Yearly Archives: 2010

Kingory

Note: Kingory (NA) is shut down, but Kingory EU is still available.

Kingory brings player in to the past brilliant and enthusiastic three kingdoms period. The player plays the role of a king, who starts from a small city and becomes a king ruling the world by making great effort. In the game, player will have chance to make famous generals of the three kingdoms period as his own and experience famous battles in the history of three kingdoms and even change the history.

Players can get the rewards as login the game, if it’s the first time to register; the player will get the notice about the how to received the login rewards.

How to receive a reward?
1. The player work as Duke can receive the login reward for free.
2. Ordinary player can exchange the reward by some item such as the jewelries and medal of horror.
3. Players also can pay for received at the moment
4. Every player will receive the rewards after they recharged their card.

Soul Master Interview: How Innovative?

Soul Master Interview: How Innovative?
Questions by Vincent Haoson, OnRPG Journalist
Answered by: Andrew Fernandez, Soul Master Producer

 

OnRPG:  The game boasts that it’s a genre bending MMORTS, what reasons do you have to prove this claim?

Soul Master merges the most successful features of multiple genres in such a way that it creates a gaming experience completely separate from anything that’s out there in the industry right now. It has the action-oriented game play of a brawler, with the strategy and tactics of an RTS, and the character development and rewarding progression of an RPG. Players directly control their character that has a unique set of skills based on their class and level, are able to find, craft, and upgrade their own equipment, and go on quests and missions like an RPG. At the same time they’re able to make buildings to produce and upgrade an army of units, construct towers and walls for base defense, and fight over resources like an RTS. What we’ve aimed to do is take the most compelling concepts of numerous genres and combine them in unique ways to create something entirely new in terms of game play.

 

Soul Master Attacking Enemy Base
Attacking enemy base

 

OnRPG: What game systems will Soul Master have? (can you elaborate on the features the game has?)

We’ve got a number of different game play modes and in-game systems that will definitely keep things entertaining for the entire time a player’s in the game. There are “Challenge” missions, storyline scenarios, and boss raids in particular which will make up the majority of the PvE content. Players will be able to pick up quests from the towns and complete them during any of the missions or scenarios they take on, depending on what the assignment is. The “Challenge” missions focus more on the RPG aspect of the game, and act like dungeons where players will need to team up with other players and fight through several maps one after the other before reaching a boss or very difficult group of monsters at the end. The storyline missions have a number of different game modes such as base defense, caravan escort, survival challenges, laying siege to enemy strongholds, etc. They’re going to be more like set-piece scenarios more reminiscent of an RTS with cut scenes and scripted events that players can go through together. Boss raids combine both and put you and your party up against huge, hard to beat unique monsters with better rewards. Throughout all of these your character is able to acquire loot from monsters, earn rewards, and level up. As you level you’re able to unlock new units and additional abilities for your character. Back in town you can also do everything from crafting to forming guilds, and also upgrade your armor and weapons to have special stat bonuses which will improve everything from how fast you build your buildings to how quickly your character’s skills cool down after use. This means that you can completely change your playing style in PvP just by switching to a different set of gear loaded with different stat benefits.

 

OnRPG: Will there be a PVP system in place? How will this work in Soul Master?

It’s going to be one of the largest parts of the game, and personally I think the one that players are going to enjoy the most. PvP will be done by entering a game lobby that can be accessed from any of the towns in the game, where they can join rooms separated by level range that other players have made or create one of their own with the settings they like for up to 6 people. After a player enters a game room they can decide which items from their inventories they want to bring in with them to the match, which map to play on, what the teams are, and then once everyone has clicked that they’re ready the host will be able to start the PvP match. The goal of the match is to either destroy your enemies’ bases entirely, or kill each of the other team’s characters until they run out of lives and can’t respawn anymore. What we’re looking forward to most is watching players develop effective PvP strategies, and seeing tactics evolve to counter them.

 

Soul Master High Level Units
High level unites

 

OnRPG: How does the resource driven RTS combat system work in the game’s overall gameplay?

During both PvP matches and most of the PvE missions and scenarios there are resource points around the map guarded by NPC monsters or owned by enemy players. As you take these over you’ll continue to get more resources which you can use to create buildings that either produce units or serve as defense like walls, towers, and structures that automatically repair the other buildings around them. You’ll also use the resources you have to create units and upgrade their abilities during a match, and progress through the tech trees which grant you access to your stronger, higher tier units with more powerful special abilities.

 

OnRPG: Can you explain how players can get the units that they use in the game? How can players take part in battles and control their units all at the same time?

By completing certain storyline scenarios and progressing through the game players are able to unlock access to new and more powerful units with better special. These units can then be built when a player gains enough resources and makes the necessary buildings when they are playing any PvP match or PvE mission afterwards. Back in town, the units a player has access to can be permanently leveled up as their character advances, and their units will carry those upgrades with them into future matches. Units can also be given temporary improvements to things like attack and defense during a match that will last until the game is over, but in each individual mission or PvP match players will need to gather resources, build buildings, and create their units again like you would in an RTS. The way the RPG and RTS aspects function together is that your character is basically the general commanding an army and can also use special combat abilities of their own to fight. Soul Master uses a non-targeting combat system, which means that instead of selecting a monster and attacking them automatically, you need to swing or use one of your character’s special attacks in the direction of your enemy and you’ll hit whatever’s in the way of your weapon, or miss if they see it coming and dodge away. While you’re fighting with your character manually and capturing resource points, you can use hotkeys (or click) to control the RTS side of the game and build your buildings and units back at your base, set rally points for them to go to after they’re made, and give them upgrades. While they will fight nearby enemies on their own, you can call your units to follow you and command them to attack in a certain direction or use their special abilities where you tell them to. While you’re sending a group of units to attack in one direction you can call another group to come with you to another area, and still have the other group following your orders on the far side of the map while your character is personally fighting elsewhere.

 

Soul Master Knight And Mob
Knight and mob fighting

 

OnRPG: Is there a class system in place in Soul Master? (If you can’t give details can you give us a little info about it?)

We view the different character selection options as something of a combination between an MMO’s job classes and an RTS’ different factions.  Each faction, the “Valiant Empire” for the Knights and Slayers, the “Harmony Tribe” for Bearcats and Maharites, and the “Holy Empire” for Priests and Chrisnians, have their own types of units with unique skills that are used by both of the faction’s character classes. So say the Maharite and Bearcat will have access to the same types of RTS units, but they have completely different character skills and abilities, which still makes playing them a very different experience from one another. The Knight is a well rounded melee class that does well in both attack and defense. The Slayer is a two-handed sword wielding, high damage dealer. The Bearcat is a fast, mid-range fighter that excels at laying traps and scouting. The Maharite is a powerful long-range class that excels at improving their RTS units’ abilities. The Priest is also a long-range fighter, but can heal and strengthen allied units and characters around them. The Chrisnian is an agile close-range fighter who wields dual swords and can get into and out of a fight quickly. We’ve made it a point to maintain a careful balance between the strength of the 6 individual character types, as well as each of the 3 factions’ units.

 

OnRPG: In the game’s trailer, it seems that one character is in control of more than 4 units, how does this work? And does this mean that even PVE is big in Soul Master?

Right now for PvP matches and PvE missions the unit cap for each player is at 60. Each unit takes up 2 or more points towards that limit, with higher tier and more powerful units taking up more. So each player right now can control up to 30 different units at once, and when playing a 6 player game, there can be 180 units battling it out around the field alongside the 6 player-controlled characters and dozens of NPC monsters that guard the various resource points. 6 player games can get fairly large, and we’re still aiming to increase both the number of players that can fight at once as well as increasing the available unit cap to allow for some pretty epic battles.

 

OnRPG: How big are the maps in Soul Master? Will it be able to host the number of players and their units as they travel the world?

The way Soul Master works is that players won’t be able to run around with their armies of units while in the neutral town areas which serve as meeting hubs where they can accept quests, form parties, and go off on missions together or enter PvP rooms. Currently the PvP maps we have available hold 6 players at a time, but they need to be pretty big in order to be able to do even that. Since players are controlling entire armies of units that would mean 6 armies of about 30 units each, plus the characters themselves, plus the monsters around the map which guard the resource points each team needs to take, which makes for a total of over 200 characters and creatures fighting it out on the same map. There also needs to be room for players’ starting bases, additional buildings, neutral resource points to fight over, etc. so they’re pretty extensive. Depending on the type of PvE mission you go on there can be several large maps like these linked together, and parties of players need to progress through in order to complete, similar to an MMORPG dungeon with loot drops and bosses at the end.

 

Knight And Unites Soul Master 
Knight and his units

 

OnRPG: What’s the game’s storyline and how are players part of game’s story?

We’re continuing to develop the storyline, and there are going to be some changes made to how the quests and missions go through it and the player takes part in it. Basically the three factions, which are the Valiant Empire, Harmony Tribe, and Holy Empire, are at war with each other over control of a single continent. The Holy and Valiant Empires used to be one large nation called Elamond, but after they discovered Magic it tore the Empire apart. Half of the population embraced Magic, but began to study and experiment with it too deeply, while the rest of the Empire was afraid of its destructive power and the consequences that its research and mastery could bring about. A civil war split the Empire in two, and the faction that would become the Valiant Empire, the ones that distrusted magic, fled to the North  after they were beaten by the magic using side which would form the Holy Empire. While in exile, the Valiant Empire turned to technology as a means of defending themselves, and the war came to a stalemate. A powerful group of nomads known as the Harmony Tribe that claimed the same region as their long lost homeland suddenly appeared in the midst of the uneasy truce between the two Empires, and toppled the three factions into war. The quests and missions for each faction revolve around this constant state of war where each side is trying to defend their own nation while taking control of enemy held land which they believe to be rightfully theirs.

 

OnRPG: Will there be any latency problems when players start to flock the game? Why or why not?

We’re preparing to have thousands of players in Soul Master around the clock 24/7, and there still shouldn’t be any latency problems involved. Each mission and PvP match is in its own instanced area, and the largest number of people you can have in a match or mission where you control your armies of units is 6 right now.  We also have several channels prepared for the launch, as well as additional hardware ready to go in case we need it. So we’re pretty confident that if you have a fairly decent computer with a fairly decent connection, you shouldn’t experience much difficulty while playing the game.

 

Knight Attacking Enemy
Attacking enemies

 

OnRPG: How has Soul Master development been? Have you guys faced any hitches in preparation for the game’s CBT?

It’s been going rather well actually. We’ve been taking time to analyze the balance between our MMO versus RTS and PvE versus PvP game play systems, and focusing on getting more content added in the directions we see things could be the most fun for people. Our intention is to release the game for CBT when there’s nothing more we can find that needs to be improved on, which I think the community will definitely appreciate once they get their hands on it and see how deep the game play actually goes.

 

OnRPG: How many players will you be letting in the game’s CBT? What are the things you will be opening for players in the game’s CBT?

We’re trying to get as many people into the CBT as possible, and we haven’t set a final limit on the count just yet. We’ll be doing so based on the traffic and registration patterns we’re seeing as CBT approaches, so it’s definitely advisable to register as soon as possible in the eventuality that we need to close off entry into the CBT if there are too many registrants for the type of controlled monitoring of the game that we need to be doing during CBT so we know what to fix, change, and improve before OBT.

 

OnRPG: How long do you expect the game needs before its open for CBT

Right now we’re continuing to develop additional content and as we come across ideas for new in-game systems or missions and scenarios we’re adding them in as soon as they’re developed, tested, and polished. We already have more than enough content for a successful CBT, but we’re of the school of thought where if we can make the game better overall by taking another week to add in something that people are going to have fun with then we will. CBT will definitely be open this summer, with a target date of July right now when everyone will be able to jump in and play. We’re also considering running a pre-CBT earlier than that for certain members of the gaming public, but we’ll be able to release more specifics about that later.

 

OnRPG: What’s in store for players in the game’s CBT?

Soul Master’s game play going into CBT is already more solid than most released titles, and we’ve got a fairly intense content update schedule going on right now which will be kept up throughout the game’s first year of open service. We’re looking forward to seeing players’ reactions when they see exactly how deep the game actually is, and the strategies and tactics they’ll develop once they get a grasp of the mechanics during CBT. We’re very confident that the game will more than meet the community’s expectations, and that they’re going to be having fun with it for a long time to come after trying it for the first time this summer.

 

OnRPG: Thank you for your time! 

Craft of Gods Review: Expertly Cross Classing

Craft of Gods Review: Expertly Cross Classing
By Kei Beneza (dividelife), OnRPG Journalist

 

Craft of Gods is a new MMORPG developed by Cyberdemon, a Russian Game Company. The game is based on Slavic Mythology and revolves around the fantasy world of Akvilon, a world torn apart by the war between the forces of Light and Darkness. Craft of Gods is Cyberdemon’s first game and is delivering some good stuff as they continue to create game play excellence. The game has an awesome PVP system and sports the famous RVR feature, which guarantees wars like you’ve never seen before. The game is currently in its open beta stage, meaning it still has a lot of room for improvement. Being a new MMO, the game is still bound to run into some hefty competition, and some in-depth comparison regarding its features. Does it have what it takes to compete with today’s MMOs? Let’s see.

 

Ready! Get Set! CREATE!

There are six races in the game, with three belonging to one of two factions. 

The Kingdom of Light:
– Human
– Velet
– Hyperborean

Reign of Darkness:
– Human (yes, another human)
– Voldkodlaki
– Dyagv

 

One feature that makes race selection significant is the inclusion of racial abilities. Yes, each one of the races has their own unique set of skills that can aid them in battle or in various other circumstances, making it crucial for players to pick the right race. This means that some races may be proficient in close combat while others can gain the upper hand underwater. A bit farfetched, but it just goes to show how diverse these racial abilities are. The game also sports a different form of classing system as there are no classes to begin with; instead, the game gives players 14 schools of skills and abilities, each branching out into different abilities which further define your character.

 

 

Craft of Gods Character Screen 
Character overview

 

Not only do these schools give battle skills, but crafting skills as well, allowing players to do some in depth customization. Cross classing is strongly encouraged here, and there have been no complaints on balance issues as of yet. Players cannot acquire all the skills but can learn the full set from 2 schools and a half of their third selection upon reaching the max level of 100. This is by far one of the best cross classing features I’ve seen, as players are forced to try out different class or style combinations, allowing them to further customize their character while complimenting their desired play style. A damage-dealing healer? Why not?

 

PVP Goodness: Whack That Human!

Craft of Gods is a PVP-oriented game and caters awesome PVP features like RVR and Open PVP. Expect bloodshed as you work your way through the game world, as players are free to attack you at any given time.

 

I Am A GOD!

Another awesome PVP feature is the DemiGod title, which is granted to a player after acquiring points and capturing enemy towers. Know that being a Demi god is essential for those who wish to become stronger as they are granted some excellent crafting powers and special abilities while they hold the title. They can also acquire rare and powerful items during their reign.

 

Craft of Gods Combat

 

HAH! You Can’t Gank Me NOOB!

As a hardcore PVPer and avid ganker, I can’t bring myself to appreciate the game’s decision to remove lowbie murder. Yes, players cannot kill those who are way below them as the game only respects “Honorable Combat”, or at least that’s what they call it. This feature may be good for newbies, but the overall idea lessens the hostility provided by the persistent environment. More like instanced combat, if you ask me. In an Open PVP scenario, being mangled by people above you is the best way to encourage players to get stronger. Isn’t this war between Light and Darkness? They sure promote mercy a lot for a game that uses this theme.

 

Thanks For The Lift!

 

One of the best parts about playing Craft of Gods is abusing their mount system. Yeah, players can ride any creature to hasten their exploration either by running or flying. If I remember correctly, this is the only game that doesn’t make players grind stuff or lose tons of cash to move faster. This is a blessing for players who never want to experience saving up for a mount again.

 

Craft of Gods Landscape
Grab a mount and go for a ride

 

Warriors Like To Play House

Tired of meeting in random places? Craft of Gods offer players the ability to actually own a house in the game. This could be essential for guilds that want to have their own private meeting place to add to the role-playing factor, as each house can be furnished by its inhabitants. There are different houses in the game, so save up and buy big ones. Enjoy playing house guys LOL.

 

Graphics and Visuals

First of all, the game looks absolutely astounding. Not only do the areas look well rendered, each area tends to differ fromthe last, giving players more diversity during their exploration. The game gives awesome lighting effects, especially when executing skills and charges. One terrible feature would be the characters’ lack of movement. They do a lot of skills and attack with different weapons, but their execution lacks energy and may come off as dull to some. Changing directions while running also gives an awkward impression as the characters barely show any form of shifting, literally looking like running GIF images being dragged in different directions. The shadows are heaven sent, differentiating the bright forests of Akvilon from the darkest dungeons. Awesome textures, crappy movement.

 

Craft of Gods Summoning

 

The Verdict

All in all, Craft of Gods seems like a promising MMO game, delivering PVP in both open world and RVR format. The graphics are nice but may come off awkward at times, especially after noticing the dull character movements. The background is awesome and gives off a diverse feeling as you go from one place to another. The lowbie immunity may work wonders for newbies, but may destroy the feeling of hostility, leaving some midranged players “opponent-less” until they reach a higher level. With tons of skills and an excellent classing system, Craft of Gods is definitely something to look forward to.

 

Pros:
– Class system
– Tons of Abilities
– Diverse Areas
– Graphics are amazing
– PVP and RVR
– Mounts Mounts Mounts!

 

Cons:
– Awkward movements
– PVP limits 

Capcom and Neowiz developing Rockman Online

Capcom and Neowiz developing Rockman Online

 

Rockman, Mega Man… Whatever name you use on this iconic and beloved Capcom character, I think no gamers will be strangers to him. In what I perceive as a “weird” co-op effort, Japan’s Capcom has announced that it will be developing Rockman Online (tentative title) with Korea’s Neowiz. Last month, there was a rumor about Capcom licensing the title Rockman Universe, so it has yet to be seen which will be the official title.

 

Rockman Online

 

Capcom also stated recently in their papers that the company will be looking forward to expand their online gaming titles in Asia (especially China), hinting that there will be more MMOs to come after Monster Hunter Frontier. Looks like there is now a new player in the MMO industry!

 

Below is the first teaser poster released for Rockman (or Mega Man) Online. There is no other news available yet.

 

Source: MMO*Culture

Launch of BlackShot Europe Open Service

Launch of BlackShot Europe Open Service

 

eFusion MMOG GmbH is proud to present the Open Service announcement for BlackShot Europe.

 

On the 12th of May finally all European Gamers will be able to enjoy BlackShot Europe on Twowar.com. After 2 months of deep tests internal and in the 3 closed beta phases we are ready to start the Open Service. In Open Service everyone will be able to play BlackShot.

 

For this very special moment, there will be some additions to the game which improve the hosting abilities and also increase the enjoyment for the players. Nevertheless new maps, weapons, equipment and items are introduced as well.

 

Last but not least, the community will have the chance to win a brand new Apple iPad by playing BlackShot! This will be only one of the great prizes which are offered in the contests for the service opening.

 

eFusion MMOG GmbH is looking forward to the start of the Open Service and bringing finally this game to everyone in Europe. On the 12th of May 2010 it’s “BlackShot Time” on Twowar.com!

 

Blackshot Europe Launch
Blackshot Europe Awaits You!

Fairy Story

Fairy Story Online pictures a large-scale 3D MMORPG game with the background of fairy story. A group of people will stand out when the justice was threatened by the dark force, who name themselves the Hunters of the Darkness. People call them Clover Hunters. This time, the dark force stages a comeback, but where are the Clover Hunters? People start to panic… A group of people who hold their beliefs and dreams start their adventure and begin the journey of becoming Clover Hunters.

In this game, there are six different characters with different styles and characteristics, the main professions are brave, sympathy and naughty. The brave one chases for great power, and puts all his energy in practicing self-attack and defenses. His future aim is to be a fighting adventurer. The sympathy one has the curing ability, both his intelligence and constitution are better than common ones, and he hopes to protect this destroyed world with his own power. The naughty one likes to explore secrets of the nature, and get intelligence to promote his skill in this process. He can use preeminent magic power.

There is a good layout in the game interfaces with smooth operation. What’s more, there are many humanized designs, which make the game of great fun. For example, the system of automatically path-finding: When you complete the task, simply click on the name of the quest NPC you are going to hand in your quest, your character will automatically come to the NPC. Auto monster fighting system: this system can help you free from the tedious upgrading for faster upgrades.

Interactive system of Fairy Story Online is very rich, and you can care for each other and help each other. The friend system is not for relatives but the members are more than relatives. And in the class system, members are for the same goal to link with each other closely there. You will no longer be alone in the game, you can go further in the game.

You won’t feel boring in the game, as one major feature, pet system will accompany you. Under a warm environment of the community made by friends and hunter class, you can collect many lovely pets with different attributes and styles. After collecting resources, you can cultivate and improve pets. A pet with better attributes can be obtained by synthesizing pets, and you even have the opportunity to get a rare pet. During the period of cultivating, pets can compare deficiencies by fighting with each other to prepare for the future battle. Fairy Story Online is free-to-play and suited for the casual gamer who just want to have a good time.

HoMM Online Closed Beta Launches

HoMM Online Closed Beta Launches

 
China-based online game publisher, TQ Digital, have recently announced a new chapter of the classic strategy game, Heroes of Might and Magic! The special online edition in the Asian Region started on May 7th!
 
Licensed by Ubisoft, and with 4 years of co-development by TQ and Ubisoft’s senior engineers and art designers, the granddaddy of Strategy MMOs is now offering players the chance to be first in on the action with a Beta Key Giveaway!

Simply download the closed beta client right here on OnRPG and apply for your key in our event section, and then activate it here! But hurry, because there’s only a limited number of keys being awarded!

TQ Digital has also indicated that HOMM Online is set to be a solid MMO, combined with the time honored elements of HOMM III and with the updated graphics of HOMM V, and focus on the strategic and tactical skills in a refreshing new way. The goal will be to update a classic for the new MMO age, via addition of PK Tournaments, a Town Prestige System, as well as the Anima and Dragon Scale Forge System!
 
So Heroes of Antagarich, are you prepared for war? Raise your swords and write your legend into the history books!

Heroes of Might and Magic Online - Closed Beta Launched!

RuneScape Interview: The Dungeons of Daemonheim

RuneScape Interview: The Dungeons of Daemonheim
Questions by Neil Kewn (Murxidon) – OnRPG journalist
Answered by 
– Mark Ogilvie (Mod Mark) – Lead Designer, RuneScape,
– Chihiro Yamada (Mod Chihiro) – Lead Tech, RuneScape,
– Christoph Vietzke (Mod Fetzki) – Head of RuneScape and
– Paul Mayer (Mod Paul_M) – Community Management Team Leader, RuneScape

                              

RuneScape is a 3D browser-based MMORPG from British developers Jagex. Almost ten years since its original inception, we chat to the faces behind the game and discuss PvP, monster slaying, level caps and that seemingly endless stream of updates. With the hotly anticipated Dungeoneering skill now available for both free and paying players, what’s next for what has become the world’s most popular free MMORPG?

 

OnRPG: RuneScape has enjoyed phenomenal success over the past nine years. It’s safe to say that it’s the largest, most feature packed browser-based MMORPG out there, you must be pretty happy about that!
 

Mod Fetzki: Yes, we are proud that we never sit back and say “RuneScape is fine as it is”.  We don’t stand still and we will keep adding new features almost every week, polish existing content and updating the graphics on an ongoing basis.

 

OnRPG: How important is it to keep the content updates original? It must be tempting to snag an idea or two from the more commercial, client based MMOs!
 

Mod Mark: Hugely important. We have always seen ourselves as trend setters, not trend followers. However we encourage our developers to be inspired by games, books and experiences they have themselves (as any good designer should be) so you will notice some similarities to other things out there, just not necessarily MMOs.

 

OnRPG: Dungeoneering is a new skill that has gathered much attention. Can you tell us what it is?
 

Mod Mark: In a nutshell, the Dungeoneering skill allows a player to create a unique experience for them and their friends. It uses a huge library of rooms, puzzles, monsters, rewards and challenges to build a sprawling dungeon complex to explore, culminating in an epic boss fight at the end. For me, it puts the adventure back into RuneScape. No dungeon is ever the same since it uses a jigsaw approach to design, building the dungeon as you explore piece by piece. The skill unlocks a variety of rewards for the new and the experienced player to be used in the rest of RuneScape.

 

Dungeon RuneScape
Dungeons in RuneScape

 

OnRPG: The new dungeon aspect of the game is a huge update for players of RuneScape. How long has it been in development?
 

Mod Mark: 14 months of design and 8 months of implementation.

 

OnRPG: Players are barred from using their own gear when leveling Dungeoneering; instead they are provided with equipment. What brought you to this decision? 
 

Mod Mark:

1. We believe that the action of ‘kitting up’ is a great piece of gameplay. If you’re in a dungeon and you know you have to make kit to deal with the monsters you’re meeting, it’s actually quite motivating and gives you clear objectives within the dungeon.

 

2. It gives additional value to the secondary ‘creation’ skills in the game, encouraging a player to train skills like Smithing and Runecrafting, or find players that have those skills to help them out inside the dungeons.

 

3. The dungeon system uses a complex points equation that helps us to accurately measure risk and reward challenges within the dungeon. If we know exactly what the player has been provided with in the starting rooms we can accurately balance the challenge the player will face within the dungeon. If we allowed gear, we couldn’t do that.

 

OnRPG: Dungeoneering is the first skill that can be leveled past 99, up to 120. What is the reason for this?
 

Mod Mark: We wanted part of our game to be universally seen as ‘endgame’. We feel that the upper floors of Dungeoneering will provide that endgame feel.

 

OnRPG: Are there plans to increase other skill levels to this new cap?
 

Mod Mark: Not currently, but we do have the facility to do that. We are aware that our player base are split on whether that’s a good idea or not and we are weighing up all of the options.

 

OnRPG: The RuneScape forums are a buzz of activity where players can discuss what they like and don’t like about the game. Has Dungeoneering been a direct response to player wishes?
 

Mod Mark: We always listen to our playerbase and encourage all our developers to take time out on our forums and engage with the users. The idea of adventure and exploration is a subject we had discussed in the past. A forum post called “Here Be Dragons” was one of my favourites of all time and spoke passionately about the lack of adventure in MMOs because of the inherently ‘grindy’ aspect of XP gain.  It was one of the inspirations behind the Dungeoneering skill. That and the fact that many of us here at JAGEX are ‘oldskool’ RPG and board game fans and wanted to add that group adventure-feel to our game.

 

OnRPG: It’s no secret that many MMO players choose to level their characters by dungeon running, and this is now a possibility in the realm of RuneScape. Is Dungeoneering an attempt to compete with the client-based MMORPGs in terms of team-based gameplay? 
 

Mod Mark: In my experience the dungeons you’re describing are exactly the same map, challenge and overall experience, with perhaps some cosmetic variety in NPC placement and type. That is an entirely different experience to that had within the Dungeons of Daemonheim and the Dungeoneering skill. Our main motivation was to add exploration and adventure back into skills training, not to provide instances to train in. Therefore the jigsaw -style creation system we use, coupled with the risk-reward equation I mentioned above provides a genuinely unique environment every time you play. I am unfamiliar with any other MMO that even attempts to do that.

 

Runescape Skill
Mastering several skills

 

With regards to training, in reality it’s still far more efficient to train specific skills on the surface world – we didn’t want to replace the surface content with the Dungeoneering skill, only complement it. The total XP you gain within the dungeon is comparable to surface training, but then generally you’re only training specific skills on the surface as opposed to the wide range of skills you train and use in the dungeon.

 

OnRPG: RuneScape has been criticised in the past for not having a particularly welcoming community. Are you hoping that team-oriented minigames, tasks and skills (such as Dungeoneering) improve player relations?  
 

Mod Paul_M: While I do think that team based tasks and games like Dungeoneering do get players together and help build that welcoming atmosphere, there’s more to it than that I think which basically comes down to improving the visibility of what’s already there. Having a stronger presence on the forums, focusing our in game moderators to be more community oriented and holding events to highlight existing communities is all very important. Introducing new players to different styles of play and catering to those styles by making them easily visible and accessible is also key so that whatever you’re into, there’s a community of likeminded players there for you. A quick example for you would be Clans. Clans are notoriously ‘cliquey’ in RPGs but thanks to a month-long series of events that introduced people to the clan environment, we’ve seen many more spring up in RuneScape and existing clans have seen their ranks swell.

 

OnRPG: PvP is a hugely important factor in any MMORPG. RuneScape has changed the mechanics of its PvP significantly in recent years, what options are available for the more bloodthirsty players?
 

Mod Mark: We have a variety of PvP-specific servers now where players can battle across the entirety of Gielinor rather than sticking to the wilderness. We also have more focused wilderness PvP servers called Bounty Hunter worlds where players can earn even more generous PvP rewards by chasing specific targets. There are also unique PvP items and equipment currently worth millions on the Grand Exchange – our global trading arena.

 

OnRPG: Naturally, RuneScape is a browser based game and although you continuously push the boundaries of what Java can do, have there been any updates or features that you would like to add to the game, but have been unable to due to web, Java or other limitations?
 

Mod Chihiro: Oh, yes. The way the engine works clearly limits the scope of some of the projects we do – but those kinds of limits we understand pretty well now, and we know how to avoid them.  The limitations that I come across most often are ‘legacy’ issues.  The engine already has features we’d like to use, but cannot incorporate into RuneScape because of the maintenance work that would be needed to implement them.

 

For example, the engine team came up with a way of allowing players and NPCs to be visible from levels other than the one the player is on. So you could stand at the top of Lumbridge Castle and see the players and NPCs walking around in the courtyard below. It looked great and added a lot of atmosphere. I really wanted to add this to the game.

 

However, we had to shelve it because of the way our graphics have been built.  Historically the game has been modeled and animated assuming a player will never see actors on levels other than their own.  So with multilevel switched on we ended up with NPCs or players poking through floors when certain animations were run or when long weapons were wielded. It looked buggy and horrible.  The only way we could have prevented this would be either to rework the hundreds of offending models and animations or to remodel all our buildings so that each floor was tall enough for it not to matter. Arg!

 

Another example is looking up.  There is nothing in the engine that stops us from allowing the player to look up now, but we don’t let players do it, because in order to keep the polygon count of our models as low as we can, most models don’t have a bottom.  We’re not going to have time to add bottoms to every object in the game any time soon, I’m afraid, so I’m afraid you won’t see the sun in Gielinor for the foreseeable future.

 

Murky RuneScape
Browser Based but plays smooth, like a client-based MMO!

 

OnRPG: Despite being arguably the most recognisable browser based MMORPG, are there any plans to bring RuneScape to the desktop in the form of a downloadable client?
 

Mod Chihiro:  It depends slightly on what you mean by ‘downloadable client’ – we already provide one, but it does little more than remove the requirement to have Java installed and a browser window open.  If you mean a ‘large’ client that you download once (like WoW or Steam games for example), rather than a thin client that you download each time you log in (which is how RuneScape works now) then I doubt we’ll change this.

 

We make changes to the client so often that it makes little sense – you’d still have to download patches after each update, and because our client is so small we might as well provide you with the whole thing anyway.  Otherwise we’d have to start worrying about patch compatibility, or handling differing versions of the client, which would be more effort than it’s worth.

 

OnRPG: It seems that free players are getting access to many more features than ever before. Are there any more updates in the pipeline that affect free players?
 

Mod Mark: All the work we are doing to improve the early game experience applies to the free game. Generally they are reworks to existing content rather than brand new content, but we do have some really corking ideas planned. I can’t say more than that now, sorry.

 

OnRPG: What can Gielinor adventurers look forward to in the near future?
 

Mod Mark: In the pipeline right now we’re working on a 3-part quest looking at the various orders of Knight within the game, culminating with the release of a brand new minigame. We are also working on the conclusion of one of our oldest storylines, called The Mysteries of the Mahjarrat.

 

OnRPG: Thank you for your time!
 

Mod Mark: No worries! 

Global MapleStory Celebrates its Fifth Anniversary

Global MapleStory Celebrates its Fifth Anniversary

 

Today marks the Fifth Anniversary of Nexon America’s service of Global MapleStory in North America. MapleStory services more than six million players in North America and more than 95 million players worldwide. This past summer, MapleStory broke its own records by reaching 70,000 max concurrent users several times. For the past five years, players have enjoyed additions of several job classes, wondrous world servers, zones to explore, and fierce boss mobs to defeat. 

 

 Maple Story Anniversary

 

To celebrate five fantastic years of service, MapleStory will be having tons of events and giveaways.  Players can check out MapleStory’s celebration and join the fun!

 

When MapleStory first opened, players enjoyed the four classes, Warrior, Magician, Bowman, and Thief. The next addition was the Pirate class. The four original classes plus the Pirate class are known as the ‘Explorers.’ After the addition of the Pirate class, the Cygnus Knights were released, which offer five different job paths within themselves.  The ‘Hero’ classes, Aran and Dragon Master Evan were next to follow.  Players can now explore the Maple World as one of these characters, trying new jobs and learning new skills.

 

While new character classes were being added, new world servers were as well, to accommodate the growing player base. Starting off with just three world servers, Maple World has grown to a total of 11 in the past five years. The addition of these new worlds has opened up MapleStory for adventure and the creation of new friendships among players.

 

Countless zones have been added as new content in MapleStory, giving players the opportunity to explore and travel to new and exciting lands. Zones such as Ludibium, Helios Tower, and New Leaf City were added in the early years. More recently, Neo City, Kerning Square and Rien have been added to the MapleWorld.

 

Along with the new zones, new boss mobs have been introduced as new challenges for players to defeat. As players defeat these boss mobs, they are rewarded with item drops, EXP, Mesos (in game money), and quest items. The most notorious of these boss mobs is Pink Bean, a deceivingly cute, yet ferocious boss monster that is still undefeated since his introduction last year.