siege done right

It may not be Guild Wars 2. Is it ArcheAge?




Hard to argue with belfries, I always say.

 Still not sure about how big AA will be here -- Americans generally aren't the fondest of import MMOs, nor is our majority very fond of slow-go Sandbox games. But even the boring 'grindy' bits look (potentially) weirdly epic.

Aimlessly Floating Along

SWTOR gave me a free week to see their big Legacy patch, but... holy crap I could not be more indifferent to MMOs right now.

 I've heard there's some WoW Plague Homage they're doing which is just so oddly fitting and poetic.

The epic Legacy features basically boiled down to me unlocking the ridiculous indoor Missile Strike ability and the Chiss species for new characters, if I had an actual character slot to use

And I guess I have like 8 different 'punch' attacks now for some reason. It all seems very silly and trifling and thrown-up to me.

I was giving LOTRO and DCUO a look again last week, and honestly, I was just having much more fun playing those games. I'm sure players still are enjoying SWTOR, but I really have a hard time playing it now even when it's free.

Cringe-inducing dialogue. Agonizing load times. Meta-quests which are just me running around to a list of different map coords. I really want it to be somewhat enjoyable, and even that's asking too much.

I'm waiting for GW2 and TSW now, but, really I've stopped in my tracks and tempered my expectations here. I usually like a solid reason, any reason, why I should pre-order specific games, and I realize I don't have one. Not a one. Dynamic yak escorting and cosmetic vampire T-shirts just aren't enough for me right now.

Neverwinter @ PAX East

MMORPG.com slobbering over it. They picked it as Game of the Show, which I don't think anyone saw coming because most people weren't even aware it was a MMO...

It does look promising, but still sounds like the punchline to a bad joke:
Cryptic Studios + Perfect World International + Dungeons and Dragons + MMO + Reticle-based Action Combat + A Jew Holding A Duck + Walking Into A Bar

Relevant:
They said there will be PvP, but not at the ~2012 launch, more like shortly after in 2013.
They also mention that while the game is truly Free-to-Play, they aren't designing it for Pay-to-Win money transactions that directly affect said PvP.

And again, it's very easy to say your cash shop is a garden of rainbows and puppy noses, but this does not make it so.

One really interesting thing that this game has going for it that not even the almighty GW2 cannot boast is The Foundry. And while I've never in my life been a do-it-yourself, user-created content sandbox roleplayer, I think it would be really interesting if they could hand that same sort of content-creation capability to PvP'ers and told them "Here, make your battlegrounds. Design your own warzones."

[weekend heads up]

• Path of Exile is offering up beta access and other goodies here.

Wanna spend $10 on PoE? $1000? You can. No, you can actually spend a grand on the game already. But it does allow you to help design a unique item. Which is pretty sweet.

I'm not sure what I would want made, if it was my item to design. Maybe like a sword that was just a wolverine duct-taped to Frostmourne. Or like a big red hat that lets you see through girls clothes (lol).

Screw you, it's my $1000.

Interesting to note just what their cash shop will be selling:

As a test of our microtransaction system, we’re initially offering two small purchases:

• Extra Stash Tab (30 Points): Your quota of stash tabs is increased in all leagues. The number of stash tabs is not reset when we enter Open Beta.
• Extra Character Slot (30 Points)

At Open Beta, we will have a range of different microtransactions for sale, including many of the following:

• Public stash tabs (viewable to other players for trade purposes)
• Cosmetic pets
• Alternate skill effects
• Special animations (for example, taunts or PvP victory animations)
• Special paid leagues (with custom game rules)
• Guild storage
• Alternate item skins and visual effects
• Special cosmetic item properties such as “extra gore”
• Item dyes

• GW2 explained "squads" ...

and it's odd that they made the pre-req for becoming a 'commander' a "hefty gold cost", "a substantial sum of gold". If I was a cynical type, I'd be wary of manufactured moneysinks in a game that just happens to sell gold.

More on WvW in this interview.

Good question asked recently -- is there any Underdog buff in WvW?

I believe so, there's mention of "Outmanned", which supposedly gives you a third more XP, Karma, and 20% more rare loot find chance. We'll see if that's in there at launch.

• Also, TERA has another closed beta weekend going on, if you're interested.

Enjoy the time-killing.

[scary games] WoD details, TSW pre-order

PA Report recaps the WoD MMO
There's talk of permadeath and players becoming Princes that run entire cities.

I haven't really had any interest in this game, but I wouldn't mind being a Prince of something. Well, maybe not a Prince, that sounds kind of lame. And it doesn't have to be a big city, it could just be a small suburban town or something. The Duke of Beaverville.

~

Details of The Secret World's pre-order packages:
 (Available June 19th)

Pre-order benefits:
Basic Pre-order (~$50, comes with 30 days game time)

• guaranteed Beta weekends (starting May 11th)
• Early Access (up to 4 days of 'Headstart' play before Official launch. First come, first served.)
• Name Reservation (you can lock up a name now)
• a ring that boosts XP in earlier parts of the game
• a pre-order-exclusive in-game T-shirt with a unique monster design
• 1 of 3 pets that grants you a combat pet in earlier parts of the game

Optional 'Initiate Pack' ~$15

• flying Blood Raven pet
• complete set of high-end beginner weapons
• one each of 3 of the in-game faction design leather jackets

Optional 'Master Pack' ~$50

• another 30 days of game time
• another character slot (for a new total of 4?)
• another Name Reservation
• a complete set of high-end beginner Talismans
• 10 total XP boost potions
• -10% lifetime discount on any full-price cash shop vanity gear 

Optional 'Grandmaster Pack' ~$200

• Lifetime subscription
• exclusive ing-game snakeskin leather jacket
• and all the contents of the Master Pack

PvP Wonderlic Test

The Wonderlic test is basically an aptitude test for employees and such.
(Sample questions here)
It comes up in the news when college football players score really horribly on the test and everyone in the news points and laughs and says AHAHA, YOU GOT A FOUR?!

This got me to thinking about how hardcore gamerz would score on the Wonderlic.
(Answer: Badly.)
 And I thought "What would a PvPerlic Test look like?"


The Spiderlic Personnel Test ™
SPT ™ Sample Questions


1. There are 3 enemies nearby. Which should you attack first?

A) The unharmed enemy in heavy armor
B) The low-health enemy in cloth armor
C) The healer who has big ZZZs above his head


2. Assume the first two statements are true. Is the third statement:
A) True, (B) False, (C) lol idk?

The enemy base is defended by 12 players. You are alone. You should attack that base now.

3. Capturing a relic scores your team 25 points. Do you realize you have the relic? Seriously, cap it. Your entire body is glowing like the sun, you have to realize you have the relic. OMFG WTF CAP TEH RELIC 

A) Capture the Relic (B) False (C) lol wut?


 4. A hooded assassin suddenly appears behind you, stabbing you with daggers. What do you do?

A) Move (B) Stand completely still and hope he just goes away (C) sum1s does hit on me?


5. Generally, how should you be positioned with your team?

A) I should be 500 yards ahead of my teammates, because this makes more sense
B) I should be nearby my team to help them, unless otherwise notified
C) idk what team is, mabey blue colors??

6. You're playing a large, brightly-colored green monster that has very little self-defense and a mechanic that makes you progressively more vulnerable to damage. You usually kill very few, if any, enemies and you often die 42 times in a single war zone. What seems like the best recourse of action?

A) Continually running as fast as I can to my death
B) Perhaps consider trying a different approach
C) LOL

 Answers
1. C
2. C
3. C
4. C
5. C
6. C


NEXT WEEK: The Game Dev Wonderlic Test.