Tag: design

Discovering Palia

Posted on by Gazimoff

It takes a lot to drag me out of retirement. And yet, with the announcement of their first game, Singularity 6 has managed just that. Palia looks to be a tranquil, laid-back experience that’s heavy on social bonds and community building, and light on the competitive combat that dominates online gaming today. And that potent combo is totally my jam.

There’s hints of Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in the lush new announcement trailer, with beautiful scenery and curious characters captured directly in-game. The post-apocalyptic vibe has also grabbed attention with WildStar’s legacy playerbase, which is just as well considering Palia will be a full-fledged MMO. A new home for lost souls to call their own? Possibly.

Peeking behind the curtain a little, Singularity 6 was formed by Aidan Karabaich and Anthony Leung, two former Riot Games devs that quit the LoL-house to start something new. Their premise was to build a cozy world, a “community simulation MMO.” And it’s an idea that’s attracted big money, with investors like a16z, FunPlus Ventures and London Venture Partners backing the studio to nearly $20 million. After attracting talent from Blizzard, Epic, Riot and even Carbine (Karabaich was the former Spellslinger class designer), the studio now feels confident about lifting the lid on this ambitious project

But what exactly is Palia? The premise is steeped in high fantasy, where thousands of years have passed since humanity last walked upon the world. Hallmarks of their grand civilization and monuments to their mastery of magic litter the landscape, but the lost race had vanished into legend. Today, on the cusp of being forgotten, humans have started to re-emerge.

As one of these re-appearing humans, we’ll be discovering a world that has learned to move on and live without humanity’s influence, building a home for ourselves in a familiar and friendly yet utternly different community.

We’re told that gameplay will include gardening, fishing, cooking, and more, with skills levelling up and unlocking new abilities. I’m hoping that these will include social aspects, like being able to work on big gardening projects together and engaging in cooking challenges Overcooked-style. It’s a fair guess to assume that we’ll also have to gather and farm materials for our crafting projects, which gives the potential for expeditions to locate rare and precious resources.

It’s also fair to say that the pandemic has probably helped to shape some of these ideas. Singularity 6 is open that many staffers have never met face-to-face, relying on games to learn about each other and build bonds. MMOs have long been about forging communities across cities and continents, and the year-plus in lockdown may have ended up being a stimulating boon to the studio.

Either way, Palia looks set to be almost unchallenged in the online gaming space. Low competitive gameplay, high social focus, plus a cozy and welcoming atmosphere sound like a shot in the arm for the MMO genre. And I’m totally down with that. 

Blizzard Engineering – The Nuggets from Blizzcon 2018

Posted on by Gazimoff

If I had to pick a favourite panel from Blizzcon, Blizzard Engineering would be near the top. Hearing how the various programming teams overcome technical challenges to produce games with incredible polish is always interesting, particularly as their passion always comes through in their enthusiasm on-stage.

While there was only the one session this year, the Blizzard Engineering panel at Blizzcon 2018 still had a few interesting tidbits. Compared to last year’s deep tech examination, this year saw more of a focus on engineering culture, quality approach, and delivery methodology. There was a clear demonstration that it’s not just about problem-solving, but collaborating as part of a team that’s becoming increasingly important.

However, if I had to ask for one thing for 2019, it would be to repeat a request for more discussion around architecture. System componentisation came up a few times during the panel, but yet there was never an explanation of why it’s important or what value it provides. Likewise, many of the questions were from hopefuls looking for advice on getting a job at Blizzard, indicating a strong need for a separate careers fair at the event.

Before I get into a summary of the panel, I’d like to give a little attribution to those on-stage:

  • Somer Esat (Panel Chair) – Senior Engineering Manager, Overwatch
  • Rachelle Davis – Senior Software Engineer, New project. Previously an original member of the Hearthstone team, and has been with Blizzard for 7.5 years
  • Bruce Wilkie – Principal Software Engineer, Overwatch. Specialist in game engine and graphics rendering.
  • Diane Cochran – Lead Engineer, New project. Previously lead on Blizzard’s approach to Continuous Integration, lead on battle.net desktop app. Worked on authentication, public API, and has been with Blizzard for 8 years.
  • Collin Murray – Lead Software Engineer on WoW. Has written code for Diablo, Starcraft, Warcraft III, and every version of WoW. Been with Blizzard for 23 years.
  • Sarah Doebler – Technical Lead Battle.net. Started as a GM, has worked on Blizzard.com, the Armoury, and Content platform. Now leads tools team on battle.net, and has been with Blizzard for 14 years.

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My MMO Picks for 2018

Posted on by Gazimoff

When I look back at 2017, the MMO landscape is tinged with disappointment. Destiny 2, my big hope for online extravagance, failed to live up to expectations. World of Warcraft has hit another lull in the gulf between expansions. Over the last 12 months, nothing new has truly landed and stuck.

Yes, there’s a few surprises. Final Fantasy XIV launched its Stormblood expansion, while Guild Wars 2 brought us Path of Fire (more on both later). But, putting these to one side, the biggest breakouts in online gaming haven’t brought us grand new MMOs. Instead, tight new ideas like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite have dominated the online scene.

Anyhow, enough dwelling on the past. Looking onwards to next year, and there are some significant gems on my release radar. Not all of them are MMOs in the purest sense, but I’m confident this selection will still scratch that itch. So, without further ado, here are my MMO picks for 2018.

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The Next Diablo: a Hybrid and Mobile MMO?

Posted on by Gazimoff

Earlier this week, MMORPG.com’s Suzie Ford made the bold claim that Blizzard wanted to show something new at Blizzcon 2017. Instead of majoring on Battle for Azeroth, the next expansion for World of Warcraft, her theory suggests that CEO Mike Morhaime wanted to introduce something new. That unannounced title? A new Diablo MMO.

It certainly sounds plausible. After a rough launch, Diablo 3 managed to redeem itself with the Reaper of Souls update, going on to sell some 30 million copies worldwide, so there’s definitely appetite for more. Beyond that, Blizzard has been hitting the job market hard, advertising for a Production Director with MMO experience to bring ‘the Diablo franchise into the future.’

However, it’s not all clear-cut. Blizzard’s also been hiring for a mobile RTS MMO project. Again, this is an unannounced title, but the studio also wants Unity expertise (the same engine used to power Hearthstone). Question is, are these job ads for the same game, or does Big Blue have two games in the pipe? The answer, frustratingly, might be yes and no. The next Diablo might be Blizzard’s biggest bet yet – going in-home and on mobile within the same grand experience.

This is Blizzard’s chance to release a title that dominates on all platforms – PC, console, and smartphone – with a unified world that enables players to hop from one to the other. In a single swipe, hybrids like Destiny 2 and Anthem look antiquated by comparison. The studio might not have been ready to share its vision on the Blizzcon stage, but there’s already plenty of hints about the direction being taken.

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WoW Communities: Create Your Own Realm?

Posted on by Gazimoff

The meaning of a Realm in World of Warcraft has become incredibly blurred. It’s no longer a distinct cluster of servers, or even a static circle of characters.Over time, patches and expansions have added cross realm LFG tools, shared cities and a sharded open world. Battle for Azeroth will even change how PvP servers work, giving players the freedom to toggle which version of Azeroth they’d like to adventure in.

If anything, the choice of where you create your character is having less meaning with every update. But is there a way for players to take advantage of this ‘tearing-down’ of old realm restrictions? Depending on how it’s implemented and how it evolves, World of Warcraft’s upcoming Communities feature might be just the thing.

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Battle for Azeroth – First Thoughts

Posted on by Gazimoff

Another Blizzcon has happened, and another World of Warcraft expansion has been announced. Recent expansions have focused on defeating external threats, but  Battle for Azeroth aims to reignite the classic conflict between the Alliance and Horde. Only this time, it feels a little more… balanced. I’ll admit, I did cheer slightly when I realised Lordaeron was finally being taken back from the Forsaken.

I’ll cheer even more when the Gnomes take back Gnomeregan, but I digress…

Anyhow, the Anaheim convention also saw plenty of announcements about the expansion. Although, the focus was less on the story, and more about the technical details and content implementation. I could see the impact it had on other players, left deflated without having a big bad menace to rally the flag against. Instead, this feels more as if it’s the start of an intricate tale of personal conflict and malicious intrigue, in a way that’s best left shrouded for now.

Even so, I was satisfied with the WoW expansion information available, and with the Blizzcon Virtual Ticket (which I’ll come back to in a separate post). Some of it gets a thumbs up, while others I’m undecided on or will wait-and-see once beta rolls around. For now, however, here’s my initial take on the main topics we heard about.

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World of Warcraft Classic logo

WoW Classic – How It Might Work

Posted on by Gazimoff

World of Warcraft Classic logo

Vanilla – it’s a flavour of Warcraft that veterans remember fondly. Class raids to Stratholme, 40-player raids through Molten Core, and camping general chat to find dungeon groups. It was a time before transmogs, flying mounts, or pet battles. And now, in the form of Warcraft Classic, it’s making a return.

The WoW community was very different back then. Players chose a server and stuck to it, earning a reputation amongst their peers that would last for years. I even have my own memories – both good and bad – of what WoW was like back then. For some, overcoming the struggles of Vanilla WoW made a different type of player, and built a different type of community – one which some have clamoured to bring back.

But why has the concept been hard for Blizzard to implement? And what might have changed in order to persuade the studio to rethink? In essence, it’s likely taken a gradual overhaul of how WoW actually works, from a simple server setup, to a flexible landscape where the modern server engine and game content are completely seperate. How would it work? Read on…

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Destiny 2: PC Beta First Impressions

Posted on by Gazimoff

Previously, I was cautiously optimistic about the Destiny 2 beta on PC. Unsurprisingly, after hitting it for a few hours yesterday, I’m much more enthusiastic. I’ve always felt that good first-person shooters are played best with a mouse and keyboard, and Bungie’s latest served to reaffirm that opinion. Even so, I can’t help but think that this was less of a beta, and more of a teaser for the full game.

It wouldn’t be a launch without some kind of mishap, and Destiny 2 managed to throw up a few errors when the horde of players tried to log in. I got caught by the ‘saxophone’ error message myself, but kudos to the teams at Blizzard, Activision and Bungie for crushing it quickly. I’d barely lost 30 minutes to the issue before the announcement came across Twitter that the problem had been resolved.

Ultimately, it ended up being an evening of highs and lows as I chewed through the single-player scenario/mission, and teamed up with friends to stomp through the Strike. At the end of it, we all agreed that the beta was more of an advert for the classic FPS crowd than a lure for MMO players. However, with Destiny 2 securing a spot next to World of Warcraft on the Battle.net Launcher, gamers may be lured to the sci-fi magnum opus purely out of curiosity.

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Dauntless Founders Alpha Preview

Posted on by Gazimoff

Disclaimer: I bought into the Founders Alpha. As such, the usual caveats apply: wanting to avoid buyer’s remorse, wanting something to be good because you’ve sunk money into it, and so on. If you’re not comfortable with risking your investment in an Early Access beta that you might not enjoy, then don’t.

With that out of the way, why am I excited about Dauntless? If I’m honest, it’s because of something I love about MMOs: fighting big-ass monsters with a group of heroes and stealing their loot. Take that idea, put the boss on a floating island, and that’s how I look at the core concept. Simple, right?

Sure, some gamers may invoke the Monster Hunter lineage, but that’s alien to me as I never got into the series. From what I understand, however, it’s a similar deal: kill big monsters, harvest them to make better weapons and armour, use that to take on bigger monsters. Rinse and repeat.

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Path of Fire – the Hopeful Skeptic

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Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire

I am not good at Guild Wars 2. My experience began during the original beta, where I died so many times in the Ascalonian Catacombs instance that I polished the floor with my corpse. From such a promising start, I progressed to mediocre, gradually nurturing an Engineer and a Guardian to level cap. I avoided dungeons and feared Fractals, but I explored the world of Tyria and was happy. The dynamic events and personal story were more than enough for me.

Then came Heart of Thorns, and with it, the return of my failure cascade. The new zones, with their new enemies, were relentlessly punishing. In my mixture of looted and crafted armour, I struggled to survive. For a while I persisted while everyone else moved on, but eventually I conceded defeat. The difficulty bar had been raised, and I had been found wanting.

It’s a source of sadness, as I desperately wanted to love the game. The art style is still breathtaking several years on, but it’s the story behind Guild Wars 2 that really grabbed me. Through the Living World seasons, it’s clear that the writers behind the lore are passionate about delivering an evolving experience. Plus, the Asura are awesome – I still have a small golem on my desk.

Which is why, with the announcement of a new expansion, I’m both hopeful and skeptical in equal measure. Path of Fire promises a return to exploration and content, two topics that are high on my wishlist. It also aims to support returning players by keeping new systems to a minimum, reusing the capabilities established in Heart of Thorns. But, beyond those well-publicised bullet-points, there’s little meaningful meat to describe what that returning experience will feel like.

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