Monthly Archives: February 2012

Forsaken World Announces Nightfall is Near

Forsaken World Announces Nightfall is Near

 

 

Promised to be the largest patch in Forsaken World’s year long history, Perfect World Entertainment has taunted its player base today with a short teaser trailer giving us a glimpse of the new flying fortress in the sky.

 

 

In addition, Nightfall will allow players to take to the skies with a new flying system, the signature game mechanic loved within its predecessor, Perfect World International. In addition, they will also be incorporating a revamped Immortal Rift in which guilds can claim territory and do battle to conquer more lands in epic guild versus guild battles. Check out our game profile for some new screenshots of the upcoming content!

TERA EU Announces Schedule for First CB Test

TERA EU Announces Schedule for First Weekend Beta Test

 

 

The first closed beta phase of TERA will be running this weekend. From the 17th to the 19th of February the servers will be online from 3 pm (CEST) until midnight each day for courageous adventurers to walk on the wild side in the world of TERA. It will be the first of five beta tests for all pre-order customers, last year’s beta participants, and the 1,000 selected winners of the early beta registration. Two character slots invite the participants to explore the races of TERA and to prove their skills in thrilling battles up to level 22. For the first time guilds can now fight each other on a PvP server that also offers an outlaw mission in the town Velika to all unfearful adventurers.

 

 

With the help of the weekend’s test, we were able to resolve the issues that caused the cancellation of the Sneak Peek event. Thanks to the overwhelming support and participation of the TERA community, all Closed Beta tests can run as planned.

Aeria Games Spotlights the Turga Race for Lime Odyssey

Aeria Games Spotlights the Turga Race for Lime Odyssey

 

Lime Odyssey Deserted Village

 

Aeria Games, a leading global publisher of free-to-play online games, today revealed the opening cinematic for the Turga race, one of the three playable races in Lime Odyssey: The Chronicles of Orta, its highly-anticipated 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Lime Odyssey is currently in production and will be published in North America by Aeria Games in 2012.

 

 

The Turga in Lime Odyssey live in a meadow in the north of the continent and have a distinct lion-like appearance. Simple and honest as they are, with deep faith and brute strength they intend to be born again as a supreme ruler of the meadow. Since ancient times the savage Turgas ruled the Tumbara Plain and have lived their lives in battle. From childhood, little Turga mimicked the battle games of the adults with wooden weapons – their uncomplicated lives centered on discipline, honor, and willpower.

 

Lime Odyssey Holy Prayer

 

Competing to claim the Turgas’ homeland, the Keigers have instigated vicious wars and caused the loss of countless Turga fighters, much of their honor and most of their land. During the third war, the Turgas mustered a final, heroic charge and managed to reclaim their capital, Karakunta, but at a great cost. When rumors of Lime began spreading, many saw opportunity in capturing this all-powerful fruit for their own means, to help reclaim the West Tumbara Plains.

 

 

The Turga begin their journey in the West Tumbara Plain of North Orta. Home to the Turga’s primary trading hub of Karakunta, these barrenness plains are not for the weak of heart. Buried in the lofty mountains of this town lies the first dungeon, Talunvara Canyon, accessible to all players.

 

 

The vast continent of Orta is home to a diverse collection of races and tribes. Players can choose from a variety of customization options to design their ideal character – create a bold young Human thief, a battle-hardened Turga, or a diminutive Muris – the choice is theirs! Each race begins their quest in a unique starting location.

Guild Wars 2 Reveals World Versus World Details

Guild Wars 2 Reveals World Versus World Details

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief

 

 

With alpha testing on the horizon, ArenaNet has felt the time to pull out the big guns is at hand. What big guns does Guild Wars 2 still have in its pocket you might ask? Turns out the revival and reinvention of Dark Age of Camelot’s RvR system is the hydrogen bomb they’ve been saving to explode hype before launch!

 

 

So the term World versus World is a strange term in the MMORPG genre. It requires a bit more explanation than most so called big reveals. Basically all the elements that made Dark Age of Camelot’s system a legend in the industry will be present. Three servers will go toe to toe in an attempt to destroy each other’s castle’s in siege warfare in an over the top recreation of Capture the Flag. Except the flag is a relic that grants great benefits to the server in control of it, and in order to capture it you must infiltrate the most heavily guarded defenses of your enemy’s fortress and then run all the way back to safety before your foes shoot a magic arrow in your spine.

 

 

This isn’t going to be a short ordeal like Guild War’s previous GvG system. We are talking about a 2 week cluster… you get the idea! The battle will take place over four huge persistent maps in which players will be auto adjusted to level 80 strength to allow even new players to have an impact on the server wars. Each server will have its own safe borderlands map for planning and preparation, and the fourth map, known as the “Eternal Battlegrounds,” will be where the true war will take place. A massive central keep will mark the center of the Eternal Battlegrounds, an ideal point to control should you want to take any offensive front against your enemies to obtain their relics.

 

 

Apparently besides the epic central fort there will be plenty of smaller forts beneficial for players to conquer and control. Each is built on unique terrain including ancient mountainous ruins, an island castle, and a narrow peak atop a long steep climb. To make the siege warfare feel realistic, there will even be small supply trains and siege machines available for players who wish to support their server but don’t particularly like front-line combat. Trebuchets, arrow carts, catapults, ballistae, and even dreaded siege golums are all among the objectives you will need to control and utilize effectively to achieve victory.

 

 

 

For the more PvE centric but patriotic players, GW2’s dynamic world events will be taking place within the Mists as well. If you can successfully accomplish some of these missions, it can unlock mercenary camps filled with NPC combatants ready to give your army that final push to overcome a strong fortification. Between players escorting caravans, NPC mercenaries, and siege machinery I think we have the makings of a legendary PvP system here.

 

 

One final note and the thing I’m truly excited about is Guild Wars 2 is implementing a system I’ve waited for years to see implemented into a PvP-centric game. My wait is finally over and GW2’s Mist will offer players the ability to gain loot including armor and weapons from fallen foes in PvP. However this isn’t the typical full loot system or item stealing system seen in most PvP focused games of the past. Instead the defeated player loses nothing and the victorious player gains something specific to their job and level that they can actually make use of. Instead of grinding dungeons you can now grind fortresses to acquire the gear you need!

 

 

This may just be the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned this month as I think Guild Wars 2 will be going all out with reveals once their alpha press test is underway!

Meta’s Verse: Death of an Icon

Meta’s Verse: Death of an Icon

By Meticulous Meta, OnRPG Paragon Reporter

 

 

 

I started writing this article before I had completed the arc. Before I had witnessed the death that will change the face of City of Heroes forever. I was angry, and I really didn’t know the details of his death. In fact I went out of my way to avoid any information. But when the most iconic figure in your game is killed off it’s hard to ignore that. We found out well in advance that our beloved Statesman would die. A move that overall annoyed me. Though I can kind of understand why it came about. Statesman is…was my favorite hero in the City of Heroes universe. I promise you I will keep this article as spoiler free as possible while still discussing my many, many issues with what happened. There really was no way for me to write about this in an impartial way. My feelings about this issue are quite strong. No, this won’t be a happy plug for how wonderful Paragon Studios is. Though they are wonderful. I just feel this choice was wrong, and made for all the wrong reasons.

 

 

When they first announced that one of the Freedom Phalanx would die, one of the surviving eight I just knew, deep down that it would be Statesman. Maybe I assumed this because he was my favorite and I was paranoid. Who knows. He survived the Rikti War, World War One and Two, a number of alternate world versions of himself only to finally be brought down on a stormy day. All I could do was sit there and ask myself why? Why Statesman? Why now? To find some of these answers I needed only to look at the information put out by the devs, in particular Matt “Positron” Miller.

 

 

Ultimately, he says it only happened because Freedom gave them the time to spend on doing what was a major project. Being the main hero in the game, Statesman is everywhere. You see him in hero missions, villain missions, and of course he is the contact for the Statesman Task Force. That still doesn’t answer the ‘why Statesman’ question though. Two big reasons have come out. Two that annoy me and in three seconds I came up with a better (in my mind at least) way to go that didn’t kill anyone.

 

 

The first reason that seems to be the most popular is that Statesman is the creation of Jack Emmert, the lead designer for City of Heroes when it was still new and run by Cryptic Studios. He is greatly disliked by the community. As this all happened before I joined the game I really don’t see the problem; maybe if I had joined City of Heroes while he was still around my feelings would be different. According to Positron (the dev) there have been discussions and questions about killing off Statesman since Paragon Studios took over. Which is where I start getting annoyed. Ok, people don’t like Jack Emmert, that’s fine. But Statesman, in Paragon City does not equal Jack “Statesman” Emmert. Its just…well the only word I can think of is meta. Well, I can think of a few more but my editor might frown on me using them. So I will simply say RAGE!!!!!

 

 

The second most popular reason for Statesman being killed off is again something that Positron has touched on. As a hero you have always been in Statesman’s shadow. Now though, it is not only suggested but said outright that you are more powerful than Statesman. So sure, he’s an old man and not as strong as you are. This is an epic and heartfelt way to get him out of the picture for you, the hero to truly take the number one spot in the eyes and hearts of Paragon City’s citizens. At level 50 you get the Hero of the City badge. Maybe now you will really feel like you are a hero of the city and not just some lackey of Statesman. (That’s the only positive thing you’ll get from me about the whole thing.)

 

 

So what is my idea that I think is so much better? Retirement. It wouldn’t be the first time Statesman has gone off the radar of the heroing world. The man was over 100 years old. If, as has been said, we players are stronger than him then he should have had no trouble hanging up his cape and moving to Florida. Maybe without the Florida bit though. He has certainly earned the right to a bit of a vacation. And I think he didn’t have an ego so large he couldn’t or wouldn’t step back for the new age of heroes to begin.

 

 

In the end though, they chose to kill him. Which is quite sad. If the boards are anything to go by though this action is well supported by the community and I’m in the minority here. By now you may be sick of hearing what annoys me but let’s add one final annoyance to the list. Statesman will still be in the tutorial and used in images in the game and in promotional items. The reason for him still being in the tutorial are stated once again by Positron. The events of the tutorial take place before Statesman’s death. Which is something that goes against everything I thought about the tutorial as I thought it was something that was a “currently happening” thing no matter when you start the game. This could make things a little bit hairy for roleplayers.

 

 

With a few issues in the arc where Statesman is killed still to be published there is still a chance to redeem the story for me. No, I’m not suggesting they bring him back from the dead. That’s something that is really overdone in my book. I’m suggesting his best friend and arch nemesis, Lord Recluse kill the person who killed Statesman. This really would make it all worth it for me. Icing on the cake would see Lord Recluse stepping up and taking Statesman’s spot as the head of the Freedom Phalanx. Only time will tell what will come. Statesman will be greatly missed, at least by some of us. The world of City of Heroes will never be the same without him. I will end with the final words from the Eulogy by Positron.

 

 

Statesman is now one with the spirit of Paragon City. Godspeed, my friend.

C9 Welcomes New VIP Testers While Launching PvP Modes

C9 Welcomes New VIP Testers While Launching PvP Modes

 

 

Webzen announced the secondary invites for VIP testers and the PvP content update for their Unrivaled Action RPG, ‘C9’ (Continent of the Ninth Seal).

 

 

Today, Webzen invited their new VIP testers to meet the demands of many users. Although the VIP Test was originally designed as a limited test, a massive amount of users had applied; therefore requiring additional channels to be added. Still due to the continuous requests, Webzen decided to invite an additional 2,000 testers from the VIP wait list, those who were not so lucky the first time. Also, additional new testers were chosen from highly active users on C9’s SNS sites, including the official C9 Facebook page.

 

With these secondary invitations, Webzen has updated the anticipated PVP contents which include the ‘Intrusion’ and ‘Arena’ system. The ‘Intrusion’ system allows users to intrude dungeons being played by other users. Whoever prevails will own the dungeon and receive a token that can be exchanged into valuable items. The ‘Arena’ holds C9’s main competitive feature that new and previous VIP testers can enjoy. Check out the latest PvP launch trailer to get a taste of the action!

 

Jihun Lee, Head of Global Publishing, said, “There has been a large amount of requests from users who hoped for participation, so we have decided to have a secondary invitation for VIP Testers.” Also he said, “The VIP Tester’s feedback and ideas will improve the localization of the game, and we encourage them to share their thoughts.”

Webzen Announces Month of Events

Webzen Announces Month of Events to Celebrate Portal Renewal

 

 

 

Today marks the beginning of a massive portal promotion by Webzen to treat the players of their many games to some free loot, events and giveaways.

 

Of course the most notable promotion going on is their “Skip the Low, Jump to High” event at OnRPG! If you hurry you can grab one of a small number of keys that will unlock high-level characters, gear, and W coins in one of their three popular games: MU Online, SUN, or Archlord!

 

 

MU Online, one of the world’s most famous MMORPGs, offers all players free level 220 characters along with +9 reinforced weapons and armor. Another successful PvP MMORPG, ARCHLORD gives away all players with free level 60 characters that are fully-geared with weapon and armor. Lastly, Soul of the Ultimate Nation offers level 90 characters with full gear and level up boxes that contain various items.

 

Meanwhile, during the promotion period, each and all games will hold various in-game events, including the daily attendance event, which gives valuable items to the users. Also the experience boost for MU Online will be doubled and Soul of the Ultimate Nation will be opening a new server, “Priden”.

 

Jihun Lee, Head of Global Publishing, said “The purpose of this promotion is to provide various benefits to satisfy both new and existing users”. Also he said “These users can interact with each other with our recently improved user-oriented portal.”

 

Webzen is currently servicing MU Online, Soul of the Ultimate Nation, and ARCHLORD while C9’s first VIP test is in progress. Also in the first half this year, the closed beta test for Arctic Combat is planned to kick off.