Monthly Archives: November 2007

[Gamedesign Journal] Sigils

Feature article: Sigils
by El "Selachii" Drijver
A well known fact about Spellborn is the non-stat armor and weapons. To make sure players can still customize, tweak and tune their fighting characteristics whichever way they like, we have a wide variety of Sigils. These can be collected from different sources in game like quests and loot.
Sigils are items with ‘magical effects’ which can be used when they are equipped one way or another. There are three types of sigils: Skill-, Jewelry- and Weapon sigils. I will handle the Jewelry- and Weapon sigils first as ‘item sigils’ and conclude with the Skill sigils

Item Sigils
Like mentioned above there are two types of item sigils, one for jewelry and one for weapons. First up, jewelry isn’t visible, you won’t be able to see the rings or necklaces on your character in game, only in your ‘paper doll’ screen.

Both weapon and jewelry act as containers for sigils, but the amount of sigils that can be fitted is determined in a different manner. The jewelry has an amount of slots dependant on the item level and rarity. Whereas the weapons have an amount of sigil slots dependant on your player level, adding 1 every 10 levels. The reason we do it differently for jewelry is to reward players that put in that extra effort to find that rare item. The reason we actually can do it like this, is because jewelry is not affected by the ‘dress to impress’ motto. If the slots on the weapons would work the same and be dependant on the item level and rarity, we’d be back to square one when it comes to player customization. Players would be forced to upgrade their weapon because of the amount of sigil slots, even though they don’t like the look of it.

This also means that players that run around in the simplest looking armor can actually have better statistics then someone of the same level who has shiny armor and looks like he’s the captain of a great army. Players that go that extra length to find and earn the best jewelry will have an advantage.

So, what kind of an advantage? I won’t give away all the types, but some increase resistances to certain magical schools or attack types, while others affect the maximum amount of hit points the player has. Weapon sigils offer different bonuses, remember, jewelry sigils don’t fit in weapons and vice versa! Enhancing your attributes or damage output is among the effects the weapon sigils will offer to the players.

The item Sigils can be fitted, as well as removed, only at the forge, for a reasonable fee Smile

Skill Sigils
Skill Sigils on the other hand can be added and removed on the spot, as long as the player is not in combat. Skill Sigils go in to Skill Sigil Slots, which are earned when you level up.
The player can assign the Skill Sigil Slots to skills of his own choice. It will be possible to re-assign Skill Sigil Slots to different skills, so your decision won’t be permanent, but we’re still making some final design decisions for this mechanic.
Back on topic, Skill Sigils can be fitted in Skill Sigil Slots of skills to enhance the effect of that particular skill. Some examples are increasing the range, increasing the buff/debuff duration, increase the effect or add an extra target to maximum amount of targets the skill can hit. Truly, the possibilities are limitless!

On average, each sigil has ten ranks, each rank being slightly better then the one before it. Of course, the higher ranks also require a higher level, so to prevent players from using only the highest rank sigils they can get for every Sigil Slot, it’s impossible to use the same Sigil of a particular rank twice on one item or one skill. However, it is possible to use multiple ranks of the same Sigil in the same item or skill. So if you’re dedicated in increasing the Rune Damage from a particular skill at level 40, you could add the Arcane Brand Rank 3, 2 and 1 to the same skill, not Arcane Brand Rank 3 three times.

Rarity of the Sigils is not linked to level, at each level there are more common and rarer Sigils which have different quality, so it will be rewarding to collect them from early on.

As an extra coolness, some weapon Sigils also have a visual effect. The forge will preview the effect when you want to put a Sigil in your weapon. When multiple effect Sigils are added to a weapon, the one closest to the hilt will determine the visual effect. The effect is a tracer behind the weapon when executing skills and I can tell you that the effects look absolutely stunning. We have over 20 effects currently in and they look absolutely amazing from a streaking flame to runic symbols. Check the screenshot for a little sample of me jumping around and swinging my weapon at Hawk’s Landing with a Sigil in my weapon which has a tracer.
Balancing these Sigils is quite a big job as well, I might discuss that next time

Voyage Century: New Expansion Preview

The new Voyage Century (http://vc.igg.com) expansion will be released in mid-December, and it has been officially named “Doom Treasure”. It was initially called “Hurricane Islands” because of the newly-added instance – Storm Island. However, considering the dangerous and exciting elements and more favorable rewards from quests, the VCO team decided to officially name it “Doom Treasure”.

Apart from the systems included in the current edition, new systems and contents are added into the game such as a gem enchasing system, new equipment and a new map.
Among the new content included players will find three new features as below.

Gem Enchasing System
Carnelian, Ruby, Sapphire, Diamond and Black Diamond have been added into the game. There are different gems with different attributes. Players can enchase them onto their jewelry or weapons according to their need, making their jewelry unique.

Skill Upgrade
In the new edition, a skill levels upper limit has been increased to 120.

New Maps, New Challenges
A mysterious world opens its door to the players in the new edition, Hurricane Island.
Located in the North Atlantic Ocean near Newfoundland, Hurricane Island is a small, mystic island never found before, where bizarre creatures ,dinosaurs, lizardmen and aboriginals run rampant. Do more unknown things lie ahead? The Island is waiting for its first visitors.

For more information about the new expansion, please visit the official site at:
http://vc.igg.com/content.php?news_id=731

DOMO Open Beta Starts!

California, U.S.A. (November 30, 2007) – Aeria Games announces the Open Beta for DOMO to start on Friday, November 30th, 2007.

DOMO is a social massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) themed around the ancient Oriental myth of the Kunlun Mirror. Players enter an anime-inspired world to socialize and form friendships, learn crafting skills and level up, all within the quest of trying to solve the riddle of the ancient myth.

DOMO offers players rich interactive features, a robust crafting system, extensive quests, and many fun skills. Other features include:
*Extensive Customization – Players can choose from a wide variety of hairstyles, costumes, and features for each character, allowing each player to show his or her uniqueness.
*Robust Crafting System – Players can choose from 6 skills – meditation, mining, animal breeding, farming and forestry.
*Rich Social Features – DOMO promotes interactions among players. Players have special bonds with others, such as master/disciple, lovers and friends.
*Realistic Pet System – Players have the ability to nurture and earn the loyalty of various pets. Loyal pets can help their masters in battle and life; disgruntled ones can quickly desert their owners.

Players are encouraged to join the DOMO Open Beta by visiting: http://DOMO.AeriaGames.com

Angels Online: Advanced Sets Preview

The Angels Online (http://ao.igg.com/) team will be displaying some advanced sets today.
Each advanced set usually contains 3-5 pieces of equipment. These advanced sets can greatly increase players’ stats, especially when players wear the complete set. So far, these advanced sets are the most powerful equipment in Angels Online.

Titan’s Courage is the most suitable set for warriors. With 3 pieces of the set, players’ HP will be increased 350. With 4 pieces of the set players’ can increase the defensive power of each stat by 15, and with a complete set your HP will increase by 5%. As a qualified MT, players should own this set. In order to obtain this precious set, players’ should beat the mighty bosses in Nightmare Cave, and collect enough Dream Pieces to find an appointed NPC and exchange for the set.

MP is commonly considered the Mage’s second life. A complete Battle Poem set will increase MP by 5%. The Shining Sign set is also awesome, with 3 pieces magic defense can increase by 40, and with a complete set MP will increase by 300. Players can obtain the set by beating the 4 powerful bosses in Nightmare Cave.
Players who choose collection as their class can also obtain a suitable advanced set, the Space Infinite set. A complete set can decrease collection time by 10%, and increase load and MP by 1000 and 200 respectively.
More fun and amazing equipment are waiting for players to discover!

Visit their official website for more information: http://ao.igg.com/

RAN Online Wallpaper Design Competition

Hooray, It’s year end holiday! RAN Online is having more events for players and would like to invite all to join the” RAN Online Wallpaper Design Competition ”. Use your imagination to create your very own exclusive RAN Online wallpaper!

Event Date:
From 28th November 2007 until 19th December 2007 3:00PM (GMT+8)

For more details: http://ran.myrosso.com/en/events_071127_wallpaper.asp

Tales of Pirates: Auction System

Following the successful “Reputation for Bonus” Program and Promoter System, a brand-new offline system – The Auction System will soon be officially released in Tales of Pirates (http://top.igg.com).

After its release, some top equipment that is impossible or hard to get in game will be available for players.

To bid on items, players don’t need real money or in-game money but Credits which stand for their honor and reputation. There are several methods to obtain Credits, for instance, when you instruct disciples in-game, or when you obtain Forum Money by replying to other players’ issues, or when you get Promoter Credits by being Promoters.

ToP players will have a new experience with ToP Auction System, which operates similar to the eBay Auction System. The ToP team has prepared one Black Dragon Set and five Black Dragon Torsos as the first group of auction items, which are of top quality.

The Auction System will be released in early December. For more information please visit the official ToP website http://top.igg.com.index.php.

Voyage Century: Update Suggestions for New Version

Voyage Century (http://vc.igg.com) is highly regarded by many players for its stunning graphics and overall quality of gameplay, but this game is a little difficult for beginners to get started. So here are some suggestions for those beginners.

1. After creating your characters, players usually have one Dragon Head Cannon Battleship, 4 pieces of equipment, 4 ornaments, and several thousand silver. They are all very useful for beginners, and you can’t just throw them away. The first thing you need to do is to buy another ship (Dragon Head Cannon Battleship is only suitable to be changed into a Battleship and a Fast Attack Ship). The Dragon Head Cannon Battleship is equal to a level 4-6 ship. In a word, players can’t look down on the equipment they have at the beginning of the game.

2. Some beginners usually make the mistake that they should have a very well equipped battleship even if they don’t have much money. If you only buy Cannonballs, you will become bankrupt very quickly.

3. Another mistake beginners usually make is to buy some luxury items. When you obtain some fragments of treasure maps, you should use them very carefully, because these fragments can only make 1% of people rich and 99% of people bankrupt.

4. Beginners are so eager to develop a Fast Attack Ship; as a result, they soon use up their limited materials and money. Unless you know how to obtain enough materials, you should hold off on developing your Fast Attack Ships.

5. Doing quests blindly and learning skills blindly will really waste precious time and hard-earned money. Beginners should ask more experienced players to teach them how to learn skills and more importantly which ones to learn first.

For more details, please visit: http://vc.igg.com/content.php?news_id=730

Zu Online: North Temple Preview

Zu Online (www.zu.igg.com), the new 3D MMORPG game from IGG (www.igg.com) is having a little preview of the North Temple of Zu World.

Long, long ago, the Sun Warriors studied Tantra in the North Temple, while the evil Dragon Lord rampaged and slaughtered innocent people. Fortunately Master Mind stepped up to the plate, and he sealed the dragon in a hieron at the cost of his life. However after the war between Good and Evil, the Dragon Lord gradually regained its consciousness. So the Sun Warriors came to Desert City….

When players’ reach level 40+, they can find Jaba in Swallow Peak, and he will teleport players to North Temple.

Sun Warriors can buy spell books from Master Dazang in Trisec Palace of North Temple. Players can also find Shilun in Renaissance Hall of Nobleness Mountain, he sells lvl 3 and lvl 4 equipment to all players. Other players can buy potions from Tsan in Morality Hall, and these potions can be used to restore HP and MP. Players with too many items can find Loosa to deposit their unused items. If players want to make money, they can go to find Fushen on the Chanting Platform, and he will offer players the Commercial Travel quest, if players perform well, they can get a lot of money, if they don’t perform well, then they may lose much money.
The Ride Guardian, Nalee on the Brightness Platform can teleport players to Desert City and the Northern Ice Field. The Ride Guardian, Valunpo on Little Brightness Platform can teleport players to the Saint Treasury, and the Ride Guardian, Kndun near the Saint Treasury can teleport players to Little Brightness Platform.

For more information please visit the Official Website at:
http://zu.igg.com/news/newscon.php?aid=206

ELF Online Close Beta Testers Recruit

Happymmo is pleased to announce the close beta of its first mmorpg—ELF Online. The first Happymmo mmorpg–ELF Online is comedy based mmorpg with trandy elements, relaxing features and elaborate story line. "There is nothing you can’t do" is the slogan of the Elf Online. Spurning the traditional gaming style, Elf Online creates a free and player-oriented in gaming environment enabling players to make their unique weapons and equipments specially designed for them.

ELF Online will begin its Alpha test in the end of November. In order to improve the game, Happymmo will give out 5000 Alpha test accounts. Those interested could get these account from our partners or could apply the account in the ELF Online official forum. This event will commence on Nor. 26th.

During the test, if you found any bug or has any suggestion, feel free to contact us via e-mail at
elfonlinegm@gmail.com

For more details, please visit:
http://www.happymmo.com/Forum/viewthread.php?tid=33&extra=page%3D1
Our download link will be released later. Please pay attention to our official website.
Have a Relaxing Time, Enjoy Elf Online.

DOMO Open Beta Monday 3rd December

Dream of Mirror Online is launching its Open Beta phase on Monday 3rd December.


 


Wednesday 28th November will mark the end of the Closed Beta: servers will be shut down and all characters will be wiped to grant the balance of the next phase.


 


The service will be granted to European players only.


 


Open Beta will bring new, awaited features to the game:



  • New jobs:  Hunter, Mercenary, Musician, Wizard

  • Job trainers for 20th and 30th level

  • New quests over level 20th

  • Counter-attack skills

  • New episodes of the main plot