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SWTOR devs attempt to balance the Force through nerfs

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Classes, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Community Q&A

It's Friday, Friday, and even Jedi got to get down with Friday... which also means a new community Q&A sent across the holonet to players eager for a glimpse of Star Wars: The Old Republic's future. However, the devs have asked that questions focus more on current features in the game, as in many cases they cannot give firm details about what's coming up in SWTOR.

Today's topics begin with a discussion about why some advanced classes, such as Commandos and Mercenaries, lack an interrupt. This wasn't an oversight, the devs revealed, but "a purposefully designed weakness in their ability arsenal" to keep them balanced in the game -- especially in PvP.

"Balance" was an answer to another issue as well, specifically the nerfs to some of the healing specs. Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller realized that folks were going to rail against it, but the team thought it was necessary: "I know trying to 'sell' a downwards adjustment (AKA nerf) to anyone affected is like selling the need for a tax increase to people. When you are on the receiving end of it, you're not going to be happy about it."

Other questions revolved around rage timers, looping the game's music, cross-faction communication within the same guild, and legacy system specifics.

SWTOR devs attempt to balance the Force through nerfs originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Mar 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard talks Mists of Pandaria talent tree tweaks

Jef Reahard — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Classes, Expansions, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items

Blizzard lead systems designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street has penned a small novella on the official World of Warcraft website. The subject of the text dump is talent trees, and more specifically, how they'll be affected by the game's upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion.

Street addresses 10 of the most common concerns that players have voiced regarding the changes, and some of his answers are more interesting than you might think.

As an example, many WoW players have said that the talent revamp will result in fewer choices across the board. Street admits that this sentiment is "ultimately correct," though he does qualify that with an assertion that players will have more choices that matter. Head to Battle.net to read the rest of his explanations.

Blizzard talks Mists of Pandaria talent tree tweaks originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NCsoft planning more Aion rifting tweaks

Jef Reahard — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, PvP, News items

The month-long rifting experiment begun by NCsoft in early December has apparently given the Aion devs enough data to continue with a trial aimed at revisiting the decision to nerf the PvP mechanic with last fall's 2.0 update. Players were recently asked to complete in-game surveys relating to the new changes (which boiled to down a removal of Heiron/Beluslan protections and changes to the large protective defender buffs), and NCsoft reports that the majority of survey participants responded favorably to the change.

In a post on the official Aion website, NCsoft says it will continue the rifting trial "a few more weeks," and the devs will also tweak lower level player protection in Morheim and Eltnen. Finally, a new player survey will be sent out and the rifting protections will be "restored to their previous levels" while feedback is collected and analyzed.

NCsoft planning more Aion rifting tweaks originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wasteland Diaries: Combat fatigue

Edward Marshall — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fallen Earth, PvP, Endgame, Opinion, MMOFPS, Wasteland Diaries, Post-Apocalyptic

Fallen Earth has the best crafting system I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Fallen Earth's PvE is not too shabby either. And I actually enjoyed the game's PvP for a time until the end. I can't really say that Fallen Earth's PvP is bad, but it has several fatal flaws. And these flaws have caused the vast majority of the endgame PvP crowd to move on.

In this post I will examine what I think these flaws are. This is just my opinion, but my experience PvPing on all levels extensively lends my opinion at least a shred of credibility. The fact is: PvP in Fallen Earth is at an all-time low. There is hardly any real penalty for dying in the game, so why are there so few people partaking? There are several reasons that nobody PvPs in Fallen Earth, and the death penalty is not one of them. After the cut I will analyze the most common reasons for not PvPing. I will try to represent the facts of the matter, but like most of my critical articles, this one will be smothered in opinion.

Continue reading Wasteland Diaries: Combat fatigue

Wasteland Diaries: Combat fatigue originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What do you do when your character goes south?

Eliot Lefebvre — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Classes, Culture, Game mechanics, Patches, Opinion, The Daily Grind

It doesn't always happen, but it always can happen. One day you're running a happy catch-and-release playstyle with your Beastmaster in Final Fantasy XI, and then a patch comes that completely destroys the concept behind releasing your pet before a kill. You're tanking as a Frost Death Knight in World of Warcraft, and then you catch wind of the changes in 4.0. Your Invulnerable Tanker in City of Heroes is as untouchable as Superman, and then along comes a patch that coats everything in a light Kryptonite glaze.

You haven't just had your balance adjusted -- the entire way you play your character has been gutted and left lying on the ground as a warning to others. If you're lucky, you've never been on the receiving end, but the question remains: what do you do next? Do you start over with a different class? Leave the game gracefully (or less than gracefully, depending on temperment)? Or do you go with the approach that this is the class you came in with and you are sticking with it, by gum? As a bonus, have you experienced this firsthand, or are you lucky enough to have been spared?

The Daily Grind: What do you do when your character goes south? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 18 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Dominion patch notes long but packed with info on game changes

James Egan — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Launches, Server downtime

The Dominion expansion for EVE Online will arrive tomorrow, December 1st, after a lengthy downtime of roughly 19 hours (02:00 GMT/UTC to 21:00 GMT/UTC). Access to the EVE website and forums will be down for much of this time, as will the EVE API, but CCP Games has compiled a tome of Dominion patch notes to occupy at least some of that time. There's also a player discussion of the Dominion features and changes on the game's forums with some clarification on details from the CCP devs.

If reading through the full patch notes (10,000 words and climbing with updates) isn't really your thing, a few of the EVE bloggers have discussed the highlights of what's new in this expansion. Mynxee covers the good, the bad, and the comical in Dominion on her Life in Low Sec blog. We also recommend checking out Casiella's take on the Dominion patch notes over at the Ecliptic Rift blog. Casiella discusses the myriad features that haven't gotten much attention so far: voice fonts added to EVE Voice in chat channels; the in-game jukebox now using MP3s with playlist support; and how player actions for the Caldari race via factional warfare now impact the rival Gallente storyline missions.

EVE Dominion patch notes long but packed with info on game changes originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EverQuest patch switches up hot zones, nerfs some Ancient Heroes rewards

William Dobson — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest, Patches, Leveling

EverQuest has just been updated, and it's time to say goodbye to the ironically freezing set of hot zones that have provided icy experience bonuses for the past few months. This isn't a bad thing, as the new list of hot zones includes a number of popular areas for people to do their leveling in -- the full list can be found after the break, along with the rest of the patch notes. One of the hot zones, Howling Stones (also known as Charasis) has been altered to be more inviting for potential visitors:

Apparently while performing some end-of-the-summer cleaning, the doors within Howling Stones were left unlocked. It may be some time before a maintenance crew can be sent there again to lock the doors up tight. Use this knowledge as you will. In addition, the spells protecting the entrance to Howling Stones have weakened, and adventurers of lesser skill and strength may find its halls now accessible.

The other big change with this patch involves some tweaking of the Ancient Heroes missions from the previous update. The rewards from these missions have been the subject of much controversy ever since their introduction, and this patch has made many of them worthless (though they can still be refunded by handing them to the quest-giver). Having said that, some of the group-level rewards were actually improved. Hit the jump to see the patch notes in their entirety.

Continue reading EverQuest patch switches up hot zones, nerfs some Ancient Heroes rewards

EverQuest patch switches up hot zones, nerfs some Ancient Heroes rewards originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Age of Conan gems and more addressed on Testlive

Adrian Bott — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Patches, PvP

After our explanation of why gems are an issue in Age of Conan, the next thing to look for was a nerf, and probably quite a big one. It was with very little surprise, then, that we took a look at the notes for the latest patch to go to Testlive this morning and saw this lurking among them: 'Reduced the bonuses granted by all Invulnerability, Evade, Fatality, Offhand Chance, and Damage gems by a significant amount.'

Just how significant is 'significant'? Poster Threeze from the AoC forums has kindly put together a reference chart. As you can see, that is some epic nerfing. +8.9% one-handed damage down to +0.5% one-handed damage? The coders at Funcom are not messing about here. While bearing in mind that this is only a Testlive patch and isn't guaranteed to go live, it would solve the issue of extreme gem-powered damage in PvP. And judging by the rest of the patch notes, addressing PvP is a major priority.

Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!

Continue reading Age of Conan gems and more addressed on Testlive

Age of Conan gems and more addressed on Testlive originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Many updates but no new PvP system in today's Age of Conan patch

Adrian Bott — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Patches

This morning sees the arrival of one of the larger patches for Age of Conan. To get the bad news out of the way first: the new PvP changes, including the fugitive system, PvP XP and PvP gear, aren't in yet. They are still in testing over on the Testlive Server, so interested players can experience the system first-hand and give feedback.

Changes that have gone live include revamps to several dungeons including the Pyramid of the Ancients, revised resource collecting areas, and an almost complete fix to the female versus male attack speed issue. The patch also includes changes to looting, with all green and blue drops now being either Bind on Pickup or Bind on Equip. This particular change has caused mixed reactions among the players.

A fairly severe rebalancing of gems is also causing some grief, with invulnerability gems revealed to have been overpowered all along by accident. Another extremely significant change is the adjustment to drops from epic bosses, notably those in the Field of the Dead and Cannibal Caves, which reportedly now drop around 5 silver instead of 30, making them nigh-on worthless for gold farmers.

There's no suggestion of when the PvP patch will go live, but further testing is obviously necessary. Unless it somehow goes live later today, which is frankly unlikely, this will place the PvP patch outside Funcom's revised estimate of July.

Many updates but no new PvP system in today's Age of Conan patch originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Buffs and nerfs put into perspective in CoX

Adrian Bott — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EST

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

Nobody likes nerfs. Well, that's not entirely true; if we're honest, there can sometimes be a touch of schadenfreude involved in watching the smug and overpowered get nerfed, just like with any other come-uppance. But nerfs in general are unpopular and tend to stand out in the collective memory, eclipsing positive changes.

City of Heroes is no exception. The recent (and long-expected) nerfs to Energy Melee are bringing the usual complaints out: the devs are nerf-happy, why don't they just buff the others instead of nerfing us, here come the nerfs again, et cetera.

We're grateful to Tempest_56 of the CoX forums for tackling this attitude head-on, and making a thorough list of what's actually been changed in the last few issues. Since Issue 11, the positive changes to powers greatly outnumber the negative ones. It's been a long time since Enhancement Diversification and the Global Defence Nerf. When you put things into perspective, they are actually looking pretty good right now.

Buffs and nerfs put into perspective in CoX originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New CoX patch takes some of the punch out of Energy Melee

Adrian Bott — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:30:00 EST

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

We knew this one would be controversial. There's a new patch hitting the CoX live servers today. Along with some welcome fixes for the buff icon issues players have been complaining about, as well as a collection of other changes including fixes to suicidal pets and NPCs, there are changes to Energy Melee in its various versions that have had the forums abuzz with debate. The changes were to 'better balance' the powerset, while keeping Energy Melee as the king of single target burst damage.

The changes that have most players up in arms are the nerf to the stun dealt by Total Focus and an animation change to Energy Transfer, changes that hit the Tank, Brute and Stalker classes. The new animation, while more visually impressive than the old, is slower; an Energy Transfer used to take one second, and now takes 2.67 seconds. (For those that don't know, Energy Transfer is a damaging attack that also has a good chance to stun.)

Despite the usual high levels of communication from the developers, some players are unhappy and consider this a crippling nerf; however, nobody seems to be particularly surprised that some form of nerfing has taken place. Energy Melee really was that good.

New CoX patch takes some of the punch out of Energy Melee originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New CoX patch on Test makes stunning changes

Adrian Bott — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Patches, PvP, PvE

A new patch has gone to the City of Heroes test server today. Courtesy of the European CoX forums, we've been able to take a look at the patch notes a little in advance. It's another round of fixes and tweaks, and we're particularly pleased to see the dual pistol wielding Lady Jane has been given a stern talking-to and instructed not to rush into combat like a maniac any more. The 48 month Veteran Reward pets are similarly non-suicidal - for real this time.

The controversial change, though, must surely be the adjustment of Total Focus: 'All player versions of Total Focus Disorient Magnitude reduced to 3.' For those who don't know, Total Focus is a double-handed overhead smash that previously dealt a Magnitude 4 disorient. That's one of the most powerful stun effects in the game, enough to send a boss staggering and temporarily helpless.

Continue reading New CoX patch on Test makes stunning changes

New CoX patch on Test makes stunning changes originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AoC 23/06 patch notes: ToS and Necro AoE nerfs steal the headlines

William Dobson — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:15:00 EST

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

The delayed notes for today's Age of Conan patch have now hit, and there are some significant changes in store for a couple of classes. The headline of this post pretty much spoils the suspense as to which two classes they are, but we'll discuss them in detail after the break. Other big changes include a doubling in size of all bags, performance fixes (including the option to limit/disable particles) and some tweaks to NPC aggro. Hit the jump to get into the meat and potatoes of this patch -- the Necromancer and Tempest of Set changes!

Continue reading AoC 23/06 patch notes: ToS and Necro AoE nerfs steal the headlines

AoC 23/06 patch notes: ToS and Necro AoE nerfs steal the headlines originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Idiom abuse is a slap in the face of grammar

Chris Chester — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Forums, MMO industry, Opinion, Humor

In a rather amusing blog post, Sanya "Tweety" Weathers, MMO community guru and Director of Community at GamerDNA, reflects on the etymology of the phrase "a slap in the face" (as in, "The devs are nerfing Warlocks? This is such a slap in the face!"). Sanya seems to be of the belief that a slap to the face is more of a wake up call, with a potential curative element from temporary psychosis, which would seem to indicate that the phrase is being used improperly in this context.

For our part, we always wondered if people really felt like class nerfs or design changes were so insulting as to be compared with a physical blow to the face or if the phrase has merely slipped into the realm of meaningless idiom, joining "melting faces" and "massive damage" at the nexus of gamer parlance. Our suspicion is that people are just overly dramatic when confronted by change in an online environment, but you never know, some people take their games very seriously.

Idiom abuse is a slap in the face of grammar originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Crusty Old Hero tells it like it was

Adrian Bott — Sun, 04 May 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, Lore, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Roleplaying, Humor

'Whoosh. There goes another one. Up, up and away. Enjoy your shiny new jet pack while it lasts, kid. Wish I'd had one at level 5, back at the start of City of Heroes.

'But I didn't. Nobody did. In my day we had to run. You wanted to stay out of trouble, you kept to the white line down the middle of the road. You wanted to fly fast, you had to wait till level 14. You wanted a real challenge, you went swimming with the Hydra. They was worth something back then.

'And let me tell you another thing...'

Continue reading Crusty Old Hero tells it like it was

Crusty Old Hero tells it like it was originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 04 May 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EQ2: RoK's screwy itemization to result in upcoming nerfs

Matt Warner — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Economy, Expansions, Patches, News items

I guess the leveling and itemization EQ2 devs cranked up the ez-mode a little too far, and completely spaced off during RoK's beta phase. Fyreflyte, dev extraordinaire, popped by the official EQ2 boards yesterday to deliver the news that a rather large tune (nerf) is in-store for the effects found on Rise of Kunark's Treasured items, such as Overflow and Divine Restoration.

The reason given for the upcoming nerfs is that while effects will automatically scale down on lower quality gear, given how easy it is to acquire these items they did not scale down enough resulting in a huge imbalance as these effects were intended for Legendary quality gear and not Treasured. O'rly? The stats on the items will remain the same, but the effects power will subside by at least 1/3 in some cases. Swinging the ole' nerf bat on items doesn't end there as the four rewards from the Anaphylaxis quest will be nerfed from Fabled to Legendary quality.

Don't you love the pleasantries like "hotfix" and "tune" that MMOG developers like to use today? I call it like I see it. Nerfs stink even when they are an evil necessary, but the devs blundered this one to the Ruins of Kunark and back. This should have never happened, but it did, and even the non-loot whores get to pay for it. What about all those players that replaced all their old gear with? This nerf is going to affect a lot of players.

EQ2: RoK's screwy itemization to result in upcoming nerfs originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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