Square Enix has updated the official Final Fantasy XIV YoutTube channel with a couple more videos.
First off, there is a video detailing the graphical changes that have occurred between the alpha and beta versions of the game, as well as combat changes:
The alpha version looks a lot like FFXI. By playing with the gamma and some colors, they’ve changed the feel of the world. There are also lots of new textures and the world looks a lot better overall.
The combat changes are intriguing as well. This looks similar to Aion’s combat system in some ways. It looks a lot more engaging and fast paced than the alpha version. We’ll have to wait until we can get a hands-on for a full report.
Additionally, here is a third video from E3 where they talk about some of these changes and some gamers gawk at the 3D displays.
If you’re drooling for a spot in the Cataclysm Beta as much as we are here at Lore Hound, wipe that foam from your mouth. Blizzard announced today that it will soon be adding a whole bunch of players to the beta based solely on a short essay in which you explain why you should get it.
If it’s a World of Warcraft beta test, you can bet that we’ll be searching for a large and diverse crowd of enthusiastic players to help us develop the best gameplay experience possible.
For World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, we’re looking for a healthy handful of guilds to join us in the beta test process. If you think your guild would supply the perfect candidates for testing the limits of Cataclysm’s content and systems, tell us why!
My “sources” “say” that Blizzard will be holding a Cataclysm-themed press event next month on June 8th. I’m sure you can expect all sorts of new information on the upcoming expansion, but I know there’s only one thing that’s really on your mind: are they going to announce the beta?
Well, considering that they have already begun pushing opt-ins, and time is quickly running out to move into the beta phase, I’m going to go with an emphatic yes. Likewise, the current testing phase seems to be accelerating with patches updating still-unfinished aspects of the game world at a rapid pace. This may very well be in preparation for allowing more people to join in on the fun, and I’d expect that to happen very soon after the press event.
Being a rumor and all, there’s not much more to say than that, but it seems quite reliable. When official word gets out there, we’ll make sure to let you know.
Itching to use the new mobile auction house? Do you have a character on Cyclone or Bloodlust battlegroups? Well, you are in luck! Check out the list of realms added to the beta:
The World of Warcraft Remote Auction House beta test is now open for business! The Remote Auction House is a new service in development that lets players access the World of Warcraft Auction House from the Armory website (http://us.wowarmory.com/auctionhouse/) or the Mobile Armory app for iPhone and iPod touch (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=321057000&mt=8). Players can browse their characters’ local Auction Houses with the same search functionality available in the game, as well as see the real-time status of each of their current bids and auctions.
As we’d mentioned previously (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=22748781945), certain features of the Remote Auction House will be premium-based. Once the beta test is complete and the Remote Auction House is live, players will be able to subscribe to a new service called World of Warcraft Remote (http://us.wowarmory.com/wow-remote.xml), which will allow them to buy items; post items for sale from a character’s bags, bank, or mailbox; collect gold from their bids and auctions; and more. During the beta test, players can try out these features for free, and each World of Warcraft account will be able to perform up to 25 transactions per day. (Please note this limit will be increased at launch.)
The list of realms eligible to participate in the beta test is displayed below. If your realm is not on this list, please check again soon, as we plan to eventually open the beta test to all realms.
Update 5/20 – The supported list of realms has been updated to include the Bloodlust and Cyclone battle groups. Continue Reading
EA recently held a press event in the UK where multiple outlets were given some hands-on time with the Bounty Hunter class in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Some great gameplay information is coming from the demo, and it also revealed the first alien race that players will be able to use, the Rattataki. The Rattataki are difficult to distinguish from pale, bald humans, but the inclusion is a nice nod to fans of the Clone Wars series, in which Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress belonged to the species.
Also coming out of this press event is an exclusive from Eurogamer revealing that each of the character classes will have two separate Advanced Classes. For example, Sith Warriors will be able to choose between the Juggernaut and the Marauder Advanced Classes. The Juggernaut is more of a tank while the Marauder is a DPS-type specialization. This gives players a degree of class customization that does not affect the storyline.
Once players chooses an Advanced Class, they will be able to specialize even further by investing in skill trees similar to WoW’s talent system. It’s still unclear as to how much of an investment these skills will be, as a respec system is currently up in the air.
With the recent news that SWTOR is likely slated for Q2 of 2011, this hands-on should mark the beginning of information coming at a much better pace. Here’s to hoping a beta is announced sometime in the near future.
Hark! Do you hear that sound? It’s thousands of people typing out hurried e-mails to Blizzard employees they’re friends with, flamed on the forums, brushed past at BlizzCon, or even currently stalking from a car parked across from the Blizzard campus (though those kind of requests are usually delivered in the form of cut-out letters on a sheet of paper, tied to a brick, and thrown through the front window).
The Friends and Family Alpha for World of Wacraft: Cataclysm has officially begun, and a few lucky people out there are already downloading, installing, and probably playing the heavily-anticipated expansion. This really doesn’t mean a whole lot to the rest of us for a couple of reasons:
One, F&F Alpha is usually a very small test group, meaning that you’re waiting in the same boat as most other fans and there are less people to party/play with. Two, it’s under heavy NDA. So, while I expect some information to leak out (it always finds a way), I wouldn’t expect many people to try their luck at smuggling images and content out until at least the closed beta happens. We may not even really be able to report much if they do, either, considering how harsh Blizzard can be towards those sites that do so.
Still, it’s a positive note, and it means that the closed beta phase should only be a few weeks out. Chances are if you’re accepted to this Alpha, then you already know someone who works at Blizzard and what e-mails you can trust. I urge everyone else to not fall for scams in the meantime, meaning don’t click on suspicious links, respond to fishy e-mails, or respond to any in-game messages that might promise you early access to Cataclysm. That’s just not the way Blizzard handles things.
For a lot of World of Warcraft players out there, figuring out how to optimize your character can be a deeply confusing and frustrating experience. Sure there are several loot-ranking sites out there, but they still require that you sort through long lists of gear and you still have to be able to eyeball which equipment will give your personal setup the most bang for your buck. And then there are all those labyrinthine spreadsheets that min-maxers seem to be fond of.
Useful for those who are used to parsing such arcane knowledge, but not as helpful for all us regular folk! And that’s why Rawr has been such a wonderful resource for the community. This stand-alone program has long assisted players by allowing them to pull their character data directly from the armory and calculate precisely how different upgrades, enchants, gems, and specs would affect their performance on the fly. As straightforward as this seems, the software is flexible enough to let you play with options on your own if its provided suggestions aren’t to your satisfaction (as is sometimes the case with particularly finicky or experimental builds).
The latest version, Rawr 3, has just gone into beta. Sure, the interface is still familiar to anyone who has used it before, and undoubtedly new data has been plugged into the system, but there is one key difference between this and previous versions: Rawr 3 is a web app. Though the stand-alone release will continue to be supported while the latest update is still in its testing phase, this is likely the future of the program.
Not every aspect of it is completely operational yet, and there are undoubtedly still bugs to be worked out, but the final product should be just as functional as it always has been (if not moreso). Importing my Rogue’s data was as easy as it ever has been, and the fact that it runs on Microsoft’s Silverlight API — instead of something like, say, Flash — makes using it feel like a smooth and satisfying experience.
So, if you’ve ever found yourself tearing your hair out over how to improve your character, there has never been a better time to give Rawr a shot than now. And if the app, or Silverlight, gives you any trouble, do remember that you can still download and run the latest version of Rawr 2.
