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SWTOR to get ability delay fixes but no Valor rollback [Updated]

Matt Daniel — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, Patches, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Oh, happy day! BioWare's Georg Zoeller has posted a new entry on the Star Wars: The Old Republic official site addressing the incredibly frustrating ability delay that has had players up in arms. Zoeller states that the team has found a number of issues, including abilities on cooldown being displayed as usable, unreliable instant abilities, and significant input delay in "certain game situations, most notably (but not limited to) fast-paced PvP."

The team has worked out the two former bugs and is scheduled to get the respective fixes onto the public test server in the next update. Work on the latter issue is in "the later stage of testing," and the team hopes to be able to roll it out onto the live servers "very soon." Here's to hoping that when Zoeller says soon, he means "soon" and not "soon[TM]."

[Update: A second dev blog, this one by BioWare's Jeff Hickman, explains the situation with Ilum PvP and why the team decided not to rollback Valor points in the wake of recent exploits. He does promise that the team will use game metrics to take action against the worst offenders if merited.]

SWTOR to get ability delay fixes but no Valor rollback [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BioWare's James Ohlen: Bug fixes coming weekly

Matt Daniel — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, Patches, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Any new MMO, even big-budget behemoths like BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic, is often fraught with bugs and exploits that can keep the game from living up to its full potential. The Old Republic's game director, James Ohlen, recognizes this and has stopped by the official forums to let players know how the company will be handling the game's bugs, glitches, and exploits.

Ohlen states that "almost every week [BioWare] will be releasing a new patch." These pseudo-weekly patches will be focused almost entirely on fixing bugs, exploits, and glaring balance issues within the game. Ohlen does remind players, however, that bug-fixing is not always a simple task. "There are issues that we will fix immediately," he says, with the caveat that "these are rare and not every issue can be fixed in this manner. We usually reserve these 'emergency fixes' for bugs that are stopping players from playing the game or to exploits that could unbalance the entire game if not corrected." I'm sure players have a few things in mind to which an emergency fix could be applied, but we'll just have to wait for the next patch to see what the devs have cooked up.

BioWare's James Ohlen: Bug fixes coming weekly originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Newest test server pass for Star Trek Online aimed at cleaning up [Updated with F2P date!]

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, News items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play

Bugs and design issues are present even in the universe of Star Trek Online, ranging from irritating interface bugs on ship consoles to the apparently frequent bug that causes the holodeck to nearly kill everyone on the ship every few weeks. They also crop up in the game itself, of course, but as outlined in the latest Path to F2P blog, the development team is focusing in closely on trying to eliminate several bugs and design issues currently in the game.

Patrol missions, for instance, are being changed from a flat sequence of isolated system missions into a more freeform system that scales with level. Crafting changes are also being put in place, giving players "material blocks" to work with that are purchase via dilithium, thereby allowing fleets and groups of players to shunt crafting resources toward a single player. The entry also hints at an entirely new form of content coming to the test server over the next month, although players will have to wait to find out what that means.

[Edit: More details on the F2P switch have also surfaced, thanks to our friends at IGN.]

Newest test server pass for Star Trek Online aimed at cleaning up [Updated with F2P date!] originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alter Ego: Scarred for life edition

Krystalle Voecks — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, Bugs, Events, in-game, Patches, PvE, Opinion, DC Universe Online, Alter-Ego

Earlier this week saw the arrival of the highly anticipated February update in DC Universe Online. Like any other large patch in an MMO, this update not only added quite a bit of great new content and fixed some glaring exploits but introduced several issues that weren't there before. My personal pick for "worst new bug" since the patch? The F9 button no longer takes screenshots. First world problems, I know.

Of course, this means I'll be dedicating this week's column to looking at some aspects of our new patchy overlord. Is it all that we hoped it would be? No. I don't think even Sony Online Entertainment would be boastful enough to make that claim. Still, I do think this first major content patch to DC Universe Online is an equally major step in the right direction. However, the tying together of PC and PS3 patches means that we won't likely see another major game-fixing update until next month since whatever the devs push out has to be able to pass muster on both platforms. That said, there's more than enough to talk about this week (and next, really), so let's get to it!

Continue reading Alter Ego: Scarred for life edition

Alter Ego: Scarred for life edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fallen Earth state of the game letter previews economic fixes, new content

Jef Reahard — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Economy, Patches, News items, Post-Apocalyptic

Another year dawns fresh on the wasteland, and Icarus senior game designer Marie Croall checks in on the official forums for Fallen Earth's latest State of the Game update. 2011 looks to be an exciting year for fans of new stuff, as the game will see a combat revamp, new high-level group content, and of course the new Sector 4 portions of the map.

Icarus plans to release Sector 4 across four counties with the first one, Alpha, raising the level cap by five and bringing new gear, mutations, recipes, and abilities to the game. Look for it to debut on the live server in the second quarter of 2011. Why the delay? Croall explains that the team needed to address balance issues prior to rolling out new content. "There were several areas of combat that we needed to adjust before we could properly design encounters and instances as we moved forward. Additionally, our art team has been taking these past few months to make huge improvements that are necessary for the gameplay, story and setting. As important as it is to us to get the new content out, it's more important to get it out right," she says.

Croall's letter also clues us in to the next patch, currently scheduled for February. In addition to skill and mutation balancing, the update will feature the new scavenger boss system (with new bosses and encounter areas) as well as the team's first crack at a round of economic fixes. Icarus is taking some of the concerns raised about Fallen Earth's economy to heart and is going to be addressing everything from supply and demand to drop rates, trading concerns, and general crafting fixes. "A thriving player driven economy should be a central part of our game and we're working very hard on getting it there," Croall writes.

Fallen Earth state of the game letter previews economic fixes, new content originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xsyon beta update adds architecture skills, revamps terrain

Jef Reahard — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Bugs, New titles, News items, Xsyon, Post-Apocalyptic

Yep, Xsyon's still around, and the post-apocalyptic sandbox MMORPG from Notorious Games continues its beta testing phase with a full client and server update this week. The patch has also wiped all your beta characters as well as the world terrain, making way for smoother texture revisions that should be visible as you read this.

Other significant patch details include the architecture skill (which allows players to create walls and buildings), the masonry skill (designed to complement architecture), and various tweaks to combat and characters. Among these is a revision to the alignment system that flags both defenders and attackers. Finally, the new client boasts several bug fixes related to collision detection, memory leaks, and animation fixes.

Check out the full list of improvements on the official Xsyon forums.

Xsyon beta update adds architecture skills, revamps terrain originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dawntide devs focus on open beta tweaks

Jef Reahard — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, New titles, News items, Dawntide

Dawntide's open beta period is in full swing, and Working as Intended has a lengthy list of bug fixes, updates, and general tweaks scheduled to go under the development microscope over the next few weeks.

Ronin, internal systems engineer for WAI, has updated the official forums with a look at what the team plans to focus on next. Many of the changes are run-of-the-mill and about what you'd expect from a beta client, but some are fairly interesting and bear watching, including the creation of boat routes between continents, the addition of new mining areas and crafting yield tweaks, and changes regarding food and drink effects.

You can check out the full post on the official Dawntide site, and while you're at it, you can view a trailer of open beta gameplay footage as well.

Dawntide devs focus on open beta tweaks originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer Online and Dark Age of Camelot olive branches now available

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 05 May 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Dark Age of Camelot, Culture, Events, real-world, Warhammer Online, News items

The past couple of months have not been kind to Mythic Entertainment, with an uncomfortable double-header of a huge billing fiasco followed by the closure of the Mythic Store. The billing especially produced a great deal of outrage from players, understandably concerned about their account security as well as the potential impact on their bank accounts. Even reversing the charges didn't leave everyone completely mollified -- but Mythic has put in the effort to try and not just apologize and reverse the error, but help regain the trust and goodwill of the players.

Both Warhammer Online and Dark Age of Camelot players will receive two items of their choice on all current and future characters, with Warhammer Online mailing out tokens and Dark Age of Camelot simply allowing you to talk to a Royal Accountant. The items include dyes, decorations, temporary disguises, and other fun toys for players to help recover from the aftershocks. On the off chance that you didn't receive the items and were billed multiple times, the team at Mythic has a specific appeals process to ensure correct delivery. As bad as the error was, it's good to see that players will be compensated nicely for as long as they keep playing.

Warhammer Online and Dark Age of Camelot olive branches now available originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 05 May 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wizard101 releases December patch

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Player Housing, Free-to-play, Kids, Wizard101

Fast turnarounds are always nice. It's been a little over a week since we posted the first news about Wizard101's upcoming school-specific housing, and it's already moved from "upcoming" to "live." The December patch has just been released, and in addition to giving players the opportunity at having the literally hottest house around (among others), it brings a number of other improvements to the game's client. Most notable is the option to block chat from your opponents in PvP, a welcome feature to avoid the frequently non-stop boasting that seems to go hand-in-hand with the playstyle. It is an option that can be changed even in the middle of a duel, and while it's not game-defining it should be a welcome addition.

Much of the meat of this update comes in the form of the team relentlessly hunting down bugs and squashing them, with a long list of prior bugs that are no more. The team even notes that some of the killed bugs are ones the majority of players didn't even know about. While the update is a little lighter on actual content compared to the last one, fewer bugs and a better all-around experience are nothing to sneeze at, not to mention some exceptionally nice new houses. Wizard101 players still have a few days until the main event, but they still got a nice early Christmas present.

Wizard101 releases December patch originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online Apocrypha patch notes detail a host of improvements

James Egan — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Bugs, Game mechanics, Server downtime, News items

EVE Online's latest expansion had a fairly smooth deployment, particularly considering how many radical changes were made to the game. Premium graphics were extended to all celestial objects, with entirely new models for asteroids. The Apocrypha expansion also introduced a new, extremely deadly NPC race with an AI far more advanced than what's been experienced pre-Apocrypha. However, this huge list of new features has also led to a number of smaller issues that CCP Games will patch this week.

The patch was originally slated for today but considering the laundry list of fixes CCP plans to make, patch 1.0.2 will deploy on Thursday instead, with a slightly extended downtime. Downtime should last from 11:00 GMT to 12:30 GMT, and will fix issues with Epic Mission Arcs, the Skill Queue, and many other fixes are on the way, as detailed in the patch notes. Players into exploration (or hunting down other players) who've been taking advantage of the strength of Deep Space Scanner Probes should note that they've already been nerfed; tomorrow's patch will reduce their strength. Given that there are quite a number of minor changes being made, EVE players may want to skim over the patch notes before the end of Thursday's downtime.

EVE Online Apocrypha patch notes detail a host of improvements originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WAR's Mark Jacobs on fixes and holiday experience bonuses

James Egan — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Bugs, Game mechanics, Patches, Warhammer Online, News items

Fans of Warhammer Online will have noted a great deal of patching over the past few weeks. In fact, even the patches needed some patching. Some major issues Mythic Entertainment has been working to fix are the frequent crashes-to-desktop and other lockups players have been reporting. The latest word from Mythic's Mark Jacobs is that the client crashes have been drastically reduced, down by 75% (in North America). In fact, client crashes are now at their lowest point ever, either in development or since Warhammer Online went live, Jacobs said.

But he wasn't writing to the Warhammer Online player base just to talk about patches and crash fixes. Jacobs also announced a holiday gift for all WAR players that doesn't involve dwarves and debauchery. Warhammer Online players now enjoy an experience bonus, as of December 18th. Jacobs stated Mythic decided to increase the rest experience multiplier bonus, while "...reducing the time that it takes you to earn rested xp while logged out of the game, especially in Tiers 3 and 4. This will result in players' time to level being approximately 10% faster in Tier 2 and 20% faster in Tiers 3 and 4." Jacobs didn't state how long this revved up leveling curve will last, but stated it would be for "a few weeks."

WAR has gone 1.1! Check out our full coverage of the 1.1a patch, along with our interviews exploring upcoming content and the open RvR changes. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

WAR's Mark Jacobs on fixes and holiday experience bonuses originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What does Mythic have to fix to make Warhammer truly great?

Michael Zenke — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, New titles, Patches, Warhammer Online, Opinion, The Daily Grind

Despite the launch of Warhammer Online being so recent, Mythic is not sitting idly or letting up the energy level in the wake of their title's release. Yesterday they announced the addition of cross-pairing queues for RvR scenarios. Judging by reactions in guild chat last night and in comments to the post, this change has been very well received. But, of course, nothing is perfect. It only make sense that they're moving ahead with the game's framework and design. From our point of view, and the view of a few other bloggers, there are still issues to be ironed out.

Snafzg at the Greenskin Blog offered up a list noting issues he'd like to see addressed by the developers sooner rather than later. Snaf primarily runs down technical issues and crunchy design decisions; he'd like to see Alt-Tabbing made friendlier, for example, a sentiment we wholeheartedly share. Meanwhile over at Nazgum's blog the author has a more 'high-level' to-do list for the Mythic designers. He wants more incentives for open field RvR, and even laments the absence of a third faction to do battle with.

We want to hear from you, though. What does Mythic need to fix in the next few weeks to ensure that you're going to stay a subscriber next month?

The Daily Grind: What does Mythic have to fix to make Warhammer truly great? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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City of Heroes patch tweaks, refines, and fixes

Samuel Axon — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Patches, News items

NCsoft released a new patch for City of Heroes/City of Villains and published the update notes on its website yesterday. Like this post's title implies, most of the changes are tweaks, refinements, and fixes. For example, the patch fixed a rather annoying graphical glitch that occurred on the very popular GeForce 8 series video cards.

It's not all about bugs, though; there are lots of balance changes to character abilities (like slight nerfs to Fire Control/Cinders and Plant Control/Roots), and a few tweaks to badges (for example, Ourobos missions "will now issue a gold star and the proper badge"). Also notably, you can no longer drag-and-drop items into an allied super-group's storage. This change was made to address an exploit which allowed folks to grief by completely cleaning out others' storage. Various class changes are buried in the notes as well, including further changes to Mastermind pets intended to improve their combat performance.

So if you're a player, you'll want to read the notes to make sure you're up to speed. Maintenance is better than nothing, right? The complete notes are included after the jump.

Continue reading City of Heroes patch tweaks, refines, and fixes

City of Heroes patch tweaks, refines, and fixes originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patch report for Age of Conan's July 17th update

Matt Warner — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Bugs, Classes, Forums, Game mechanics, Patches

Yes, it's time again for another edition of undocumented Age of Conan patch notes. We briefly mentioned them in the invisible hotfix edition that took place shortly after the latest Age of Conan patch. The list maintained on the official Age of Conan forums has grown since then. We know some of our reader's favorite Age of Conan moments were canceling their accounts (very funny guys) but not everyone is a quitter, and this time around there are a lot more fixes reported.

There are two forum threads that players maintaining the undocumented changes from the latest patch. One on the US player forums and a bug thread on the EU player forums. We took a little heat last time we reported on the last undocumented changes so please keep in mind that Massively can not confirm or deny the submissions reported in the undocumented patch note threads. The reports and feedback presented are done by the Age of Conan playerbase and their intentions are their own. The full list from the US player forums continues after the cut.

General

Custom-made saddle listed in the patch notes did not make it in. 1 Update: Saddle in game

GUI

Right clicking to someone's name on chat will result in 5-6 duplicate system spam, including the info about that person. 1
Mouse autowalk with mounts doesn't enable other controls. 1

Continue reading Patch report for Age of Conan's July 17th update

Patch report for Age of Conan's July 17th update originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AoC developers get specific about coming fixes and features

Adrian Bott — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Bugs, Patches, Crafting

A little developer communication can go a long way. Today we see two substantial communications from the Age of Conan developers. Twicer has posted a hefty account of what's coming next in the ongoing drive to patch up the game. In the spotlight are tradeskills, resource playfields and massive PvP. Not all of what's here will be welcome - rare resource drops, for example, are actually working as intended and not bugged - but Funcom do seem to be keeping the player base more in the loop, which is a positive step.

Meanwhile, Gaute Godager has issued a new letter to the players, expanding upon (and revising) what he said last time. We learn the he new PvP changes are expected to come out in early August, and the DX10 part of the engine is now scheduled for this fall, with a preview at Leipzig in August. To our surprise, buddy keys are scheduled to be activated next week (at long last) in apparent contradiction of Ellingsen's denial that a trial program is coming any time soon.

Continue reading AoC developers get specific about coming fixes and features

AoC developers get specific about coming fixes and features originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AoC mount bug fixes and speed boosts on the way

William Dobson — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Bugs, Game mechanics, Patches

If you already own a horse mount in Age of Conan, you are probably extremely unimpressed with your new companion's speed -- it almost seems like you don't move any faster at all. According to this post at AoC's official forums, this is in fact the case. One of the game's designers has confirmed that, currently, even the mighty horse trots along at regular run-speed. A proper fix for this is coming in a future patch, but a temporary workaround is shared for now (which a lot of people in the community had already figured out): simply sheathe or unsheathe your weapon while mounted, and enjoy the mount's speed boost as it was intended.

Also included in the post is the fact that the speed boost itself will be increased very soon. Horses will be slightly faster, and Mammoths and Rhinos will get a smaller boost. As well as this, to address a complaint that those with Mammoth/Rhino pre-order privileges have, the riding skills (charging, attacks, etc.) associated with these mounts will be given automatically with the "/claim" command after a future patch, and those who already have the skills through buying Basic Riding will need to perform the command to receive them again.

EDIT: Going by this forum thread, the mount speed increase is already in effect as of today's patch. Some in-game testing of our own shows that at the very least, the bug requiring weapon sheathing/unsheathing is fixed. More on these other undocumented patch changes shortly.

AoC mount bug fixes and speed boosts on the way originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New AoC patch brings important fixes

Adrian Bott — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Patches, Server downtime

Continuing with their policy of frequent medium-sized patches instead of intermittent colossal ones, FunCom are bringing a welcome new patch to the AoC servers today. As well as the all-important 'more client and server crashes resolved' and a host of alterations such as a sound effect for levelling up (what's a ding without a ding?) and fixes to quests, there are significant changes to Demonologists that should make the class more balanced.

Many spells have had their damage buffed, their casting time reduced, or their splash damage increased. The hated cooldown for wide-scale Area of Effect damage spells, Inferno of Amher and Shockblast, has even been shaved back down.

Continue reading New AoC patch brings important fixes

New AoC patch brings important fixes originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PotBS gets patch 1.0.44.0 before launch

Mike Schramm — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Historical, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Culture, Exploits, Patches, PvE

Pirates of the Burning Sea has received its first patch (and whaddaya know, even before it actually gets released). Preorder-ers got to start playing last week, and apparently there are already a few fixes that need to go in.

As you might guess, it's mostly a stability patch, although a few exploits were fixed as well (there was one where you could stack buffs and become invincible. Lower level missions were also retuned-- apparently there were too many missions in the beta that were too low, so FLS has tweaked those up a notch. Bam! Keen loves this change, but he would-- he loves everything PotBS (I kid! Keen's actually been doing a great job covering the game).

The only other change of note is that FLS "removed text we thought might offend the ESRB." That's not piratical behavior! When you're a pirate, you don't worry about what landlubbers think! You say what's on yer mind, and damned be the consequences!

PotBS gets patch 1.0.44.0 before launch originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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