer’s letter. Fans of the game who’ve stuck with it through the rocky start will want to know that Neowiz has several tweaks on the way. Next Wednesday’s update specifically targets Migra Turis; it’ll add a new elite level of difficulty, complete with new level 45 heroic weapon from the last boss.

Everything else is still flagged “coming soon”; that includes the PvP balance changes, optimization, the doubled dungeon drop rate, and the combat targeting revamp.

“Many of you have been asking to have the option to switch targeting mode for different classes. As such, we have been working to bring you more options. In the next change to the targeting mode options, you will be able to switch between modes with all classes except the Berzerker and Paladin, which will still be locked to action targeting and tab targeting respectively. As the Paladin needs to use tab targeting to effectively heal and the Berzerker skills were optimized for action targeting, we have not yet been able to give both mode options to these classes that resulted in a positive player experience. We will instead be adding a target tracking function for the Berzerker (and the other classes as well) that we think will address many of your issues.”

Source: Official site

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Destiny 2’s upcoming patch tweaks Quickplay, Rumble, and bounties as Bungie preps for Forsaken

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Destiny 2’s 1.2.3 patch (yay soothing numbers) drops on Tuesday, and if you’re thinking it may be a good time for re-entry, you’re gonna wanna know what’s in it. Several things! Quickplay is now 6v6, Rumble is back on the table, and bounties are back – and they won’t be as “gotta do them or else” as they were in their first iteration.

“The bounties returning to Destiny 2 in Update 1.2.3 are a return to most of the properties of bounties in The Taken King. They will be obtained from a variety of vendors, they will generally award XP and faction reputation (though some will offer even better rewards), and can be redeemed “in the field” to immediately claim your rewards. In Forsaken, you may also see some bounties drop in the wild. There are two new mechanics. Bounties will expire if left uncompleted, and acquiring them will cost a small amount of Glimmer. We wanted to avoid the ‘grab every bounty you see until your inventory is packed and sort them out later’ experience without constraining players to the tiny inventory they found in previous iterations of the game.”

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