Monday - February 25, 2002
| RPGvault serves up another Black Moon Chronicles developer diary tonight. It has been written by Humberto Valencia, Marketing Associate @ Vircom, and it deals with the recent improvements to the company's MMORPG. |
| Neverwinter Vault continues its series of analyzing character classes that you will be able to play in BioWare's upcoming Neverwinter Nights. This time 'round, ShadeRaven focuses on the fighter class. |
GameSpot has posted some new info on Squaresoft's 11th installment in the Final Fantasy saga.
Quick summary:
Final Fantasy XI is going to be the first MMORPG in the series and it is supposed to be released on both, PC and Sony's Playstation 2. A T&L supporting (GeForce + Radeon) graphics adapter is mandatory to be able to play FFXI as the game will make heavy use of DirectX 8.1 features. The PC version will be released on CD-ROM whereas the Playstation 2 version is going to ship in DVD format. The Playstation 2 game will be available throughout Japan in spring. The PC version is due out shortly thereafter. U.S. release dates are to be announced. |
| Sony Online Entertainment has slapped up three new screenshots from its highly anticipated Star Wars MMORPG. According to the screenshots' names, two of them were taken on planets that you will be able to live on or travel to, i.e. Yavin and Endor (sorry, no Ewoks in the Endor pic). The third one is called borgle.jpg and it shows some dinosaur-like flying creatures. |
The Camelot Herald, Mythic's official DAoC news site has updated with the following info today:
- A follow-up to today's producer note from Matt Firor:
I forgot to add this into my Producer note (posted a few hours ago). We have found a problem with Berserker critical damage while in RvR. They have been doing much less critical damage than intended since the last patch. We will take steps to fix this as soon as possible - expect an update to Pendragon in the next few days. Thanks for all you who have brought this to our attention; especially Urvshabon (the name I can never spell correctly...), the Berserker Team Lead.
- An announcement regarding the return of the Pendragon (test servers) boards:
The Pendragon (test server) message boards are now back up and appear to be functioning. Hopefully we've seen the last of the attacks.
- A bug alert concerning a Midgard dragon by the name of Gjalpinulva:
The Midgard Dragon, Gjalpinulva, was incorrectly set to another (lower level) monster's spell resistance table, which made it far too easy to kill - and explains why Norse players on Gawaine were able to kill it in 30 seconds. Now the dragon is set to the proper spell resistances. Thanks to you guys on the Vault who pointed out this bug, and actually reported it as such.
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XGR has published their preview of Dungeon Siege, based on the limited content beta sent out to the press. Here's a bit:
The amount of items that are in this Limited Content Beta is more than ample. There are many, many different types of axes, bows, staffs, and swords both single and double handed style. In addition, you have magical items and regular items as with most of your better RPGs. Speaking of magic, the spells in the game are split into two categories - nature and combat. |
In our ongoing series of developer profiles we asked less than 10 questions to Jan Jolly from Larian Studios, who is testing Divine Divinity to find out even the smallest bug. Here is a little something from it:4) What are your favourite games and what are you playing now?
Oh my, this could become a long answer but I'll try to keep it as short as possible. First of all I start with some games of my favourite kind of game, being RPG of course :) Here I'd have to say the Fallout series, Torment and the Krynn series (Dragonlance) which I played way back still on my Amiga. I loved Fallout for it's pretty cool system but most of all cause you got complete liberty in your actions: wanna play evil? Well go ahead and kill a whole town cause you feel like it. Don't wanna follow the story line? Well, go ahead and have fun on your own exploring the map …
In Torment I absolutely loved the story, it was a lot of text but I was glad to have an RPG where it wasn't all about fighting, quite some quests can be solved by avoiding the fights and in Morte this RPG has one of the coolest and funniest side-kicks ever seen in a computer game (imho).
The Dragonlance series is in there cause it was about one of the first RPG's I ever played on a computer (along with the forgotten realms games like pools of radiance, eye of the beholder,…) and I was absolutely addicted to these games, getting back up at night and hoping my parents wouldn't notice I was playing AGAIN ;p.
Another series I absolutely adored was Monkey Island, amazing how the quality is maintained throughout the series and it just stays dead funny. Had great times playing these games with friends all gathered around one computer and the rush you get from finally solving a puzzle you've been busting your head on for days. read more about Jan Jolly here |
| More new screenshots from Trade Wars - Dark Millenium can be seen at GamespyDaily today. Trade Wars: Dark Millennium is the first persistent Massive Multiplayer Online Game (MMPOG) set in a science-fiction universe that allows players to explore both the vastness of space and distant worlds. Players can pilot ships to navigate through hundreds of space sectors and explore planets with mysterious uncharted lands. |
| Gamespydaily has a nice eyecandy for you: a screenshot from Asheron's Call 2 - the upcoming sequel to one of the most successful MMORPG's out there. It shows a player and a dragon, and with that it shows an impressive graphics engine... |
 3DO Europe has released another piece of art from its upcoming RPG/TBS mix Heroes of Might and Magic IV today. And this one is not just eye candy. It reveals some information on how certain town buildings depend on the existence of other ones. Click on the pic to the left for a larger version of the town trees artwork. |
A new note from producer Matt Frior can be found at the Camelot Herald today. Matt talks about changes the will and won't do to classes. Here's something from that:
Over the next two weeks, we're going to be assessing the following hybrid classes: Paladins, Champions, Skalds, and Wardens for effectivness. This doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to make changes, but these are the classes that we are actively looking at - if any of these classes needs to be buffed up, they will be. Specific changes will be higlighted in the Pendragon release notes when the changes go to testing.
This week on Pendragon we're going to buff up the Blademaster's defensive skill by giving him another level of Evade (Evade III) at level 25. This should decrease the amount of damage that Blademasters take in battle. This is the only change we have planned for the Blademaster for now, but if we need to do more tweaks to the class, we will. |
| Nice idea :-) - Invisible Dreams has done a pictural preview of Warcraft 3 - Reign of Chaos, which basically is a number of subtitled screenshots telling you a story... |
| At Radeon 8500 6x FSAA - that's the specs of the Dungeon Siege Screenshots you can find at gaminggroove today. And boy, do they look sweet... |
Daily Telefrag sat down with Stepan Zlotov for an interview about Sphere, an MMORPG from Moscow-based Nikita company (makers of Iron Strategy and Safari Biathlon) (we reported about the first screenshots four days ago). With the interview, they have six new screenshots as well. Here's a bit from their Q&A:
DTF: Please give us a short overview of the game. What's the gameplay like? Do you borrow much from numerous MMORPGs that cram the 'net today?
Stepan Zotov: I'm afraid that overview of the game plot would take too much time. In a nutshell, the game takes place in a parallel world, the Sphere. This realm was brought to life as a result of internecine conflicts between powerful mages. Mere existence of Sphere is a threat to real world, which is Earth as we know it. Everything that happens out there in Sphere has its counterpart in our reality. It is due to inner Sphere conflicts that our world is ulcered with wars, diseases and natural cataclysms. Inhabitants of Sphere descended from mages who created it, and they were practicing magic for the centuries, whereas we were developing science, machinery, and engineering. Sphere is crowded with noble knights and dreadful necromants, grand dragons and disgusting zombies. As to Sphere's likeness in the multitude of MMORPGs, well, it won't be just another faceless clone. But it's really hard to create something completely out of this world, so we shall preserve certain traits inherent to any MMORPG out there.
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| BonusWeb brings you a number of screenshots from Warlords Battlecry 2... |
 Dominion Interview at Voodooextreme
(PC: MMORPG) | Posted by Rendelius @ 07:28 - Top 
| Game Info | Homepage |
The folks at Voodooextreme have conducted an interview with David Allen from Pharaoh Productions about theri upcoming single player RPG/MMORPG Dominion - and they serve you some screenshots and artwork as well. Here's a bit from the interview:
VE: Besides the usual hack 'n slash chaos of games like Diablo, what kinds of special activities can player do in the game world? What are some of the things you have planned that are going to make this game truly unique?
David Allen: Our goal is to allow the replayability of a MMOG with this persistent game world system. Character development and advancement is a huge deal in DOMINION. Players will be able to take their character from world to world and trade items, find new things, and even engage in trade skills. We are going to build a community that is much more regulated and focused on the players rather than the world. The advantage to this is that we put extra effort into ensuring that the players always have something to do in some fashion, and that linear storylines and gameplay are abolished.
I actually think that current MMOGs are very limiting because of the fact that you cannot take your character out of the ‘server system’ that you created it on. This means that no more than x thousand people could ever see and/or experience your thousands of hours of work. With an open persistent supportive game system like DOMINION, you can share your character and accomplishments with anyone anywhere anytime. UNIVERSE will be directly addressing this issue as well with a completely new game design concept, but that’s another interview J
One DOMINION world may feature a storyline set that revolves around undead flesh eaters that need to be destroyed – the world may be dark and dreary. Another DOMINION world may revolve around some lost magic in a world full of deserts and underground caverns.
Other things that will make DOMINION truly unique are the character advancement system, the entity and world generation system, and the storyline system. |
Here's the latest from the last couple of days:
The Aes Dana kit has been changed
I have edited the kit description; instead of a +10 lore bonus at 1st level, they gain +6 lore per level (bards normally receive +10 and wizards receive +3).
Answering some questions on the effectiveness of sorcerers/mages
Q: First off, stoneskin has been "downgraded" considerably.
A: It's still very useful for a mage, assuming that you're using it from a defensive position.
Q: A high level mage will have about 40 something hit points max.
A: A 10th level mage with an 18 Con can have 80 hit points, max. A 20th level mage with an 18 Con can have 160 hit points, max. We're using 3E rules for applying Con bonuses and HD above "name".
Q: Imagine a mage with that HP, getting struck by a +2 weapon or greater by a boss, or HoF mode. 1 critical or 2 hits is enough to kill him.
A: Why is your mage in melee with a boss character?
Q: Another thing that worries me is that some area effect spells that didn't effect party members in BG2 DID affect them in HoW. In HoW, abi-dalzim's horrid wilting affected party members, had a big radius, AND no damage cap. That's a scary combination.
A: It has to be like that. It's easily the most powerful offensive spell in IWD:HoW. Making it "foes only" makes it sickening. You start out doing 16d8 damage with it. That's 16-132 points of damage. Yikes.
Q: What if you miscalculated and the wilting happened to strike 2 party members? What if one was a cleric who was slightly injured and/or a thief, there's a good chance that one or both of them could die.
A: Much like a misplaced fireball at low levels.
Q: All I request is this, if you are still going to make 999999999% of all offensive spells(especially the high power ones) affect party members, is it possible to "see" an outline of the area effect when you are targeting?
A: I would like to do this, but I don't know if it's possible.
Q: Well, according to the PHB Stoneskin is 10/+5 damage reduction, and the caster has 10 hp per level (max 150) in protection. So if a 15th level mage casts this spell and is hit for 22 points of damage with a +3 weapon the mage takes no dmage and his protection goes down to 128 points. The spell lasts 10 minutes per level.
A: You do not understand how damage reduction works. 10/+5 means that the first 10 points of physical damage is ignored unless the target has a +5 weapon or equivalent (super monk fists). In your example, the target hit for 22 points of damage would take 12 (the amount over 10) and his protection would go down to 140 points. If he were then hit by an arrow for 3 points, he would take no damage and his protection would go down to 137 points.
If you insist that we get rules "right" (assuming that means "by the book"), please make sure you understand how they function.
The problem with fascist regard for rulebooks is that it often ignores the merit of individual items inside. Take Shout and Great Shout. Those are two of the most flaccid, worthless spells as they are written. In HoW, we improved Shout and Great Shout because, frankly, 4th and 8th level spells shouldn't suck. I don't know anyone who would have used Shout and Great Shout as written. With changes, they're pretty decent spells.
Stoneskin, as written in 2nd Ed., is incredibly easy to abuse. People still use it in IWD2, even with "only" 10/+2 damage reduction. I asked for 10/+5, but was told that, for some strange reason, this was extremely difficult to do. If it winds up being less useful than other 4th level spells, maybe it will be changed. Right now, people still use it. A lot.
On the subject of this being the last IE game
We do not plan to make any more IE games.
We still have the legally-settled option of making more AD&D or D&D games using the "Baldur's Gate" and "Icewind Dale" franchise names.
Some Q&A About the correctness of kits
Q: The Ravager, therefore, is a weak Kit, IMO, because it does not really emphasize anything. A good fighter who lays about him with his weapons and inflicts horrendous damage is cosmetically the same as the Ravager. With the Ravager Kit, we have to look "behind the screen" at the mechanics to see a significant difference.
A: I think that the ravager emphasizes cruelty and maiming in combat. His/her powers don't just "cause more damage", they cause persistent, annoying wounds, blind, and hamstring targets.
Q: Too much foreknowledge, for example in statements like "there won't be that much undead, so losing Turn Undead is a comparatively small penalty" detract, IMO, from the play experience. Further, it is not a valid reason for how to balance a Kit.
A: Kits were created, then areas were designed. Kits are now being revised in light of close-to-final area design and QA feedback. The three specialty priest kits may very well possess turn undead but lack some other powers by the time the game reaches consumers.
Q: Whether a Kit's abilities are particularly relevant in the storyline/events of IWD2 or not is irrelevant: the consumer is not supposed to know enough about the game that (s)he can plan a party before he has played it through.
A: However, it does allow designers to give custom dialogue options when appropriate. The more "appropriate" a character is for the campaign, the more opportunity we have to let them pipe up in their own individual way.
N.B.: For those among you who are complaining that the ravager seems excessively powerful, you have seen the addition of the halved curing effects, yes? Imagine your "awesome" ravager with 150 hit points getting a heal spell that gives back 70. Better yet, imagine your ravager at 1st level drinking a potion of healing that only gives back 4 hit points. |
| An interviw with Ken Troop, Producer at Turbine, has been posted at AC Stratics. The intervew deals with the current state of the game, what is done to balance content and various other topics. If you are interested in this special MMORPG or in massive multiplayer online RPGs in general, this is well worth a look... |
| RPGVault has word that Meridian 59, the retro-MMORPG now in the hands of Near Death Studios, has gone gold and was shipped to the duplicators. Quite some of our readers will have played it back in 1996 or until its death in 2000, and we are really curious how this game will do today with the stiff competition it has... | | Source: RPGVault |
Neocron Central has posted a report about the third stage of the beta of this futuristic MMORPG. Here's a bit:
Sooner or later you will get bored with having your feet covered in sewer goo. So before you get a severe case of tennis arm from all the slashing you might want to go explore the city. There are 3 sectors; there's the fashionable upscale Via Rosso, which would be an echoing ghost town only populated by CopBots without newcomers going to its low-level sewers. The middle class Plaza where you will find most specialist players, like constructors, researchers, implanters and the occasional poor sap who put all his experience into Repair, all hanging around the futuristic storage cabinets called GoGuardians. The third sector is the red light district, Pepper Park. This area houses plenty of strippers and prostitutes, higher level sewers with mutants and a huge population of player killers taking advantage of the more lenient gun laws and the minimal law enforcement coverage. This mega city of the 28th century might not cover a wide area but it stretches into the sky and it does have a huge sewer system spreading out below the city streets which puts a lot of other MMORPG’s cave systems to shame. When thousands of players begin flooding the streets the city will most certainly become very nice and crowded, it will be a place to call home. The city also spreads into industrial zones and abandoned city zones called the Outzone but you will soon long for the vast open plains; and just for your amusement Neocron city is surrounded by a Wasteland filled with more bad guys than you can shake a plasma charged stick at. |
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