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Lineage Eternal trailer shows off drag-and-hold combat

Jef Reahard — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items

Lineage fans have a lot to be excited about this week, as NCsoft has finally announced the third franchise entry at G-Star 2011. Lineage Eternal is shaping up to be a throwback to the original Lineage title due to its overhead camera, and it also sports a fairly unique "drag-and-hold" mechanic designed to make combat more immersive via drawn mouse patterns for various actions like spell-casting.

We say fairly unique here because while the mechanic is new to AAA MMO franchises, a similar idea was employed earlier this year in the Shadow Cities iPhone game. You can get a look at the mechanics in action, as well as over 14 minutes of Lineage Eternal gameplay, in the trailer after the cut.

[Thanks to John for the tip!]

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Lineage Eternal trailer shows off drag-and-hold combat originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lifting the beta curtain: Larry's hands-on with SWTOR's beta

Larry Everett — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Classes, Game mechanics, New titles, Opinion, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Many of my friends in gaming media have speculated as to why BioWare has allowed some media outlets to report on the heavily veiled Star Wars: The Old Republic beta, but frankly, I don't care. It doesn't matter to me that BlizzCon happens to be tomorrow or that there is a possible connection between the start of that event and the lift of this embargo. All I really care about is that I can finally tell you about actual gameplay for this new Star Wars MMO that I've been personally following for over three years now. However, it will be extremely difficult to contain all my experience of SWTOR within the confines of this one article. However, I will do my darnedest.

Over the past couple of weeks, BioWare allowed us access to the Republic side of this highly anticipated MMO and pretty much set us free. We can report on nearly every gameplay aspect within the first two planets. Two weeks -- that's enough time for me to run more than one class! And that's exactly what I did. Originally, I wanted to run through two classes that weren't going to affect me much when the game goes live. I accomplished this goal with the Jedi Consular. However, when I started to play the Smuggler class, I just could not stop. I was completely engaged in the story.

Jump past the break and I'll tell you all about that -- and more.

Continue reading Lifting the beta curtain: Larry's hands-on with SWTOR's beta

Lifting the beta curtain: Larry's hands-on with SWTOR's beta originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aventurine reveals a few Darkfall 2.0 changes

Jef Reahard — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Sandbox

Aventurine has updated the Darkfall Epic Blog again, and this time there's a good bit of info regarding the upcoming 2.0 reboot. Producer Tasos Flambouras reiterates that 2.0 is "a new game created on top of the current game rather [than] simply an expansion." He also states that the devs don't want to get too specific and give everything away just yet. That said, this week's entry does provide a very interesting list of changes "that are already implemented."

First and foremost is the game's new skill set customization which is in turn tied to a new armor system. In a nutshell, your armor choice will affect your usable skills by rendering certain abilities ineffective and leading to highly specialized character roles (as opposed to the current game where every character can learn every skill, given enough grinding).

Skill and attribute gains have also been tweaked, and players who focus on skilling up a single role will excel at it in short order through "casual play." The catch, though, is the inability to have more than one specialization active at a time. Crafting has also been overhauled, and the world map has been "completely changed." There's more big news where that came from too, including UI tweaks, alignment tweaks, incapacitation, dungeon and magic school redesigns, and new combat mechanics like momentum and crosshair wobble. Read all about it at the official Darkfall website.

Aventurine reveals a few Darkfall 2.0 changes originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 14 Aug 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fallen Earth dev blog talks builds, combat mechanics, and more

Jef Reahard — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Post-Apocalyptic, Dev Diaries

Let it never be said that the devs at GamersFirst and Icarus fail to communicate with Fallen Earth players. The latest wasteland-flavored dev blog is longer than your average George R. R. Martin novel, and just about as complex.

This week's installment is heavy on builds and mechanical info following the recent combat revamp, and theorycrafters, min-maxers, and folks whose eyes don't glaze over at the thought of number-driven minutiae will no doubt find it instructive.

There's also a brief mention of current subscriber rewards, as well as some hinting at the various subscriber levels (and premium access benefits) that the dev team is still in the process of tweaking. Read all about it at the official Fallen Earth dev blog.

Fallen Earth dev blog talks builds, combat mechanics, and more originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Faxion Online gets its wings... and some combat overhauls

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Faxion Online

Faxion Online has only been out a short while, but the staff at UTV True Games is hard at work trying to make the game better from the start. The newest patch for the game, 1.58, has just gone live, bringing with it a variety of improvements and the addition of two brand-new wing styles. But those aren't the centerpiece of the patch, which is instead focused (pun unintended) around a rebalancing of the Focus stat and some large-scale combat changes.

The short version is that Focus was doing too much and has had some of its functions as a stat moved elsewhere. The long version goes into detail about how values will affect characters differently in the post-1.58 world. Faxion Online players can take a peek at the full list of patch notes right here, or they can just log on and start picking up some fallen angel wings post-haste.

Faxion Online gets its wings... and some combat overhauls originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What's your style? Guild Wars 2 game designer elaborates on the combat system

Rubi Bayer — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Guild Wars 2

The unusual combat system in Guild Wars 2 has been one of the hallmarks of the game for fans as development progresses. ArenaNet's commitment to breaking away from the holy trinity has been consistent, and now that we know five of the eight professions in Guild Wars 2, game designer Jon Peters is able to build on the information he gave us back in July.

The newest ArenaNet blog entry revealed several new details on combat mechanics, including an explanation of boons and how they work as well as the fact that allied targeting will not exist in GW2. There's much more to see -- this blog entry is a great read not only for Guild Wars 2 fans but for any MMO player who is interested in combat mechanics.

What's your style? Guild Wars 2 game designer elaborates on the combat system originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Mog Log: Saturday afternoon's all right for (discussing) fighting

Eliot Lefebvre — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log, Guides

Here's the hangup I have with writing guides: I like writing them so long as I'm fairly confident in my understanding of the game. Unfortunately, unlike many others who are reasonably sane, I have a definition of "understanding" that goes into theorycrafting and design space issues. I don't feel that I understand Dragoons just through knowing their abilities; I need to understand why they have those abilities instead of others, how those abilities work in concert with other parts of the game, and so on and so forth. That's the reason I haven't talked a whole lot about guides for Final Fantasy XIV, because I'm still figuring a good chunk of this out.

That having been said, there was no shortage of positive response (mixed with the usual omnidirectional vitriol) to the first guide-ish piece that I ran. So we're dipping back into that well with a look at the violence inherent in the system. It's time to get down and dirty with combat, and this time around we're going to look at the system as a whole, at tricks you can use that you might not be aware of, and at some useful low-level abilities to consider before you start picking "main" disciplines.

Continue reading The Mog Log: Saturday afternoon's all right for (discussing) fighting

The Mog Log: Saturday afternoon's all right for (discussing) fighting originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 06 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final Fantasy XIV expands details on the battle system

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Previews, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV

While Final Fantasy XIV doesn't go out of its way to be massively accessible, Square-Enix is clearly making a conscious effort to avoid confusion wherever possible. The official player site has been steadily receiving updates about how game systems work and what's going on behind the scenes, with the newest update discussing Battle Regimens and incapacitating body parts in combat. The systems had never been discussed in-depth before, but they now offer players a chance to understand exactly what each system entails.

Battle Regimens are distantly similar in theory to the skillchains that ruled Final Fantasy XI's combat, but they have many differences in practice. Rather than being a chained deployment of specific skills, chains of general ability types will both buff the party and debuff the enemy party. Body parts, meanwhile, are targeted and damaged by certain weaponskills, with a helpful chart explaining what skills target what and which types of monsters can be affected. While it doesn't reveal the full details of Final Fantasy XIV's combat, it should provide players with an excellent place to start understanding the system.

Final Fantasy XIV expands details on the battle system originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Community lives!

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Expansions, Game mechanics, Patches, Opinion, A Mild-Mannered Reporter

The community for City of Heroes got a big shot in the arm when the expansion came out. While it hadn't exactly died in the last few years, it was certainly on a lower pulse. These days, I can't log in without seeing pretty much every server near capacity. Even with a month having passed since the initial release, it seems that Going Rogue is doing a fine job of keeping people wrapped up in the game. You can rail about the lack of endgame all you want, but Praetoria's a pretty good starting ride.

Of course, it's high time for us to do another community roundup post, so the fact that the community has rallied back serves my own purposes. We've got more than just a surfeit of content to talk about -- we've got a whole collection of new missions and gameplay types to work with. And, of course, there are those "just 20 levels" of starting content to chat about. So click on through to see what City of Heroes players have been chatting about for the past month.

Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Community lives!

A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Community lives! originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 22 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Exclusive Interview: DCUO's Game Director Chris Cao

Larry Everett — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, Interviews, New titles, Comics, Massively Interviews, DC Universe Online

What gamer hasn't wanted to be a superhero at one time or another? Superheroes and comic books have been a part of gaming culture as long as computers. Of course, everyone has wanted to be Superman soaring through the skies of Metropolis, or Batman scaring the pants off the criminal underworld of Gotham City. Sony Online Entertainment has teamed up with Warner Bros. and DC Comics to bring this world -- nay, this universe -- to life. On November 2nd, DC Universe Online will blast its way to game store shelves everywhere.

DCUO gives fans of comic books, action video games, and MMOs a reason to come together and celebrate this incredible amalgam of genres. Create your own superhero! Thrill to the art of Jim Lee! Soak up the voice-acting of Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy! On top of that, if you preorder this deliciously intense action RPG, you will have exclusive rights to a token that will allow you to join a 2v2 PvP arena as the caped crusader himself, using his abilities, gadgets, and fighting style. Plus you'll get all the other preorder bonuses like confetti bombs and batarangs.

Massively snagged an exclusive interview with DCUO Game Director Chris Cao about this groundbreaking game. Up, up, and away! (OK, that was cheesy. Just hit "read more" to read our lengthy interview after the break!)

Continue reading Exclusive Interview: DCUO's Game Director Chris Cao

Exclusive Interview: DCUO's Game Director Chris Cao originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Champions Online dev Brian Urbanek discusses combat mechanics

William Dobson — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, Game mechanics, Interviews, New titles, Champions Online

The folks at Champions Online Daily News recently interviewed Brian Urbanek, who works with combat and related systems on Champions Online. The interview is full of juicy information regarding various aspects of the game's combat mechanics, and how the developers have sought to make Champions different from other MMOs in this particular area. The idea of a long fight meaning increasingly diminished resources was thrown out in the early stages of development, before Urbanek had arrived at the team. There will be a lot of strategy in using build-up attacks "that create energy so that during the combat players can moderate their own actions to their own advantage."

As well as this, each power set will have a unique secondary mechanic that advanced players will be able to use to gain an edge in combat. Using the fire set as an example, Urbanek explained that ambient heat sources could be absorbed by this type of character, providing self-heals and a constant feeding of energy for bigger attacks. The heat sources will be made by the player themselves, by lighting up an enemy or the environment. Urbanek also gave a detailed description of how an electricity character's secondary mechanic would work. For that and more, be sure to check out the rest of the interview.

Champions Online dev Brian Urbanek discusses combat mechanics originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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