EverQuest 2 Game Update 45 gives love to the Coercer

Yesterday when we noted the final patch notes for Game Update 45 on the EverQuest 2 test server, we neglected to mention one of the biggest changes: major tweaks to the Coercer class. The official patch preview on the EQ2 Players site makes it clear these changes represent a fundamental shift for the class. Possession spells have been improved all around, the material components used to control the Coercer's pet have been removed entirely, and Puppetmasters have gained the use of another pet.


This blogger is hardly an expert on every EQ2 class, though, so we turned to the real experts on the forums to see their reaction. In all it looks like the Coercing community is behind these decisions. The Active on Test thread is the epicenter for commentary, so be sure to check that out. Forum poster zuzer offers up some directed responses, while poster Kneemin opened up a thread discussing how these changes will effect PvP. For more details than you might be able to handle, check out XFnarX's screenshots of the new spells and his damage-tracking charts from the test server. Source : massively.com

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Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate Lore #9

You underestimate us, just as the Night Masks did before we uprooted them from the Harbor Loop. We may not be as strong as they, but we are many - and we have powerful allies that they do not know of. Yes, yes, very powerful and very well-placed allies.

- Altama, Ebon Claw Guild Member


With only the briefest moments of exception, the Night Masks have dominated the underworld of Westgate for the past twenty years. Recently, however, a new group has arisen: The Ebon Claws, and while such rivals are usually quickly and brutally dispatched by the followers of the Faceless, the Claws, unusually tenacious, have not only survived the Night Masks' assault, but have thrived and prospered. So confident are they now in their position that they have begun to openly war with the Night Masks, many times as the aggressors. Shockingly enough, it is often the bodies of known Night Mask operatives found in the morning streets, their domino masks mockingly stuffed in their own mouths and four dark, gangrenous, filthy lines - the eponymous "ebon claw" of the new guild - dug like trenches into their pale cheeks.

The origins and hierarchy of the Ebon Claws are obscure; they are still too new for much solid information to yet be widely known, but it is obvious that even the Night Masks are unsure. Their agents, normally discreet in their pursuit of information, have become ever more insistent in their interrogations, and large amounts of reward money are offered to any with solid information. The rumors circulating the local beer halls are mostly fantastic, for it is argued that only a fantastic origin could have taken the Masks - masters of stealth, spying, and intrigue - so completely by surprise.

There is, however, one persistent rumor circulating regarding the Ebon Claws. There have been enough sightings of their deformed agents to suggest that it is a guild heavily - if not completely - plagued by the disease of lycanthropy, though the specific variety of the infection is not that of the more legendary werewolf, but is instead that of the more common - in cities, at least - wererat. If true, it would explain their success against the Night Masks. Extremely agile and aided by preternatural strength, a squadron of wererats would make tenacious foes dangerous even for the hardened rogues and thugs employed by the Masks. However, such stories, as yet, are still just rumors, though one concrete fact lends credence to them. Recently, the Night Masks have begun spending an enormous amount of coin with the local merchants on the acquisition of silvered swords, daggers, and rapiers, weapons known to have an uncanny ability to harm lycanthropes of all kinds. It is therefore obvious that the Night Masks, at least, believe the stories to be true.

The honorable citizens of Westgate have learned to duck and seek cover when the two groups begin warring in the streets, and the prevailing wisdom seems to be that when two evil groups are in the process of killing each other, get out of the way and let them. Still, those with a keen sense of perception would probably discern that the average citizens, tired of the abuses of the Night Masks, are quietly rooting for the Ebon Claws. After all, they might argue, the Claws can't be any worse than the Masks, but it is a short-sighted view, for once the Masks are dispatched, only the truly naïve would expect the Claws to just fade into the sunset. To the contrary, they would almost certainly set up shop in the resulting power vacuum, and any group cunning and brutal enough to dispatch the Night Masks would make a truly horrifying successor indeed.

Source : WarCry

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Final Fantasy XI 2008 Edition hits stores May 28th

Square Enix has announced that they plan on releasing the 2008 edition of Final Fantasy XI at the end of this month on May 28th. The box will come with the original game plus every expansion released to date. That means players will get Final Fantasy XI, Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promathia, Treasures of Aht Urghan, and Wings of the Goddess all in one purchase.



This is nothing new from Square Enix, as they've done this the past couple of years. We would just like to thank them for keeping all the expansions purchasable in a single box, as it makes things a lot easier on newer players trying to get into the game -- or even returning players who've lost their original boxes.

[Update] May 28th is actually the release date for the EU version of Final Fantasy XI 2008 Edition. The US version of this bundle was released on April 15th, 2008.

Source : massively.com

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Age of Conan's raiding treadmill

Race to the level cap. If you're too slow, you lose. If your gear sucks, you lose MORE. The people who got there first have your number and know where you live. You finally struggle to max level -- but you need to raid to get the gear to continue. The game may be built around PvP, but you have to raid in order to get the gear to PvP. You need to raid to get the gear to do more raiding. Then comes the first expansion, and all your old gear is trash. Rinse and repeat. Thus goes the raiding treadmill. Invented by EverQuest and polished to a mirror-finish by World of Warcraft, the raiding treadmill is no stranger to MMOs.



Does it really have to happen again? To see all there is to see and partake in all that can be partook, must we jump on the treadmill and, Red Queen-like, run as fast as we can, just to stay in one place? In a recent blog post, Keen looks at the Age of Conan news that performing in the top echelons of PvP in the Border Kingdoms will depend on grinding out mini-games and doing a fair amount of raiding for the gear to compete. In the end, he decides to purchase the game, despite indications he will not be able to fully enjoy the game. Must modern games still reward fanatical devotion so highly? Is there a way in which casual and hardcore players can both enjoy all the game? We'll know in May if Age of Conan's PvE-gameplay can satisfy gamers who don't wish to climb upon the raiding treadmill. Source : Massively.com

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EVE Evolved: Controversy brewing over removal of shuttles

On February 20th 2008, EVE Online's economist Dr Eyjo published his fourth quarter economic newsletter for 2007. The newsletter discussed issues ranging from deflation to what ships players use and methods for estimating the total production of Eve. Among the pages of the economic newsletter was a small section commenting on the purchases of shuttles relative to tritanium prices and the ensuing discussion seemed to focus on this. In his more recent devblog, Dr Eyjo informed pilots that following a recent patch, the infinite NPC supply of shuttles was being removed from the market in order to alleviate what he calls "an artificial price cap of 3.6 ISK per unit".

It's no secret that shuttles and tritanium prices are linked. The effect that the supply of shuttles on the market has had on tritanium prices is a well-known and well-documented phenomenon that was even included in the second economist dev-blog back in September of 2007. If prices of tritanium ever increase above 3.6 per unit due to the laws of supply and demand in action, it becomes profitable to buy shuttles at 9000 ISK per unit and refine them into tritanium for sale or industry. The fact that there are people with perfect refine skills willing to do this for profit means that the price of tritanium can never rise any more than fractionally above 3.6 per unit before the shuttle-refiners push it back down.

Read on for a breakdown of the controversy and to find out how this change has affected the EVE markets.


Effects of the change:
The effect that this artificial price cap on tritanium has had on the market has been difficult to measure. Of the five to ten billion units of tritanium sold daily on the market in trade hub Jita, nobody knows how many unique units of tritanium are being sold and how many are being bought and resold. In his devblog announcing the change, Dr Eyjo ventured to suggest that this change "makes the mining industry more profitable", that "the price cap has been lifted" and "the price of tritanium will increase", bold claims that were put to the harsh scrutiny of the EVE populace.

In the midst of the resulting debate over whether or not an increase in tritanium prices was beneficial for the game, it became known that shuttles were not the only item upholding the artificial price cap of 3.6 ISK per unit. After a few days of initial price rises caused by market speculation, several pilots discovered that the Civilian Afterburner I module sold in starting school stations also refined into tritanium at a rate of 3.6 ISK per unit. Costing just 216 ISK each, this module refines for 60 tritanium. Dr Eyjo was slow to respond to the issue, eventually responding several days later by suggesting that "with lower quantity available in fewer places the price cap has effectively been lifted.".

Despite these words of reassurance that the artificial price cap on tritanium had been raised, market data continues to refute that position. The price of tritanium remains stable at a level just above 3.6 per unit in the main trade hubs, being pushed down as usual when it rises above that level. With sales of civilian afterburners of over 21 million units in the past week and their massive availability on the market, it's looking like the cap of 3.6 ISK per unit is here to stay.

Dr Eyjo's recommendation to remove NPC supply of shuttles has been in the pipelines since late September 2007 and has only now reached implementation almost seven months later. With a turnaround of over six months on the initial change, some pilots are left wondering whether a resolution to this issue will even be implemented by this time next year.

Dr Eyjo left pilots with the promise that "Other price caps will be removed in due time", a promise that offers little consolation to those who invested their ISK into playing the tritanium market following his advice that prices would rise. Although tritanium prices are not set to increase in the long term, the removal of shuttles has held some benefit for the EVE markets. With no NPC supply of shuttles on the market, players can now manufacture them for profit. Newcomers to industry could produce shuttles for a substantial profit margin in outlying systems where there are none on the market yet.

The underlying problem:
The main problem with the handling of this change was the short-sighted approach that was taken with it. The economist was aware of the fact that shuttles were being reprocessed to produce tritanium but never really explored the wider issue. If he had explored the issue further, he would have noticed that other price caps exist through other NPC-sold refinable goods and would have at the very least spotted the issue with civilian afterburners. Rather than examining the underlying cause, CCP were content to patch up the most visible and immediate symptom by removing the NPC supply of shuttles.

The underlying problem is that several of EVE's components and mechanics rely on something called the NPC base mineral price index. This is a set of values for minerals which all NPC-related game mechanics use. Everything from insurance to prices of NPC-sold ships and modules uses these values and according to them, tritanium should be worth 1 ISK per unit. NPC sell orders for refinable goods are always priced at 3.6 times their total mineral value according to the NPC base mineral prices and if the minerals that can be obtained from refining the item is greater than this, the item can be purchased and refined for a profit.

With shuttles and civilian afterburners, their abuse to form the 3.6 ISK per unit tritanium price cap is due to them being made entirely of tritanium. Other items like civilian armour repairers are made of mostly tritanium and a small portion of another mineral such as pyerite which is not currently worth over 3.6 times its NPC base price. These items are not currently profitable to refine but if lower tritanium price caps are removed, that could change. These issues are all part of the bigger underlying problem - EVE is starting to show its age and some old game mechanics still rely on the now-defunct NPC base mineral values.

Whether CCP intend to deal with this underlying cause at all and how they might do so is anyone's guess right now. One thing's for sure, this is one topic I will follow with great interest.

Source : Massively.com

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