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Voyage Century Online introduces new Crete instance

Jef Reahard — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Dungeons

Voyage Century has been around for four years now, and the dev team is always searching for new ways to freshen up the free-to-play nautical title. To that end, the latest game update includes the isle of Crete, which IGG calls a "primary instance."

Accessing Crete requires players to be sea battle level 15 and class level 15. Once these requirements are met, it's a matter of navigating to the Straight and preparing for three waves of pirate forces. The baddies include Gibraltar pirate flagships and North Sea pirate flagships, both of which will challenge high-level players as well as lower-level types who want to advance quickly by doing the daily quest and defeating the three bosses.

There's a fair bit of incentive to run the instance due to its loot drops as well, and enterprising captains have a chance to snag buckshot cannon and dartling cannon drops, not to mention rare gold and high-grade forging materials.

[Source: IGG press release]

Voyage Century Online introduces new Crete instance originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mythos readying daily quests for June release

Jef Reahard — Fri, 27 May 2011 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Mythos, Free-to-play

What's better than a smorgasbord of quests in your favorite MMORPG? A smorgasbord of daily quests, of course, and Frogster is gearing up to give Mythos players a smattering of dailies designed to further their enjoyment of the free-to-play hack-and-slash title.

The quests will be available to players at level 15 or higher, and the devs are shooting for a June release window. Gamers can claim their dailies via a quest blackboard located in all of Uld's quest hubs, and the tasks will scale to both a player's level and his group size. Completing all of the quests on a particular day will unlock bonuses like 60 minutes worth of double experience and significantly increased currency payouts. Follow the glowing trail to the official Mythos website for more info.

Mythos readying daily quests for June release originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 27 May 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wings Over Atreia: Never put off until tomorrow a daily for today!

MJ Guthrie — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Opinion, Wings Over Atreia, Guides

Chances are, if you have spent any time in Atreia since the release of Aion's 1.9 patch, you have been participating in daily quests. If, however, you have been living under the same rock as I have (it's plenty roomy here, really), then you either don't know what I am talking about, put it off, or just never put much thought into it, period. Personally, I kept thinking, "I'll get to it in a bit," but never actually got to it. After all, there is quite a bit to do already in Aion, and my days were pretty full. I admit that I didn't even really know why I should put my time into them. After some cajoling from a shocked legionmate who insisted I was sorely missing out, I finally cracked down and got started. Boy, have I been missing out!

The daily quest is a new(er) system that rewards players for completing a task with special tokens along with XP. These tokens are then exchanged for special items, including titles, gear, AP items, godstones, and even special pets. In many cases, these quests can be completed in just a few minutes each day. Sure, it takes some time to save up for the rewards, but it wasn't nearly as arduous as I had initially thought.

If you haven't started on daily quests, want a few hints on maximizing your token earning potential, or just want to laugh at me for taking so long to jump on the bandwagon, jump past the cut and see why daily quests are well worth the time and effort. Trust me, you want to get started today!

Continue reading Wings Over Atreia: Never put off until tomorrow a daily for today!

Wings Over Atreia: Never put off until tomorrow a daily for today! originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lost Pages of Taborea: Improvements on MMO standards

Jeremy Stratton — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic, Lost Pages of Taborea

After having a couple of conversations on the topic over the last month, I decided to make a list of more reasons I am so attracted to Runes of Magic. Runewaker may not have created the next evolutionary step in MMOs, but it did do some new and innovative things. It created what I consider to be the first hybrid traditional free-to-play MMO. RoM predominantly uses western game mechanics and a quest-driven leveling system with a cash shop. As far as actual gameplay is concerned, RoM features many standards -- very nice improvements on those standards.

In this article, I list six refinements that I think add to the increasing uniqueness of an MMO that constantly shows it's more than a generic clone. Jump past the break to see if you agree with me or share your favorite MMO standards that you think RoM improves upon.

Continue reading Lost Pages of Taborea: Improvements on MMO standards

Lost Pages of Taborea: Improvements on MMO standards originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lost Pages of Taborea: Level 62 growing pains

Jeremy Stratton — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic, Lost Pages of Taborea

Halloween has stubbornly refused to leave the land of Candara and is relentlessly holding monster parades around the clock. While it may be boring some, other persistent folk are probably stock-piling enough candy to make it all the way to next Halloween. So while we conveniently ignore the Pumpkin Prince, I want look ahead to the coming new zone.

I've been steadily finding great content on the Runes of Magic forum, and the new level-cap increase is a hot subject right now. When chapter 3 rolled out, we knew we'd be seeing the maximum level raised to 60, but this new one wasn't expected, especially not so soon. This new level cap will take us into Limo Desert and to level 62. That means at least one new dungeon, new quests and most likely new armor. There's more than a few in the Runes of Magic community, including CM Swag, who have voiced their opinions both for and against another raise in levels so soon. Let's take a look at the situation that this presents, and I'll give my opinion on the new level cap.

Gallery: Runes of Magic - Limo Desert

Continue reading Lost Pages of Taborea: Level 62 growing pains

Lost Pages of Taborea: Level 62 growing pains originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Allods Online "more free-to-play than ever" with new patch

Jef Reahard — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Allods Online

How free is free-to-play? That depends on the game, and in the case of Allods Online, free just got a bit freer. gPotato Europe announced in a press release this morning that today's patch, an update to Volume 2: Rise of Gorluxor, will make the game "more free-to-play than ever."

Players may now complete daily quests that offer selected premium rewards including double XP over time bonuses, items that negate death penalties, and buff trinkets that grant up to 24 hours of increased character power. Additionally, every Allods character will receive a free gift, so check your in-game mailbox within the next 30 days.

Volume 2: Rise of the Gorluxor features a lengthy list of improvements including the Dream Factory (a new level 20 zone) as well as class tweaks and bug fixes. Be sure and take a look at the full patch notes on the official site.

Allods Online "more free-to-play than ever" with new patch originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CABAL Online's secrets are out

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Cabal Online, Expansions, Patches, Free-to-play

CABAL Online is one of those free-to-play titles that's like a shy whale, swimming under the surface of our attention while growing bigger every day. And before you know it, Pinocchio and Jonah are in deep, deep trouble.

Tortured metaphors aside, it's good to hear that CABAL continues to expand. Games-Masters.com just released a massive update for the game entitled "Secrets of Radiant Hall." The centerpiece of the update is the titular Radiant Hall, a new 7-man, level 130+ raid to uncover the secrets and best the challenges of the Phantasmal clan. Their secret? Fanta! (OK, not really -- but we hear there's a dragon involved.)

The update brings a host of new and improved features to CABAL as well, including a daily quest system, new character customization options, a better UI, a party search system and the Catacomb Frost solo dungeon. Catacomb Frost is interesting in that level 110+ players have a scant 25 minutes to save a girl; fortunately, there are three difficulty levels depending on how daring you feel that day.

You can check out the full update over at CABAL Online's site.

CABAL Online's secrets are out originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aion guide to Daily Quests available

Jef Reahard — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, News items

New (or newly returned) to Aion and curious about the recently added daily quests? Well you're not alone, as your humble correspondent has been playing for awhile now and was having trouble unearthing any definitive information regarding the system just added in the 1.9 patch.

Happily, NCsoft has updated its PowerWiki with a lengthy entry devoted to answering all of your daily quest needs. Everything from where to get to them, to what kind of rewards they offer, to how to join the requisite NPC factions, is available in the new article.

"Every morning at 9 o'clock, the organization will send a new Quest notice that can be found at the bottom of your screen. Once you click on the icon, you can choose to either accept or decline the Daily Quest. If you accidentally decline the Quest, you can quit and then re-join the organization to get it again," the article says.

Check out all the details over at the official Aion PowerWiki.

Aion guide to Daily Quests available originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 12 Jun 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aion producer talks 1.9, anti-stun mechanics

Jef Reahard — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Interviews, MMO industry, Patches, News items

The Aion official site features a brief interview with producer Chris 'Kinslon' Hager regarding the forthcoming 1.9 game update. Though NCSoft remains as coy as ever regarding a release date for the elusive patch, Hager manages to drop a few hints about what's coming.

Perhaps most interesting (or alarming, if you're one of the eleventy billion assassins stealthing about) are the anti-stun mechanics being introduced. "If your character becomes stunned in combat, Remove Shock becomes available as a chain skill that you can use to remove the stun and increase your character's resistance to stun, knock back, and similar conditions for seven seconds. At later levels, class-specific skills that you can also learn will act as chain skills that let you go on the offensive in addition to the basic abilities of Remove Shock," Hager says.

He also mentions rewards for the much-anticipated daily quests. "The quest givers will offer are a wide range of rewards, from XP and Kinah to mist (time-limited) weapons, armor, and even some new titles," he says.

Check out the full interview as well as our previous 1.9 coverage.

Aion producer talks 1.9, anti-stun mechanics originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 Apr 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What do you think of daily quests?

Krystalle Voecks — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Game mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind

One of the mechanics added to World of Warcraft in Burning Crusade is the presence of repeatable daily quests. Before Wrath of the Lich King came out, many players at endgame made a great deal of gold that way. However, now that players are earning experience again, it's more of a faction or achievement grind, and less of a money-earner than before. (The mechanic being that if you are not earning experience, you get an amount of extra gold to off-set the "lost" xp.) Some players absolutely love dailies, in that they're a nice easy way to make a few gold, get a bit of extra experience, and some reputation. Other players absolutely abhor them, citing repetitive daily quests as being representative of all that's wrong with many MMOs - people doing the same thing over and over and over and being okay with that.

This morning, as we hunt down our fourth Crystalsong Carrot, we thought we'd ask you - what's your opinion of daily repeatable quests? Do you prefer it as a form of experience or faction grinding? Do you think they're too boring? Should more games employ them, or should they be removed altogether?

The Daily Grind: What do you think of daily quests? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World of Warcraft players will earn experience points in PvP

Samuel Axon — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Game mechanics, PvP, News items

We almost missed this major revelation on our sister site WoW Insider -- we might not have caught it if Eurogamer hadn't. Deep within WoW Insider's excellent liveblog of the World of Warcraft PvP panel at Blizzcon, you'll find that Blizzard reps let slip that players will soon be able to earn experience points in addition to honor in PvP.

That's already possible in WoW's new competitor Warhammer Online, in which it is essentially just as viable to level up to the cap in PvP as it is in PvE. The WoW devs are likely responding to the competition, knowing that they might lose big fans of PvP to WAR. In that vein, they're also ensuring that daily PvP quests are available from levels 10 - 80.

It's hard not to look at this as a good change. The only argument against it we can think of is that if a player levels from 10 - 80 entirely in the battlegrounds, he or she will not have the necessary experience to run instances and raids at later levels if a change of course is desired. But that seems like a fairly minor criticism of a long-needed addition to the game.

World of Warcraft players will earn experience points in PvP originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World of Kung Fu announces new daily events

Matt Warner — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, World of Kung Fu, News items, Free-to-play

World of Kung Fu is the radical 3d martial arts MMORPG that utilizes Chinese mythology and themes for its setting. The game is free to play, and uses a micro-transactions to sustain development costs. It's important to stress that goods purchased in the "item mall" are not required to complete any quests or objectives in the game. New players also receive three "novice cards" that can be traded for in game items or cash including the following: Earth temple, which grants instant travel to any city already visited. Lion Toy, which will resurrect your character. And the Tai Yi Pill, which grants full healing.

To keep player s busy over the summer VestGame Entertainment has announced regularly scheduled events, which World of Warcraft players would recognize as daily quests. However, the daily events in World of Kung Fu aren't just your run of the mill fair, one is a trivial pursuit type of challenge. Quests are given out by Town Crier in the city of Liuhe and their rewards will range from experience, cash, and even rare items. Hey, it's free, and worth checking out if you are struggling to find something to play this summer.

World of Kung Fu announces new daily events originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The changing face of WoW 2.4

Adam Holisky — Mon, 19 May 2008 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Galleries, Events, in-game, Endgame

When Blizzard released patch 2.4 for World of Warcraft in March, they brought a plethora of changes to all types of end game play. They introduced new casual daily quests, a new five person dungeon, and a new raid zone for twenty five person play; all of this on a new island off the northern coast of the Eastern Kingdoms called the Isle of Quel'Danas.

Many who play WoW consider patch 2.4 to be the largest and most complex patch to date, sans the actual expansions. It is quite rare for Blizzard to open up a whole new zone in a free patch, and even rarer for them to completely change the raiding landscape (a staple of WoW) by removing attunements and lifting other restrictions.

Despite having a large and successful release of the patch, Blizzard has continued to update the game in with Patches 2.4.1 and 2.4.2. They offer more tweaks and changes that make the WoW community even happier.

Take a look through our gallery for a highlight of the changes we've seen in 2.4 through 2.4.2.

Gallery: World of Warcraft Core Gallery

The changing face of WoW 2.4 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 May 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Making fun be worth it

Mike Schramm — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:10:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Game mechanics, Making money, Quests, Opinion

Zen of Design has a great post up about how MMO game mechanics should "incentivize fun" in the gameplay. The main example Damion uses is the "daily quests" recently introduced to World of Warcraft-- Blizzard originally gave all players a goal of 5000g for their epic mounts, but then realized that they hadn't given players enough ways to earn that money-- most people were left grinding random spots to make the cash. So they then created "daily quests"-- daily timer quests that were repetitive and easy that gave lots of money. Play the game for x number of minutes every day, get all the cash you need.

But as Damion says, the daily quests serve a purpose, but they aren't actually fun. Lots of players see them as a job, and the fact that they are repetitive (in a bad way-- he says a game like Civilization actually makes repeating gameplay interesting) makes them a necessity rather than an incentive to play the game.

Now, the good news is that in the latest patch, Blizzard is working to fix this-- they've introduced daily quests that ask players to play fundamental parts of the game, and so there are now crafting daily quests, as well as battleground and instance quests. But these are fixes after the fact-- the way to really incentivize fun is to watch what players themselves want to do during development, and then reward that. Halo isn't an MMO, technically, but Bungie noticed that players were dying strange deaths in game, and then actually changed the game to reward players for their activities. Same deal with MMOs-- find out what players want to do in your game, and then give them rewards for doing just that.

Making fun be worth it originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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