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The Mog Log: Land and Hand rising

Eliot Lefebvre — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:00:00 EST

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

Two big pieces of news came out of the development pipeline for Final Fantasy XIV over the past couple of weeks. First, we're seeing a big streamlining process coming to crafting. Second, we're seeing a brand-new stealth ability for Disciples of the Land and only Disciples of the Land. Like clockwork, the former has already started prompting questions about dumbing down the game or stripping out the fun of crafting, and the latter has prompted all sorts of questions about balance and whether or not it's removing something integral to the game.

Of course, we've also seen no shortage of people happy about both of these changes; I don't mean to imply that there's some sort of uniform opposition to this approach. And these are big changes, without a doubt. Coeurl Step essentially removes monsters from the equation for all but the rarest gathering attempts, and changes to synthesis greatly simplify the system's overall level of complexity. It's easy to see both of these as negatives, but it's also easy to see both of them as positives when you look at the roles of the classes in the game and the overall thrust of the changes.

Continue reading The Mog Log: Land and Hand rising

The Mog Log: Land and Hand rising originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final Fantasy XIV streamlining the crafting process

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:30:00 EST

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

Crafting in Final Fantasy XIV is involved. Not just the mechanics of crafting an item, but also figuring out the frequently broad range of different items and skills needed for seemingly simple pieces of equipment. It can be immersive, but it's also frequently counterproductive and takes the whole process further than is necessary. Which is why the advent of patch 1.19 will see a major change to several crafting recipes, adding new formulas to the game that will allow players an easier path through the crafting system.

The overall goal is to reduce the number of intermediate steps needed to craft an item and reduce the number of parts that go into the construction of each item, thereby reducing both inventory clutter and the glut of of necessary crafts. While only a handful of specific examples are shown, they demonstrate that crafters should find the new recipes much easier to put together without extensive searching. But if you've still got Hempen Shirtsleeves clogging your inventory, fear not, as the old recipes will remain in place for a while. For the most part, it should be a welcome announcement that will make each act of crafting that much less ornate.

Final Fantasy XIV streamlining the crafting process originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What would you like streamlined?

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST

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

It's not a secret that several bloggers around these parts are enjoying some quality time with Mass Effect 2, a game that's made a few ripples for massively streamlining the entire RPG experience. Superfluous elements like inventory management and sprawling urban areas are excised in favor of a clean yet satisfying sequence of events. On paper it almost sounds as if the game has been gutted, but in play it feels just as full as the last course.

On the flipside, Warhammer Online's streamlining of processes has more than a few people up in arms at the perceived depletion of the game's most interesting content. While we're all familiar (or hopefully familiar) with the basic design guideline of KISS, the argument is being made is that Warhammer Online is simplifying to the point where the fun parts of the game are obliterated.

Needless to say, there's a happy medium to be found, and we can all think of at least one aspect of a game that received some much-needed simplification. What part of your preferred game could do with a solid sweep to get rid of unnecessary complexity? Similarly, what complicated part of the game should remain like it is rather than be slimmed down?

The Daily Grind: What would you like streamlined? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Atlantica Online unleashes content update

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Endgame, News items, Free-to-play, Races, Atlantica Online

Atlantica Online has rolled out another content update to the game, giving every player what they've longed for: the chance to beat the stuffing out of an impressive number of crab people. That's really what everyone wants out of a game, so we should all just go home and kill crab people. Of course, there were a couple other elements improved or expanded in the game's update, but who cares about little things like new skills and improved competition ranks when faced with a dynamic new cluster of enemies?

Leaving aside the awesomeness of getting to beat up homarids in Atlantica Online, the update is quite substantial, with a lengthy set of patch notes available on the official site. Players can enjoy augmented health points to extend the length of engagements, as well as the aforementioned new skills and competition ranks. The game has also streamlined its system of Mana Stones, combining and simplifying the Repair, Enhance, and Enchant stones to make life easier for players.

If all that's still not appealing enough to you, the fishing system has been improved, which might wind up bringing you back to crab people yet again. Take a look at the full notes to see all the additions and updates with this latest patch.

Atlantica Online unleashes content update originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The perils of railroading in MMOs

Eliot Lefebvre — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion

If your gaming origins consist of old-school tabletop gaming, you most likely know and fear the term railroading. It's used to describe an innocent-enough formulation that begins in a large number of games, usually run by younger players, wherein players are more or less forced along a preset path no matter what they might choose to do. That's a Terrible Idea recently took certain parts of the MMO world to task for this as well, as offering precisely that -- a game streamlined so effectively that you have no choices to be made. In particular it cites Aion as an example of a game offering a straight-line, no-thought approach to the genre.

Certainly one of the common criticisms of some newer games, such as Aion and Champions Online, is that you find yourself pushed along on a narrow set of tracksw toward an inevitable conclusion, without many choices to be made in terms of gameplay. On the flip side, of course, it's hard to argue that a certain amount of streamlining is a good thing -- we might miss the sensation of wondering what we should do next, but not the sensation of having no idea what comes next. But there's an argument to be made that streamlining too far removes the whole reason we play the game, and it certainly destroys any hope of meaningful immersion when all your choices have already been made.

The perils of railroading in MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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