RuneScape: Divination Skill Impressions


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Divination is the latest skill to be released in RuneScape, and it is certainly interesting. The premise of the skill is that after the god Guthix is assassinated, the resulting fallout caused immense damage to the world in which the game takes place. Guthix’s life energy dispersed in the form of wisps, a combination of divine energy and memories. The divine energy is the force that once protected the world of Gielinor, but was shattered and sent raining down from the heavens upon Guthix’s death. By harvesting wisps for their divine energy and memories and return them to various craters located around the world, in the hope that this will heal the damaged planet.

It’s important to remember that Divination is a gathering skill, not unlike Fishing, Woodcutting, Mining, etc. With that knowledge, training Divination is a slow trudge through a seemingly endless bog of grind. You start out at level one with the basic wisps, and every ten levels you leave your current spot and make your way to the next tier of wisps. An oversimplification? Yes, but if you play RuneScape then you already know that this is generally how gathering skills work, except Divination doesn’t give you the piles of items to sell off at the end of the day.

As a gathering skill, Divination is meant to complement other skills. Fishing gives resources to cooking, mining to smithing, farming to herblore, etc. Divine energy can be weaved into portents and signs, powerful items that are carried in the inventory and activated automatically. These items offer benefits including automatic healing once your health drops below half, the ability to save more items upon death, increased gravestone timers, resurrection on the spot, automatic banking of items collected, and more.

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Divine Locations are one of Divination’s odder creations. Locations are essentially skill hotspots that are weaved and placed down, allowing anyone around to harvest before it disappears (generally after 30 seconds). The lesson to take home is sharing is caring, and Divination rewards plopping down your divine location in a crowded area by just handing you resources as other players harvest them. The downside to divine locations is that only one can be put down per day, and you can only harvest a limited amount of those created by other players.

And finally, players have access as they level up to abilities that allow them to “upgrade” resources of lower level to those of higher level. While it sounds cool to convert three coal into a mithril ore, or two trout into a tuna, the RuneScape Wiki shows that you’d be better off just selling the resources and buying the higher material at a profit.

Ultimately, Divination is a means to an end. Divine energy can be traded to other players at the benefit/cost of experience gain. Many signs and portents can be traded, but odds are most of your divine energy is better spent boosting your experience gain towards the next tier of wisps.

Does Snail Games’ Explanation Make Any Sense?


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To clarify common misconceptions and answer the surge of questions, Black Gold Online’s optional time save system acts as a bonus, completely optional feature to supplement normal game progression. PvE experience and PvP rankings remains unaffected and all levels of equipment and materials(white to epic) can be acquired in game via questing, battegrounds, auction and world drops.

PvE experience and PvP rankings unaffected by this system? Smashing. But since you admit that the system is fraught with misconceptions, how about some in-depth explanation?

Black Gold Online records a loot index, measured by in-game actions like questing, killing, bosses, etc, and assigns the player a color. Every hour, that index is attributed to a save, which the player can only have a certain amount of, which then transforms into a Vial of Time whose quality is based on the color of the time index. That vial can then be acquired by the player for free or by purchasing with credits (RMT), or it can be sold on the Time Exchange to other players for their credits.

“We’re refining this new system and our top priority is develop a transparent and accepted F2P model for the North American audience.”

If the idea is so transparent, why do I still have no idea what is going on? Maybe it is just me, and this makes sense to everyone else, but the news story to make the system “transparent” runs in circles, goes nowhere, and not only hasn’t answered a single question I have about Black Gold’s loot system, it raises even more questions about Time Index, save slots, free vs paid, etc.

My understanding of the system is this: You play the game with no subscriptions or cash shop, and you fight stuff and quest and kill bosses and other players. During your play, you obtain loot as you would in any other game, but your activity contributes to a bonus chest that becomes available every hour. This chest is filled with even more random loot based on the quality of your activity, and you can opt to use one of your free saves (two per day according to the article), buy the chest, or sell it for credits to spend toward future chests. You have limited space for these chests, so you have to deal with them before another chest overrides that space.

Am I anywhere close to the target on this one? Can someone explain this in a way that doesn’t make them sound like they’re selling time shares?

(Source: Black Gold Online)

Does Snail Games' Explanation Make Any Sense?


Black-Gold-Online-2-620x350

To clarify common misconceptions and answer the surge of questions, Black Gold Online’s optional time save system acts as a bonus, completely optional feature to supplement normal game progression. PvE experience and PvP rankings remains unaffected and all levels of equipment and materials(white to epic) can be acquired in game via questing, battegrounds, auction and world drops.

PvE experience and PvP rankings unaffected by this system? Smashing. But since you admit that the system is fraught with misconceptions, how about some in-depth explanation?

Black Gold Online records a loot index, measured by in-game actions like questing, killing, bosses, etc, and assigns the player a color. Every hour, that index is attributed to a save, which the player can only have a certain amount of, which then transforms into a Vial of Time whose quality is based on the color of the time index. That vial can then be acquired by the player for free or by purchasing with credits (RMT), or it can be sold on the Time Exchange to other players for their credits.

“We’re refining this new system and our top priority is develop a transparent and accepted F2P model for the North American audience.”

If the idea is so transparent, why do I still have no idea what is going on? Maybe it is just me, and this makes sense to everyone else, but the news story to make the system “transparent” runs in circles, goes nowhere, and not only hasn’t answered a single question I have about Black Gold’s loot system, it raises even more questions about Time Index, save slots, free vs paid, etc.

My understanding of the system is this: You play the game with no subscriptions or cash shop, and you fight stuff and quest and kill bosses and other players. During your play, you obtain loot as you would in any other game, but your activity contributes to a bonus chest that becomes available every hour. This chest is filled with even more random loot based on the quality of your activity, and you can opt to use one of your free saves (two per day according to the article), buy the chest, or sell it for credits to spend toward future chests. You have limited space for these chests, so you have to deal with them before another chest overrides that space.

Am I anywhere close to the target on this one? Can someone explain this in a way that doesn’t make them sound like they’re selling time shares?

(Source: Black Gold Online)

Server Control Is A Necessary Evil


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If you aren’t aware of the server locks on Final Fantasy XIV, chances are you either picked a low population server or you aren’t coordinating with a clan/group of friends. During the open beta phase 4, a large number of servers were locked down in order to keep the population in check. With the launch of early access, Square Enix has once again begun locking servers in order to disperse population and prevent servers from being overloaded. The general reaction has been mixed, leaning toward negative, with complaints mostly related to being cut off from friends/clans.

As usual, both sides have a point. Gamers want to be able to log in and play with their friends with as little impediment as possible. Square Enix want to disperse the population more evenly among the servers available to prevent players from congregating on one or two servers, overflowing them while leaving the other servers empty and abandoned. To meet Square’s goal of not having unbalanced server population and ensuring that players on the more popular servers don’t experience heavy instability, server locks are a necessary evil. It is similar to NCSoft implementing faction locks on Aion servers to keep the sides from becoming any more unbalanced.

The server lock idea, however, will live or die in the court of public opinion based on whether or not Square Enix plans on allowing players to easily transfer over to their intended servers once the launch population levels out (unless we see the rare case where the population continues growing).

Age of Wushu Merging Servers 8/28


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Snail Games USA has announced that Age of Wushu will be merging two servers in order to increase player interaction and reduce low population areas. On August 28th, Black Tortoise will be merged into White Tiger during the game’s normally scheduled maintenance. According to the FAQ, character data including progression, guilds, and Jianghu Rankings will cross over. Characters with the same name will be able to keep their name with server distinctions added on, however school positions will be reset.

As this will be a fresh reset server, all school positions will be reset. Players can apply with School NPCs for positions in the school structure on day 1. The weekly school tournament will be conducted as normal on the first Sunday following the merger (September 1, 2013).

You can read the entire FAQ at the link below. While the new server is titled “White Tiger,” the server is not the same as the existing White Tiger.

(Source: Age of Wushu)

Star Vault Q2 Finances: Sales Down, Profits Down


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Star Vault has released their second quarter finances for 2013. Following a rise in the first quarter, net sales dropped approximately 15% to $811,263 USD while net profit fell further into the red at $-937,168 USD. According to the quarterly report, the number of active subscriptions in Q2 2013 is in line with Q1 2013. Earlier in the second quarter, Star Vault sold approximately one million shares to two investors from the UK and USA, allowing for “accelerated development” as the report describes.

Star Vault CEO Henrik Nystrom’s statement:

Just like in the beginning of 2013, we have in the second quarter could see a slightly positive trend as the number of registered members of the Forum of Mortal Online has increased slightly compared to the first quarter, which is obviously pleasing.

Through the private placement we completed in May 2013 was Star Vault capital to advance the development moving forward and deliver new features to the game. At present, we use external services to mass produce content for Dominion (territory control) and the new continent. Before that we delivered in April a ‘mount package, which could be completed with the help of playing donations. Mount package has been received with great joy by our players and brings to my mind a new dimension in Mortal Online.

Henrik Nystrom
CEO, Star Vault AB

The information above was pulled directly from the AktieTorget stock exchange and all monetary values converted from SEK into USD based on international conversion rates provided by Citibank NA. The graph uses the original SEK figures presented in the document, and the statement from CEO Henrik Nystrom was translated into English from its original Swedish via Google’s translation service.

MMOrning Shots: Son of a Trigon


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Today’s screenshot comes to us from Sony Online Entertainment, on DC Universe’s upcoming DLC release: Sons of Trigon. Releasing later this fall, Sons of Trigon marks the eighth DLC expansion to the super hero/villain MMO since release, as well as the 11th power: Celestial. Players will take on Trigon alongside either Wonder Woman or Circe, in a battle for either power or peace.

Sons of Trigon DLC picks up where the Sins of the Father storyline left off. Through blood ritual, Trigon escaped his dimension and was preparing to attack the Earth. However, he became trapped in a nightmare version of Gotham City, a wasteland filled with sin. In this new DLC, Heroes and Villains will explore these wastelands as they race to confront Trigon and his sinful sons.

The Distinction Between Account Service And Cash Shop


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Zenimax’s Matt Firor stated in an interview that Elder Scrolls Online required a box price and subscription because free to play, while valid, just wasn’t compatible for the game that they were building. So with Zenimax claiming that the experience is all about being able to enjoy the game for a flat subscription with no monetization being shoved in the player’s face, instinctively I asked how long it would take before Zenimax confirmed a cash shop. I expected something more like a few months after launch, not twenty four hours after the article was published.

An article on ESO Hub confirms through Matt Firor that Elder Scrolls Online will have a cash shop.

According to Matt Firor will be available in The Elder Scrolls Online an item shop, where her character fun items and services you can buy as a renaming of the character.

BUT! I am still holding my breath on this one. Account services like renaming being an added fee is pretty standard even going back to subscription games without cash shops. Now the question is regarding what Zenimax considers to be “fun items.”

(Source: ESO Hub)

APB Reloaded Transfers Weapons Via Murder


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Not too long ago, Reloaded Productions introduced a new weapon to APB: The Colby .45. What is unique about this pistol is that you can only obtain it if someone kills you with it. Afterward, everyone you kill with it will also find the pistol sitting in their inventory. While the epidemic event has ended and players may now obtain the Colby via ARMAS and Joker shops, Reloaded isn’t done with the concept. To expand upon the idea of transferring weapons via infection, Reloaded Productions has introduced the Agrotech Close Engagement System (or ACES).

Achieving 26 kills with the Colby will reward the player with a 10-Day ACES SMG, a short range and fast firing weapon with low damage and a large magazine. Ten kills with the SMG will reward a title, and fifty kills will reward a 10-Day ACES Rifle.

(Source: Reloaded Productions)

ROBLOX Sees Growth In First Half


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We love us some ROBLOX here at MMO Fallout, there is no doubt about that. The creator of everyone’s favorite building game since Lego has enjoyed an astounding amount of success on the PC with releases either already here or on their way to more portable systems. Yesterday the group released their user data for the first half of 2013, and the statistics are geared to impress.

ROBLOX enjoyed 13.4 billion pageviews and 339 million hours of site and gameplay engagement in 2013 so far. The website is #1 on a variety of kid’s game categories. June was the most popular month of the year, and and total engagement is 230% higher than 2012.

“Thanks to our vibrant building and sharing community, ROBLOX continues to grow at an amazing rate,” said David Baszucki, CEO of ROBLOX. “We think of ourselves as the best digital ‘toy’ around, and we are excited about the creativity, energy, and passion for success the ROBLOX platform continues to inspire in our builders.”

The popularity of ROBLOX just keeps getting bigger every year.

(Source: ROBLOX Press Release)