Blizzard's Next Gen MMO Details

Posted by Daeity On Friday, August 6, 2010

As promised, here's what I've learned about Blizzard's new MMO from a couple internal sources. It's not a lot of info, but I thought it sounded pretty cool the way they were describing it and it's enough to work out a possible game focus. I did a search this past week and haven't found anything related to this, so I hope it's not a repost.

I'll put this in point form too for easier reading:

  • Even though the game was first learned about 2-3 years ago, there really hasn't been a tremendous amount of progress made. It's apparently a pretty small team too.
  • However, there's supposed to be a serious kick off in production and development "very soon". Increased recruiting and an "input of cash" for example.
  • They have been primarily working on concept art, drawings, designing content and assets, environments, etc.
  • No details on the game engine or what the game is like. It sounds like the developers have just been doing a lot of "trial-and-error" testing and experimentation.
  • Will be incoporating many social elements. A deep emphasis on socilization and such, and integration with real world.
  • A lot of ideas/designs are being thrown away - "trying new things".
  • No word on any console work or PS3/XBOX360 programming.
The art and graphics:
  • There was art and concept drawings of knight armor, futuristic-looking armor, and modern wear (e.g. "present day" suit and tie.)
  • There wasn't any crazy-looking "fantasy" stuff. Instead, they were a lot more "realistic in appearance" (e.g. imagine 15th century medieval plate armor).
  • There was also old looking ripped cloth rags that could have been clothing or an asset for something else.
  • There were renders of modern-era guns, an old looking bolt-action rifle, and a futuristic-looking weapon.
The environments:
  • There was modern looking architecture with textures (buildings, windows, doors, bricks).
  • Medieval era buildings and structures.
  • Futuristic looking city with high buildings and roads (no vehicles or people visible).
  • A war-torn environment with burned-out buildings, dark colors. Looked like something out of a WW2 game.
One thing noted is that none of the concept art of renders were cartoony at all, they appeared a lot more realistic than Blizzard's typical art style. The other important note was the "variety of environments".

Assumptions:

Blizzard wants to keep players addicted, so it will definitely have some RPG elements ("Gotta collect 'em all"). The rumors say it's going to be a MMOFPS/RPG hybrid, and I'm inclined to believe that.. it might be like TERA where movement and positioning is important and there will be projectile weapons (shooter part) as well as handheld axes, swords, bats, etc. It's important that Blizzard branch out of the MMORPG niche (too many smaller companies are still trying to gobble up whatever they can there) and expand into other niches if they intend on increasing subscriptions.

Because of the multiple different types of environments, that opens up many scenarios in regards to gameplay and storyline.

For example, the story/lore could be based around any one of these:

  1. Time Travel - exploring or missions in different time periods (e.g. Chrono Trigger)
  2. Cyberspace - virtual worlds where there is a variety of themed environments to visit (e.g. Shadowrun, Neuromancer, etc.)
  3. Dreamscape - I N C E P T I O N ? Probably not. =]
  4. Parallel dimensions - I'm hoping for this one actually, it's not very often used in games, it opens up the possibility of multiple environments and even alien-looking worlds (versions of earth) with different laws of physics, and the possibilities of expansion packs are endless (new dimensions "discovered" and it explains the existence of server shards.)
In each scenario, the modern day or "real world" could be a centralized hub of sorts for example where users can interact with each other. Or each environment might be so large, that there's plenty to do and people can focus on the environments they prefer or are comfortable with (e.g. modern day, WW2, ancient battles, futuristic battles, far-end-the-future post-apocalyptic stuff, etc.)

There was another rumor that there are "two lives", which sort of fits in with what I was told.. it works, except for time travel unless they do a "Quantum Leap" approach.

Other than that, there have already been a lot of changes and probably even more changes before they finally announce something about the game (late October), but I think it's safe to say that they have a general direction in mind.

I have a little bit more information still trickling in, will update when I can. But, that's a big chunk of it - I know it's not a lot or what you may have been hoping for, but it's still interesting.

So, Blizzard and Microsoft are currently in a relationship regarding Microsoft's next-gen console, their Kinect device, and their cloud computing technologies.

According to Microsoft, 70% of their employees are hard at work on cloud-computing related projects and that number is likely to rise to 90% next year.

And, Rob Pardo has also confirmed that Blizzard has been in discussions with Microsoft's engineers regarding their cloud computing and live streaming technologies. As well, OnLive has been involved in ongoing discussions with Activision Blizzard regaring their streaming services, but they haven't committed to anything solid. Each time they meet, though, they're learning more-and-more about the technology and how it can be used for future game releases.

Are these some of the signs that Blizzard is making a move into on-demand streaming territory?

It would fit in very well with their Battle.net services and would definitely work well with their new "Next Gen" MMO. Maybe the "Next Gen" bit isn't just about new consoles, but rather opening up their games for many platforms regardless of age? With live streaming services, you don't have to worry too much about processor speed, video card performance, memory, or harddrive capacity.

Of course, this will all depend if it the technology works or not. Gaming-on-demand is very deterministic based on broadband availability, you need guaranteed performance for delivering HD video and it's not available by many ISPs.

However, to combat the differences in bandwidth availability (if it's still a problem when their next-gen MMO is released), Blizzard could introduce multiple purchasing options like they have in the past. As you know, Blizzard has been recently experimenting with alternative pricing purchasing options in countries outside of NA. There's talk of monthly, daily, and hourly fees.

So for users that can't support it, there may be a reduced price structure for "on demand users" versus "old fashioned users with local installs." It would be enough to get a large player base streaming the game, and as ISP upgrade users will migrate over.

Also, did you notice their specific wording?

"Added additional purchasing options so that the game is accessible to a wider audience."

They're testing out different purchasing options so that the game "is accessible to a wider audience." That's the same thing Blizzard said about their next-gen MMO - they want it more accessible to a wider audience. All part of the same strategy? =]

Also, Blizzard has been hiring more employees that have background experience in streaming gameplay. One of the Next-Gen MMO software engineers has been working on "streaming gameplay" for the game. And they are even experimenting with streaming game play (the new Cataclysm Beta launcher) for World of Warcraft. (Not just direct streaming, either, it's P2P & torrent too.)

Blizzard is understandably worried about the technology, though, just like Kinect. There will be cautious movement forwards and a lot of testing and experimentation. They may also be keeping their options open.. if Microsoft can't meet their requirements for the technology, OnLive would definitely be an attractive acquisition for Activision Blizzard (if they can prove themselves, that is). =]

Streaming games on-demand / cloud computing is definitely the future of gaming as well as applications, if ISPs can keep up the pace. It's a great way to eliminate piracy and increase sales, which everyone in the gaming industry is interested in. But these are the hurdles that Blizzard is currently trying to address.. the input device and streaming technologies, both of which Rob Pardo believes can be overcome in the next generation of consoles.

Serious WoW Gold-Making Strategies - Part 1

Posted by Daeity On Thursday, August 5, 2010

I never really like the standard Auctioneer, grinding, and Neutral-AH Sniping approaches, they were time consuming, high-risk, and not always guaranteed.

So I'm moving some of my old gold strategy posts from MMOWNED/E*PVPERS here. They're low-risk and high return with little work required. Once I get back into WoW (when Cata is out), I'll have plenty more strategies to add on the blog too.

This first one was originally posted in September 2007, but it's still relevant today and can be highly lucrative.

Note: I was the first to post something like this, well, actually anywhere at the time.. but the strategy has since been reposted hundreds of times and has even been put in some paid Guide Books for professional gold farmers. (In many cases word-for-word. In fact, a lot of my strategies on MMOWNED were reposted word-for-word and taken credit by someone else.) =]

What To Expect

Basically - you're going to be crafting items, disenchanting them, and selling in mass quantities.

I typically spend 2 hours max per day doing this, and collect 3000-4000G in return (each day.) The more you do it, the faster your technique. (I have 10 toons on one server, and they all have maxed professions so I can do a wide variety of crafting for this approach. But you really only need 1 toon to do this.)

What You Need

The Enchanting profession is a must, but check the spreadsheet to see if any of your crafting professions are applicable.

First, download one of these spreadsheets:

Daeity's Disenchanting Guide (Open Office Format - my personal favorite)


Next, all you need to do here is check AH/Vendor prices and plug them into the spreadsheet at the top. The bottom matrix will calculate everything else and tell you what the return on investment is.

The spreadsheet will be different for each realm, since we all have our own independent economies. The attached documents show the prices that were on my PVP realm for example.


Note:
  • Don't change anything in the "BOLTS" column. This is just used as a basic calculator to convert the cost of ONE BOLT from their associated cloth.
  • Don't let all of the materials listed intimidate you. You can start out by just focusing on popular DE's like Infinite Dust, Illusion Dust, Vision Dust, Eternal Essences, Cosmic Essences, etc.
  • All of the currency in this spreadsheet is in SILVER. There is only one column "Return (GOLD OUT)" that shows the value in GOLD.
  • For example, 4 = "4 silver", 40 = 40 "silver", 400 = "4 gold", 6000 = "60 gold", 12550 = "125 gold 50 silver".
  • Everything is in individual quantities, there aren't any stacks or anything like that.
Finally, look under the column "Return (GOLD OUT)" and look for any entries that are at 90G or higher. (You could go lower if you wanted, but I like the really profitable stuff.)

What this means is that for every 100 items you DE, you will receive 90G profit. (Or roughly 90 silver per disenchant.) Frostsaver Tunic, for example, will net you 8.16G for every single disenchant you do. (100 DE's - 816G profit!)

And that's pretty much it. If you got it figured out, start using it right away. Keep reading if you want more details how it works though.

Here's an example of what this spreadsheet will calculate for you:

[Volcanic Shoulders]

Materials:
10 Rugged Leather (45s each on AH)
1 Essence of Fire (1.0G each on AH)
1 Essence of Earth (1.5G each on AH)
2 Rune Thread (40s each from exalted vendor)

Cost to Craft: 780G to make 100 x [Volcanic Shoulders]

Disenchanting Results:
222 x Illusion Dust (Sells for 3G each on AH)
64 x Greater Eternal Essence (Sells for 12G each on AH)
4 x Large Brilliant Shard (Sells for 4G each on AH)

Total value of disenchants: 1450G

Total value of D/E - cost to craft = profit of 670G for every 100 you disenchant

To summarize, if you were to buy 50 stacks of Rugged Leather (at an average of 9G per stack), craft into Volcanic Shoulders and disenchant, you stand to receive almost 700G in profit every 15-30 minutes.

Note: In regards to the [Volcanic Shoulders] recipe, this pattern is dropped by Firebrand Legionnaires in LBRS. Took me about 30 runs to get it. They're located in LBRS, at the base of the ramp leading up to Smolderweb. There are only 2 Legionnaires there, so this will take a lot of runs/resets - but definitely worth it if you crunch your numbers using the above Disenchant Results. You could also sell the recipe on the AH for 300-500G - but it won't be bought by anyone unless they know of this method (or just trying to complete achievements.)

Other Important Notes:
  • Keep in mind that AH prices are typically lower in the morning than later in the day. I buyout 20-60 stacks of Rugged Leather for 5-9G in the AM, but the prices jump to 20G per stack in the afternoon. Watch the trends.
  • When filling out the AH prices in the above section, pick the lowest AH "average" prices you can find. Arcane Dust, for example, people will dump for 90-99 silver, but you know that others will still buy it for 1G 10S. In that case, just put down 1G on the spreadsheet (just enough to sell, but not too low).
  • You could avoid selling the DE's on the AH.. just advertise in Trade Chat. (e.g. "Selling starter kits for levelling Enchanting Skills to 300".)
  • What's nice about these spreadsheet guide is that you can use this to level your Professions, all the while making a profit and selling back the DE's. Only focus on the profitable returns.
  • I control the AH market to maximize profits. Buyout all existing DE inventories, put up my own prices on multiple toons (to make it look like the prices are reasonable), and I completely corner the market. I drive down the prices of materials and drive up the prices of disenchants.