In-Game Mob pics and A.I. details.

In a news post about "Mob AI. (Artificial Intelligence, y'all), came up with some screen shots of mobs, in-game. The article itself covers A.I. rather briefly, pretty much stating that "The mobs don't just stand there, and wait for you to attack", so you can expect mobs to be distance/location activated. It's something that, among the myriad other things, is being paid careful attention to.

And that, friends, is a good thing. Every mmo is gonna have some variation of "kill x number of mob", and having them passively stand by for their own sacrifice is a quick ticket to Dullsville. Therein lies a crucial balance, between "I grind passive mobs, one by one" and "They swarmed me, and I got pwned". Either extreme="Fail".

PWB hired 2 professors from Princeton University to instruct their 40 man team on subjects like Psychology and Philosophy , to be applied towards their Game Theory.. What? Does this mean we're likely to see a greater level of A.I. than seen before? Seems so.
From the text, concerning the Lost Lighthouse quest line:

"near the lighthouse, the blocking BOSS Charles and Catherine is a pair of lovers, the player must also face both of them. In the course of the fighting, they will play according to the player's corresponding to different tactics, but also the exchange between them.  Players have seen their dialogue, there must be a kind of illusion and reality fighting. … Final BOSS Lighthouse Pirate King Keane, of course is not stupid, shameless cunning of his players often use various means to weaken the ability, when he thinks he can not stand, but also calling for younger brother to do help, and direct them to an organized attack on the player ... ."

So, a 'crab' will act different than a 'bear'? a Kobold has different attack strategies than a Naga? NPC's will co-ordinate their attacks, not only relative to the player's actions, but each other's, as well?

Smart enemies...that will be fun...(and potentially frustrating for non-strategic thinkers). Could this be the end of "wash, rinse, repeat" cycling of your skill cool-downs? If this is all they're saying, then no two battles will be truly alike.

We'll cover more, as it becomes available. Meanwhile--eye candy!

 

 This thing is just U.G.L.Y.

Daddy was a bullfrog, Mommy was a ..Pitcher Plant?

  

 Nobody told me we'd be killing Night Elves...sweet!

  

Nice work on this mossy "mantis" variant..(check out the shadowing)

 

Behold, The "Feista Pumpkin Harvester 5000! "

(Note, all descriptions are very "made up", and certainly subject to more appropriate labeling)

EDIT: The Seven Key areas of "Cauldron Mainland" have been announced HERE. Poor attempt at translation, forthcoming.