Yearly Archives: 2012

Prepare for Red Bull Battlegrounds this Memorial Day Weekend

Prepare for Red Bull Battlegrounds This Memorial Day Weekend

 

Red Bull Battlegrounds

 

This Memorial Day weekend, Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas sets the stage for Red Bull Battlegrounds, the ultimate professional videogame tournament set to elevate the exploding eSports movement. 16 pro gamers of Blizzard Entertainment’s global eSports flagship, StarCraft® II, will converge in Capitol City, coming from South Korea, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, Canada and the USA, to compete for $41K in cash prizes and the honor of being crowned champion of Red Bull Gaming’s first-ever professional eSports tournament.

 

 

The roster of elite international talent competing this weekend has been set:

 

Lee Sak “PartinG” Won


Ilyes “Stephano” Satouri


Ji Sung “Bomber” Choi


Young Suh “TaeJa” Yoon


Chris “Illusion” Lee


Dong Ju “Ganzi” Kim


Sang Ju “Puzzle” Kim


Chris “HuK” Loranger


Joseph “Ret” de Kroon


Dong Hwan “viOLet” Kim


Min Chul “MC” Jang


Kim “SaSe” Hammer


Marcus “Thorzain” Eklöf


Christopher “Ostojiy” Ostojic


Shawn “Sheth” Simon


Nick “LastShadow” De Cesare

 

Red Bull LAN

 

Sean “Day[9]” Plott, internet personality and host of www.day9.tv and Marcus “djWHEAT” of Twitch.tv, two of the commentators at Red Bull Battlegrounds, have weighed in with a few predictions and thoughts for the weekend:

 

 

Sean “Day[9]” Plott:


Among the interesting stories developing around the Red Bull Battlegrounds tournament is the continuing rivalry between MC and HuK, who have repeatedly faced off in competition and are very closely matched. Then there is Ret, a fascinating player who has been an inconsistent performer. I’m looking forward to seeing whether he can overcome that tendency in this competition. Finally, there is viOLet who has been destroying everything he touches. Will his run continue at Red Bull Battlegrounds?

 

 

I want to point out that the players invited to Red Bull Battlegrounds were specifically selected because they had interesting storylines going in: they are rising eSports stars, falling stars, winners of recent tournaments, partners in epic rivalries, players with unusual play styles. Every single one of them represents the epitome of great play and great eSports entertainment.

 

 

Marcus “djWHEAT” Graham:

 

I’m really looking forward to this event and I’m very excited to be a part of it. I personally am going to be keeping an eye on empire viOlet in this competition. He won his first major event almost 6 months ago, and he continues to show amazing consistency in his gameplay and results. Regardless of the outcome, it’s going to be very difficult to pick a winner from this solid pool of 16 internationally recognized players. I expect upsets, come backs, some great player insight, and an amazing crowd to cheer their favorite players on!

 

 

To experience Red Bull Battlegrounds in person at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater, visit http://acl-live.com/ to purchase tickets.

 

 

Visit http://www.redbullusa.com/lan for more information, including the full player roster. Watch both days of the tournament on HD live stream at: http://www.redbullusa.com/lan and http://www.day9.tv.

 

 

Tune in this weekend to witness history in the making, and find out who will walk away as the first victor of the first ever Red Bull Battlegrounds!

Web Koihime Musuo Cosplay Contest Report 1

Web Koihime Musou Cosplay Contest Progress Report 1

 

 

Hey OnRPG viewers, Gamania fans, and cosplay enthusiasts! The heat is on as our official Web Koihime Musou cosplay competition is now under way. Sushi Monster, Manzi, Vani, and Jenny have just over a month to prepare the ultimate representation of their chosen characters for Los Angeles’ Anime Expo 2012. Let’s take a look at how they’ve chosen to begin!

 

 

Sushi Monster

Wigs for Ryubi – need two so that it can be properly styled and right amount of thickness.

 

Hand sewing the two wigs together.

 

Cut off hair from the wig to use for the hair horns.

 

Made little craft foam horns for her horn buns as a base.

 

 

Next is painting the horns darker to better match with the wig hair.

 

Attaching hair to the horns with hairspray! This is before I cleaned up the buns by trimming off any loose fibers sticking out of the horns.

 

Next is cutting, layering and blending the bangs. It goes from a blunt basic chop off to blended layered bangs.

 

Attached the hair horns to the stubs.

 

 

Close up of the hairbuns with detail.

 

Hair and makeup test

 

 

Manzi

 


Vani


Drafting up my first pattern for the upper “bodice” of the dress.

 

Cut first pattern from muslin and pinned to mannequin to check basic fit/form.

 

 

After making adjustments to the muslin of the first pattern, I drafted a second pattern, seen here, pinned to muslin, ready for cutting (second mockup).

 

Checking second mockup for fit and making adjustments.

 

My dress fabric! Pinned to the mannequin to check weight/drape.

 

 

Jenny


So much silk dupioni, so little time.

 

Dupioni silk! I think I’ll use the second sample (bottom piece) as my contrast color for the wing design on Chouun’s sleeves.

 

 

slash, spread, and draft!

 

 

We’re looking forward to near weekly updates on the progress of all four girls so check out OnRPG every week until the big reveal at Anime Expo on June 30th!. We’ll be handing out some sweet prizes to viewers that vote for their favorite as well as interviewing all the girls with Kitty Mach offering her expert opinion. Also feel free to voice your opinion on our discussion thread at OnRPG Forums.

 

 

Kitty Mach ANBU Preview

WoW Wednesday: Top 5 Female NPCs

WoW Wednesday: Top 5 Female NPCs

By Meredith Watson, OnRPG WoW Specialist

 

 

 

It’s a man’s world is how the song goes and the World of Warcraft certainly is a man’s world. Male characters in WoW are portrayed as heroic, brave and full of conviction, and a few are simply evil. What of the female NPCs though? Blizzard takes several approaches to its portrayal of its female characters with the most notable being that of the fallen woman. However, there is a fair share of the simpering lovelorn fool as well. Regardless of how Blizzard portrays female NPCs, this list serves to find the most bad ass female NPCs in the World of Warcraft.

 

 

5. Alexstrasza

Alexstrasza is one of the five dragon aspects left by the titans to watch over Azeroth and its inhabitants. She is known as the Life Binder, Aspect of the red dragonflight and queen of all dragons. She has great power yet she is very gentle and nurturing. She is compassionate and rarely engages in battle but when she does her foes don’t often live to tell the tale. Her most hated enemy is Deathwing, a traitor, who also was once of the five dragon aspects.

 

 

Alexstrasza is on the list not only because she is one of the most powerful dragons but because she shows restraint from using her power making her, indeed, a bad ass. She can be found in her humanoid form at the top of Wyrmrest Temple with her prime consort Korialstrasz.

 

 

4. Lady Vashj

“I spit on you, surface filth!”

 

Lady Vashj was once a beautiful night elf and was the chief handmaiden to Queen Azshara during the War of the Ancients. While she was loyal to her Queen, she was angry over Queen Azshara’s decision to make Tyrande Whisperwind her majordomo and made several attempts on Tyrande’s life. During the great sundering, Queen Azshara was sent to the sea with her followers where they would become naga. Eventually, Lady Vashj would join forces with Illidan the Betrayer in a pact against the night elves.

 

 

Lady Vashj gets the number four spot not because she is heroic, though undoubtedly brave, passionate and loyal, but because she has flaws. She is a bit too fanatical in her loyalty as well as bitter and jealous. The reasons she does anything seem to be strictly her own. She knows her own mind and how to get the things she wants.

 

 

She is the final boss in Serpentshrine Cavern, a 25 man raid in The Burning Crusade expansion. Her dying words are an apology to Illidan.

 

 

3. Lady Katrana Prestor

Lady Katrana Prestor was a Lordaeron noble and a royal councillor in Stormwind from where she manipulated the kingdom. Along with Bolvar Fordragon she acted as advisor to the boy king Anduin Wyrnn while his father, Varian Wrynn, was missing. Later, she would be unmasked as Onyxia, brood mother of the black dragonflight, and daughter of Deathwing also known as Lord Daval Prestor. It was also revealed that not only was she Onyxia but that she had been manipulating Bolvar Fordragon with the Drakefire amulet.

 

 

Lady Prestor is in the number three spot for one reason. She was a bitch. Vanilla WoW players will remember her standing there next to the young king in the keep. When attempting to talk with her, she would just “glare” at the player. She never had anything nice to say and if she did say anything it was spiked with venom. But if she was a bitch in Stormwind, meeting her in her lair proved just how nasty she really was. Sadly, she is no longer in the game as Lady Prestor.

 

 

2.Slyvanas Windrunner

“What are we if not slaves to this torment?”


Once Sylvanas Windrunner was the Ranger General of Silvermoon. Now she is the Dark Lady, Queen of the Forsaken or the Banshee Queen. When Arthas marched towards Silvermoon on his path of destruction, Sylvanas resisted him at every turn. After she was captured by Arthas she asked for a quick death but Arthas would deny her this as she had been a powerful thorn in his side. Instead of an honourable death she was tortured and mutilated and ultimately killed. But it wasn’t to end there. He turned her into a banshee and his slave. Eventually she would break free and regain use of her physical body but she was no longer the ranger she once was. She found a way to master the new powers growing within her and the Dark Rangers were born.

 

 

Sylvanas Windrunner has the number two spot partly because her story is so tragic but also because her story is one of survival. She made the best of a bad situation and is now the leader of the Forsaken. Currently, Sylvanas is in the “dog house” with the horde after what transpired at Wrathgate, and she is using more and more unscrupulous tactics which have the other horde leaders frowning. It will be interesting to see how her story plays out. Will she ever lead the horde?

 

1. Maiev Shadowsong

“Their fury pales before mine, Illidan. We have some unsettled business between us.”


Maiev Shadowsong, once a high priestess of Elune, is also known as leader of the Watchers and Illidan’s jailor. As a warden of the Watchers she is a bounty hunter and assassin. When Malfurion Stormrage imprisoned his brother Illidan for his crimes against the night elves, Maiev offered to be his jailor. Illidan would later be released by Tyrande after 10,000 years of being imprisoned and watched by Maiev who was undoubtedly as much a prisoner as he was. He would in turn imprison Maeiv after she was captured by Lady Vashj’s naga and Kael’thas’ blood elves. She would eventually slay Illidan at the top of the Black Temple.

 

 

Maiev’s is a story of vengeance and, in a twisted way, a love story. She was Illidan’s jailor for ten thousand years; she relentlessly pursued him after he was released, ultimately taking his life when catching him. Illidan’s dying words to her were: “You have won… Maiev… But the huntress… is nothing… without the hunted… You… are nothing… without… me…” Maiev realizes Illidan is right. She is nothing without him. Rumour has it Maiev is dead but this has not been confirmed or denied. She is on the loading screen for Outlands with Akama but this could simply be due to her achievements and victory over Illidan. One can only hope she has found a purpose wherever she may be.

 

 

“It’s a man’s world but it wouldn’t be nothing without a woman or a girl”

 

 

Do you have a favourite WoW NPC? Let us know in our featured article section Only @ OnRPG!

Pangya Golf Prepares for Season Six with Trailer and Events

Pangya Golf Prepares for Season Six with Trailer and Events

 

 

SG Interactive today released a new teaser trailer for season six of their popular Anime-styled golfing MMO, Pangya. But while players countdown the days until its launch, two exciting events are running to make the time go by a little faster.

 

 

606 Challenge: Players who complete 66 holes in Pangya will receive in-game boosts such as the Bomber Comet and Star Boost Candy. Extreme players who finish 606 holes will receive nearly 10 times the prizes!

 

Countdown Login Event: Each day players log in, they will receive valuable in-game prizes. The score-improving items range from Time Boosters to Pang Mastery items, and will be sent to your mailbox upon logging in each day!

 

 

Keep an eye on OnRPG as we will bring more updates as season six comes closer to launch.

Elsword is Bringing a Cosplay Super Team to AnimeExpo 2012

Elsword is Bringing a Cosplay Super Team to AnimeExpo 2012

 

 

 

Attention anime fans: Kill3rCombo’s award-winning manga-inspired MMORPG, Elsword, will make its mark at Anime Expo 2012. During the weekend of Friday, June 29 through Monday, July 2 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, fans can meet the Elsword cosplay team, compete in the Elsword cosplay contest, get hands on with the game and battle fellow convention-goers in PvP competition.

 

Festivities at the Kill3rCombo booth (# 1520) include:

Elsword cosplay team: Fans are encouraged to meet, greet and snap photos with renowned cosplayers.

 

 

The Kill3rCombo Anime Expo 2012 cosplay team consists of (from left to right): Jessica Nigri, Amie Lynn, Kasea Vp, Aku and John Zabate. They will be dressed as:

Jessica Nigri as Rena

Amie Lynn as Eve

Kasea Vp as Aisha

Aku as Elsword

John Zabate as Raven

 

 

Elsword cosplay contest: Hosted by Jessica Nigri and Elsword Community Organizer Cuddles, on Saturday, June 30 from noon – 2 p.m. the Kill3rCombo team invites Anime Expo attendees to don their finest Elsword gear and cosplay for the chance to win cash and other prizes:

 

First place – $1,000 cash and 10,000 in-game K-Ching

Second place – $500 cash and 5,000 in-game K-Ching

Third place – $250 cash and 2,500 in-game K-Ching

Sign up at www.elswordonline.com/axcosplay

 

 

Game stations: Demo PCs will be preloaded with beefed-up characters for players to unleash their fury on Elsword bosses and against fellow fans in PvP combat.

 

 

Elsword PvP event: Fans can challenge other Anime Expo players in PvP duels to win t-shirts, posters and other prizes! Kill3rCombo’s Elsword PvP gurus, SKillz and Crow, will also be on hand throughout the weekend to offer the bravest players some intense competition.

 

 

iPad giveaway: Anyone who visits the Kill3rCombo booth and registers for an Elsword account can enter a free raffle for a chance to win a new iPad. Every attendee who registers will also receive 500 K-Ching toward their activated account.

Unleash a New Level of Power in Digimon Masters

Unleash a New Level of Power in Digimon Masters

 

Digimon Masters

 

Joymax, leading online game developer and publisher, announced today the launch of their first summer update for the wildly popular online massive multiplayer title, Digimon Masters. A fantastic universe where our world and the Digital World are closer than anyone would have imagined is about to change in ways never expected! Digimon Masters continues the story and heightened sense of urgency found in the Digimon anime. With a massive five new Digimon, and a slew of events for current and returning players, all tamers should immediately dash over the Joymax portal.

 

 

A slew of new Digimon have arrived to strengthen the DATS team! New Mercenaries will also be joining the ranks, including Ropemon, Starmon, and Wormmon. Two new burst mode digimons have also emerged: TyrantKabuterimon, and AncientTroiamon are now available to the lucky tamers who own Tentomon, and Palmon. With the recent addition of Dracomon Blue and Dracomon Green as rare drops, there’s never been a better time to create a killer team. Train your new team with 100% EXP during weekdays and a massive 200% EXP boost during the weekends from now until June 19th.

 

 

Also arriving are a variety of events for active characters. Current users have the opportunity to catch a new Digimon and be rewarded with a gift pack including Star Fragments and Evoluters. Daily quests are also now available, where players can perform favors for the DATS NPCs to gain a variety of rewards. Collect pieces of rope, star fragments, and leaves to exchange for lucrative rewards, including Mercenary Eggs for Tentomon, Gabumon, Salamon, and more!

Meta’s Verse: Freebie Friday

Meta’s Verse: Freebie Friday

By Meticulous Meta, OnRPG Paragon Reporter

 

 

Two weeks ago we learned about a new pilot program being started in City of Heroes that would give every player a free item from the Paragon Market. Since then we have had two Freebie Fridays and time to find out more about this interesting new offer. Now it hasn’t been without its share of issues, and of course there are always those people who aren’t satisfied with what they’re given. Any new program has its ups and downs; Freebie Friday is no exception.

 

 

So you might be asking yourself, what is Freebie Friday? How does it work? Well the “what” is fairly straight forward. Every Friday, one item on the Paragon Market will be given away to every player. I think the initial announcement of the program explains the “how” the best.

 

 

Step 1: Play City of Heroes Freedom!
Step 2: Log in and claim your Freebie Friday item from the Paragon Market!
Step 3: ????
Step 4: PROFIT!*

(*Please note that there is technically no profit since the item is free.)

 

 

This announcement stayed with the usual lightheartedness we have come to expect in announcements from Paragon Studios. It also created a lot of conversation on the forums about the details of how it would work. It wasn’t until Thursday, May 10th that we found out everything. That was the first run of Freebie Friday. Though it seems fairly straight forward, there have been several cases of people not being able to find their free item. Much to I think everyone’s disappointment (including the devs) the item isn’t selected randomly for each person. Instead it is picked at random by someone in Paragon Studios. That item then for a 24 hour time period is set to cost 0 points on the Paragon Market. Restrictions are put in place so the item can only be claimed once. And they make sure to put it on the first page the market loads when starting up so it is easy to find.

 

 

Why have they started this program? Basically it comes down the fact that a large portion of the population doesn’t use the Paragon Market at all. The hope is that while people are getting the free item they will browse and spend money! Has it worked? Who knows. Well, I imagine the marketing department in Paragon Studios does. But that’s not the point. It is also giving players a chance to try out items that can only be obtained in the market, things that are new since Freedom and we wouldn’t otherwise have experience with.

 

 

A fine example of that is last week’s free item. A dual inspiration. Now, I have a bunch of these from when I bought super packs. And I admit I almost never use inspirations to begin with. So even though I picked up the free item (I’m a sucker for free) I doubt I’ll use it. But if I were a better player I imagine I would love it and save it for a task force or something equally awesome. The first week we got an xp booster. It may not be flashy but it certainly is useful. Yet neither of these items seem to have satisfied some people. I suspect these people were expecting something big, like a costume set or maybe even a powerset. Many of these people are also the ones who complain that there is nothing good being released in the market during the regular Tuesday releases. Think of them what you will.

 

 

I mentioned previously that there have been cases of people not being able to find the free item in the market. Many times this has been put down to an error with time and the complication that time zones represent. The most confusing part of the entire program is figuring out when you’re supposed to log in to get it. The answer should be pretty simple right? Freebie Friday…so log in on Friday. But it isn’t always Friday for the whole world at the same time. Paragon Studios is based in California. So….Friday California time must be right! Wrong. Despite the fact that Europeans have had a few bad things happen to them with regards to City of Heroes recently the program runs the length of Friday for those in Greenwich (GMT) time. This has caused all sorts of confusion for the North American crowd though. Midnight in England when Freebie Friday starts is 4pm in California…on Thursday. That means that Freebie Friday ends at 4pm in California on Friday. So people have been logging in after coming home from work/school on Fridays and wondering where it is. Answer is, its over. Why is this so complicated? Aliens. Or if you don’t believe that answer then maybe it has to do with office hours. See, someone has to actually be there to flip the switch. Turn it on and off. This is also the case on Tuesdays when new items are released. Having someone in the office at midnight is more than just a little unreasonable. So they’re starting and stopping the program while there is someone there to do the switch flipping. Thieving Thursday might be a more appropriate name and create a little less confusion, but time zones are a big complication and not easy to get around.

 

 

Time complications, complaints, oh and of course free stuff. It’s all here with City of Heroes’ latest promotional program. Personally I’m looking forward to adding it to my weekly City of Heroes routine. I would love to hear what you think of Freebie Friday, so head on over to the OnRPG forums and look for this article under the Only @ OnRPG section.

TERA’s Race for the Vanarch Seats Heats up with Poster Contest

TERA’s Race for the Vanarch Seats Heats up with Poster Contest

 

 

En Masse is getting serious with their political system as the registration process for TERA’s first round of Vanarchs is set to end Friday May 25th. Those seeking ways to make your name, guild, and political platform known should contact their nearest creative specialist to start making a candidacy poster as the three top entries will receive a featured position on the official website with a 200 word platform statement posted beneath it!

 

 

Instructions:

 

Only one entry per player.

 

Poster or mail must include candidate’s name, guild name, preferred province, and server name.

 

200 word paragraph explaining your platform.

 

Follow TERA’s rules of conduct and terms of service.

 

Image must be 2MB or less in size.

 

Sample Campaign Poster Taken from En Masse forums

 

Entries will be judged by En Masse’s creative services team. All entries must be made by Thursday May 24th at 11:59pm PDT. OnRPG will be featuring all three winning posters once the winners are announced so make a poster your guild can be proud of!