Fantasy

Well, I think The Secret World has been out long enough for me to start listing some things the game needs. No, I haven't cleared Transylvania yet. In fact, I'm still happily lost in the latter portion of the game's Egyptian area, so this isn't a column full of complaints about endgame or the lack thereof.

Good MMOs are virtual worlds, though, and Funcom's got plenty of options for expanding immersiveness and gameplay potential going forward. Oh, and fair warning: If you're one of those lulz-we-don't-need-no-stickin'-fluff types, this week's column isn't for you.

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As the core feature for Lord of the Rings Online's upcoming Riders of Rohan expansion, mounted combat is understandably the focus of many player concerns and questions. To hopefully answer a few, Turbine's unleashed a horse-sized developer diary about how mounted combat came to be and how it functions in the game right now.

The diary begins by recalling the history of mounts in the game, back to the very earliest days when they were barely implemented in time for launch. The notion of mounted combat went from insurmountable to a strict on-rails system to a much more free-form system. It also dropped several ideas along the way, such as momentum, horse attacks, and purely generic combat skills.

War-steeds will take some getting used to, according to the devs: "Probably the very first thing you notice when you ride your War-steed for the first time is that it moves completely differently than your standard horse or goat. The War-steed is a large creature and its part of a much larger system, one that requires some skill, time, and practice to master."

The titular feature of RIFT is getting another tool for its belt: Hunt Rifts. This new type of dynamic event is coming in Storm Legion and allows players to go on the offensive instead of merely reacting to planar invasions.

Hunt Rifts are challenging events in which players will be targeting planar commanders. According to Trion Worlds, these commanders are tough prey indeed; you'll need a hearty group and advanced tactics to take them down. Hunt Rifts will be found in the two new continents: Dusken and Brevane.

The cool part about Hunt Rifts is that they allow players to work their way up the chain of command in the enemy's forces, earning special items and gradually unlocking super-tough Great Hunts. Great Hunts are impossible for players to accomplish without the help of Torvan Hunters and many friends.

Mists of Pandaria queues got you down? Our sister site sussed out the fact that Blizzard is offering free time-limited realm transfers for some North American World of Warcraft servers. If you're on one of eight high-population realms, you can migrate immediately (though you can't choose your destination shard).

Blizzard says that guilds may also move as long as the leader purchases a Guild Master Realm Transfer, after which point the remaining member migrations will be free of charge. Head to WoW Insider for full details.

It's been a week of remembrances for past and present members of the Ultima Online dev team. The title's 15th anniversary has offered ample opportunity for stories from the early days, the latest of which come courtesy of Lord British himself (and no, it's not the one about his in-game death).

Richard Garriott tells of his run-in with a player thief bent on ruining the game experience for a new player. It's an amusing anecdote that illustrates how UO's early incarnation led to plenty of unexpected gameplay scenarios. "After [the incident], I began to think more carefully about the rules we ourselves put in the game, and the inevitable play styles that would come of it," Garriott writes.

Multitasking is a skill that is fairly useful in any competitive game. Even if there's not a huge need for external situational awareness, the ability to multitask lets you do things while paying attention to other elements of a PvP match such as in-game resources, the timer (if present), and the actions of enemy players. If you can't multitask, you are stuck focusing mostly on what you're doing and can't adequately counter what the enemy is doing.

League of Legends requires a lot of multitasking. While it's not a true real-time strategy game, LoL still requires players to be aware of the minimap, the current state of minions at their location, and the potential positions of enemy players who are not visible on the minimap. Couple this with the "normal" flow of a PvP game where a player must juggle her positioning with that of her opponent, and you have a game that is very taxing on a person's mental resources. While multitasking is a hard skill to develop, learning it is intensely satisfying when knowledge about the "big picture" leads to a decisive, game-winning play.

This week in The Summoner's Guidebook, we'll look at how you can improve this critical skill. Even if you don't play League of Legends, it might be worth it to follow along. While many examples I'll be discussing will be LoL-specific, the broader concepts we'll cover after the jump can be applied to many different games, whether competitive or not.

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Calling your game an "unrivaled action RPG" is a pretty daring thing to do. After all, we play in a market that offers games like Vindictus, TERA, Dragon Nest, and Dungeon and Dragons Online. Action-based MMOs are nothing new, really, but they do seem to become more extreme with every new title that comes out. Where Vindictus goes for dark realism and DDO strives for classic gameplay, C9, aka Continent of the Ninth Seal, goes for over-the-top combos and incredible boss battles.

It delivers on its promises for the most part. I've played pretty much every action-based MMO on the market, and so far, the bold claims seem true: Nothing rivals C9's loud, combo-liscious approach to combat. Not all is perfect, of course, but most of the issues I had with the game resulted from art design or customer service. Those areas might be easier to fix than a boring game.

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You know that saying about never discussing religion or politics around the dinner table? I'd like to add one more to the list: RIFT macros. Some players love them, and some players hate them, to the point that the topic completely turns them off from the game. Each camp has some very valid arguments, and there doesn't seem to be too much of a middle ground on the subject. In this week's Enter at Your Own Rift, I'd like to take a look at that polarizing issue and explain why I grew to love macros.

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Think you have what it takes to work for ArenaNet? Are you willing to spend a year toiling for peanuts and attaboys?

If you answered yes to both of those questions, head to the official ArenaNet blog and read over the company's class of 2013 internship post. ANet is offering experience in disciplines ranging from character and environmental art to animation and programming. Best of all, you'll get a year's worth of networking opportunities, not to mention resume fodder from one of the industry's most successful firms.

Black Desert is rapidly approaching too-good-to-be-true territory, at least for this sandbox-starved gamer. While there are still a ton of unanswered questions regarding the newly announced Korean import, we have seen some spectacular visuals and an interesting twist on player housing.

Today the Pearl Abyss Facebook page has updated with a look at the game's parkour system. Steparu.com reports that players will be able to "run up on walls, jump on obstacles, climb balconies, and stuff."

There's no video as of yet, but there is a screenshot montage that shows a free-runner vaulting over ground-based obstructions and climbing onto a balcony.

A major component of the Riders of Rohan expansion for Lord of the Rings Online is the epic journey of the fellowship. In the latest video dev diary, developers discuss the game's return to the core of the Lord of the Rings story. It is during this part of the adventure that the war in Middle-earth gains momentum and the fellowship falls to pieces. You can watch the dev diary after the break.

Turbine has also released a number of screenshots highlighting this year's Harvestmath Festival, which is going on now through October 14th. During the festival, players can explore the Haunted Burrow beneath the Party Tree, participate in games of skill, join the horse races, and even play tricks on various citizens of Middle-earth. New Harvestmath-themed housing items as well as a new Harvest-brew steed are available. Check out the Harvestmath images below.

[Source: Turbine press release]

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Jagex has nuked them from orbit, and now, the MMO studio is going to put RuneScape's bots on trial.

Coming soon to RuneScape is a brand-new area called Botany Bay. It's here that players can be the judge, jury, and executioner for convicted bots, voting on their ultimate punishment. Jagex gives two warnings to botters, after which the player is ejected from the game and his or her avatar is sent to Botany Bay for final judgment. Botters' avatars may be smooshed by a dragon, vaporized, or pelted with rotten fruit.

Lead Designer Mark Ogilvie hopes this will deter players from naughty behavior: "We have wanted to do this for some time and we hope that by bringing the actions of those who cheat to the attention of the wider community, we can make a massive step towards eliminating botting from the game."

You can watch a trailer for the new Botany Bay area after the jump.

[Source: Jagex press release]

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Besides various tweaks and fixes, The Cat God offers two new missions: The Binding and Dogs of War. The Binding is an investigation mission that takes you to the City of the Sun God in Egypt, while Dogs of War focuses on the conflict between the vampires and their allies. For full details about the changes, check out the patch notes.

The Cat God, for whom the update is named, will make a personal appearance in October closer to the Halloween holiday. A special Halloween event will run through the end of October and the first week of November and will include the beginning of a new storyline and a new villain. We'll keep you updated as more information becomes available.

You're darn tootin' I'm going to end them! That's me, taking up arms against the hordes of zombies. Or more accurately, chopping them off, along with legs, heads, and anything else that gets in the way of my blade! If you have zero interest in fighting reanimated townsfolk with flesh dripping off of them, then The Secret World is probably not the MMO for you. However, if you don't mind dicing, slicing, slashing, shooting, chopping, blasting, or otherwise obliterating said undead, then Kingsmouth really is the place to be! If zombies were a cash crop, that little town would be swimming in the moolah Scrooge McDuck-style.

For the second act of our co-production, Choose My Adventure undertook a massive scenery change. Instead of the concrete jungle of NYC where we began, the story played out in the sleepy streets of a quiet new England town. Well, quiet if you don't count the lip-smacking of the zombies gnawing on everyone. Armed with my rifle, my sword, and of course, your directions, I set off to explore, ameliorate suffering, and eviscerate the hordes of evil in The Secret World.

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In what is most certainly a coincidence, Trion Worlds has announced a special promotion today to support pandas with the help of players who purchase a certain expansion. No, not that expansion.

Starting tomorrow, every copy of RIFT: Storm Legion pre-ordered will prompt Trion to donate a buck to Pandas International. Pandas International is an organization devoted to saving the Giant Panda, who probably would not need saving if they were martial arts monks (just saying). The pre-order has to take place through the game's website, and it ends after October 3rd.

If you're up for a laugh, make sure to read the small print on the official announcement. Maine is always the bane of any good panda party.