In MMOs, special events (which often happen on dates surrounding real-world holidays) have become a common expectation of players. These events make the MMO virtual worlds feel more dynamic and fresh.
This month we look at some upcoming Autumn/Halloween events for RIFT and Guild Wars 2 as well as some exciting news about cross-realm play for the upcoming MMO WildStar.
Join the Autumn Harvest in RIFT
RIFT went free-to-play this past summer, and from the sound of it that transition has been largely successful for developer Trion. RIFT’s upcoming fall event is the Autumn Harvest, which starts October 17th. During the event, players will be tasked with assisting the Fae minions of Atrophinius, the Harvest Master. Through doing so, they will be rewarded with Spectral Tokens, which can be turned in for Spectral mounts and other rare loot. There will also be a special PVP scenario (the Monster-Mash Black Garden) where players will take on the roles of werewolves and vampires. Special event-themed cosmetics and items will also be available for purchase in the microtransactions RIFT store.
Blood and Madness Descends on Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2 has really turned out an astonishing number of high-quality events since its release. The upcoming Halloween event, called Blood and Madness, looks to be no exception. Mad King Thorn comes every Halloween to Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2, but this year his son (Bloody Prince Edrick) is breaching the realms this year as well!
The Mad King’s Labyrinth and Clocktower will make reappearances this year, as well as the PVP map, the Lunatic Inquisition. New achievements, minipets, and cosmetic weapons and masks can be gained through participating in the event this year, however, as well as surely some additional cosmetic items in the microtransactions store. Blood and Madness starts today, October 15th.
WildStar Details Cross-Realm Play
It may not be associated with Halloween, but some recently announced information for upcoming game WildStar is no less exciting. The developers previously announced they would be supporting cross-realm play in the game, but it was only recently that they detailed exactly what that would cover. Most MMOs these days have many different realms (or servers) on launch with different rulesets (PVE, PVP, etc.). In many games if players happen to make characters on different servers than their friends, they’d be out of luck - they would have to either make a new character on the same server, or not be able to play with their friends. WildStar wants to avoid this frustration. First off, players will be able to chat in-game to any other player regardless of what server they’re on by using the following format: /w CharacterName@RealmName Message.
Players can also form parties with characters in any realm following a similar syntax (by inviting CharacterName@RealmName). Party members will all be able to see party chat, regardless of what realm they’re on. The Group Finder tool will also match players across realms (though there will be a checkbox if you’d prefer to only be matched with people from your own realm). Any time players enter instanced content, they will be able to play with other players in different realms.
There will be some restrictions to cross-realm play, however. Players won’t be able to explore the open world (non-instanced content) with players from other realms, due to population issues. Players also won’t be able to trade with players from different realms for potential economy issues.
The ability to play with others regardless of server is becoming more and more expected, and I’m extremely happy to see that WildStar is going to implement it in such a strong way. What do you guys think?