Monthly Archives: August 2011

Eligium Online

Eligium takes place in a world recovering from a great and terrible war with demons. The war lasted many years and most of the valorous heroes of legend were lost in the struggle. However, with these great men banished to the pages of history, greed and corruption arose in the brief period of resulting peace. This greed took men as far as to think that they could profit and gain power by releasing the seal on the demonic world once again to harness their forces for personal gain.

With the great heroes fallen, the only hope left is a prophecy of The Chosen One. Rise up as The Chosen One, unite the four races, and banish demons from this world once and for all.

Features:

 

4 Races- 5 Classes: Rise as a Human, Elf, Silvia, or Panda and take up arms as a warrior, hunter, druid, mage, or fighter.

Pet/Mount System: Raise your pet from a small baby to a large and powerful beast that you can mount in combat.

Large Scale PvP Warfare: Join up with over 100 players in large scale siege warfare.

Enormous World: Prepare for a grand journey as you fight through countless dungeons and bosses in your attempt to map out this epic sized MMOscape.

Otherland Online

Otherland Online is an MMO published by Gamigo and based upon a Cyberpunk book series by Tad Williams. It takes place in the 22nd century in which everyday life on Earth has become almost fully integrated into a virtual world.

 

Though little information has been released yet. Otherland Online seems to focus on a series of virtual worlds in which players can enter depending on what they feel like doing that day. From a medieval feudal world to a futuristic Vegas-esque city to a cultivated Martian landscape, much seems possible in Otherland.

 

A feature known as eDNA also exists in this game. eDNA seems to be the equivalent of MP and crafting materials mixed into one and can be obtained both by farming it from substances or taking it by force in PvP. You can almost infer from the initial game footage that this material is used to customize your character’s appearance and weapons.

Scarlet Legacy Announces Open Beta

Scarlet Legacy Open Beta Date Announced

 

 

GamesCampus today announced that its open beta test for the highly-anticipated fantasy MMORPG, Scarlet Legacy, will begin on August 18th. Players will get their next opportunity to try out their fighting skills with ten new levels, a couples system, a pet system and much more, including over $40,000 USD in cash prizes on the line in their most valuable guild challenge to date!

Starting from open beta until the end of September, guilds will compete for the top ten spots in ranking. The top guild will receive a total of $15,000 in cash prizes, $10,000 in cash and $5,000 in campus credits (Games Campus’ game currency). The remaining $25,000 will be split between the next nine top guilds.

 

While the contest is front and center in the open beta, Scarlet Legacy is adding an abundance of new content starting Thursday. Additional content will include a new level cap of 40, which presents 60 new skill upgrades to choose and the introduction of the stance system.

With over 75 added quests, a rich storyline awaits players returning from CBT. Two new stores offer a staggering 180 extra items, plus the addition of more than 115 crafting recipes and more drop designs. Altogether, the new items, equipment, and weapons brings the total to over 400 freshly minted pieces for players to acquire and show off!

 

Open beta will also unveil two new zones (Turbo Lakeside and Xing City), another section of the Practice Tower (Furnace Cave, for levels 31-39), and a new dungeon, the Mumbling Temple, aimed at levels 37-40.  Players can expect upcoming events including the Master’s Challenge and Cavalier’s Deathmatch.

Followers of the Magic Mirror will be happy to see the addition of level 31-40 Princess dialogue.  Three new pets accompany level 31-40 pet levels and their accompanying talents.  Last but not least is the couples system, which will allow players to pair up for special perks and bonuses, and a little bit of romance.

League of Legends: Every Day I’m Scuttlin’

League of Legends: Every Day I’m Scuttlin’

By Jason Harper (Hhean), OnRPG DotA Reporter

 


 

Welcome summoners, to the patch v1.0.0.123 article for League of Legends, the game that shows us what happens when a Taric and a Cho’Gath love each other very much. This patch includes a rework to Pantheon, a massive heap of bug fixes and Skarner, The Crystal Vanguard.

 

Skarner is a tank/assassin hybrid, focusing on murdering the enemy carry while still maintaining a very strong team fight presence. He fits in line with characters like Rammus and Singed, both all of whom focus on screwing up enemy positioning while remaining hyper mobile.

 

When I first saw Skarner, I was eager to finally get my hands on a new jungler. None of the recently released melee characters have been able to get out of a lane, and the idea of being able to write one of these articles without screwing up my regular team’s composition got me really excited. Unfortunately, his jungling ability is lacklustre compared to nearly anyone you’d want to put in the jungle, and is extremely rune reliant. However, this is mitigated by the fact that he’s a great solo top lane, with strong sustain and an ultimate that’ll make your enemies fear your tower.

 

 

Skarner doesn’t truly come alive until hitting level 6, which unlocks possibly the best positional ultimate Riot has included in the game. Impale suppresses an enemy target before tethering them to Skarner as he scuttles away with his unfortunate victim in tow. This works very similarly to Rampage’s ultimate, The Chains That Bind, in Heroes of Newerth, except that there are no means of breaking this ability through range. Flashing at the last moment? Nope! If Skarner hits you with this, you’ll get dragged through a wall if it means you get back in line with his tether range. Unless you’re packing a Quicksilver Sash, Skarner can run off and do whatever he wants with you. While this ability in itself doesn’t do much damage, it all but guarantees a kill as you deliver the gift of a crystallized enemy right to the feet of your allies.

 

This would be a good ability on its own, but combined with his Crystalline Exoskeleton [W] he can do some truly horrible things to his foes. This thing is one tough shield, a fast movement speed boost and an attack speed steroid all rolled into one ridiculous ability. It lets him charge into the enemy team at mach 10, grab someone, then shoot off again while laughing at the puny attacks bouncing off his impenetrable hide. Combine this with assistance from Janna or Orianna for added trolling potential.

 

 

Outside of just using his terrifying ultimate though, Skarner has plenty of clever interactions between his abilities. His passive, Energize, allows his abilities to cooldown quicker the more he attacks, which is great with the aforementioned attack speed boost on Crystalline Exoskeleton. This lets you spam his bread and butter ability, Crystal Slash [Q] near enough every second for next to no mana cost. Standing near Skarner, especially in large groups can be a very dangerous affair as a result, since this lets him pump out an enormous amount of sustained AoE damage over a very long period of time. This gets nastier when Crystal Slash not only gets better after its initial cast, but also returns health when combined with Fracture [E], allowing Skarner to remain protected inside his crystal shell while also getting his health back when being surrounded by enemies.

 

At level 1, Fracture is a good choice if you’re in the lane for early harass and sustain. Crystal Slash on the other hand is a better pick in the jungle, despite its bugs there. Crystalline Exoskeleton is a great second level choice. Follow this up with whatever ability you didn’t pick at the start at level 3 so he can begin getting his combos going. From there, focusing on Crystal Slash will increase your damage output greatly, though I’d highly recommend getting  a second level of Crystalline Exoskeleton early if you’re taking a good deal of damage from the enemy. Crystalline Exoskeleton is your best second pick, with Fracture being your last stop.

 

 

Start out with a regrowth pendant and a health potion. Philosopher’s Stone. Trinity Force. Tank it up. Pretty standard stuff, item-wise. One thing that can be a good offensive pick on him though, if you are crushing your opposition, is a Rylai’s Crystal Sceptre, which turns his Crystal Slash into a non-stop slow, though combining with the slow already gained from Phage can be a bit redundant.

 

For his Masteries, roll with either 0/21/9 or 0/13/17, depending on if you want to soak more damage, or are going for that precious move speed and faster flash cooldown. For Runes, you can roll out that standard burly melee page again – Armour penetration Marks, armour Seals, magic resistance Glyphs and whatever you prefer in Quintessences. However, if you want to optimize a bit, putting six attack speed and three armour penetration marks with armour penetration quintessences will up his damage output nicely. Be warned though that this does sacrifice his defenses, and being an unkillable jet engine of death is his main trick.

 

Skarner is not what I was expecting. I thought his damage was going to be greater, but I had no idea just how impossible he would be to kill. In the games I played as him, a single death was unusual, and going above a single death was usually only when suffering a crushing defeat. I barely got any kills either, but his assists shoot through the roof as he spams his area of effect damage everywhere while dragging people around. While his duelling potential is limited, when grouping with some teammates, his threat level sky rockets.

 

 

While I thought some of the recent characters were entertaining but flawed, Skarner actually has a place on a team, and works both for picking out a victim as an initiation and for dragging stragglers into his team’s area of effect spam. While it’s a shame his jungling isn’t great, this hopefully will get addressed when his Crystal Slash jungle bug gets sorted out, and he’s still a very good solo laner.

 

I’ve been enjoying him a lot. He presses my own particular joy button – screwing with enemy positioning. The character I learned LoL with initally was Singed, and I still cackle with glee after a well executed Fling to this day. Impale is the reason to play this character, and it never disappoints. It’s such a nasty ability that allows for plenty of tricks, most of them involving the other guy dying. If you have need of something on your team lineup that can drag people into horrible death traps, then he’s always going to be a good pick.

 

The reworked Pantheon is looking a good deal more powerful. He now has significantly more burst damage, with lower cooldowns to let him burst more often. The new critical change on his spear shot can be very satisfying to grab a last minute kill, and the reduced channel time on his ultimate means it can actually be used as an escape as well as an initiation.

 

The rest of this patch has been minor tweaks and a whole lot of bug fixes. The QA department has been working overtime on this one.

 

To discuss some of the changes yourselves, post in the massive League of Legends thread in the free to play MMOs section. If you haven’t tried League of Legends yet, you’re missing out.

Solstice Reborn – The Old School

Solstice Reborn – The Old School

By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Solstice: Reborn is a 2D game with 3D environments and it is the action-packed sequel to the cult classic free-to-play MMORPG, Secret of the Solstice! With a major graphics overhaul, hundreds of new monsters and dozens of new game mechanics, Secret of the Solstice has been reborn!

 

This newly discovered parallel planet is full of danger and intrigue, teaming with magic and science, and filled with old friends and new foes. Join your friends and explore this new land: fight your way to the lava chamber under the haunted library, battle renegade dragon-men, or craft dozens of items ranging from furniture and pets to elite weapons and epic enchants.

 

The future of Xen rests in your hands!

 


Tutorial

At the start of the tutorial you get to choose between three different cities to start. These three different cities are specialized for different classes.

 

Brynhilld is the city of the Fighters and Clerics. If you are planning to play as to a Fighter or Cleric you’d better start your adventure Brynhilld.

 

Essene is the city of the Magicians and Priests. If you are planning to play as a Magician or Priest you’d better start your adventure in Essene.

 

Eir is the city of the Rogues and Archers. If you are planning to play as a Rogue or Archer you’d better start your adventure in Eir.

 

Since I wanted to play a Magician I teleported to the city Essene. I teleported to the NPC called Guide Ropelta. She taught me different features about the game and sent me off to some of the important NPC’s in the city. When I met everyone it was time to do some quests. These quests consisted ofdelivering items to different NPC’s and doing jobs for them. It was advised to use my status points and put these in six of my stats in the character information screen. I would advise people that start a new character no to take this too seriously and just put your stats into Power since at level 16 your stats reset when you choose your class. When picking a class it will tell you what kind of stat points are the most important, so you know what to specialize into. When I left the city I finally got a quest to slay some monsters and to test my skills. As I trained into a Magician, I was  told that Intellect and Magic Defense were the most important stats to put my points into, so I did. Now I was ready to help the world fight against monsters and find some friends.

 

Classes

There are currently 6 classes to choose from. All players start as a Xenian which is a resident of Xen, and when reaching level 16 it is possible to specialize yourself into a different class.

 

Archer

Archers are the masters of the bow and arrow. They use accurate long distance attacks with their bow  to deal critical damage to their foes.

Magician

Magicians wield the power of magic to defend themselves. They are able to cast magic from a distance which prevents them from receiving any damage.

Acolyte

Well on their way to being a full cleric, acolytes focus on helping others with their protective healing magic.

Predictor

The Predictor is the protector of the people. They bash their enemies with powerful clubs and use their magic to finish the job.

Rogue

Rogues are known for their cunning and speed. They use melee attacks based on agility and strength. This character’s agility and dodge are beyond imagination.

Fighter

Fighters trained in the art of hitting things hard. With a sword and shield in their hand they become the ultimate fighting weapon in Xen.

 

It should be noted that each class can specialize even further at levels 66, 96 and 131.

 

 

Gameplay

There are two ways of moving your character. You can either use your mouse to click or you can use the WASD controls. However the WASD controls feel quite clunky. As I was a Magician I found the mouse a better option to control my character and it helped me more with kiting the monsters. I started off with two damaging spells. One spell that only dealt damage and the other damage spell had an extra effect. It froze the target so they were slowed. With this spell it was easy to kite my mobs and they couldn’t get a single attack on me, the only problem was my mana.

 

Picking up quests in Solstice Reborn is quite easy, on the map you can see different symbols  such as the question mark and the exclamation mark, the question mark tells that you have completed a quest and you can gain your award at the corresponding location. The exclamation mark tells you the location where you can pick up a quest.

 

I had some trouble finding NPC’s though. For example if you have to complete a quest you can find them on the map, which is quite easy. However if the NPC that you are looking for is standing inside a building you can’t find them. Luckily they put every NPC on the map so you can find the NPC you are looking for. Unfortunately they were quite enthusiastic with NPC’s and their map just simply messed up.

 

My Eyes.. They Burn!

 

As you can see it was quite hard to tell where some NPC’s were and I had to look for quite some time before I finally found them. The other 2 cities have this problem as well so it might take a while searching for the desired NPC.

 

This game has a minor crafting system as well. It is possible to pick up items in the fields such as ores and herbs with the Gathering skill. These items can be used with a recipe to make a wide variety of items. It is even possible to create mounts such as Dragons and Cars! It is also possible to put Jewels and Gems in your weapon, which can create a unique aura if you smelt them.

 

I also was told there were PvP arena’s in this game. Unfortunately after looking for 30 minutes to find a NPC I gave up my hope and went to do some other things. I did try to look it up on the map but that was a pointless effort.

 

If you have trouble in finding something there is a ‘Xen Guide’ which gives a basic idea  of how everything works. There is also a help button if you need or want any help,  but unfortunately this button doesn’t work.

 

Graphics

The graphics remind me of a lot of Ragnarok Online. The camera is on an isometric angle, which can be turned 360 degrees so you can see your character from different angles. All the monsters I have seen so far have an animation when walking or standing still. Sometimes there are animations in the background or environment as well but these can be a little disturbing. I personally don’t like some of these animations because the animation is too fast which can be a pain to look at. Nonetheless, the graphics are good looking with some high res textures. It is also possible to zoom in to your character, the texture quality changes when zooming in though and doesn’t look as sharp as when you are zoomed out.

 

 

Cash Shop

The real money currency is called SparkCash and can be bought with various payment options. For $10.00 you can buy a total of 7000 SparkCash. You can buy different items for every gender in this game such as costumes, helmets, facial wear and capes. The equipment that you can buy has different stats and therefore boosts your character. Here are some examples you can buy with this much money. The prices of the costumes range from 870 to 3675 SparkCash. It is also possible to buy consumables, emoticons, enhancements (such as EXP boosts), lucky balls, weapons and items for a Wedding. The price for an EXP boost ranges from 655 to 7000 SparkCash and have  different lengths of time before the extra experience boost wears out. There are no level requirements for the items in the cash shop and therefore it feels rather overpowered in comparison with people that don’t buy from the cash shop.

 

Conclusion

Solstice Reborn is a well-polished game but it still does miss some content. As you can see there are a lot of features that do not work properly and the game feels far from finished. The website doesn’t provide enough information and it is hard to figure stuff out in this game. Nonetheless it is a game with a rich variety of items, quests and skills.

Starcraft 2: Journey to Diamond League Wk6

My Journey To Diamond League Week 6

By Mohammad Abubakr, OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

If you missed any of the previous weeks in my journey to diamond league, check out the Starcraft II review section. (http://www.onrpg.com/MMO/Starcraft-II/reviews) This week things get exciting as Season 3 has finally opened up and my chance to be placed higher than bronze is up for grabs!

 

Week 6

Games played: 12

Initial Rank: Unranked

Final Rank: Silver – 34

Win/Loss: 6/6

 

Week six began with the first day of Season 3. The ladder was finally unlocked and I could now get out of bronze. At the beginning of each new season, all players must play one placement match. This match decides which league you will start in for season 3 based on your MMR (match-making rating).

 

I was very nervous for my placement match because I did not want to get placed into bronze again. I knew I had to win. I was pleased to see my opponent playing the Protoss race because I find I can win against Terran and Protoss most of the time. I have a lot of trouble facing other Zerg players.

 

I opened the game with my usual opening, 14 gas 14 pool and expanded at 21. Since I just booted up Starcraft on my new PC, I forgot to change my game settings. Doing this in the middle of the game caused me to open up a bank account early on, I had so many unused minerals. This made me think I was going to lose but I remembered the average bronze/silver players are not very good at macro so I still had a chance.

 

I was very lucky that I scouted his hidden void rays because I quickly set up spore crawlers, made extra queens and a hyrdralisk den. While I did lose my expansion because my forces were not ready, I did manage to hold off the aggression at my main base. Afterwards, I continued to make roaches and hydralisks and was able to overrun his base with the help of more workers. I was placed into Silver League!

 

Thank you, Zergling.


My first game in my new division did not go very well. I got matched up against a Zerg and knew I was in trouble; my ZvZ history thus far is dismal. My opponent did an early roach rush and I was unable to hold. I wasn’t defeated outright but I fell really far behind. I tried my best to catch up but I did not have the income to keep up and was forced to concede.

 

Even after hearing a lot about the “Protoss Death ball”, I let my Protoss enemy macro. This death ball is described to be almost unbeatable by a Zerg player unless the Protoss has bad control. While Zergs have the ability to amass large armies quickly, their maxed out army is not as strong as a maxed Protoss army.

 

Spectator Roaches


Unlike most Protoss players I have faced, my opponent did not attack early on. He simply waited until his army was maxed out and marched towards my base. I should have continued to apply pressure to end the game quicker. It is not a good idea to let your opponent produce a massive army without punishing him. I was unable to hold his maxed army with my maxed army and was forced to concede. However, I think I might have stood a chance if I had more infestors to mind control his colossi.

 

The following game was quite weird. I was under the assumption that my Terran opponent was far ahead because I was floating a lot of minerals. It turns out that his macro was worse than mine. He had a lot of production buildings but was unable to support all of them on one base. I overran his base because he had nothing to defend it with.

 

My next Terran opponent was not as bad. He continued to use medivacs to drop marines into my base. While I was able to hold off for a little bit, I really needed mutalisks out to prevent the medivacs from freely roaming the map. I did put down a spire but I forgot to build mutalisks. Oops.

 

The next day I was matched up against a Zerg opponent. Since this was my worse matchup, I was scared of losing but was excited that to test some of my new tactics. I watched the GSL (Global Star League) finals between Nestea and Losira, both Zerg players, and learned some new tricks to help me. I was amazed at how many drones Nestea was able to produce before an army. This series helped me understand that I do not need an army really early if I continue to scout so I continued to expand my economy like Nestea and eventually overran my opponent. He continued to apply pressure but I was able to hold because of spine crawlers. Really looking forward to GSL August!

 

Will IMNesTea win again?


I am just happy that I got into silver league this week. Hopefully I will find more time to play many SCII games or getting into gold may take a while. I will continue to watch the pros play to learn some new builds and tricks and hopefully improve my play.

 

If there are any suggestions or feedback about this series, please let me know on the OnRPG forums  (http://www.onrpg.com/boards/) @ Abubakr (http://www.onrpg.com/boards/member-abubakr.html). Alternatively you may message me in Starcraft II (Abubakr, 109).

The Chosen Online

The Chosen is a 2.5D dungeon crawling game with rich Asian art styles and architecture. The game features all the vital elements needed for a good MMO such as faction systems, multiple character classes, PvP, and a political system.

 

The storyline revolves around a continent controlled by 5 great emperors and watched over by the forces of light and dark. Though the forces of Light and Dark have long held reservations about striking against each other due to the instability it creates in the central kingdom, recent actions of the Dark seem to be testing the resolve of Light. Light fearing the ensured destruction that would occur if they interfere, stood by helplessly as the forces of Dark began to pillage and destroy the lands.

 

In a last ditch effort, Light summoned the lost souls of the bravest human warriors to have fallen in history, and restored their bodies with the mission of standing in place of the armies of Light to push back the armies of Dark and save the world. Now the rulers of the five kingdoms have united to search out ‘The Chosen’ amongst their people, the holy warrior destined to challenge the gods and restore peace in the universe.

 

Features:

 

Five Factions: Choose to fight alongside the Qin, Han, Tong, Song, or Ming Emperor and strive to gain control of an entire dynasty.

 

Six Classes: Choose to fight by sword, blade, bow, flute, fan, or scroll. Each provides its user both short and long range physical and magical damage abilities for improved PvP balance.

 

Seven Battle Modes: Engage in 1v1 PvP, Arena PvP, Large Army Battles, Palace Wars, Guild Vs Guild battles, Faction Territory looting, and Contest Tournament Fights.

 

Rise in the Ranks: Asced through the ranks from standard joe to Army Commander.

 

Family System: Invite your friends to found a family and share resources with ‘relatives.’