WoW Wednesday – Pet Battle System

By MerryQuiteContrary, OnRPG Journalist

 

 

For years, your faithful vanity pets have accompanied you on countless adventures. They’ve provided you with comfort, company, sometimes even with entertainment and hours of fun. Maybe you only have a handful of pets you really love, or maybe you have made it your quest to capture as many of them as you can. The fact remains, heroes love their little companions… and in Mists of Pandaria, they will take the spotlight in a brand-new way.

 

 

It was announced a couple days ago that the pet battle system would be back in Mists of Pandaria beta after being taken out due to it not being complete and/or Blizzard wanting to get it right.  I’ve been watching and waiting for this for what feels like an eternity. Colour me excited when it was announced it was included in the 16GB “patch”.  Remember when I wrote Blizzard does true betas? Yeah.  All of Monday was spent cursing Blizzard, my PC (though not its fault to be fair) and the heavens because the pet battle system was BUGGED! Oh the horror. By Tuesday all was well and me and my corehound pup of doom Oscar set off to find adventure.

 

 

I found the pet battle trainer, Vazrok in Ogrimmar (there is a trainer in Stormwind as well). He was able to train me, sell me a cockroach and give a quest.  There are two ways to participate in PvE pet battles.  One is out in the world. Oscar and I spent some time in most of the horde low level zones battling beetles, trees, and crabs.  A green paw shows on the mini map to indicate where there is a willing combatant when out in the world.  Just clicking on the critter with the green paw starts the battle which is turn based.  As you level up your pet more slots and abilities open.  At pet level three you gain the ability to trap the critters and add them to your roster of companions. When you successfully trap an enemy it will be rated such as poor or common and this determines the amount of stats gained each level.  They can also have random abilities. For my second slot I trapped a spirit crab who goes by the name of Clackers. As an aside, it is great that we can now name our companion pets.  The last member of my current team is Ever, the Mana Wyrmling. We have only lost once out in the wild and that was to a moth. A moth!  One other thing about battling out in the world is that other creatures can enter your battle so after the initial enemy dies you may have to fight another critter but you are warned in advance when this is going to happen.

 

 

The other way in which to participate in PvE battles is through the NPC trainers. The first quest given is Learning the Ropes and is given by the initial trainer.  The quests then will automatically be advanced as you complete (by winning) the previous NPC quest. I am not sure the quests alone will be a viable option for levelling your pets. I have been doing a mix of both with steady results.

 

 

Battle pets fall into ten categories:  Aquatic, beast, critter, dragonkin, elemental, flying, humanoid, magical, mechanical and undead.  They all have strength and weakness against the other types as well as passives. For example elemental attacks do more damage to mechanical companions and less to critter companions. The mechanical companions passive is that it can come back to life once per battle at 25% health whereas a dragonkind companion would be 50% additional damage on the next round after bringing the opponent to below 25% health.

 

 

Most companion pets have the ability to rumble but there are a few exceptions to the rule such as Father Winter’s helpers, balloons, kites and argent companions. Yet enchanted lanterns can fight. Go figure.

 

 

Like PvE there are two ways to find a PvP battle. Queuing for a battle against other players is as simple as queuing in the dungeon finder. However, what I’ve noticed is that you are often not pit against other pets of equal levels.  I consistently am fighting other player’s pets that are several levels higher than my own.  The best part of fighting other players is there is no trash talking. In fact, you aren’t even aware of who you are fighting.   This is a brilliant move on Blizzard’s part to try to help out a notoriously awful PvP community. If you decide to duel outside of the battle finder, you still will not be able to communicate with the other player until after the battle ends.

 

 

I can see the potential here for a lot of min maxing.  Players will no doubt be trying out different companions attempting to create the best teams. With the introduction of many new companions the achievement hungry of you will be happy to collect the new pets. Those that maybe aren’t fans of the current duelling system because of all the negativity may enjoy the silent battles.  There might just be a little something for all types here.

 

 

There is an issue that may need addressed.  The two in one resurrection and heal ability is only available once every 15 minutes.  You can also heal your pets at the stable masters but this is a bit of an inconvenience if you are out in the field levelling your pets.  Knowing Blizzard, they will sort this before long and after all it is beta.

 

 

So what do I think about all this as someone who is fairly critical of this expansion? I quite like it actually.  It isn’t going to be a feature ex-players are going to come back for.  It isn’t game changing but it is fun and Blizzard knows fun.  If you are a pet aficionado, a wannabe dueller, or even a min/maxer you just might like this new system. If nothing else, this new pet battle system will be a nice way to pass time waiting for the raid to start.

 

Character Development: A Roleplay Column

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Have you ever been in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and seen a small group of people walking down the street instead of running around like any sensible person would do? Have you ever seen two people facing each other underneath a train station seemingly ignoring the world while aliens bomb the city from above? Maybe you’ve been wandering through a meadow and stumbled on a woman giving birth next to a pond. These are just a few of things that are quite normal in MMOs of all sorts. Ok, that last one is a bit unusual even for a seasoned roleplayer like myself.

 

 

I’ve been a roleplayer longer than I’ve played MMOs. I got my start in the chatrooms of MSN back in the day before they worried about children and closed them. I met my husband in one of those MSN roleplay chatrooms. When I started playing MMOs and to this day I look at an MMO and judge it on how much fun I would have roleplaying in that world. Now I am bringing my experience to you. Every other week I will bring you news from various roleplay communities around the MMO world, share some of my experiences and hopefully create a running dialog on the OnRPG boards about things that are important to the RPing world. I’m really looking forward to interacting with you, my readers. So if there is a community you think I should check out, or if your roleplaying group is holding an event let me know!

 

 

So when I was thinking about what to write about first a few things came to mind. The game I’ve been in the longest; I could but I’d rather save it for one of the awesome events that are held on a regular basis. An introduction to roleplaying; I could but that might be a bit boring for veterans. Or there was the one that I had my heart set on doing and have decided to go with, The Secret World. I know, right now it’s everywhere. And there is a good reason for it. The world is completely amazing. But the game isn’t for me to talk about, that’s Ardua’s job in his weekly The Secret World column called Faithless Is He. I’m here to talk about all the amazing things Funcom has done for the Roleplaying community in The Secret World. Ok, so if you look around either of Funcom’s two roleplay servers you won’t actually see much rp going on. Why? Everyone is still doing the content. Add to that how new the game is and how different it is from any other game in the genre and you end up with slightly empty pubs and a whole lot of dead evil creatures. But Funcom has gone above and beyond to make The Secret World fantastic for RPers.

 

 

How so you ask? Well if you’ve played you know you have to come up with a first name, last name and finally your nickname which is unique to your character. Some people have been finding the requirement of a first name and last name a bit annoying. I’ve even seen people who have all three names exactly the same. In a post on the official TSW forums Ragnar Tørnquist came out and said that the naming process was done with roleplayers in mind.

 

 

When a new dimension was added it was flagged as a roleplay dimension since they seem to be one of the most popular in most MMOs.

 

 

The in game store is almost entirely clothes which have nothing to do with your stats. So far I’ve managed to resist buying anything but I don’t think I’ll be able to hold out much longer. My character already wears a different outfit every day. And I’m afraid once I start I should just have my paycheck from OnRPG direct deposited into Funcom’s bank account. I’ll want it all!

 

 

The three hubs for the player factions are combat free. Now I imagine that it’s all part of the story, putting together the setting, but I can’t help but think this is a nod to rpers. If I’m headed to Seoul, New York or London for anything other than quick business I put the weapons away while I’m still in Agartha. For people who do want to see a bit of action while they’re in the hubs there are the fight clubs. Not that these areas are excluded from roleplaying as a result.

 

 

In London there are two pubs to pick from. The Horned God has been picked as the main rping spot in the whole game. It makes sense to me because London is the hub and rpers are for some reason always drawn to the clubs/pubs/inns.

 

 

 

Personally I never stop rping. Even doing dungeons I’m rping. So if you’re in The Secret World on Arcadia and see three people walking everywhere, strike up a conversation! We don’t bite, I promise.

 

 

I hope you all come back in two weeks when I talk more about the wonderful world of roleplaying.

Faithless Is He: Unleashed

By Jonathan Doyle (Ardua), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

A few things happened this weekend and I’ll see if I can tie them all together for you.

 

-My group and I have been strolling around in Blue Mountain

-Ragnar and co. had their first Twitch.Tv chat.

-The Secret World: Unleashed was announced.

-The cast of Firefly had a ten year reunion at Comic Con.

 

 

One of those things is clearly unlike the others on the face of it but you’ll see why it was added in a moment.

 

 

We’ll deal with the best and most exciting bit of news first.

 

 

Unleashed

Issue 1: Unleashed is the first monthly content update for The Secret World. Announced just before the weekend, these Issues represent an ongoing unfolding narrative in The Secret World that is free for subscribers. No one has to worry about possibly being charged for the monthly new missions, new stories and other updates.

 

 

Unleashed, styled as a comic book issue, brings new missions to characters across the world. Special attention this time is given to the character of Carter from Innsmouth Academy on The Savage Coast. Players will know her as the sweet, incredibly powerful, girl who just wants to be normal … and who always seems to get the short end of the stick in Mr Montags motivational speeches. Previously a character that merely had some dialogue and a supporting role in the cut scenes for the other action missions in the Academy, Carter will be getting her own set of tasks for people.

 

 

Other characters scattered around Solomon Island will also be getting more missions this month making the first zones any new player goes through just that bit more enjoyable.  These little updates however aren’t just focused on the first major occult outbreak you deal with, Egypt and the Carpathian Fangs also get some attention as do the dungeons. New Nightmare modes will be available for both The Ankh and Hell Fallen for those who want to pit themselves against the evils of the world.

 

 

Future updates promise even more to come with little details being given out to fans and press alike for now. Later in August we will finally learn more about Issue 2 and auxiliary weapons. All I can tell you for now is that characters are going to end up with even more bang for their pax romana.

 

 

Twitch TV

If you missed out on the first Funcom Developer Twitch TV you should be both saddened and relieved. Yes there were some choice questions asked and answers given… but for the most part it was three great guys sitting around a table with pizza and beer playing The Secret World and chatting.

 

 

Personally, as a European and having watched other such interactions, this is proof that Europe has more fun, or the marketing team had passed out earlier that day.

 

 

Little bits that came out during the Live stream:

 

-Funcom will be at Gamescom this August in Cologne.

-There will be some southern hemisphere “loving” coming in the future.

-Housing is something they would love to do but do not plan to any time soon as they would want to take the time and do it right.

-“From the very beginning we wrote Argartha to be expandable”@RagnarTornquist

-“Are we continuing to improve combat? Absolutely yes we are” – Joel

-Time travel may come up in the future.

And most importantly “Revealing too much is No” – @RagnarTornquist

 

 

Honestly. I loved watching them.

 

 

One of These Is Not Like The Others..

Of the four things that came up over the weekend, one didn’t quite fit. Or does it?

 

 

Firefly aired ten years ago. Thirteen episodes spawned such a fan base that upon its cancellation they managed to get it brought back as a fully featured movie. No other show to my knowledge has managed quite the same feat. What does that have to do with anything?

 

 

Well it’s all to do with the characters. After all, thirteen episodes? That’s half a season by any other standard except British Sci-Fi. That’s barely enough time to blow the dust off of some ideas and start to present them. Ideas yes, characters no. It was the characters that won people’s hearts, that drove the fans to demand more and the characters are the reason why ten years on there was a panel of actors who have all moved onto other projects long since.

 

 

It’s that secret blend of humour, darkness and being genre savvy that has made me fall in love with these characters. Funcom and Ragnar have hit on whatever dark and terrible power it is that Joss Whedon commands.  It is that dark and terrible power that ultimately keeps me coming back night after night; to say nothing of the lifetime I am subscribed for.

 

 

Unleashed, as covered above, is quite a nice bonus. In my other games I am used to waiting months in between large content updates, or shorter periods for small events and missions somewhat thrown together to keep people quiet and happy.

 

 

A monthly update is great, it really is. What makes it more than a mere update for me is the fact that the story is moving. NPCs that I fall in love with today (I’m looking at you Hayden Montag) may not be there next month. There exists not just the possibility for stories to grow and change but also to end. The characters that have drawn me into the game are now vitally important to me, more so than my own character. My character cannot die, they can. They can take their story and their quirkiness and humour and darkness away and … it makes me want to savour every moment.

 

 

Thirteen episodes are all it took for one man and a handful of actors to win hearts around the globe and hold onto them for ten years and counting.  We haven’t even gotten to our first issue and I can already feel the tugging of my heartstrings under skilled Norwegian fingers.