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RuneMetrics: What You Need To Know

Last month marked the announcement of RuneMetrics, an upcoming stat-tracking tool for RuneScape developed by Jagex. At the time, all we knew is that the tracker would allow players to see certain statistics like experience per hour and logged drops, and that there would be a free and a paid version.

There’s advanced XP tracking including an ETA to your next level up. There is also an amazing drop log that tracks everything you’ve gained through combat, as well as damage calculators giving you your total damage EVER and your average damage per minute, and plenty more on top!

In a developer Q&A posted today, the team answered a number of questions regarding how RuneMetrics will work and why it costs money. You can find the entire 20 minute video below but for brevity we have posted the highlights below.

Check out below for the full Q&A as well as some screenshots from the livestream.

There is an in-game tracker and a website tracker.
The in-game tracker follows xp per hour, time to next level, exp gained.
Real time graphs follow the past few minutes.
The web application goes further back in time and will replace the Adventurer’s Log.
Everything that is available in the Adventurer’s log will be free in RuneMetrics.
Everything is tracked and can be viewed (kills, drops, worlds changed, deaths, etc).
The feature will not “cheat” for you (ie: clue scroll answers, farming patch status, etc).
The free version covers counting based functions while RuneMetrics Pro (paid) will be required for calculation-based functions.
RuneMetrics requires a subscription due to the immense storage and maintenance costs.
There are no plans for a permanent buy.
If your subscription lapses, after a while the data will be deleted.
Premiere Club members get two weeks free plus half off on the cost.

The web portion will look similar to how it is below. The top portion is available for free with the bottom half requiring a monthly subscription.

DUST 514 Will Shut Down In May

CCP Games has announced that their console shooter DUST 514 will be shutting down later this year. Initially launched on the Playstation 3 in 2013, DUST never really caught on with either the Eve Online community or the console community. The idea was pretty unique, players in DUST would form corporations that would fight over territory control on planets in the Eve universe, contracted by players in the MMO. Unfortunately the game failed to catch on with shooter fans, who had numerous other well-established console shooters, and Eve players who heavily criticized the game only being available on consoles.

We are very proud of what we’ve learned and accomplished with DUST 514 on PlayStation 3 over the past three years and it is an honor to be a part of such a dedicated community. We consider DUST 514 one of the best free-to-play offerings on the platform, but the years have caught up with us. It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that DUST 514 will be shutting down on May 30th, 2016.

The forum post announcing the sunsetting also mentions a new PC shooter set in the Eve universe, to be given more detail at Eve Fanfest in April. The most loyal DUST players can expect some sort of recognition when this game comes around.

(Source: DUST 514)

Neverwinter AMA Answers

Neverwinter’s latest Reddit AMA was last night, and for the sake of brevity we have compiled a list of the more important/informational answers. For those of you willing to dive deep and read the full answers, you can check out the complete Reddit thread here. The overall AMA is pretty short and easily finished in under a half hour, but these are the questions that were not answered with a flat out “no,” or “I’ll make a note and send this off to the team.”

Kobolds may become a playable race in the future.
No DDOS comments for the time being.
Addressing class balance on a wide scale is one of the big plans for this year.
Changes to the Stronghold system with regards to how large/small guilds interact.
There are plans to make Neverwinter more alt-friendly.
Siege won’t return until some changes are made to it.
Older content is getting an itemization refresh with The Maze Engine.
No plans for foundry additions this year outside of bug fixes.
Mounts will be customizable with a stable of sorts providing buffs for players with multiple mounts.
Mounts will be moved to their own bag.
Queue improvements include large groups (24 players, for example) and private queues for PvE.

Join Neverwinter’s Reddit AMA Today

With The Maze Engine on the horizon, Perfect World Entertainment will be holding an Ask Me Anything event on Reddit. Users are already asking questions and the answering session is supposed to begin at approximately 7:30pm Pacific, or about 45 minutes after this post gets published. You can join in and ask your own questions, all you need is a Reddit account and an inquisitive mind.

MMO Fallout will be publishing the more interesting questions tomorrow.

(Source: Reddit)

PWE Announces Next Neverwinter Module, The Maze Engine

Perfect World Entertainment has announced The Maze Engine, the next big update for Neverwinter, will be hitting home computers this Spring with Xbox to follow. The Maze Engine is set to introduce a number of much anticipated updates, including the long awaited return of dungeons. Four fan favorites are set to return with new graphics, a new design, with Castle Never returning as a high level dungeon.

Also available for level 60 players is a new single player campaign set after the events of Underdark.

Neverwinter: The Maze Engine continues the story of demons escaping from the Abyss that was started in Neverwinter: Underdark. I don’t want to give anything away just yet, so be sure to look for an upcoming blog where we’ll go over the story-thus-far, and give you a peak into what you can look forward to as overwhelming madness permeates the… /sigh right… no spoiling. I’ll just say for now that a lot of your favorite characters are making return appearances and ready for adventure!

The announcement details upcoming blogs covering a new mount system, queue improvements, famous faces, and more.

(Source: Neverwinter)

Funcom Earnings Slow Over Last Year

Funcom’s final quarterly report of 2015 has released, and the results are not so pretty. Revenues dropped to $2.5 million from $2.9 million over the same period last year, due to Funcom’s major sources of revenue (their MMOs) declining with age. In addition to a loss in equity and earnings, the total cash position of Funcom dropped from $1.1 million in the third quarter to 616 thousand in the fourth. The company’s cash flow for 2016 and beyond is set to be secured via sale of stocks as well as a convertible bond.

On the games front, Funcom’s primary revenue drivers continue to be Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, and The Secret World. The Park met all non-revenue related goals while selling in line with internal expectations. For those who have forgotten, in a previous financial report Funcom did not expect The Park to generate any significant source of revenue. For the first quarter, Funcom expects to launch The Park on Xbox One and Playstation 4, increasing revenues as well as expanding the company into the console market.

And while Funcom’s revenue did increase over the third quarter, this kind of result is to be expected. I’ve brought this up in previous articles but fourth quarter earnings being higher than third quarter are normal, due to the holidays and in this case a new game release. The fourth quarter is normally followed by a drop in sales in the first, which means that any growth is out of the ordinary and therefore better than expected.

As mentioned in previous releases, Funcom’s strategy going forward is to work on small budget, experimental projects working existing IPs into new technologies and platforms. The fruits of this labor will hopefully bear, at minimum, one small game per year and one larger title in development at all times. The Park is the first small game to be released under this plan with Conan: Exiles the first large title.

(Source: Funcom)

Wildstar Teases New Content

Wildstar’s next content release has been confirmed as Destination Arcterra. In this release, players will be tasked with heading off to one of planet Nexus’ more mysterious locations. The zone offers dynamic content, such as powerful bosses that only appear once their lesser counterparts are defeated. Both factions will also fight it out for exclusive access to a secret dungeon. For the story mode adventurers, Vault of the Archon continues the Nexus Saga, playable solo or as a group.

Keep your eyes open for further updates on even more exciting things happening during Destination Arcterra and beyond—including information about everyone’s favorite Lopp fortune teller, tidbits about undead zombie pirates, and protips about how to make your most awesome gear even awesomer. Stay tuned!

You can check out the full release announcement, as well as check out more screenshots, at the link below.

(Source: Wildstar)

[Not Massive] Ant Simulator Funds Blown On Strippers And Booze

Backers of the Ant Simulator crowdfunding campaign have every right to be furious today, as we learned that the game has been cancelled due to a lack of funds. While it isn’t uncommon for such games to run out of funding during development, the outward explanation and reason for why the developer has no money is probably the first of its kind, and you might want to take down the names just in case they pop up in future business ventures.

The explanation comes from founder Eric Tereshinski, who resigned from the company over the alleged antics of his coworkers. Tereshinski alleges in his video that his ex-business partners secretly stole funds from the company and used that money on booze, restaurants, and strippers. The names of the two gentlemen are Tyler Monce and Devon Staley. Tereshinski has resigned from the company and will no longer be working on Ant Simulator, due to contractual restrictions preventing him from working on the game or anything like it outside of the company. According to Tereshinski, his business partners have threatened to sue him if he works on Ant Simulator elsewhere.

While Tereshinski cannot sue due to contract agreements, there is a possibility of charges being brought by the Federal Trade Commission, should backers submit complaints. The FTC as well as state Attorney Generals have begun prosecuting crowdfunding campaigns over misappropriated funds.

(Source: Softpedia)

Jagex Unveils RuneMetrics, Paid Stat Tracking

In the Behind the Scenes for February, Jagex officially unveiled a new stat tracking service coming to RuneScape this month. Named RuneMetrics, the service is advertised to log a wide variety of player actions, giving in-depth details on how efficiently the player is training, what they are collection, and how much damage they are dealing out. While many of the tracking features will be free, some parts of RuneMetrics will be held behind a paywall, at the cost of a bond per month. Premiere Club members receive a 50% discount.

There’s advanced XP tracking including an ETA to your next level up. There is also an amazing drop log that tracks everything you’ve gained through combat, as well as damage calculators giving you your total damage EVER and your average damage per minute, and plenty more on top!

Also set to release this month is a new quest, a mini-game involving Sliske, a double experience weekend, further additions to Invention, and a seasonal event for the Chinese new year.

(Source: RuneScape)

Marvel Heroes 2016 Is Here, Controller Support Now In

Marvel Heroes 2016 is here, and the long awaited controller support has come along with it. The 2016 update brings with it the secret invasion story line, with ten new regions, twelve new bosses, and a new patrol zone. The update also introduces Black Cat as the latest playable character, an Agent Venom team-up, and a revamped Deadpool. Captain America, Black Widow, and Jean Grey round out the first group of older heroes who will be receiving a facelift in order to bring them in line with the graphical fidelity of more recent heroes.

Check out Marvel Heroes on Steam, with its new achievements.

(Source: Marvel Heroes)

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