Launches

A week ago, we asked Snail Games some questions pertaining to Age of Wushu and its launch in the west. Just in time for launch, the studio got back to us with some answers. Sometimes, good things come to those who wait.

We pulled no punches with our questions, asking Snail about the recent Suzhou market fiasco, when the devs plan to add features from other versions of the game, and how they plan to address current game-breaking bugs. Interested in hearing the answers? We know we were!

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Age of Wushu just launched publicly today, and as you read this, thousands of players are getting into the game for the very first time. For a lot of you first-time readers, you might be wondering what the heck is this game, why should you play it, and what are some of the community resources for the game?

Age of Wushu is an open-world PvP sandbox set in a fictional Ming Dynasty China where traditional MMO elements like sorcery and character levels are eschewed for martial arts and proficiency in a wide variety of different skills. I'm fond of saying that Wushu is "like EVE in China." Many of AoW's features are similar to EVE's systems, including an emphasis on leveling breadth versus depth, a true player economy, and social maneuvering and backstabbing. At the same time, Wushu is a fundamentally different creature, with skill-based gameplay and a much clunkier interface. It's also a bit simpler than EVE, but the barrier of entry is still pretty high.

The Art of Wushu column is about lowering that bar a bit, and I'm simultaneously proud and sad to say that the English fan-made wiki still currently provides much less in-depth information than this column does. If you're already playing the game, check out some of the previous articles as they are pretty useful things that I link people to regularly. If you're not a new player yet, well... this one's for you.

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Don't let the delicate beauty of Age of Wushu's looks fool you: This is one savage MMO. We've been tracking the progress of Snail Games' localization and tweaks for Western audiences for months now (as well as voting the game our most anticipated of last year's E3 awards), and the day of its launch is finally here.

Age of Wushu is a free-to-play martial arts sandbox that's set in a semi-historical China. On top of several schools of fighting styles, the MMO includes unconventional features such as kidnapping, offline professions, crafting battles, and weddings.

Check out Massively's extensive coverage of Age of Wushu after the jump and stay tuned for Patrick's impressions of the launch!

[Update]: Snail has released an Age of Wushu launch trailer, viewable after the break.

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I've been covering Star Wars: The Old Republic for going on three years now. My first full-time MMO was Star Wars Galaxies, although I had played a bit of Ultima Online before that. I have also played nearly every major MMO after SWG's launch, ranging from World of Warcraft to Lord of the Rings Online to City of Heroes to DC Universe Online. Although all those games had aspects that I really enjoyed, I was not able to stick with any of those other MMOs for more than a month.

But when I first started playing SWTOR regularly during beta, it had me hooked. Sure, there were many aspects that I didn't like; some areas made me question the strength of the game as an MMO, but I continued to play. Some people would say that it's the lightsabers that have kept me there. I would agree the hiss and buzz of a laser sword is part of the appeal. I have played through many of the class stories to a high level, and I've also watched every class story multiple times on YouTube to catch all the endings. I have personally played through the Sith Warrior and the Sith Inquisitor story twice -- not just to level up but to watch the story again. Some of the dialogue is shaky, but in my opinion, there had never been this level of storytelling in an MMO before. And I will continue to play as long as there is still story to experience.

Today, BioWare launches the next chapter in the story of Star Wars: The Old Republic, Rise of the Hutt Cartel. The majority of the story takes place on the Hutt-controlled world of Makeb, but we have also been given two major quest that take us all over the galaxy. Today, I would like to talk about one of those: the Shroud.

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At GDC we learned that Vendetta Online for the iPad will be available this spring. Well, guess what? It's spring! Guild Software has announced that iOS system is launching in less than two weeks; come April 17th, iPad users will be able to explore all 30 star systems in the game and participate in twitch-based space combat with all other denizens of the vast universe. On top of that, players on the iOS have access to a single player "free play" mode where they can practice flying and play various minigames even while offline.

Vendetta Online will be available on the iPad App Store for just 99 cents, which includes one month of free play. After that, the monthly subscription is $1.00.

Wondering how the game looks from the mobile device? Check out the trailer after the break. And for more impressions, check out Massively's hands-on experience.

[Source: Guild Software Press release]

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By popular forum-rager demand, I present to you Massively's "real" Defiance launch week impressions. I guess some folks aren't satisfied with the general contentment expressed in the diaries I posted Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and they need a chance to vent. So for those people: Defiance is the worst launch ever! It's worse than Anarchy Online! My pet peeves from alpha/beta haven't been fixed, and worse yet, Trion has not called me personally to apologize! Boo-hoooooooo!

Oh, you did actually come here to read some day four Defiance impressions? Good. Today's entry is going to be a recap of sorts because my brief play session last night was likely my last until the TV show's debut.

I feel sorta bad typing that because ultimately I want to like Defiance more than I do, not because I spent 60 bucks on it but because I think Trion has the makings of a title with some staying power. After 20 hours of play, though, I feel as if I've seen enough until the game matures a little bit. No forum rage required.

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I remember once being excited about the idea that Defiance wouldn't just be a game and a TV series but a cross-platform MMO. Though the game is on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 and was originally intended to be fully cross-platform, Microsoft's unwillingness to play ball with Sony ensured that gamers on each platform are now playing on totally separate servers. You might think the game is just another victim of the console wars, but this is supposed to be an MMO -- nice big worlds, tons of players, and hey, a third party willing to try to bring everyone together!

MMOs and consoles just usually aren't considered a harmonious pairing. Maybe it's because MMOs are seen as PC games, and some PC gamers and console gamers have their own rivalries. Whether it's because of controllers, interfaces, or failed corporate negotiations, we're usually segregated, but I wish we weren't, and I know we don't have to be. The Final Fantasy online games allow for cross-platforming. They may not be perfect, but I personally like the idea of bigger worlds filled with players. That's the point of MMOs, after all.

So what about you, Massively readers? Do you think MMOs on consoles should keep us separated, as in DC Universe Online, or should console MMOs take a note from Final Fantasy XI and let us play with our controller-loving allies?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

The excitement, fun, chaos, and occasional frustration that swirls around every MMO launch is squarely on Defiance's shoulders this week, so Trion Worlds Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson is back with a follow-up to yesterday's post to discuss what the team is currently addressing.

Richardsson says that the team has to be agile and that its priorities change on a daily basis. Because of this, today's critical issues are different from yesterday's; the team is working on game server crashes, lag, patching woes, and client crashes. He promised that yesterday's issues were still being worked on, just that these were more important for the time being.

He did say that console account linking with the Arkhunter website should be resolved, and that the team's already put out a couple of patches in the last 24 hours with another one on the way to make the play experience more smooth.

You know what? Defiance's PvP is pretty enjoyable. Most of that enjoyment stems from my ability to actually kill people, contrary to typical MMO themeparks where I stand no chance against gear grinders and theorycrafters who have bested me before I even manage to tab target them.

Here you have to aim, dodge, roll, reload, and do all that crazy skill-based stuff that shooters make you do, and while my K/D ratio is reminding me of the fact that I'm getting old and slow, it's still been a blast. Last night I dipped my toes into something called Shadow War, which is Defiance's answer to open world PvP.

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Any Darkfall fan can tell you that it's been quite a wild ride from the launch of the original game in 2009 through the waiting period for Unholy Wars to release. Just do a search on this site for the keywords "Darkfall" and "delay" and you'll feel their pain. But the wait is almost over as Aventurine has announced a final release date of April 16. That's 2013, folks!

Sardonics aside, we imagine the dev team wants to make sure the game is done right this time, which is the whole point of Unholy Wars in the first place. New features like salvaging, Prowess Points, the Primalist role, and Steam integration will make for a fuller experience, and fans of the game can then judge if Aventurine's claim of creating the "best PvP MMORPG experience" will hold true.

[Thanks to Robert for the tip!]

The first expansion for RaiderZ, Broken Silence, is now available for players to tackle and conquer. The region of Cowen Marsh should be the first stop for players looking to see fresh sights in the world.

Senior Producer Mark Hill is jolly well thrilled as one might expect: "We are excited to bring our first RaiderZ expansion to our devoted players. We hope players will enjoy the new content and we are looking forward to adding even more in the future."

The expansion raises the level cap to 40, while adding new areas, bosses, and gear. Players will see an improved matchmaking system in Broken Silence, as well as a battle "Wave System" and a PvP arena.

[Source: Perfect World press release]

Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson has mixed emotions in regards to Defiance's release. "This first day of launch of Defiance has been as awesome as we expected it to be," he wrote in a state of the game post. "And by awesome, I mean we're neck deep addressing all the issues that come up when you scale something up to a million people from a test environment of thousands."

Richardsson promised that the large Trion team is working hard to "update, patch, fix, and improve" Defiance post-launch. The most critical problems that he identifies are connectivity problems, missing pre-order items, the scaling of bosses and arkfalls, and broken chat and VOIP.

"We appreciate the trust that you are showing us by coming with us and we will address all these issues," he concludes.

Speaking of awesome, check out the main theme to Defiance, composed by Bear McCreary, after the jump!

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Welcome to day two of Massively's Defiance launch week diary. I've put a little over seven hours into Trion's MMO shooter thus far, so that zomg-it's-a-new-game! glow has worn off and I'm able to see things more objectively (i.e., find things to criticize). That said, I'm still having a good bit of fun, so join me after the cut to find out why.

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I'm an ark hunter, or so they tell me. They being the ruggedly handsome NPCs on display in Defiance's opening cutscene. There's a gruff military man, a captain I think, and some balding suit with trendy eyewear named Von Bach.

There's a bunch of frenzied activity on board the stratocarrier New Freedom, and I pass by a familiar roughneck and a red-haired alien girl that I've seen before in Defiance's ubiquitous television commercials. I'm a human male because I'm one of those weirdos who plays to real-world type in video games. I've got corn-rows here, though, blonde ones, and a face that only a mother could love. Much like my real face, I didn't have a lot of say in the matter because Defiance's character customization is rather bare bones. There's Human or Irathient, male or female. After that there's a choice of four origins: Veteran, Survivalist, Outlaw, and Machinist.

I have a hard time with this because if the earth really were on the edge of sci-fi post-apocalyptic alien invasion extinction, I would no doubt be some sort of grizzled Survivalist/Outlaw/Machinist hybrid. Though this isn't a class-based game from what I hear, for now I have to choose.

It's Survivalist.

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