Yearly Archives: 2012

Broadening Horizons in an Industry of Absolutes

Broadening Horizons in an Industry of Absolutes

By Brad Baker (Bakerman Brad), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

Gaming advertisements today are in a console based lockdown. Not because of a single console developer having a monopoly on the gaming world, but because of the heavy, singular focus in advertising for games on consoles. This narrow scope of game media is also putting a chokehold on the genres of games available with first person shooters (FPS) or role playing games (RPG) appearing to be the only two options for gamers, all of them with a single player campaign or story line. This style of gaming further constricts the potential for a gaming community as the multiplayer aspects of these games are overshadowed by the storyline of the single player modes. This long history of gamers playing in their isolated world has been challenged in recent years, but this challenge is still only really seen in the console world.

 

 

Now take a look at the individual games that are well known in the gaming world. Call of Duty, Halo, Final Fantasy, Borderlands, Gears of War, and some less known games like the Fear trilogy, all fall under two genres, FPS and RPG, and all of them have a story mode and a multiplayer mode.  The kicker to these games popularity, however, is not so much the media on TV, but it’s the people who have been playing these games since they hit the market. Gamers who found a game they loved and went and told their friends that they had to come play this game with them spread the popularity like wind fuels a wild fire. Word-of-mouth is probably the greatest way for a game to explode, and that begs the question, why can’t computer based games and genres do this? There is really no reason other than the lack of commitment to a unified gaming community. Everyone has their own world and although the games are Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) or a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), the gamers still seem to be very isolated from the Multiplayer aspect of the games.  With everyone still so isolated in their own games I am not surprised that no one has really tried to spread the word to the console gamers out there. With that said, here is a challenge to everyone on OnRPG.com; if you have a friend that all they use is a Ps3 Controller, go tell them to brush off their keyboards and hit up OnRPG.com for some free-to-play games.

 

 

Bring them on into the games that you love to play and help them remember that the computer isn’t just for college term papers or work reports. They can even stick to their guns, literally, and find some good first person shooters to break in to the new worlds of awesome if they can’t seem to find their next niche. Help bring in the fans, that way we can see more events like the Red Bull Battlegrounds tournament at Austin City Limits Moody Theater. Better yet, go tell all your friends so that we can have more 27 year old professional athletes like Dave “Walshy” Walsh that can retire comfortably. This can happen if the gaming community steps up and broadens their horizons in many ways, and maybe even just blurring those horizons all together.

 

 

A recent example of what I mean: In the most anticipated MMO’s for 2012 video, DizzyPW and JamesBl0nde drew in some rather unexpected criticism for Diablo III. Criticism not about the game being bad, as it drew in 3.5 million copies in its first 24 hours, but that the game was included in a MMO most anticipated video. This is where the nit-picking and that lack of community reared its ugly head and the “technicalities” that individual gamers hold when it comes to the game genres they hold dear won out over their fellow gamers. Perhaps this would be a good time to say that the gaming community should also consider branching out of their comfort zones and go enjoy all the potential genres of games that are out there. That way no one is ticked off by a game fitting only two letters of a genre title.

 

 

Oh, but one more thing! With this new call to action about venturing forth to great genres and beyond, perhaps we can get rid of a little bit of the immediate, bloodthirsty, unreasonable bashing of noobs for just a little while.

 

 

This comes as a little bit of a personal plea as I have answered my own call into branching out into trying as many new genres as I can. For my daring I was battered down brutally for just being new to the mechanics unique to online gaming worlds. It was ridiculous!! I hadn’t died, or gave the other team any advantage, or killed my own teammates, which can justify humiliation, and I will turn a blind eye on that poor soul who earned their verbal noob thrashing. I was basically being hazed into the game. I understand the entertainment potential of trash talking during games or in the lobbies but after first-hand experience, I totally know why gamers stick to one genre. That way, they only have to be a noob once, which brings up the fact that, oh hey, everyone has been a noob, so chill out alright? Give the new guys at least a round or ten before crushing their dreams, or do the unthinkable and throw out a bone of advice instead of bailing out in droves to leave the noobs in a 5v2 MOBA match with no hopes of winning.

 

 

This is all just a thought, a hopeful, simple thought, but one that could bring a bigger and better sense of community. Then maybe instead of just about 2800 gamers on OnRPG’s forum at a time, we could add a few zeros to that number.

EVE Online Inferno 1.1 Launches June 19th

EVE Online Inferno 1.1 Launches June 19th

 

EVE Online

 

More content is on its way to EVE Online subscribers and trial users in the EVE Online: Inferno 1.1 release on Tuesday 19 June. As of tomorrow players can expect to enjoy:

 

Upgrading the entire Minmatar fleet to new shader model standards (as well as the ubiquitous Caldari Drake)-almost 1/4 of the ships of EVE Online redone

 

Continued work on the War Declaration, Incursions, Unified Inventory and Factional Warfare systems

 

Improved camera functionality, more character personalization/clothing and Aurum purchas options

 

 

The newly refurbished Inferno feature site includes further information: http://www.eveonline.com/inferno

 

 

Also don’t miss out on their E3 recap video coverage here!

MEAD: RIFT 1.9 Revealed

MEAD: RIFT 1.9 Revealed

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

I am here to say those words every Rift fan has been waiting to hear: 1.9 is coming! The news from Rift just doesn’t seem to be ending. Two weeks ago the first expansion, Storm Legion was announced. Last week at E3 we got to see a small part of what Storm Legion would be bringing to the game during a live broadcast from E3. This week an email arrived in my inbox that made me do a bit of a dance. The announcement of 1.9. As always there are a ton of awesome features that we can expect in 1.9.

 

 

If the forums are anything to go by though there is one feature that is most anticipated, Barbershop. I have to admit I was surprised this feature would be the biggest of all those announced. Many of the people posting about being happy to see barbershop mention ugly characters or ugly faces. Why, if a character was so ugly, did you play them? I have one character who will make use of this new feature. She has a giant eye which I didn’t discover until after I got her out of the starting area. Sure, I could have gone back and remade her but it seemed like such a small thing that I just left it in the hopes that one day there would be the ability to change it. But it wasn’t such a big deal that I would hide the character behind a mask. So, what is the Barbershop feature? It looks absolutely identical to the character creation. Except for the addition of a cost section of course. The important things you cannot change, which everyone has been asking about are race or gender. There are no new features in the barbershop, but you know I think I’m ok with that. It gives them something to come out with later. Plus there is so much more in 1.9.

 

 

Another quality of life feature is the addition of cross shard chat. As someone who has played City of Heroes for years, when I started playing Rift the lack of a global chat system was one of my few complaints. There isn’t much information about how it will work just yet. But it is certainly exciting to see.

 

 

As far as PvP goes, 1.9 will be the introduction of Conquest, the three faction pvp which was teased on the forums with secret messages from a mysterious dev. I had the chance to take part in a Conquest match on the test shard a few weeks ago. It was one huge confusing battle that took place across all of an alternate Stillmoor. But it was still a ton of fun. I’m sure once people figure out what is going on things will calm down, become more organized and be pure awesome. As a nonpvper though I found it stretched on a bit too long for my taste and actually left before the match finished. Still, I’m looking forward to getting familiar with Conquest and standing as one of the Oathsworn. One of the three factions that both Guardians and Defiants get grouped into for the sake of this event. It isn’t really clear just yet if that division will carry over outside of the pvp event. And admittedly I’m a bit torn on if I want it to or not.

 

 

Another alternate reality is being opened in 1.9. This one is a sliver called Primeval Feast. Here Fae Lord Twyl has defeated Greenscale and is fighting to break into our reality. Its your job, with the help of nine friends, to make sure that doesn’t happen. I’ve always enjoyed alternate reality stories, especially ones where I’ve experienced what happened in our reality. Which makes me look forward to this one perhaps more than others because I have gone up against Greenscale.

 

 

This brings me to a feature I am especially excited about. Mentoring. This gives you the ability to play lower level content while still getting rewards appropriate for your level. For me this is exciting because my only 50 missed a lot of the quests in the world due to leveling too fast. I had always planned on going back and doing them anyway but this feature makes me much more excited to do so since I’ll actually be getting something out of them, other than the satisfaction of having it done and knowing the whole story properly.

 

 

Speaking of low level content we’re going to get some new low level things. Specifically they’re bringing the hugely popular Instant Adventures to the two lowest level zones for each faction. And you will be able to do them on higher level characters through the mentoring system so the lower level zones aren’t going to be so empty anymore.

 

 

1.9 will of course have an event to go with it. This one is called Summerfest. There will be fishing, cook-outs and of course what camping trip is complete without the assault from swarms of bugs. In addition there will be scavenger hunts, riddles and other various challenges. As we get more details I will more officially announce an OnRPG hosted event in game which will feature around the event and be broadcast live. There will be more details on that as we get closer to the date.

 

 

And that brings us to the end of the 1.9 highlights for now. Over the next few weeks I’m sure more information will be released. And as soon as I know, you know. Just as a final reminder 1.9 will bring about the end of some of the older event currencies. They will be made completely useless as the items you can buy with them are being removed from the World Event Vendor. There are a few exceptions but generally speaking if it doesn’t seem like it is an event that will occur again then use those currencies. Don’t worry about the likes of the beads or snowflakes, those are part of events that will repeat themselves every year and therefore will always be useful.

Good Game Empire

Become the lord of a castle and turn your small fortress into the capital of the entire kingdom in this exciting online strategy game. Establish an ecient economic system and assemble a mighty army to defend your realm and extend your territory. Forge alliances with other players worldwide to crush your enemies, and become the sole ruler of a mighty empire!

 

 

Features:

 

Dynamic World Map: Ally with friends and take the fight to your enemies to capture new land in resources.

 

Castle Customization: Upgrade and customize your castle as you see fit or as the war effort dictates to keep an advantage over your foes.

 

Campaign: Embark on an epic questline to become a powerful ruler of your domain.

Conquer Online 3 Announced

Conquer Online 3 Announced

 

 

NetDragon Websoft had announced the development of Conquer Online 3, which is a follow-up on their famous free-to-play game, Conquer Online. Conquer Online 3 is a fresh take on the oriental style of free-to-play online games, while holding true to Conquer Online’s successful elements, including simple gameplay, multiple classes, Chinese Kungfu, intensive PvP, as well as the special Rebirth system. In Conquer Online 3, there will be 7 unique classes to choose from, with each class having its own specialties in magic and skills. Players can guide their character’s to challenge the fiercest monsters and bosses, collecting formidable gear, fighting side by side with their comrades and be the Conqueror!

 

 

Compared to what the current iteration presents, the Conquer Online 3 game experience aims to make subtle changes to pacing, allowing both fierce actions and more relaxing enjoyments to harmoniously coexist. In the meantime, the balance for classes will be reshaped. The controversial Battle Power feature will be removed, and the economy system will be improved upon.

 

 

What’s more, forging and improvement of gear and characters will be of more interest, as well as the social interactions available to the community will be more convenient and useful. Last, but not least, the graphics will see a major improvement over the current look.

 

 

While in the process of developing Conquer Online 3, NetDragon Websoft focuses on the main concept of “We Listen, We Care”, with the hopes of creating a free-to-play game that is really “for the players”.