Quick hits: middle of June edition

A lot of tantalizing news is coming out of E3. The one trailer I've seen that got me the most jazzed was not for an MMO at all, it was for the new Deus Ex game. I loved the first Deus Ex, one of my all time favorite games. I even liked the second one enough to play through it. I'm hoping the game will hew closer to the first than the second, which does seem to be the case.

Interplay's Fallout MMO is apparently not dead yet, which is a pleasant surprise. Star Wars: The Old Republic only sounds better and better the more find out about it. And a small tidbit about the Warhammer 40K MMO really piqued my interest. Apparently there are going to be at least four factions. I really really hope this means that all four factions will be able to duke it out, because the lack of a third faction is one of the major areas where Mythic screwed the pooch with Warhammer Online imo.

Finally, nerfs are incoming in Dungeons and Dragons online. In addition to adding guild Airships, which I have to say sound pretty damn cool, in update 5 Turbine has decided to nerf two-handed fighting and two-weapon fighting (i.e., what almost all melee players use). The change to two handed fighting (using a giant two handed weapon like a greatsword) is that you will now have to stand in place to get glancing blows (extra damage to any mobs near the main one you are hitting). Not a complete disaster, but seriously annoying given how much you generally have to move around while fighting in DDO.

Two-weapon fighting (dual wielding) on the other hand, is being hit very hard at low levels. Without getting into the details of it, for low level characters the change coming down the pipe represents roughly a 50% hit to their offhand weapon damage even if they have the two weapon fighting feat. It gets better at higher levels if you continue to specialize, but it's still a substantial nerf to any two-weapon fighter that isn't a Ranger or Monk with specific enhancements.