Yearly Archives: 2008

BlizzCon 2008: World of Warcraft Class Panel

ANAHEIM, California–Class diversity plays a major role in World of Warcraft. Whether you rolled a druid and ended up becoming your guild’s primary HoT (Heal over Time) healer, clawing your way up the threat meter in cat, or keeping the squishies down back alive in bear form, yesterday’s class panel showed just how much thought and testing goes into all aspects of WOW’s class balancing act. Tom Chilton and Greg Street chaired the panel and did a class-by-class walkthrough of all currently planned changes in the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion, which we’ve summarized below.

The session opened with a look at the death knight, the first new class to be added since the game went live in late 2004. Not surprisingly the class went through quite a few iterations of progression in the lead-up to its introduction to the game. Both Chilton and Street commented on the evolution of the rune system and explained the development team’s desire to use runes as a resource rather than inject another class into the gameworld with a formulaic series of button presses. Having six runes split across three trees–blood, frost, and unholy–means that you need to manage three separate cooldown (CD) timers rather than a single global cooldown timer (GCD). The two hosts also stressed the importance of context-specific diseases for the DK class, with some 12 afflictions originally on the cards but being reduced to three or four essential abilities. These debuffs serve to deal additional damage when the target is struck with melee weapons, heal the player, or spread disease between multiple enemies. Though the class still forces you to pick your path and spend talent points according to whether you’d prefer additional melee damage and healing, burst damage and target control, or additional proficiency in diseases and minions, each tree will still let you fill the role of a tank, or if you wish, a melee-damage class such as a fury warrior or rogue.

Hunters are due to receive a complete pet overhaul in WOTLK to address confusion about which pets are best, where to find them, and to stop you from needing to tame pets for skills and temporarily house them in your stables. Rather than need to look up a guide on which pet has claw rank nine, you’ll now be able to train the skill as your pet levels. Hunters will also receive additional pet slots at their stables to keep their beasts when not in use. Shot rotations are a huge part of maximizing hunter damage, but until now it has been quite complex to avoid clipping your shots–timing shots so they don’t overlap. Blizzard doesn’t expect hunters to have to resort to user-interface mods to do this, and so the company’s working to clean up the shot system and make it a more natural system for players. Hunters will also receive a new ability at level 80 called freezing shot, which is a projectile-based version of the current freezing trap. It’s being introduced to speed up trapping, particularly in instances (which we didn’t think was that hard before), given that there’s no need to pull the intended mob to your placed trap to freeze them in place.

Priests seem to play a huge role in the class overhauls. The big focus is on making all healing classes a little stronger on the DPS side and DPS classes a little better on the healing side. That’s not to say that rogues or mages are going to replace priests in raids, but the move to a unified gear system under “spell power” rather than bonus damage or healing should level the playing field and make talent specialisation more important. Blizzard also wants priests to step out of the support role in shadow form and become viable damage-dealers alongside mages and locks. Considering that, particularly at the higher levels of gear, priests aren’t constantly spamming their highest rank of heal, there are times when no one needs much more than a quick top-up. For times like this, Blizzard is giving priests a new ability called mind seer to help deal damage. Though it wasn’t discussed, this could also be a useful PVP ability.

Blizzard is concerned that mages are turning into food table and portal machines, despite the class’s strong legacy as a high direct-damage dealing class. For this reason, the developers are looking into introducing either three or four viable DPS specs alongside the new abilities at level 80. To help mix up the static fire and frost tree combos, the team is adding frostfire bolt, a combination attack that draws bonuses from multiple talents and gives those playing the class a new damage skill in their repertoire. Another new inclusion is mirror image, a (currently in beta) three-minute cooldown spell that will let your mage create three physically identical copies of that character and deal damage for 30 seconds before they die. Apparently the ability confuses the heck out of the healers, so this one should be fun in raids.

Druids as a hybrid class have always been both spec- and gear-dependent, but the upcoming planned changes only amplify this concept further. Each tree will receive specific revamping with what looks to be some tempting talents to avoid point splits. That’s not to say that as a tank you won’t be able to put points into improving your resto tree, but expect to do it at the expense of specific bear skills. Balance will finally receive real crowd control because the dev team plan to allow for tangling roots to be used indoors. Resto druids receive both a new flash heal in nourish, and a group heal in wild growth. Feral is split down the middle and will require you to spend either more on cat or bear depending on which role you envisage yourself filling more regularly. Both panelists confirmed that bear tanks will be able to handle all WOTLK raid content as main tanks, but they’ll have to do so at the loss of some of the more fun DPS abilities that cats will have at their disposal.

Shaman seem to have too many totems, and Blizz is working hard to consolidate them. What form that will take remains to be seen. The team is also interested in mixing up the casting rotations for those playing elemental shammies with the introduction of a new lava burst spell as an alternative to lightning bolt. Resto will see a new instant direct heal with a small HoT component that increases the effect of the next chain heal and consumes the HoT. The big new addition for Shaman is hex, a legitimate form of crowd control that will transform the target into a random creature for a short period of time.

Rogues have always been a single-target class (with the obvious exception of blade flurry), and as a result, they’ve had a hard time dealing with groups of targets. Fan of knives is a new area effect (AE) skill that will throw out daggers and damage multiple targets simultaneously. Sap is also getting a buff and will soon be able to be used against a wider variety of targets than just humanoids, and will better aid rogue crowd control in five-man dungeons. Blizzard is also keen to get rogues back into daggers and poisons, and may possibly let the latter be used for boss encounters.

Some would say warriors have fallen out of favour as the tanks of choice over time, given the flexibility of druids and protection paladins in a raiding situation. The devs are committed to putting some of the fun back in tanking and are juggling talents for core prot abilities to free up points for some more of the fun toys. Arms warriors should start seeing more battle-stance-focused abilities, and both rend and overpower have been upped considerably. New talents bladestorm and sudden death (executed when the target is over 10% HP) should both add some fun and burn a little rage. Fury warriors will receive titan’s grip, a beefy new skill that allows for dual-wielding two-handed weapons, but comes with associated penalties including reducing your chance to hit to keep DPS in line with other classes.

Warlocks are due to get some love in the destruction talent tree by having their shadow bolt spam reduced and a more interesting rotation put in its place. The dev team is also working hard to reintroduce affliction as a viable talent spec for high-end raiding. Pet diversity is another issue on the table, and though no specific examples were given on how Blizzard plans to help with the range of available demons, work is apparently being done to avoid relying on just the imp or succubus for PVE and the felpup in PVP. New skill demonic circle will be used as a quick location-change mechanic not unlike a mini-, instant hearthstone. Metamorphosis will let you shift into demon form and control not only your normal spells, but also the specific ones that come with the talent: shooting shadow bolts in multiple directions and pulling aggro long enough to regain control when a tank goes down and it all goes to pot.

Paladins were last, but certainly won’t be receiving less attention than their fellow classes. Seals and judgements will be receiving overhauls, and Blizzard would like to see pallies stop rolling on DPS caster swords for tanking and will be implementing tanking weapons more tailored to tanking needs. On the holy front, work is being done around the sedentary nature of pally healing. Holy shock, beacon of light, and retribution of light are being tweaked to help with mobility and for use in PVP. The retribution tree is working as intended, and though there will be ongoing monitoring and perhaps a nerf or two to manage DPS, don’t expect too much reduction if it does happen because the team is happy with how the class is tracking on the damage meters.

The last part of the panel session dealt with changing raid dynamics. The key message here focused on downplaying the need for consumable and buff stacking to succeed in PVE, instead relying more on player skill and raid utility for all classes. Dual talent spec was also touched on briefly, and though the mechanics are yet to be finalised at this early stage, they may work by flipping a switch and changing roles. The move would allow classes to cycle jobs as required and switch from a protection tank to a damage-dealing class from boss to boss if an encounter had no threat table. Blizzard devs are also looking at dynamic glyphs and action bars that would reflect the abilities related to your spec to stop players from having to rearrange icons between fights.

Source: Gamespot.

Gala-Net Launches Open Beta for Tales Runner- October 16th

Gala-Net Inc., the online publisher of Tales Runner, announced today that it has entered its open beta phase in North America. Beginning October 16th, players can visit the gaming portal, gpotato.com, to sign up and download the game client.

Tales Runner, inspired by Nintendo’s Mario Kart, is a free to play MMO game that has many distinctive attributes from any other racing game.

Among those distinctive features are:

• The Item Alchemy: This crafting system allows players to collect special cards at the end of each race. Combining these cards creates the most powerful and unique weapons in the game.
• The Tales Runner Leveling System: Tales Runner features a unique, rewarding leveling system. Each time a player reaches a new level they are rewarded with in-game currency as well as access to new racing rooms.
• Customization: With 4 starting characters to choose from, 4 more to be released, and hundreds of different items, accessories and outfits
• Tales Land Park: A central “Town” where players can hang out, show off their gear, and exchange tips with each other. There are also mini games within the park that rewards players with items and in-game currency.
• Unique Racing Modes: There are several race modes available to players; 8 Player Mode, Team Mode, Relay Race, 30 Player Mode, and the crowd favorite, Survival Mode, where players must race toward their screen rather than away. Each Survival Mode course features a Boss Monster that eliminates players from the race with the slightest touch.

The community aspect of Tales Runner is the driving force separating this racing MMO from many others currently in the market. Events are built on a foundation of community interaction, often placing players in teams and encouraging good sportsmanship and cooperation. In addition, there will be the continuous addition of new content to the game in ‘Chapters’ throughout the year. Each release will come with a plethora of new maps, items and features.

With its unique mixture of fast paced racing and involved community, Tales Runner’s appeal will reach many different types of gamers.

Rappelz: Epic V, Part II to be Released October 15th

Gala-Net Inc. announced today that it will release “Rappelz Epic V: The Dragonic Age, Part II” on October 15th to its free-to-play game portal, gPotato.com, in the North American market.

This Epic continues in Part II, with new updates and features, bringing Epic V to a full circle. In Part II, players can expect to see the Rappelz Arsenal, a massive database of information for Rappelz. It shows players the most up-to-date information on characters and pets directly from the Rappelz databases. The Arsenal allows players to view everything from a character’s armors and weapons, skill cards currently equipped, to the skills of the characters and pets. Moreover, the new Ursa Dungeon, also known as Ursa Caverns, will be highlighted. Once an hour, players can enter the Ursa Cavern’s waiting room and will have the option of creating a group or join an existing group. Once players enter Ursa Caverns, they will be met with masses of ferocious bears. Players will have a short period of time to achieve the goal, and with every bear killed, players earn points and progress closer to defeating the dungeon. These points can later be used to purchase new equipment and items.

This feature is sure to be immensely popular in the community and will be a great addition for the Rappelz community. “Ursa Caverns is a new addition to Rappelz Epic V, Part II. It offers an entirely new type of dungeon mechanic that will prove to be a fun and exciting challenge for players of all levels,” said Senior Producer Michael Powers. “Ursa Caverns is just a taste of what Part II has to offer our dedicated players from around the world.”

A Halo MMO would be “pretty challenging” – Bungie

Making an MMO out of the Halo franchise would be a “pretty challenging” undertaking that would involve the creation of a “whole new layer of fiction and new characters that don’t currently exist” – and is a subject that has often been the subject of “heated discussions” at Bungie.

That’s according to Brian Jarrard, community and PR director at the company, who told GamesIndustry.biz in an interview at the Tokyo Game Show that it would be “hard for me to imagine… not that it couldn’t be done.”

“I’m not sure,” he said. “They are like our lunchtime discussions at the studio. A Halo MMO wasn’t something that at the studio we had a lot of purview on. We’d heard rumblings and on paper, if someone says ‘Let’s take Halo, plus Warcraft, equals dollar signs…’

“So it was interesting when that whole thing came to light, there was more there than we ever really thought there was. I don’t know, we’ve had a lot of heated discussions – there’s a big, vast, rich universe, but then again it’s hard for me to imagine.

“Everybody wants to be Master Chief, they all want to be the Spartan. You’d have to create a whole new layer of fiction and new characters that don’t currently exist – not that it couldn’t be done,” he added.

“I don’t know if I would want to invest and become a Warthog mechanic in a garage, when all my friends were out there kicking ass on the front lines. I’m sure there’s probably enough there to work with where something could of come of it, but I think it would have been pretty challenging.”

Jarrard was speaking after earlier reports that Ensemble Studios had put some exploratory work into finding out if a Halo MMO was viable, but that the project had been discontinued – but he was positive about Ensemble’s other take on the franchise, RTS title Halo Wars.

“So far we have been very eager – watching and anticipating where the franchise goes,” he explained. “But thus far Microsoft’s only tapped top talent to work on the franchise and when Halo Wars was greenlit a while back… those guys are world class developers of RTS games, and if anybody’s going to tackle Halo in that genre, they were the best people to pick.

“It’s good to see that the game looks like it’s coming along really, really well. We’re sort of watching from the sidelines, taking it all in, but our priority mostly is just making our Halo game awesome for our fans, and we’ll stay focused on that.”

Source: Gamesindustry.biz.

Virtual Pet Weeks for Bounty Bay Online started

All pet items 25 percent off!

The main tasks in Bounty Bay Online are fighting, trading and exploring. But what would a real pirate do without his loyal parrot on his shoulder? Thus, virtual pets play an important role in the sailor online-roleplaying game. To simplify the start into the pet world for players, publisher Frogster Interactive has just called out the virtual pet weeks. Until 4th of November 2008, players on the free-2-play server “Mary Read” can acquire all pet related items for 25 percent off in the ingame shop. Anybody who still hesitated to tame a pet will now be provided with a serious incentive to discover its heart for animals.

Pets actively support the player in the land battles of Bounty Bay Online. But of course they also present a status symbol that earns players much respect already from far sight. But players need to feed the virtual companions regularly so that they won’t get into a bad mood or even die. Thus, only wealthy players can afford the expensive pets. Those who have enough money in their treasure chest, can select from a choice of real animals like lions, tigers or rabbits and reborn creatures of prehistoric times like dinosaurs. A complete overview of all pets and further information about Bounty Bay Online can be found on the official website.

About Bounty Bay Online
With Bounty Bay Online players enter the Age of Discovery from the 15th to the 17th century. MMO fans are able to choose an online career as a merchant, sailor, fisherman, pirate or adventurer and make their fortune at land and on the seven seas. Alone or with a guild of players, many adventures and gripping quests lie on their way. Thousands of ancient discoveries on all continents like the pyramids of Gizah or the Chinese Wall are waiting to be explored. Bounty Bay Online features a unique trade system based on supply and demand. After exciting PvP combat at land and on the seas, strong guilds can take control of cities and decide upon their destiny. In April 2008 Frogster has started a free-to-play server with an integrated item shop as an alternative to the subscription model, so that new sailors can now roam the Seven Seas without any fixed costs.

Zu Online: Six Long-cherished Pets

Different kinds of pets in Zu Online all look different and possess different attributes. It must be difficult to make a choice between pets sometimes. However, certain pets are essential for adventuring in Zu. Why are they so essential? Because after you have one of them, you will find you become even stronger and your life won’t be so boring anymore. Now these six pets will be introduced in detail:

Pet 1: Taiji Beast
These are pets that players will see often in game. This is because they look super cute. They can improve their masters’ attack power a great deal, so they are good for assisting in leveling and completing quests.

Pet 2: Snowy Sophist
If you think they are incapable because they are slim and small, you are absolutely wrong. Actually, they possess very good attributes. Slim and graceful, they are the perfect match for female characters.

Pet 3: Fiery Howler
With fire-red hair, an enraged face, thick muscles and a presence that frightens almost everyone who has ever seen them, they can be even more helpful to their masters than strong armor.

Pet 4: Flying Pig
They are the swiftest pets in the game. Their good attributes as well as their Garrote bonus always helps their masters to overcome any enemy.

Pet 5: Fiery Dancer
They are not easy to train. But their super cool fiery look and extraordinary attributes always surprise everyone that has the patience to master them.

Pet 6: Jade Tortoise
Which is the most beautiful pet in Zu Online? Most players agree it must be the Jade Tortoise. Their beautiful shape and fiercesome gaze have impressed a lot of people deeply. Rumor even says that a player who has a Jade Tortoise will always be lucky.
How many of the pets mentioned above do you have? We hope you were deeply impressed by them no matter what type of pet you prefer!

Football Manager MMO out this year

Sports Interactive boss Miles Jacobson has said the developer will soft-launch Football Manager Live, its first stab at a touchline hairdryer MMO, later this year.

“Well, Football Manager Live will be released [in 2008], but we’re not having a release day, or anything like that,” Jacobson told GamesIndustry.biz.

“So this year there’ll be a limited amount of game worlds launched, which are available for people to pre-order at the moment, and they should be released before the end of the year. Then there’ll be a proper push on FML early next year.”

Initially, three month, six month and twelve month subscriptions will be available. Retail copies are to be held back until 2009, and only English servers will exist for the time being.

This soft launch helps Jacobson and team slowly build the community and effectively continue to stress test the game, avoiding the “million different problems” of release date player stampedes.

But the game is definitely finished, said Jacobson, and paying subscribers can expect free updates every three to four months rather than expansions. The first of these patches is due in January.

“I understand what you’re saying, that people might think we’ve just got extra people testing the game, but the game is done. So from that perspective, it’s not the case,” added Jacobson.

“The first version is done, and we’re planning for the first update, which should be out in January – and then every few months from there. The game development team are currently working on the code for that January update.”

Football Manager 2009, for PC and PSP, is also due out this year on 14th November.

Included are flashy features such as a 3D match engine and press conferences and a rewritten transfer system.

Head over to our Football Manager Live or Football Manager 2009 gamepages for more information.

Sign Up Now for Cryptic Studios’ Champions Online™ Closed Beta

Players get to test the new comic book styled action MMO for the first time

Cryptic Studios™ announced today that players can now sign up for a chance to participate in the first closed beta for Champions Online™, an action massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) slated for release in the spring of 2009. This PC specific beta begins in mid-November 2008.

“This closed beta is an exciting step in the evolution of Champions Online,” said Jack Emmert, chief creative officer for Cryptic Studios. “All of us here in the Cryptic offices have been playing the game for a while now, and we’re excited to invite others in to have as much fun with Champions Online as we’ve been having internally.”

Champions Online gives players the power of total customization for their hero experience while they explore a vast comic book universe. Gamers create their hero’s name, back story, costume, powers and abilities as well as design their own personal nemesis and his or her back story, which will guarantee a truly unique experience.

Champions Online is being developed by Cryptic Studios as a cross-platform project including PC and current gen console systems, and is published by 2K Games, the publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO).

Outspark Celebrates Columbus Day

Outspark is running a trio of exciting events in their free-to-play MMORPGs Fiesta and Secret of the Solstice to celebrate Columbus Day.

The Fiesta GMs will be online all day on October 13th and 14th guarding their buried treasure from adventurous explorers. Any player lucky enough to discover the hidden location of the GM’s booty will be rewarded with all the gold nuggets they can carry – enough to buy their very own fleet of ships!

While searching for the GM’s treasure, players should keep their virtual cameras at the ready and snap screenshots of Fiesta’s most breathtaking vistas. Players can submit up to three screenshots of Isya’s most beautiful landscapes in the Explorer’s of Isya contest, and the Fiesta community will pick the top two winners – each will receive a real brass compass so they continue their exploration in real life.

Secret of the Solstice players of all levels can set sail for danger on the high seas and take part in the Ghost Ship event. Today only, the Solstice GMs will be helping players battle the gruesome ghouls and ghosts who make the ghost ship their home and benefit from dramatically increased XP rewards.

Columbus Day only comes once a year, so log in to your favorite Outspark MMORPG now before these fun events set sail until next year.

Take a look at Fiesta Online and Secret of Solstice.