Everyone has a fighting chance
It’s hard to believe that it’s July, and we’ve already seen a number of highly-anticipated titles release in the first half of the year. Pillars of Eternity, The Witcher 3, and Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward are all out, The Elder Scrolls Online has launched on consoles, and there have been open beta or "live" releases for Trove, Heroes of the Storm, and Skyforge.
The first big patch post-Heavensward is here, and Victor’s been trawling through it like a good little Lalafell. Let’s take a quick look at what you get with the introduction of FFXIV Patch 3.05!
The Witcher 3 received its 1.07 patch this week, bringing with it much needed inventory improvements and an alternative movement mode. Unfortunately, it also brought a brand new problem. This week, Chris takes the issue and looks at the larger problem of unfinished games and post-launch patches. Plus, a meaty Diablo 3 update, Chris Roberts responds to Star Citizen drama, new Fallout 4 gameplay, and more!
The Neverwinter team has gone on record as having heard the voices of the community about abusive behavior by some when using the ‘vote-to-kick’ feature. According to a new post on the Neverwinter site, players had been particularly abusing the system at or near the end of a boss fight effectively reducing the pool of players who would have access to drops.
The Skyforge team has posted a brief note to let North American players know that they are aware of server load issues, queues, drop outs, and "significant lag". To fight these problematic issues, server maintenance has already been completed and new upgrades will be deployed over the next several days.
We have been hearing from several industry leaders about yesterday’s resignation of now-former Daybreak Game Company CEO and President John Smedley. Of particular note, Scott Hartsman spoke very candidly about the news and what it means to the industry.
During today’s QuakeCon inaugural address, Fallout Anthology was announced. All Fallout titles, including New Las Vegas and Tactics will be included and will be shipped in a mini-nuke. Fallout Anthology will be available in North America and on October 1st in the rest of the world.
When I think about the vision behind Pathfinder Online, it’s hard for me not to get excited. As a fan of Iceland’s greatest export, EVE Online, I have spent the last few years pining for an MMORPG that takes the sandbox structure of EVE and transports it to a more familiar fantasy universe, and what better universe than Paizo Publishing’s wonderful pen and paper RPG, Pathfinder? On paper, Pathfinder Online seems like a sandbox fan’s dream come true.
Lord of the Rings Online has a unique music system and battle weary players have taken a real liking to its nuances. ABC files number into the many thousands with music being played at any street corner and at all hours with genres ranging from Mozart, to Led Zeppelin. This could make for ripe event planning… Enter the fan-created event, Weatherstock!
Matt Higby, formerly with SOE and Daybreak Game Company, has penned his thoughts about John Smedley stepping down as president and CEO of DBC. It’s an interesting, inside look at the man and his profound effect on those he has worked with. We present it here in its entirety without comment.