"Surprisingly though, I had a decent time. I managed to get a Republic Trooper off the Ord Mantell starter planet and firmly entrenched in a few Coruscant quest lines, and I logged over 10 hours of gameplay in the process (in the comfort of my own home, mind you, and not under the watchful eye of a PR droid at a convention).Read them both here!
To be frank, TOR's not half bad. It's had a lot of money thrown at it, there's a ton of what passes for modern-day MMO content, and if you're into that sort of thing, you'll no doubt enjoy yourself for a time..."
Friday, October 21, 2011
Massively's double-dose of SWTOR Beta Impressions
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Fallen Earth - On Free2Play and Beyond!
We're on the cusp!
Today marks the day we've been building up to for the last four months. As
of today, everyone with an account will be able to log in and play
Fallen Earth without buying a box or paying for a sub! Free players will
be able to gain every level, craft every item, join and create clans, and visit
every place in the world (including all instances) without paying a
dime. Current subscribers will be upgraded for free to the Commander
Premium Subscription (until their current sub or game time ends or
re-ups), and everyone who has ever bought the game or had a sub will be
receiving their Spiked Chopper. Check this page out for the full rundown on playing free or supporting the game with a Premium Subscription.
We know the ride hasn't always been smooth, but it's been a crazy fun journey and we're honored to be taking it with you!
Gifts Recap
If
you're an existing subscriber, please check below to make sure you
receive everything for which you've qualified. We've spent a lot of time
on these, and we'd hate it if you missed out on them!
- July Subscriber Appreciation Gifts: Fancy White Boots and Skindog Pet. Sent to anyone with an active subscription or game time in July. Keys sent out in August.
- August Subscriber Appreciation Gifts: Snazzy White Hat and Chupacabras Pet. Goes to anyone with an active subscription or game time in August. Keys sent out in September.
- September Subscriber Appreciation Gifts: Sexy White Jacket and Classic Creeper Pet. Goes to anyone with an active subscription or game time in September. Keys sent out in October.
- Free2Play Transition Subscriber Appreciation Gift: Chest, Legs, and Groin Wardrobe Slots unlock item. Goes to all who had an active subscription in July, August, September, and October. Keys to be sent out today.
- Vet Reward Item: Spiked Chopper. Keys to be sent out by the end of this week.
- Commander Subscription Upgrade: Free upgrade to Commander level Premium Subscription on any game time/sub active when the game goes Free2Play. Lasts until the end of the current billing cycle.
- Permanent Commander Subscription Discount: Permanent discount on Commander Premium Subscription ($29.99 to $19.99), available to all players who have ever purchased or subscribed to the game. Effective permanently as of October 12th.
As
with all of the code-based gifts (Vet Reward Chopper and
Subscriber/Transition Gifts), you can check your e-mail for the code OR
find it in your account's "Codes" page.
Patch Notes & World Events Delay
Besides Free2Play, here are some changes of note:
- Loot on many creatures fixed (drop rates shouldn't have been as low as they were)
- Bridges fixed to lower incidents of people falling through them
- Bandages back on merchants
- Fastener count in recipes reduced (to reflect the fact that they are now rarer)
- Bandages require less cotton
- New items on Reward Merchants: "Commander's Best Crafting Kit" (can be used in place of any crafting kit) and Wardrobe Slot unlocks
We
wanted desperately to release World Events along with Free2Play, but
the realities of testing mean we've uncovered enough bugs and
performance issues to have to push it. As a consequence, World Events
will be added in next week. And they'll be awesome when they do.
Check out the full patch notes here.
Economy Overview:
Subtitle: Where are we going with all this??
We
understand that before the last patch it was easy to run out to a
waypoint and snag some components you knew would be there. Completely
understated, it sucks to not be able to just do this now! This is the
way Things Have Always Been, and changing it up is stressful to everyone
that has been doing it since forever. There were, however, three huge problems with maintaining that status quo: One, it wasn't fun. Two, when things are easy to get (as they were), they don't matter as much. Three, there was no reason to interact with other players. At
best, it was a simple way to get whatever components you needed with
little challenge; at worst it was an unengaging pre-requisite to
crafting that devalued both cooperation and final crafted products.
Everyone got the resources they wanted whenever they wanted them and
everyone could craft anything easily, meaning there was no real value to
resources and not much of a market for components or products. Nobody
needed to trade or cooperate to achieve goals, and there was never any
competition for resources. While this was a fairly laid back system to
participate in, it was not particularly good for Fallen Earth's long term health.
You'll have to make a lot more interesting choices, and there will be more game there to play. All in all it should be a lot of fun, and we're looking forward to it -- and all the other new developments that the transition to Free2Play will enable!
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Jedi Knight vs. Bounty Hunter
In “Choose Your Side,” members of the Star Wars™: The Old
Republic™ development team debate the merits of the various in-game
classes to see who will truly reign supreme. In the first installment in
this four-part series, the noble Jedi Knight squares off against the
nefarious Bounty Hunter. In support of the Jedi Knight is Senior Writer
Hall Hood and Designer Austin Peckenpaugh, while Senior System Designer
Pete Warner and Writer Randy Begel defend the Bounty Hunter.
Companion Characters Update - Part 2
In the previous blog,
Senior Game Designer William Wallace explained new improvements to
companion characters in The Old Republic. Here, he delves deeper into AI
and companions’ roles in a group.
Originally, our companions functioned almost entirely on their own, with only a few options for manual control. From both internal feedback and testing, we found that the integral nature of companions to gameplay in The Old Republic™ had many players wishing for more control over their companion’s behavior – they wanted more than what they had experienced in other massively-multiplayer games.
To address this, we’ve taken a page from other BioWare games and added AI toggles to each ability to control whether the companion should decide on their own when to use them, or whether they should be manually activated by the player. Players who are not interested in managing their companion can leave the default toggles on and let them run on autopilot. Skilled players can take complete control of the companion by expanding the companion bar onto their screen and using the abilities directly as though they were player abilities.
Many players will fall somewhere in between the two extremes, and will use the AI toggles occasionally to change the way their companion fights:
Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ features a large amount of group content, including Heroic Quests (challenging quests requiring 2 or 4 players to complete) and Flashpoints (highly engaging instanced story content for groups of 4 players). One benefit we’re seeing from our new, fully featured companions is additional flexibility about how players approach group content. A full group in The Old Republic always has four players. Any player leaving the group can be substituted by a companion of the group’s choice, with the party leader in control of which player gets to use their companion.
If a player leaves the group or its proximity, to travel to a vendor for instance, he is able to summon his companion for the journey. Upon reentering proximity of the group, the companion is automatically dismissed. The remaining group can temporarily substitute the missing player with one of their companions if desired.
A common situation familiar to MMO players is the departure of a member halfway through a quest or instance (As a personal example: I once abandoned a group in the middle of an instance when my washing machine caught fire. These things happen!). This could potentially ruin the game experience for all involved parties, but with the ability to substitute a companion in this situation, an experienced group of players will often be able to mitigate the impact of this event and continue their adventure.
While companions certainly don’t have the impressive AI to be able to mimic most human players, the option to micromanage a companion’s ability use on the companion bar in crucial battles will enable experienced groups to successfully complete their mission, even after losing a group member.
But don’t start dreaming about conquering the galaxy with an army of companions at your side just yet – Star Wars: The Old Republic is a massively multiplayer game, and as such it is a social experience as much as it is a story-driven BioWare role-playing game. While the majority of content in the game can be mastered by a player and their companion, some group content is a different matter. Flashpoints often require human coordination to successfully overcome challenges.
Take, for example, the fight we showed at PAX East, in which a group of players fought Captain Shivanek and his pet, Ripper. As we showed in the walkthrough video, the group had to split in two to complete this fight. As the first of several boss battles inside the Taral V flashpoint, it provides a moderately difficult challenge for a group of four players – three players and a companion will find this fight to be a far more challenging obstacle that may take several attempts to overcome. Two players and two companions may find it impossible altogether.
As our testing continues and expands, the companion system will
continue to be polished and refined. We take our testing process very
seriously, and have significantly altered our original companion design
to respond to player behavior and feedback and to ensure that companion
characters are a unique and fun part of The Old Republic.
Any specific abilities mentioned above are subject to testing and redesign between now and launch. We know that we have big shoes to fill when it comes to companion characters, and will continue to make improvements so that we deliver companion characters that meet and exceed your expectations; companions that you will come to know very well for years to come on your journey through The Old Republic.
Companion AI
When it comes to the amount of control over their companion, players have different, often diametrically opposed preferences. Some players do not want to manage their companions any more than they have to, wanting instead for their companions to act autonomously without the need to manually trigger abilities or actions. Others want direct control over their companions, playing them almost as a second character.
Originally, our companions functioned almost entirely on their own, with only a few options for manual control. From both internal feedback and testing, we found that the integral nature of companions to gameplay in The Old Republic™ had many players wishing for more control over their companion’s behavior – they wanted more than what they had experienced in other massively-multiplayer games.
To address this, we’ve taken a page from other BioWare games and added AI toggles to each ability to control whether the companion should decide on their own when to use them, or whether they should be manually activated by the player. Players who are not interested in managing their companion can leave the default toggles on and let them run on autopilot. Skilled players can take complete control of the companion by expanding the companion bar onto their screen and using the abilities directly as though they were player abilities.
Many players will fall somewhere in between the two extremes, and will use the AI toggles occasionally to change the way their companion fights:
- Players may choose to disable some area-of-effect abilities when using crowd control or when fighting tough single enemies.
- Players may activate special modes or stances for their companion, causing them to focus more on damage or tanking, or on a single target versus groups of enemies.
- Players may want to manually activate buffs and powerful special abilities on long cooldowns, as opposed to letting the companion pick when to use their most powerful attacks.
Group Role
Finding certain roles for group content can sometimes be a difficult task in massively multiplayer games.
Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ features a large amount of group content, including Heroic Quests (challenging quests requiring 2 or 4 players to complete) and Flashpoints (highly engaging instanced story content for groups of 4 players). One benefit we’re seeing from our new, fully featured companions is additional flexibility about how players approach group content. A full group in The Old Republic always has four players. Any player leaving the group can be substituted by a companion of the group’s choice, with the party leader in control of which player gets to use their companion.
If a player leaves the group or its proximity, to travel to a vendor for instance, he is able to summon his companion for the journey. Upon reentering proximity of the group, the companion is automatically dismissed. The remaining group can temporarily substitute the missing player with one of their companions if desired.
A common situation familiar to MMO players is the departure of a member halfway through a quest or instance (As a personal example: I once abandoned a group in the middle of an instance when my washing machine caught fire. These things happen!). This could potentially ruin the game experience for all involved parties, but with the ability to substitute a companion in this situation, an experienced group of players will often be able to mitigate the impact of this event and continue their adventure.
While companions certainly don’t have the impressive AI to be able to mimic most human players, the option to micromanage a companion’s ability use on the companion bar in crucial battles will enable experienced groups to successfully complete their mission, even after losing a group member.
But don’t start dreaming about conquering the galaxy with an army of companions at your side just yet – Star Wars: The Old Republic is a massively multiplayer game, and as such it is a social experience as much as it is a story-driven BioWare role-playing game. While the majority of content in the game can be mastered by a player and their companion, some group content is a different matter. Flashpoints often require human coordination to successfully overcome challenges.
Take, for example, the fight we showed at PAX East, in which a group of players fought Captain Shivanek and his pet, Ripper. As we showed in the walkthrough video, the group had to split in two to complete this fight. As the first of several boss battles inside the Taral V flashpoint, it provides a moderately difficult challenge for a group of four players – three players and a companion will find this fight to be a far more challenging obstacle that may take several attempts to overcome. Two players and two companions may find it impossible altogether.
Any specific abilities mentioned above are subject to testing and redesign between now and launch. We know that we have big shoes to fill when it comes to companion characters, and will continue to make improvements so that we deliver companion characters that meet and exceed your expectations; companions that you will come to know very well for years to come on your journey through The Old Republic.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
STO - Klingons Unleashed
Tomorrow (October 6), Klingon Defense Force play will be unlocked on
Tribble for all accounts that have a Federation character at level 3 and
higher.
New Klingon Defense Force officers will begin their career at Lt.
Commander 7 (level 17). After they complete their initial training
missions, they will generally be at Lt. Commander 9 (level 19). This is
a big change from the current live game on Holodeck, where KDF officers
begin their career at Lieutenant 6 (level 6).
We changed the starting level based on feedback from the community
that KDF play did not include enough PvE content, and because leveling
up a KDF officer was not as rewarding as doing the same with a
Federation officer. By shifting the starting level upward, we are able
to provide a more complete flow of content to players and tighten up the
overall experience.
As with Federation play, the story episodes are now threaded into a
sequence that makes it clear where you should be headed next. This
addresses problems with players having to search for story content and
gives the KDF player a clear and well-defined story to play through as
they make their way to max level.
We're happy with the new KDF play and are looking forward to your
feedback. We’d like to remind you, however, that this is only a
temporary incarnation of the more full-fledged Klingon Faction that is
in development for a future update. So, come on over to Tribble tomorrow
and give it a try!
As a bonus, within the three weeks following when the F2P build is
live, we will be giving out awards to your character on Holodeck based
on what you accomplished on Tribble. If you get a Klingon Defense Force
character from start (at level 17) to level 31, we'll give you a
reasonably large chunk of dilithium (exactly how much depends a bit on
how the economy tunes up in testing, but this will be a meaningful
award.) If you get a character to level 51, we'll give you a bonus ship
slot and a unique title that is different from the Federation's award
title. This award applies only to KDF characters that start fresh on
Tribble. It does not apply to characters that transfer onto Tribble
from Holodeck once we activate character transfer. These awards are in
addition to any awards granted for leveling a Federation character.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)