Yearly Archives: 2012

SEGA Announces Western Release of Phantasy Star Online 2

SEGA Announces The Western Release Of Phantasy Star Online 2

 

Phantasy Star Online 2

 

SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA® Europe Ltd today announced that free-to-play multiplayer action RPG Phantasy Star Online 2 will be coming to North America and Europe in 2013. For a first look at this new entry in the legendary Phantasy Star series, check out the official Phantasy Star Online 2 teaser site at www.pso2.com.SEGA

 

 

Phantasy Star Online was a revolutionary game when it was released, and we want to make sure that its successor in the series is every bit as ambitious,” said Chris Olson, Vice President of Digital Business at SEGA of America. “We look forward to introducing Phantasy Star Online 2’s unique, easy-to-access multiplayer action to the rest of the world next year!”

 

 

“The number one thing we want to provide players in Phantasy Star Online 2 is an adventure that changes every time they log in. Just as great table-top RPG experiences revolve around imaginative and unexpected encounters, we want players to consistently be surprised as they explore dungeons and undertake quests,” added Satoshi Sakai, Phantasy Star Online 2 Producer at SEGA of Japan.

 

Phantasy Star Online 2

 

Over ten years have passed since the release of the boundary-breaking Dreamcast hit, Phantasy Star Online, and SEGA is poised to continue the Phantasy Star series’ multiplayer legacy on PCs worldwide with Phantasy Star Online 2. In the Year 238, the New Era of Light, players will join a new band of Arks in the fight against mysterious D-Arkers, embarking on another epic adventure of infinite possibilities!

 

 

Phantasy Star Online 2’s features include:

Deep sci-fi fantasy universe filled with lush landscapes, extraordinary creatures, and epic adventures

Revolutionary real-time combat and third-person action with devastating combos and counters to master

Flexible, class-based leveling system that lets players define their own play-style with distinctive melee, ranged, and magic weapon types

Randomized maps and unexpected mid-quest encounters that ensure each quest is different for each player

Deep character creation system with a nearly limitless number of potential appearances

Three degrees of humanity to experience across three unique races: the versatile Humans, spiritually-powered Newmen, and artificial CAST

 

 

Be sure to check out the accompanying teaser trailer as well!

Eternal Blade Dev Diary: Enchanting System

Eternal Blade Dev Diary: Enchantment System

By StirFryRobot, gPotato Representative

 

 

Going off of last week’s theme, we will be introducing yet another way to spice up your equipment with the presentation of our *queue drum roll*

 

 

Enchantment System.

Throughout your adventures in Eternal Blade, some of the items you come to find will have the ability to receive special Enchantments, gifting them with additional stat bonuses. Not all weapons you find will be able to be enchanted and whether or not a weapon may receive an enchantment will be specified with either “Able to Grant” or “Unable to Grant“.

 

 

In order to place an Enchantment on your weapon, you must first visit the Dice King. The Dice King is a magic blob monster who will imbue your select items with these magic properties.

 

 

 

When I told the Dice King about this week’s Fairytale Friday topic, he said he wanted to explain the Enchantment System himself! Take it away, Dice King.

 

Happy Summertime Hello, Dice Friends!

Do you want good weapons? Better weapons? BEST weapons? Then you bring them to Dice King, best for cheap! Dice King sees the hidden potential of silly swords and staffs that are too shy to tell you how much sharpest and much fastest they can be. You put them in Dice King’s belly, and look see! I give them a good jiggle for a tiny fee.


 

Look what I did! Do you like most? You can change again if you do not. Change can be done over and over and over and over, cheap and easy for you to improve all weapons without losing precious gems or stones. You want to keep those later, Dice King thinks.

 


Do observe: Dice King loves you very much, but no refunds! If you want more change, you give more gold. Dice King has many thrones to buy so he can greet you properly in every town. Make sure you say “Hello!” to Dice King when you’re there! Good travel-times, Dice Friends – I want to meet you again!

 

 

Uhm… thanks, Dice King! Like he said, in order to reveal the hidden stats on your weapon, simply place them into the Dice King’s belly and pay him a fee to reroll the weapon’s bonus stats. Don’t let the Dice King squeeze all the money out of you, though! Remember that the fee is based on the quality of your weapon, so make sure you have enough money to afford the upgrades.

 

 

The list of possible stats thus far are as follows:

Attack Speed – Increases the speed of attack

Focus – Increases Stamina and MP Recovery rates

Life Leech – Steals HP each hit

Mana Leech – Steals MP each hit

Accuracy – Increases chance to land a successful attack on a target

Battle Power – Increases overall attack power

Critical Hit Accuracy – Increases the chance to land a successful critical hit

Magic Damage Amplification – Increases the damage of magic based attacks

 

 

As you can tell from the list above, there are quite a few stats to be revealed on your weapons. Coupled with the other upgrade systems currently present, players will have quite a degree of freedom in their character customization process. Tanks may aim to stack Amethysts for a health boost as well as place Life Leech on their weapons to continue to replenish lost HP, while the DPS might strive for as much Crit Accuracy as possible to land those big damage dealing blows. Below is an example of a sword awoken with a nice Crit Accuracy bonus.

 

 

Take care Bladers and stay tuned for further dev diaries to be released every week leading up to launch!

MEAD: RIFT Summerfest 2012!

MEAD: RIFT Summerfest 2012!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Summer has come to Telara. The flowers are in bloom, little creatures wander the fields and fishing is the favored pastime. Even Telara’s geekiest resident is out enjoying the sun. Or well at least he’s out in it. Which I suppose is a start. Next step for him is getting a girlfriend. Anyway, its Summerfest in Telara. That means quests, achievements, things to buy and fun to be had.

 

 

Quests

Every event in Telara has quests. The major quests this time around are the scavenger hunts. Being given a clue and sent off to find where that clue leads you to. There are the quests for the fishermen and women out there to craft lures and catch special Summer Sunfish. And for the survivalist in us all after we have caught those fish we turn them into Po’ boys. For those of us who have the Ascend-a-Friend companion and mount we can also take part in Dog and Pony shows.

 

Merchants

Completing the quests gives you one of two types of currencies this time around. There are the friendship bracelets which are rare and limited and there are the merit badges which are quite common. You will only be able to get six friendship bracelets on one character this year, but there are well over six things to buy for them. This means one of two things. One, you accept that you won’t get everything this year and that you’ll have to wait for next year. Or two, use your alts to get more bracelets for your mains. Neither of which are really all that appealing to me to be honest. And there have been a lot of people on the forums who agree.

 

There is also the problem that you can’t transfer bracelets from one character to another so you have to buy the item on your alt then ship it over to whoever it is intended for. Being the completionist whore that I am and the fact that I love adorable things, I am going to end up spending the time grinding out the bracelets. It does leave me wondering though if next year when the summer event rolls around am I going to regret doing it because I have all the accessories already? I suppose only time will tell.

 

 

The life weapons which were previously available via the world merchant are back, but this time they are available via the merits. In addition there is an Aelfwar outfit. On women it looks a bit like a night dress to me. But that isn’t going to stop me from wearing it. There also is the usual variety of planar essences. In addition six titles are up for grabs and a couple of companions that you cannot get anywhere else in the world. Unlike the ones I’ll talk about soon.

 

Achievements

There are nine achievements to get during this event. Most of them come from completing the various parts of the scavenger hunts. The others come from either catching 100 Summer Sunfish, squishing 300 bugs doing the daily quest, or completing 20 Summerfest quests.

 

Companions

As I said earlier there are a couple of companions which are available via the merchant. They’re adorable, but not what I’m going to talk about now. There are 11 new companions out in the world, one in each of the main zones. What is so special about these is that they’re trappable. If you see one running around a trapping icon temporarily appears on your screen. If that sounds like a little too much work you can also spend 500 merit badges for a box with a random companion inside.

 

 

Maze

In the beginning of the event there was a lovely, very well done maze in each of the major cities. Inside this maze were the merchants and the quest givers. After Trion received many complaints about the maze messing with camera angles and getting people seasick from glitchy sudden camera movements, they decided to remove them. I’m sad to see it go. I really liked the maze once I figured it out. I think people missed the point of the maze and possibly the point of the entire event. The idea is to slow down and enjoy life. Enjoy the downtime because tomorrow, well tomorrow you may be sent out to die. Now I think the event area of Meridian looks sad and naked, because people couldn’t just learn to slow down. I really feel bad for the poor person/people in Trion who spent who knows how long crafting that beautiful maze.

 

As with all things this event seems to be having its share of ups and downs. But overall I’m looking forward to a relaxing summer in Telara. I just hope nothing happens to ruin the summer fun…like a dragon to the face.

Allods Dev Diary: Next Major Update Approaches as New Server Opens

Allods Dev Diary: Next Major Update Approaches as New Server Opens

By StirFry Robot, gPotato Representative

 

 

 
Over the past few months you have seen new additions to Allods Online such as new zones, new Allods to explore, a new Raid – Dead City, the Bard class was introduced, looter pets, and more. The game and the community continue to grow and will continue to do so. There is a lot to look forward to. And continuing that trend, we would like to officially announce that the next major update (3.0.4) will be coming soon!

 

 

Here is a preview of some new features to come as well as details about the opening of the new Allods Online server – Avilon!

 

• Mentor Changes •

Apprentices are now shared between a Progenitor and it’s Incarnations, meaning that a Mentor can only have a maximum of 10 Apprentices per character slot. If a player has accumulated more than 10 Apprentices between their Progenitor and Incarnations already, those Apprentices will remain, however the Mentor will be unable to receive new Apprentices until they are below the 10 Apprentice limit.

 

 

Additionally, if the ability to dismiss an Apprentice is used on a Progenitor or Incarnation, the cooldown is shared among the Progenitor and other Incarnations. Apprentices will not see Incarnations that are incognito.

 

 

A new button, next to the chat window, has been added so with just one click of your mouse you’ll be able to chat with your Mentor or Apprentices.

To encourage Mentors to invite their apprentices to their guild, information about receiving twice as many Marks of Diligence for an Apprentice being in the same guild as the Mentor is now displayed on the Mentor’s interface menu.

 

 

One of the most exciting changes to the Mentor System is the addition of a new quest line that will give rewards to both the Apprentice and the Mentor.

 

A NPC has been added in both capital cities, Sarang Hurum for the Empire and Methodius Cognoscentius for the League. An apprentice can visit this NPC once they are the appropriate level to receive a special quest. Once you use the wand that it gives you and defeat the Spirit of Wisdom you will be given an Apprentice’s Gift. Find your mentor and open the gift with them so you can both receive the rewards.

 

 

You’ll be able to complete this quest every 5 levels starting at level 10. And the rewards for both the Apprentice and the Mentor get better each time you complete it.

 

 

• Questing Changes •

There have been some improvements to the Quest Log’s features to make it easier to use. Now the Quest Tracker works more like the Quest Map and you can simply double click on a quest to toggle its status as the Active quest. The Find Quest feature has also been improved and should now provide a more accurate assessment of the next quest you should complete in addition to being better at locating any quests you may have missed.

 

 

Improvements were also made to the new Automove feature. Automove will no longer be an available option if there is no destination, and will appear directly to the right of a quest when hovering over it on the Quest Tracker, saving the trouble of right-clicking to open the drop-down menu.

 

 

One of the most helpful changes to Automove is its new ability to navigate through zones. While not active for all quests yet, Automove will navigate to and through an unlocked Teleportation Portal and continue to the quest’s required zone.

 

 

To help make the leveling process smoother and some zones more accessible, players will now go directly from the “A Well-Deserved Reward” and “A Cultist’s Reward” quests to “The Shadowy Tower” quest, simplifying access to Gorluxor’s Tower.

 

 

Other notable quest changes include the the removal of the very long and involved Banking and Astral Extract quests, as well as the old armor quests given by the Goblin Banker. Players that still have tokens they would like to redeem at the Goblin Banker may open a ticket to receive assistance.

 

 

• New Server •

Allods Online will be opening a second server here in the North American region!

 

 

A few of you might ask “Why are you opening a new server after merging servers a short while ago?” We have a few reasons for this and some of them are:

 

• Following the merge, the new server, Yul, has seen it’s population continue to grow.

• New players are having to compete with a much larger end-game playerbase that has had a sizable head start on them

• Opening a second server will allow new players to experience Allods with a fresh economy and playerbase that does not outgun them due to levels or gear.

 

 

We will not be offering any character transfers to the new server so that the new server can grow with that fresh economy and a playerbase that will all start at level 1.

 

 

Over the past week we have run a poll both on the Allods forum and on our Facebook page. This poll was to see what all of you would choose as a server name.

 

 

With over 39% of the vote, the overwhelming majority voted and the new server will be named Avilon!

Soul of Guardian

Soul of Guardian takes browser based action combat to new heights. With fast paced crisp looking combat, four classes, massive customization, and an array of community features, you’ll feel like you’re playing a full client based MMO in the comfort of your browser!

 

 

Features

 

4 Classes: Choose from the Blade Warrior (high accuracy melee dps), Dagger Assassin (Jack of All Trades), Hammer Judge (Hard hitting tank), or Spear Guard (high evade, disruption, and lasting power) and master an arrange of skills of your choice to specialize your class as you see fit.

 

Immense Customization: From altering your stats through the relic and gem system to purchasing fashion to various skill trees, players should find plenty of ways to differentiate themselves from the mold.

 

Community Focused: With fun events like dragon hunting, fishing, and guilds, you should have an easy time feeling at one with the community.

 

Daily Events: A huge number of events occur at different times each day to give you plenty of gameplay options and keep things fresh.

 

OnRPG Shotgun News 7/6: Allods, League of Legends, Conquer Online, and More!

OnRPG Shotgun News 7/6: Allods, League of Legends, Conquer Online, and More!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

Allods Online Announces New Update


 

Allods Online has announced update 3.0.4 is coming soon. More information will be released about the update in the coming weeks. In addition a second server is being opened for the North American Audience.

 

 

MapleStory Coming to iOS and Android

Nexon announces they are bringing one of the worlds most popular PC RPGs to mobile devices with the release of MapleStory Live. From July 5th to July 11th players can earn 3,000 candies or $3.00 worth of game coins by reviewing MapleStory Live in Apple’s App store or Google Play.

 

 

Online Qualifiers for League of Legends Arena


 

Major League Gaming announced the Online Qualifiers for the first ever League of Legends Summer Arena. The Qualifiers start Tuesday, July 10th and registration is $50 per team. Players begin by competing in two regional qualifiers and the top teams from each will get an all expense paid trip to New York to compete for $10,000 at the League of Legends Summer Arena from August 3rd to August 5th.

 

 

Third Anniversary Celebration of TwoWar.com

eFusion MMOG, the publisher of BlackShot Europe and NavyField Europe announced the third anniversary of their military gaming portal TwoWar.com. To celebrate this momentous occasion the TwoWar team are bringing triple the fun to all players. In BlackShot Europe three revised legendary maps will be added. In addition all paying players will receive valuable game weapons. In NavyField Europe players can be boosted at the Summer Beach Party on the weekends. In addition there will be an Ice Cube event where they can get prizes.

 

 

SWTOR Rewards Character Transfers


 

For eligible players SWTOR is now offering rewards for completing server transfers. To be eligible you have to move to one of the specified servers before July 30th. At that time anyone on the eligible servers, even people who started there will receive the rewards which are 25 Black Hole Commendations and a Gannifari mini-pet.

 

 

Conquer Online Releases new Chi System

New equipment system Chi has come to Conquer Online. This philosophy comes from ideas in ancient China. In Conquer Online Chi power comes from the inside and is locked by four inner gates.

Maestia – At First Glance

Maestia – At First Glance

By Meredith Watson, OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

Maestia is a 3D fantasy MMO set on a large island boasting a mystical story with hundreds of quests.  The objective is to collect all seven maestones to become the most powerful player.  Maestia is free to play and has a cash shop where premium items can be bought with orbs (the purchased currency).

 

 

At the time I was playing Maestia there were only EU servers; however, a US server should be entering open beta in the coming weeks.

 

 

Maestia has two factions: Superion Guardians and the Temple Knights, as well as four player classes:  mage, warrior, cleric and ranger.  The four classes are typical of other fantasy games.  The mage is the ranged caster class that is quite vulnerable in melee, the warrior is the tanking class, priest is a healing support class and the ranger is either ranged or melee DPS utilizing bows or daggers respectively.

 

 

The characters in Maestia are all very pretty but with minimal choices in character creation.  There are for each category, such as face and hair, only a few options to pick from.  The character creation shows the characters in high level armour as seems to be the current trend amongst MMOs.

 

 

Maestia is a lovely game with an art style similar to Aion or Perfect World.  The zones range from opulent cities to lush forests to dark and foreboding zones.  Like Aion and Perfect World, Maestia does have some cutesy anime type elements as well.

 

 

Recommended system requirements:

Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz

2GB RAM

Geforce 6600 (ATI Radeon 9800) (Pixel Shader 2.0+)

 

 

The first notable and welcome feature is that movement is WASD, which is a nice change over the usual click to move in the free to play games I’ve experienced.  Holding down both mouse buttons works as well though arrow keys do not. The new player will also notice an easy to understand map with auto run possible by clicking on the quest destination. If that isn’t your preferred method of moving there is a big overlay of an arrow above your character’s head.  The UI does run the risk of being cluttered with a scrolling ticker, the PvP menu, quest tracker, and the prayer icon to name a few as well as the standard fare.  Most elements of the UI are movable at least.

 

 

The biggest drawback is how most quests are acquired. A large portion of quests are given through praying which the player can do anywhere via the interface (Z or the icon). That in and of itself is convenient as the player doesn’t have to run to and fro picking up quests and turning them in.  The problem is that when the player prays to receive or hand in a quest the game goes to a cut scene with a lot of dialogue the player needs to scroll through, if they are interested in the story, with only one response option.  There is a skip button however for those that aren’t interested in the storyline. Because of this and the way the different options are presented the quest cut scene interface feels quite clunky. The translations to English are also a bit odd though localization is usually a major focus of ported titles so it probably will improve some.

 

 

Combat is much like one would expect of an MMO. If you are a clicker of hot bars versus a key presser then combat may be a bit awkward at first as it is right click instead of the standard left click. Combat animations and spells are fluid with nice particle effects. Levelling, at least in the lower levels, seems to be quite quick. Aside from the first couple of levels, combat is mainly auto attack with a couple spells on longish cooldowns.  The pet system is intriguing and after level ten when the first pet is acquired via a quest, combat is a much easier. Getting the first pet is a definite boon as they act essentially as buffs, are non-combat and open to all classes.  After the first pets are rewarded, future pets will need to be purchased through the store.

 

 

Another very interesting feature of Maestia is the mercenary system.  The mercenary system uses player characters that have enrolled to act as a combat companion that other player characters hire.  The Mercenaries last for two hours or until death. They act in the same way as an NPC would except the mercenaries have the skills, gears and stats the owner of the hired mercenary chose for them.  The mercenary must be of the same faction and within ten levels of the player hiring the mercenary.

 

 

Maestones are one form of customization, seeing how there is very little in the way of appearance customization, and are essentially skills that can be switched in and out depending on need.   There are 1,580 maestones in the game so the combinations are numerous. Maestones can be gotten from drops, quests, or purchased and offer passive and active skills. Maestones can be upgraded using the Maestone Enhancement system. Maestones are tradable between players.

 

 

The talent tree becomes available at level 25, which may seem a bit late for getting talents but given there are 100 levels in Maestia it isn’t a problem. The player does have to actively add points to their stats which are agility, wisdom, intelligence, strength and vitality, adding further to the customization of the character. Further ways to improve skills, weapons and gear is done via the Infinite Enchantment system.

 

 

The player gets their first mount at level ten by doing a very simple quest. The mount represents a 50% speed increase. At level 70 another quest is available for an even faster mount. Mounts can be purchased with gold or through the item shop.

 

 

Most zones in Maestia do not allow PvP but there are special zones that are meant specifically for this reason. These zones are called Irima. In addition to these areas, there are battlegrounds for RVR and GvG.  These battles award experience, divinity points (a currency type) and rare items designed for PvP.

 

 

If you are looking for a very pretty game with attractive characters in an anime-like style then you could do a lot worse than this gorgeous game.  It doesn’t offer anything new or exciting to the free to play model but it is easy to learn with a lot of nice features.

MicroVolts Launches on Steam

MicroVolts Launches On Steam

 

MicroVolts

 

Rock Hippo Productions Ltd. announced today its lead title, and popular free-to-play third-person online toy shooter, MicroVolts is now available for download and to play via Steam. Players can now enjoy all the perks of the Steam interface from in-game chatting to friends’ lists to automatic game updates and special offers! Players can visit Steam now to get started.

 

 

Starting today through August 5th, every new player will receive a redeem code in their verification email for an exclusive “Y-U-NO” Rage Mask! Steam players that are new to MicroVolts can also take advantage of the exclusive-to-Steam MicroVolts Starter Pack that contains four essential MicroVolting items available now in the Steam Store. In this handy kit, players will get a MicroVolters favorite the Permanent Advanced Pepper Rifle and a 500 Battery Recharge item to upgrade their permanent weapons for a beneficial stat boost! The kit also includes a 7-Day Bomb Keyring Accessory to earn 50% more Micro Points in battle for added purchasing power and a 7-Day Multi-Vitamin Accessory to level up faster by gaining 50% more Experience points!

 

MicroVolts

 

“We’re thrilled to launch MicroVolts on Steam today,” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions. “Now Steam users can look forward to, not only an action-packed toy shooter that has players and reviewers worldwide raving, but also joining a great gaming community that hosts tons of events including tournaments and contests for every type of gamer.”

 

 

Additionally, MicroVolters new and old can look forward to an upcoming revamped website. Players will have a new place to call home with new website features that will make it easier to navigate and a whole lot more! MicroVolters can stay tuned for more announcements.