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. 

I always knew there would come a day when WildStar closed for good, but I never expected it to be so soon. Bursting onto PCs in 2014, the brand new MMO brought attitude and charm in equal measure, quickly developing a cult following. Alas, the numbers were never great enough to sustain the project, leading to the game’s permanent shutdown some four and a half years later.

This isn’t a post-mortem on what went wrong. Instead, I wanted to reflect on how WildStar affected my life, first as an MMO player and then later as a blogger, critic, columnist and streamer. I wanted to talk about the amazing people I’ve met, the friendships I’ve formed, and the lasting impact they’ve had on my life. Then there’s the communities I’ve been fortunate to be a part of, all as part of this one game.

It all began with an innocent enough blog post that talked about WildStar’s reveal at Gamescom 2011. There was no game to play back then, but the studio was collecting ideas and building a community at that early stage – even designing a world boss with audience participation. It continued with WildStar Wendnesdays, an initiative spearheaded by then-community manager Troy Hewitt to build an ongoing dialogue with the early internet fandom. An early topic on griefing spawned an lengthly response from me, which the studio picked up on.

From there, I got noticed by the folks over at ZAM and asked if I’d be interested in writing for their early fansite WildStar Source. When the spinoff was eventually absorbed into ZAM proper, I followed and landed my first paid writing gig as a columnist for the MMO megasite. There, I’d end up covering a multitude of games, but my core responsibility would still be WildStar. Incidentally, some of the people I worked with back then are still in the industry, either in community, PR, or even lore and story.

Throughout 2012 I got my first taste of WildStar, going hands-on at a fan Arkship event in London and being among the first to play the game. I also got an invite to return a few months later as press, being among the first to cover the game in a hands-on manner. I met many of those early fans along with the developers Carbine flew out for the event. As it turned out, I’d get to know many more over the years.

Fast-forward to 2013 and WildStar was back at Gamescom with a booth, a playable game, and a Granok. The team was working flat-out to get everything ready for launch, desperately pushing for release. I got to meet more of the developers, write more about how the game was shaping up, and meet more of the community.

After a break from writing over winter, I took up a columnist role at MMORPG.com, covering WildStar on the run up to launch in June 2014. It was a busy time with plenty of interviews, lots of analysis, and some heavy beta coverage as content was polished up. I’d still produce the occasional column on WildStar when there was news to be shared.

Overall, I wrote a ton of content on the game. But if anything, it’s the people I met and got a chance to know that I’ll treasure the most from WildStar.

On the Carbine side, there’s Jeremy Gaffney, Mike Donatelli, Chad Moore, Jen Ortiz, Troy Hewitt, David Bass, Mark Hulmes, Sean Clanton, Jon Wiesman, Stephan Frost and so many others that I met in person. There’re also countless amazing staffers that I got to know over the Internet and had many enjoyable interactions with, either through long-distance interviews or in conversations on Twitter. Anecdotally, for Shade’s Eve 2015, I ended up sending 120 yellow and green cupcakes to the studio just as a way of saying thanks.

Over on the community side, there are so many people that I’ve had the good fortune to meet and become good friends with. From community sites like Arawulf’s WildStar Fans or Sylvan’s WildStar Core, to community members like Anhrez, Olivar, Pseudonimh and many more. The friendships – both real and virtual – are incredibly precious. And all were made possible because of WildStar.

Yes, WildStar is gone. But those friendships and bonds will continue to new games, and help forge new communities. Those people who worked on WildStar will go on to do great things, taking a little bit of inspiration and sprinkling it into whatever they do next. A game as big as this doesn’t vanish without leaving a mark, and we’ll continue to see that crop up elsewhere.

For everyone who I met on this journey, at whatever point, thank you. I’m massively grateful for this to have been a part of my life for the best part of a decade, including all the people it’s brought my way. Although I’ll mourn the loss of WildStar, I know that the spirit it created will endure.

See you, Space Cowboy.

Last week, I witnessed a potent fantasy story come to an intense climax. Heroes took to the ramparts of an ancient citadel, joining battle against a monstrous foe that feasted on vengeance for a thousand years. It felt like the end of a journey, but the Warrior of Light could barely pause for breath before the nation of Eorzea cried out for aid once more.

And so, with the end credits of Heavensward rolling in front of me, I was minded to look back on where the expansion began. I last wrote about Final Fantasy XIV when sharing my latecomer review of A Realm Reborn, but nine months and ten levels have passed since then. Even so, I have a jumble of screenshots and scraggy notes to remind me of the steps I took.

So here it is, my Latecomer Review of FFXIV’s Heavensward expansion. It’s the middle slice of the saga, with Stormblood rounding out the current content and Shadowbringers arriving in summer 2019. But, as I’ve only been playing since the start of the year, I’ve seen very few mechanical changes. As such, my review is mainly limited to Heavensward’s content, plus some of the new bits and bobs I’ve discovered along the way.

Opening the Chapter

My adventure started with a breathtaking entrance into the Holy See of Ishgard, a towering stone-clad city that had only recently permitted foreigners to enter. The paranoia and tension is palpable as the nation struggles divided; some desperately want to help their neighbours to the South, while others demand focus on the thousand-year war against the dragons of Dravania.

And yet, the Warrior of Light must thread this needle. On the one hand, the conflict with Dragonkind must be brought to an end. On the other, the Ishgardians need to be brought into the Eorzean Alliance to further protect against the Garlean Empire. What seems like a simple political task quickly dissolves into a complex blend of campaigns, as proud families and clandestine groups jostle for position.

I’m then reminded of an even larger conflict between Hydalen’s Light and the Ascian Darkness that threatens to envelop the world. Before Heavensward, the Scions of the Seventh Dawn become scattered as they fled for their lives. While everything else demands attention, there’s still a yearning to pull the merry band together and solve Eorzea’s biggest problems. After all, aught is always amiss.

Each of these threads of conflict has their own beat, weaving through each other as the Main Scenario Questline progresses. This narrative richness is accompanied by improved storytelling – the scripts, locations, and voice acting are a significant step up from the base game. Jilted dialogue and clunky delivery are all gone.

One of my other gripes with the original game was this sense of continually jumping around the world, as if I was the only Miqo’te working for International Rescue. That’s also changed in Heavensward, with the Main Scenario taking a more linear approach. Voiced narration introduces each zone, emphasising the journey that I’m playing through. It means that the flow feels much more natural like I’m on an epic adventure rather than being a glorified firefighter.

To The Skies

A grand journey needs a suitably impressive backdrop, and Heavensward never managed to disappoint. While it never quite manages to be jaw-dropping (the FFXIV game engine is starting to show its age), the various locations were constantly impressive. Ishgard’s sheer size and scale were immediately captivating, but the floating island archipelagos of the Sea of Clouds provided a light-hearted dreamscape to contrast with the cold bleakness of the city-state, and the ancestral lands of Moghome always managed to raise a smile.

While the Dravanian lands served to propel the story forward, I also stumbled upon constant reminders to wider lore. Part of this was the abandoned city of Sharlayan, a former nexus of academics and scholars that has since been claimed by goblins and treasure hunters. From a world-building perspective it made me feel as if Eorzea had a history beyond the immediate – there had been wide-ranging and calamitous change in the past, and there would likely be again in the future.

And then, wider again, were the scattered remnants of the Allagan Empire. A highly advanced civilisation that disappeared thousands of years ago, it served as a constant reminder of just how far the world had fallen. Towards the end of Heavensward, this ancient technology is showcased in terrifying splendour, making it clear just how morally dubious this once-proud nation was.

It’s this multi-layered approach to storytelling, both in terms of plot lines and timelines, that made me feel that the world of FFXIV was one worth exploring and grappling with. I felt as if there’s always one more mystery to uncover around the next corner, and I was constantly hungry to devour it. And just as one enigma got resolved, further questions would emerge to pull me deeper down the rabbit-hole.

Box Meal

One of my major gripes with FFXIV’s base game was that I sometimes had to complete a dungeon or trial (boss in a box) in order to continue my Main Scenario. Although this continues in Heavensward, it’s somewhat mitigated by a step up in quality. For the most part, dungeons are more visually engaging, although the content is still challenging to complete. What hasn’t changed is the queue time – a DPS player can still expect to wait half an hour for a group.

Partly because of this, I also used this expansion to start levelling up a healing job. Even though my White Mage is still chewing through pre-expansion content, the queue times are significantly reduced and the experience is rewarding. Plus, because it’s all on the same character, I don’t feel like I’m wasting effort on a character that isn’t my main.

My appearance in Ishgard also brought some unwelcome attention – guild invite spam. It’s because of this that I set up my own small collective, as it seemed the only way to block out the nuisance. I’m promising a house in the future, but for now I’m focused on ranking up the guild for more unlocks and bonuses.

With all of this going on there was one element I almost completely neglected, and that’s continuing my Bard questline. Heavensward brought in a handful of new abilities, but without completing this I wouldn’t unlock any of them. Even so, my hunt for the Ballad of Oblivion was an enjoyable journey that helped to highlight how my chosen job is perceived in the world.

Yet Meanwhile

Putting all of this to one side, there’s one facet of Heavensward that I absolutely loved, and that’s the mechanism for unlocking flying mounts. Instead of having some uncomfortable rep grind, each zone has a number of Aetheric Currents to discover. Some of these are hidden throughout the zone, while others require a quest or dungeon to complete. Once all currents are discovered, flying is unlocked for that zone. Personally, I think this piecemeal approach is fantastic when compared with some of the painful grinds found in other MMOs.

Another thing that needed to be pointed out to me was a hugely efficient way of getting endgame ‘Shire’ gear. By running those same dungeons (and other content), I could collect tokens to get great quality gear that would be incredibly useful for the next phase in my FFXIV journey. And amusingly, I found that I already had a huge pile of Tomestones of Poetics with which to get started.

Because my journey through Heavensward took six months or so, I also got the chance to experience a number of Eorzea’s holiday events. Whether it’s Valentine’s Day, Halloween, or Easter, they always felt like brief but fun diversions that included a fun themed instance and some great cosmetic items. I’m told that there are usually fresh rewards each year, which drives up participation.

Summing Up

When I came out of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, I was in two minds. I’d fallen in love with the world, but I had some misgivings around clunky combat and awkward storytelling. Both of these have been addressed in Heavensward: story flow and delivery are much better, while the growing number of abilities means that there are more buttons to push and more choices to make. Plus, the job system means that I can swap to white mage or summoner when I don’t feel like throwing arrows around.

Crucially, for those who bought the base game but never continued into the expansions, Stormblood (the most recent pack) now includes Heavensward – and it’s regularly on sale for a discounted price. Even so, £30 for the bundle feels like good value for the amount of play I’ve got from it, even though there’s a subscription on top. If you’ve yet to try out FFXIV, a complete edition that includes the base game plus both expansions is only £5 extra (and is also regularly on sale).

Is it better or worse than other MMOs on the market? That’s a tougher thing to argue. But it’s certainly a refreshing difference, with plenty of content for lore-hounds to chew through and more rewarding combat as you progress into the later levels. It also seems to be growing, if recent announcements about adding new data centres are anything to go by. And the more I’ve dug into the FFXIV community, the more I’ve found it welcoming and supportive.

All in, I’d say that Heavensward is a solid improvement on A Realm Reborn, and is well worth the return trip to Eorzea. There’s only a  few times where I feel like I’ve been on an epic adventure while playing through an MMO expansion, and Heavensward is definitely among them. For those just starting out in FFXIV and fighting through the content of that base game, I can honestly say things get much better.

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.

Start Small & Break Stuff

The panel shared that one of the hardest parts about making a game is ‘finding the fun’ – a core gameplay loop that’s both engaging and entertaining to repeat. At this early discovery stage, a small prototyping team will work in whatever tool works best to help shape that core gameplay. For example, Hearthstone (known internally as Pegasus during those early stages) was prototyped in Flash before eventually switching to Unity. It allowed the team to focus on how the game feels and find the right notes, without having to worry about how it would scale.

Once that core feel is shaped, the conversation gradually shifts towards production. How to make it scale and support potentially millions of players. But the key thing is experimenting, testing, making mistakes and iterating rapidly to hone in on the fun.

From a quality perspective, Blizzard’s approach has evolved over the years in conjunction with shifts in development. Warcraft may have followed a sequential waterfall approach, but most other teams have switched over to agile/scrum. Sometimes (such as with Web and Mobile teams), this is also used with continuous integration and continuous delivery. Either way, the approach embeds QA engineers within small development teams so that requirements or user stories can be tested early and regularly. Some teams even require QA signoff before a user story can be closed, helping to cut down on final test time before deployment.

Like many software development houses, Blizzard uses unit testing to help identify where software breaks. It then uses integration testing to throw simulated game input, randomised input, and so on to make sure things don’t fall apart. Much of this can be automated, but manual QA testing is still used to provide feedback on the experience, look and feel.

Even when a game is out in the wild, Blizzard is still trying to discover crash-causing bugs. In the early days of WoW back in 2004, player-submitted error crash reports were all processed by one person using a Perl script. Over time, that changed into a system called Exceptions, which collects all crash reports submitted by players. It’s able to collect those crash and dump files, categorise and prioritise, and even let developers see the error as if it happened on their own desktop. Patterns emerge, helping the team to focus in on fixing the biggest problems for the most number of users.

Challenges and Conundrums

Alongside their considerable experience, the panelists also shared some specific examples based on their own projects. One example was how the new Overwatch hero, Ashe, was particularly technically challenging. Her Ultimate ability can summon the Omnic robot Bob, who can be buffed and healed separately. Yet both entities (Ashe and Bob) need to fit in the same memory budget as one regular hero in order to maintain performance across a wide range of PCs and consoles.

The solution was to have three quality variants: a high-quality version that’s used during character selection and a lower quality for intros where more stuff is going on. An even lower spec version with more compressed textures is used during gameplay to keep the action smooth. Due to its competitive nature, Overwatch faces a significant technical benchmark – 300fps, multicore support, no lag spikes – which is all very challenging.

WoW has its own set of challenges. Engineering staff grew from 12 in 2004 to almost 75 today, in order to meet the demands of more frequent and larger updates. Tools and processes have been refined, and testing has become more automated. Even so, the game engine carries over 14 years of legacy code in places, resulting in some eccentric behaviour that’s become part of the Warcraft experience. And, as there are no sacred cows, the changing demands of systems can result in systems getting pulled out for a rewrite.

Sometimes the player community uses a service or feature in a completely unexpected way, which also prompts a rewrite or re-engineering. One example is the suite of community APIs, which provide data to a huge range of fansites and community projects. It started with the Warcraft Armory and associated API, where the Web team realised that most of the XML traffic was from fansites and community developers. When the old Armoury was retired, the team wanted to keep the service running while migrating to REST and exposing the same dataset.

From there, the Web team reached out to various game teams and established the first agreements on sharing game data. It’s a service that’s seeing continual development, with the team working on making it even easier for internal projects to author new APIs and bring them to the community of developers.

Tools and Tuition

It’s true that Blizzard builds many internal tools to help with development, but they also use a standard foundation that almost anyone can start. WoW and Overwatch both use Visual Studio 2017, although the latter also uses some SDKs to support console versions. Some teams are starting to use VSCode for C++, and harnessing vi bindings are highly recommended.

Beyond that, the panelists were unanimous in how budding engineers could develop their skills. One is by starting up (and completing) hobbyist projects, publishing clean and reusable code on Github, and using tools and resources to fulfill ideas and solve problems in a self-sufficient manner. But just as important is demonstrating the ability to collaborate with other engineers and the wider team to deliver solutions.

Even for those who don’t have a typical computer science background, there’s still a path into game design. Small, achievable goals help to demonstrate visible progress, whether it’s learning from scratch or adapting to a new language or architecture. Wider principles such as data structures, object-oriented design, and algorithm structures are all transferable.

As part of my New Year’s commitment to MMORPG gaming, I promised to finally give Final Fantasy XIV a proper go. And, over the last few weeks, that’s exactly what I’ve done. I’ve raced around Eorzea on a heroic adventure, uncovered sinister plots, and saved the world countless times. Even as an FFXIV latecomer, I’ve had a blast.

But that’s not everything. I’ve also started working on secondary classes, dug into the crafting system, pledged my allegiance to a Grand Company, and even bought an apartment. There’s a heck of a lot to do in FFXIV, and I’ve been desperately trying to sample as much of it as possible.

However, all this got me thinking: just how many people are in a similar boat? There’s a lack of good-quality and story-driven MMOs right now, and FFXIV promises to fill that niche in a major way. But is A Realm Reborn still worth trying some four years and two expansions later? To answer that question, I’ve put together this FFXIV Latecomer Review based on everything pre-Heavensward. I’ve also included some tips on the best ways to get started, should you be tempted to join in.

Long and Winding Road

Final Fantasy XIV is built around a central story, full of heroic adventuring against terrifying opponents, but with a side-order of political intrigue and an undercurrent of mysticism thrown in. There are a lot of moving parts, and watching it all unfold is breathtakingly satisfying.

That story – known as the Main Scenario – is set in a late-medieval to early-industrial period, with shades of steampunk and technomancy. A tenuous peace holds between three central nations, each struggling to deal with internal conflicts and the constant threat of war from abroad. In these difficult times, a hero is sought – a Warrior of Light. Guess what: that’s now your job.

Alongside that Main Scenario quest chain are side-stories for each class and profession. As I levelled up as an Archer then Bard, my trainers would send me out on missions to further the aims of the guild. Some would be more martial, while others would have a philosophical tangent. It also helped to explain the purpose of each guild in the world – the Archers were seen as defenders of New Gridania, while the Arcanists would also serve as customs auditors for the port city of Limsa Lominsa.

Getting to the original level cap of 50 was astoundingly easy. The server I chose had a permanent ‘Road to 60’ XP buff running, and I had a bunch of XP-boosting gear to get me started. Just by focusing on the Main Scenario and Guild quest content, I managed to reach what I thought was endgame quickly enough.

However, the ‘Vanilla’ Main Scenario content can be carved into two chunks. The 7^th Umbral Era quests launched with the base game, while the 7^th Astral Era quests were added in through patches over the course of two years. Like a child forced to eat his greens, I had to chew through this second batch of quests before I’d be allowed into the Heavensward expansion content, and it became a slog of jumping around Eorzea just to inch the plot along. I can see how this would have been nicely spaced out at launch but, as an FFXIV latecomer, it gets a little painful.

Speaking of mandatory content, that Main Scenario also forced me into grouping up for dungeons (multiple boss instances) and trials (boss-in-a-box). I can understand the rationale behind using instances to tell parts of the story, but I prefer to look for groups on my terms, and not because the plot demands it.

I also have a few gripes about how the story is told. There’s the voice acting that grates on me from time to time, and the clunky pseudo-medieval English that feels like Shakespeare-done-badly. Often, dialogue will feel a little clunky and a little expressionless as if actors are battling with the script. And yes, Aught is Always Amiss.

Even so, the payoff for completing it all is immense, with multiple cutscenes to pull the pre-expansion story threads together, and creating a monumental cliff-hanger for the Heavansward expansion. Overall, it’s better than anything I’ve experienced in World of Warcraft, and ranks alongside the original launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic (although this has diminished in recent times). Yes, it’s been a hard slog sometimes, but it definitely feels worthwhile at this point.

Satisfying Slice

I have a pizza analogy for describing MMOs. Some are thin-and-crispy, covered in a multitude of tasty but superficial toppings. Then there’s deep-pan, with fewer game systems that are intricate and detailed, where you can get lost in a diversion for weeks. Final Fantasy XIV easily falls into that second group, with some unique approaches that offer a meaningful alternative to the daily grind.

One aspect I love is being able to swap class just by changing weapon, and being able to level up that secondary class on the same character. One minute I might be playing tunes as a Bard, and the next I might be herding Carbuncles as an Arcanist. It makes for a different choice: instead of thinking ‘how do I want to build this character at the start’, it’s more a case of ‘how do I want to develop this character today?’

I even appreciate that the whole banking and marketplace management is taken care of through Retainers – hired NPCs that do the busywork for you. It’s a neat twist that challenges MMO preconceptions, adding a touch of distinctive style.

Looted weapons and armour are stored in an Armoury Chest that’s separate to the main inventory, and the slot-specific compartments make it easy to manage chest pieces separately to hats. I’m terrible at managing my own inventory, and this small touch is a huge perk. There’s even a ‘Recommended Gear’ option that will equip my character with the best selection from what I have depending on what I’m doing, and gear lists to make swapping things around easy.

For me, though, the best bit is the crafting and gathering system. I can pick any profession I like, or even learn all of them. Each profession has its own levelling progression, and each tends to complement the others. There doesn’t seem to be any competition for gathering nodes, but each spot can offer up different types of resource – and even a chance at some high-quality stuff. Crafting involves careful use of skills to make items, and again has a chance at producing high-quality gear. And yes, I’ve been collecting a fresh set of clothing and tools to help improve both of these.

And the great thing is that, even as an FFXIV latecomer, there’s a market for all this stuff! I don’t know if it’s because I’m playing on a new-ish server, or because there’s been a surge in new players, but the marketplace has been doing a brisk trade on both materials and finished items. I only tend to dabble in the economy, but this is great news.

Spellcasting or Stabbing

Long-time readers will know that I’ve historically been a big fan of spellcasters. Whether it’s throwing fireballs or arcane missiles, I’m a sucker for standing back and hitting those big DPS numbers. More recently, though, I’ve shifted away. Being stuck to a spot when casting felt painful, and there was a trend by designers to go heavy on the glass fragility while leaving out the fun damage cannon. Self-healing melee and pet classes started to win me over, alongside more dynamic combat.

As it turns out, FFXIV offered me a mix of both. Archer (and Bard) lets me shoot arrows while casing, and has a ‘Second Wind’ heal to help me get out of tight spots. Carbuncle herding has a much longer (and stationary) cast time, but you get a pet and some heals as a compromise. Melee I’ve yet to try, but there’s a range of options from Gladiator to lancing Dragoon and quick-moving Ninja.

Sometimes, the combat can feel a little clunky, particularly when there’s a lot of damage hitting the floor. FFXIV has adopted the trend of telegraphs for many boss attacks, but it’s only an indicator of where the damage will land, not when. As a result, there’s a bit of skill in watching boss castbars or animation tells in order to pick the best time to move.

And, while there’s the Main Scenario story for my main class, each quest hub is liberally dusted with NPCs eager to offer me work. Dynamic content FATEs offer a quick way of picking up XP just by wandering around the map and completing kill or patrol missions, and each unlocked dungeon has an LFG queue that moves briskly. However I slice it, I’m definitely not bored for lack of content. Sometimes being an FFXIV latecomer has its benefits.

Summing Up

I originally went into Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn on a 3-month subscription, giving Square Enix 90 days to win me over. It’s taken me a third of that to complete the base game and take a few steps into Heavensward, the first expansion. Over the remaining two months, I’ve got that content to chew through and there’s the more recent Stormblood expansion on top.

In terms of value, the base game costs £10 including 30 days of subscription time, and I’d argue that it’s money well spent. Beyond that you’re paying around £9 a month, plus the usual savings for 3 and 6 month deals. Square Enix also offer a bundle that includes both expansions for £35, which might make more sense if you’re diving in for the long haul. Although everyone I’ve spoken to says that the story gets better in the expansions, I can’t testify about it myself.

There is a free trial that works for every class up to level 35, and refer-a-friend bundles that can make getting started a ton easier if you know someone playing. I’d strongly recommend this, but more for the Aetherlyte tokens that make getting around the world much cheaper. It also means that there’s the opportunity to find levelling buddies that can play alongside you and help shorten those dungeon queues.

That said, there’s also a few wrinkles in SE’s pricing approach that annoy me. A copy of the game allows you to create characters on EU, US and Asian servers, but you’re locked to buying gametime from the same region you buy the base game in. And, while Final Fantasy XIV is available on PC, PS4 and Mac, you need a copy of the base game plus expansions for each platform you want to play on. Both of these feel like unnecessary complications that work against the average gamer.

If you’re going to join as an FFXIV latecomer, I’d suggest taking the following steps to make sure it’s the right game for you. Ideally, find someone who plays and get a refer-a-friend invite for the sweet bonus items. Play a little and experiment with a few classes, and buy the full game if it works for you. At the moment, I’d suggest the Complete bundle as it’s good value and unlocks more class options, but the base game for £10 is hard to argue against.

Over the last few years, I’ve developed a bit of a January ritual. I look at the games coming out and think about what I want to play, and there’s

Sometimes it means that a free-to-play game gets shelved for a while, but it also makes sense to cut back on subscriptions. After all, why spend £10 a month for a game that I don’t even have time to log into? That way I get both more time and more money.

So, without further ado, here’s what’s on the chopping block this year. And although some of the titles may be obvious, the reasons why might surprise you.

World of Warcraft

This isn’t so much a ‘never again’ as a ‘see you later’, but I’m dropping my WoW subscription for now. Once the artefact scaling was resolved and the cap felt less of a brutal grind, I actually enjoyed Legion’s content. Unfortunately, that’s now become stale or repetitive, and I’ve no real interest in heading out to Argus.

Yes, it’s true that new level scaling has been added, making alts more enjoyable and providing different paths towards top-tier content. But the content is the same, and I’ve not really got any interest in chewing through the same content that I’ve already been through several times before. I’d prefer to save that grind for Allied Races when they launch, rather than fatiguing myself now.

I’ll definitely be back for Battle for Azeroth when it launches, which I hope will be towards the end of this year, but 10 months is a long time to wait. For now, at least, my time on Azeroth is on pause.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

I thought that a new Star Wars movie would help rekindle my interest in this BioWare title, but no. I am so utterly bored of this game, and I’m tired and weary of creating my own content. Ever since the roleplay server was hamfistedly merged with a standard PvE one, RP has scattered to housing plots.

I’m also tired of the poor value. Other MMOs that have a subscription offer me a range of cosmetics in-game or for direct purchase. By contrast, SWTOR puts the nicest in Cartel Crate lootboxes, forcing me to gamble for the shinies.

Personally, I’m hoping that Anthem isn’t going to be baked in the same monetisation mould. But unless something significant changes for the better, my subscription is toast.

EVE Online

Here’s the thing: I still love the universe of New Eden, and I still love flying around space. Even though I’ve been playing for a number of years, I feel like I’ve only managed to scratch the surface of what’s possible in CCP’s sandbox. There’s so many things I haven’t tried, it’s astounding.

And yet, I feel like EVE Online is one of those games that needs more time than I can afford. Even though I was running two subscriptions, the amount of time involved in updating industry jobs and planetary interaction meant that I’d have to spend several hours every day crunching through it. As a result, I didn’t feel like I was progressing much, just fattening my ISK wallet.

In time, it’s likely that I’ll make a return to EVE Online and try out other areas of the spacefaring sandbox that are less dependent on setting up a routine, and cater more towards randomly logging in and doing stuff. Until then, my set of shiny ships will remain on the shelf.

New year, new game. Back in December, I mentioned that I’d be

However, if I’m honest, this isn’t my first time in FFXIV. Back in the original beta, rolled a new character and ventured forth, quickly stumbling on a quest to kill ten rats. Only the rats only had three spawn points, and the spawn timer was so low that a growing crowd of players swamped them. I logged out and never looked back, passing on the game until now.

That was almost ten years ago. Time passes and games change, but few have gone through as much upheaval as FFXIV. I interviewed producer/director Yoshida-san back when he was preparing to relaunch the game with the subtitle A Realm Reborn, and I couldn’t help but appreciate the energy and faithful commitment he brought to the job. A few years later, the reboot was a success and his team was already working away on an expansion pack.

I’d always promised that I’d give FFXIV a proper go, and even bought a boxed copy for PlayStation 4. But something else always got in the way, or trashed my plans, or caused a complication. Until this year, it always seemed not to be.

Today, I feel like an idiot for putting it off for so long. After playing for a few weeks, I’ve discovered that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is huge fun.

Redo From Start

So what’s changed? I’ve rolled a character on Omega – a new EU server that’s offering a ‘Road to 60’ XP boost for new characters. Add to that a few XP-boosting items, and Rested XP, and I’ve literally been chewing through the content. While there’s plenty of side quests and missions at every town and village, the boost means I’ve been able to focus purely on what’s called the ‘Main Scenario’ – a central quest chain running through the game. Throw in a hefty-portion of class-specific quests, and I’m levelling so quickly that the missions can’t keep up.

Despite my late arrival, FFXIV still looks great on my new rig with everything maxed at 4K. But it’s the depth of the world that’s grabbed me, from being able to teach your chocobo combat skills, to hiring a retainer that acts as bank, auctioneer and mission runner all in one. It contains all the trappings I’d expect from a modern MMO, but gives each piece a twist, or looks at the function in a new, unusual and intriguing way.

I’ve also experienced a lingering feeling of freshness, a bit like that new car smell. Maybe it’s because I’ve ignored my normal approach of rolling a grumpy old mage, or my default backup of a self-healing paladin-type. Instead, I went with a scallywag Miqo’te and started training him up as an archer. Picture him as a charming rogue, and you get the idea of G’zah Tia.

The biggest shout, however,  has to go to the community, who’ve been friendly and welcoming all the way through. I’ve not yet joined a guild or Free Company, but I’ve not felt the need to either.

An Unusual World

There are other nice touches, like I can swap between classes just by changing weapon, or that crafting skills are treated as classes in their own right with their own skills and levels. After levelling up my Archer, I could specialise as a Bard, and discovered that I could actually play music in-game. Maybe my adventurer will take a sideline in rock star.

It’s not been a perfect experience, and I’ve done a ridiculous amount of running back and forth between the main cities around Eorzea at the behest of factions and secret societies. However, I’m told things get much better from level 50 onwards, so time will tell. Group play has also been disappointing, with FFXIV’s Main Scenario regularly insisting that I face an encounter alone.

Even so, it’s been enough to persuade me to buy the expansions and go for cap. I’m not sure if Final Fantasy XIV will hold me much beyond that, and I guess it depends how much I get into endgame. For now, a change is as good as a holiday, and my adventures in Eorzea fit the job perfectly. And perhaps – just perhaps – I’ll keep my promise.

About 4 or 5 years ago, I built the Angry Caretaker. Contained inside a tiny case was a monster of a PC, pairing a top-grade core i7 processor with NVidia’s latest graphics card. But, while it was fun to construct, the fiddly proportions made it tough to upgrade. If I wanted to replace anything, I usually had to pull several other parts out of the way first. It taught me a lot about working with confined spaces, but it just wasn’t practical.

And so, I decided that my next build would be a step up in size, from mini ITX to micro ATX. The space would give me more room to move, and I’d also get more upgrade flexibility from the larger motherboards. Yes, it meant going for a larger case, but I figured the trade-off was worth it.

Trouble is, while I’ve been watching the PC parts market for a few years now, I’ve not seen a compelling time to buy everything needed to upgrade. NVidia have made gains with graphics chips, but Intel’s latest processors are only marginally better than the old ones. It was only when things started to break down that I actually needed to start swapping things out, which eventually pushed me into making the big leap.

Of course, trends in PCs have changed as well. It’s not enough to use single colour lighting; today, everything is software-programmable RGB. And I do mean everything – even motherboards and memory sticks have LED-encrusted variants that add to the light show.

Which brings me to today. I’ve kept the old hard drive, power supply, and a 1Tb SSD. I’ve even managed to lay my hands on an old Corsair Obsidian 350D case. Everything else is new, although I did buy the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti about six months ago as an interim measure.

What’s in the box? An Intel Core i7 8700k is at the heart of this new rig, primed to crunch through video encoding, photo editing, and maybe even a few games if multicore support ever gets off the ground. I’ve also added an indulgent 32GB DDR4 RAM, which is overkill for most things but handy for heavy photo editing sessions with huge numbers of tweaks.

Stepping up from Haswell to Coffee Lake, or from 8GB to 32GB RAM, or from a GTX 780 to 1808 Ti, aren’t huge when taken individually. But the benefits to me go beyond gaming, from better I/O for faster boot times, to handling the workloads from my other hobbies. In more ways than one, I feel that I’ve got room to breathe.

However, it’s the new light show that’s really making me smile, and I’ve found it very easy to install and configure. Corsair do a 3-pack of their latest LL 120 RGB fans that come bundled with a controller, connecting via internal USB to provide that software link. I’ve also added an RGB Lighting expansion kit, which contains four strips of LEDs to run inside the case, and attaches to the same controller as the fans.

Performance wize, my new rig massacres almost any game I choose. Whether it’s Destiny 2, World of Warcraft or FInal Fantasy XIV, I’m able to max out the settings and play at 4K with solid framerates. Fingers crossed, I’m hoping this will continue over the next few years, with even more great games coming out in 2018.

It still needs a name, but I’ve managed to build something that makes me grin every time I power it up, and which I’m pleased to have sitting on my desk. With all that, I couldn’t ask for more.

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.

The Hit-List

After pledging on the Crowfall Kickstarter, I’ll admit to being the laziest backer out there. I’ve not logged into the alpha or beta, and I’ve only briefly caught up on the news. Still, there’s a lot about the Throne War MMO that has me interested, particularly on the crafting and economy side, and I’m eager to get more involved now that the title’s inching closer to launch.

Over the last few months, Sea of Thieves has won more of my attention. The comedy-laden pirate-fest seems to be pitching for lighthearted and inclusive fun, particularly with the way quests are gained and shared. While I’ve not had a chance to play the beta (and I’m sorely tempted to wait until closer to launch). it’s definitely got me intrigued.

One title I have managed to play is Dauntless, the monster hunting persistent online experience. Once again, it’s a game that I’ve bought into by picking up a Founder’s Pack, and I’m glad to have put my money in. That said, the experience is much more like Destiny than a full-fledged MMO, although the developers behind it recently made the welcome decision to remove loot boxes. Actions like that deserve my support.

On a similar theme, I’m also interested in Monster Hunter: World. After playing the beta on PS4, I fell in love with the living, breathing ecosystem that Capcom had managed to put together, making every fight feel unique and different. But, while the console release is slated for January, we won’t be playing it on the PC until some unannounced date later in the year. Personally, I’m happy to be patient this time around.

Wrapping up my bunch-of-five is Anthem, a Bioware-made online experience that seems to be cut from the same cloth as Destiny 2. The short gameplay clips I’ve seen are interesting, and I’m confident that Bioware can put together a grand world that’s crammed full of lore and has a compelling story. However, the recent Star Wars: Battlefront 2 loot box debacle has me paranoid that, somehow, EA will find a way to screw it up.

Continue Coin

My 2018 MMO playlist will also see the return of some old favourites, now that the dust is starting to settle. Guild Wars 2 will finally get the play through it deserves, as I’m eager to devour the remaining Path of Fire content. Final Fantasy XIV will also be getting three months of airtime, as long as I can find an EU-based Free Company (guild) to show the ropes to me and some friends. 

I’ll also be making a return to World of Warcraft when Battle for Azeroth hits, which is believed to be later this year. My subscription will likely remain on pause until the pre-expansion patch hits, as I’ve played most of the content I wanted to, and most of the people I used to hang around with have long-since quit playing.

Further afield, I’m keeping an eye on New World, although I’m concerned about the silence from Amazon Game Studios following the announcement. I’m also vaguely interested in Ashes of Creation, but I remain incredibly cynical about the development team there – a feeling that will probably remain until I see a concrete and feature-complete beta.

But, if you don’t like my list, there’s still plenty to pick from. Both MMORPG.com and Massively OP have compiled extensive lists of their top upcoming titles, and both are worth perusing. 2018 might not herald a great MMO renaissance, but there’s definitely a lot to look forward to.

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.

Any new Diablo game would need to preserve a few key principles from the original: constant and meaningful loot upgrades (I’m looking at you, Destiny 2); compelling combat that’s simple to understand, but with depth for mastery; procedurally generated dungeons that are packed full of monsters; and (most importantly) be a solo to small group experience. No 20-player raids to take down Mephisto, thank you very much.

This design also fits in with the Battle.net cloud architecture that Blizzard’s been gradually developing. By carving up the Diablo experience, each can sit on a piece of the cloud that spins up when you enter the dungeon, and closes up when you leave. The whole thing would scale horizontally, be resilient to outages, and still support online play. It would be a little like Destiny 2, Anthem, or that long-rumoured Borderlands thing that Gearbox still isn’t talking about.

Even so, online play is going to be a tough sell to the Diablo community, and Blizzard knows it. There would need to be a compelling reason for people to want an always-on experience, particularly when Hardcore mode gives players a single life, and a network glitch at a bad moment can ruin weeks of progress. While online might be a boon to co-op players, there’s not much for those looking for the toughest challenge.

However, I think that Blizzard will offer something extra for those willing to move online. This is where that second batch of job adverts comes in – making Diablo portable. Games like Lineage 2 Revolution, Arcane Legends, Bastion and Transistor have proven that a Diablo-style perspective can work on smartphones and tablets, with all the online plumbing to support online play.

There’s always been this idea of making an MMO accessible to mobile gamers, but it’s usually limited to add-on apps like inventory management or chat features. The idea of having a mobile Pet Battles app for World of Warcraft has been popular, but I’ve got a gut feeling that Blizzard’s ambitions are bigger. After all, it wouldn’t take much for Diablo 3 to be playable on modern smartphones, so why not build the mode into the new version?

Why is this a big deal? With this approach, Blizzard can respond to both the hybrid-MMO trend and the mobile-MMO trend, using a heavyweight IP that’s ideally suited to both platforms, and is proven to work well on consoles too. They’ve already got the creds for mobile development through Hearthstone, and this would be another step on the road.

Yes, it’s possible that Blizzard could be working on two completely different games, like a new Diablo MMO and a separate mobile MMO RTS. But the studio’s never been very good a splitting focus (cough Titan cough), and a mobile-only game would be unusual. It’s also possible that the next Diablo experience might be split – play the hero on PC/console, play the minions on your smartphone.

Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until next year to find out just what Blizzard’s been working on, but I’m quietly confident we’ll be pleasantly surprised. With most of the studio’s heavyweights now working on the title, it’s bound to be big. Well, bigger than a Diablo 3 port to the switch at least.