Onrpg has interviewed the makers of Ikariam: http://www.onrpg.com/games_articles/view/998
Yearly Archives: 2008
Ikariam Interview
Questions by Brian Perry Jr.
Answered by Ikariam
Onrpg: What is Ikariam?
It is a browser-based persistent world where you play on a small island somewhere in the Mediterranean, to rise an ancient civilization.
Onrpg: Why go with a browser-based approach in this day and age with broadband internet, quad core CPUs and dual video card systems?
The game gives you the freedom to choose where and when you want to play also how much time you want to invest. To be more flexible with the device (computer, handheld, console) you have to use technology that will fit on most of the devices. The intention is not to have you to install a huge client, buy a new graphic card, etc. – the goal is to make the access as easy as possible.
Onrpg: How would you describe the gameplay of Ikariam?
It is like CIV, Settler or Anno – build and conquer – but in a persistent world. Manage resources and make your citizens happy. Form alliances and fight your enemies. You have to get in touch with friends and enemies – the social factor is very big in this game. The gameplay will reflect your personality as far as being military minded, social and diplomatic, or having a peaceful easy-going utopia.
Onrpg: What is the goal that players are striving for?
The goal is to have a rich and happy island – fight your enemies and form big alliances –
Protect your friends and neighbors.
Onrpg: How can you interact with other players?
There are many ways:
-send messages
-trade
-fight
-form alliances
Onrpg: How does GameForge make money on a game like this that is completely free to sign up for with no monthly fees?
First of all – it is free and will stay free to play. Later in the game there is the possibility to hire specialist for different tasks – they will make the gameplay faster and cost real money. This is to save time for the players. You don’t need them – but if you want to save some time to build something… you hire this specialist and it will go faster.
Onrpg: What are the plans for adding new content (such as new technologies, new units, etc)?
We are adding constantly new content and advance the tech-tree. This happens normally every 6 month.
Onrpg: What is your favorite type of resource and why?
Wine – it makes the people happy and they will fight better and work better 😉
Pirates Ghost Ship
Disney Online has added Ghost Ships to Pirates of the Caribbean Online. Nightmarish forces of evil and danger, players must keep their eyes out for these ill-fated vessels that are sure to challenge skills and nerves. The undead sailors are doomed to skulk around the waters of Isla Cangrejos and Cutthroat Island in their ominous ships Shadow Crow, Cerberus, and Blood Scourge. Battle-hardened sailors with nothing to loose, these dastardly creatures can be fought off, but they are no easy prey!
Disney Online has also launched a special Fathers Day Event. Captain Teague, the notorious pirate reputed to be Captain Jack Sparrows father, has gone missing. In honor of Fathers Day, Disney Online is asking that players help find Captain Teague – not an easy task, but it may make you a legend.
Lastly, Disney Online will launch a new screenshot contest called The Ultimate Ship Battle. From June 2nd until June 17th, players can submit their best Ship Battle screenshots at www.PiratesOnline.com. Ten lucky winners will receive an iPod Touch.
Disney Online has additional content planned for 2008 including the addition of ship Privateer battles. Players will have to choose a faction wisely Garcia de Avaracia or Pierre le Porc. Two new small islands in the backwaters of the Caribbean are the setting for what will surely be a showdown between players and their rivaling crews.
Bahamar Bayou Expansion
The land of Bahamar Bayou (the final installment of the Manifest Destiny Expansion) is inhabited by many powerful monsters. In fact, a couple of the most powerful monsters (mini-bosses) are rumored to have ultra-rare recipes on them. However, would-be Pioneers will quickly find out that they have more than just monsters getting in their way. A family of witches has been living in the Bayou for generations and they are most unhappy that their solitude has been interrupted. Bahamar Bayou is no place for the weak or timid.
Journeying through the Bayou will certainly be treacherous, so it may be a good idea to bring along some powerful new characters with your Family. One of the newest UPCs available to pioneering families is Gygax.
Gygax, the younger brother of Eduardo, is quite powerful in the ways of fighting and was last seen near Ferruccio’s Wall. Bahamar Bayous city, New Opoluto is where Pioneers will find the Queen’s regent, Sir Igorne. Who has been appointed by the Queen of Vespanola to ensure that her pioneers are sent-out to achieve her goals.
The Queen has great faith in her Pioneering Families and she knows that you will not let her down. "Let nothing and no one stand in your way, as you conquer the new lands of the Bahamar Bayou.
This is the stunning conclusion to the Manifest Destiny Expansion.
- Bahamar Bayou is a new region with 9 new maps.
- New level 100 Elite items are being released with this map.
- New UPC: Gygax is skilled with pistols as well as a rapier.
- New Monsters inhabit the Bayou. Only the strongest will survive.
- New NPCs: Sir Igorne doesnt believe in Witches, unfortunately, they believe in him
- New City: New Opoluto is built into the Bayou as a safe haven for pioneers just landing.
WYD Global Episode III: The Aftermath
Kephra’s Defeat
;With the help of Archangel Kafma, the Kephra Boss Monster was finally defeated. Wydians were rewarded by the Gods and found a way to access the Unknown Continent. The realms of the Unknown Continent are abounding with numerous wonders and possibilities.
Given the access to the Unknown Continent, Wydians were able to learn and acquire another great level of knowledge. This new great knowledge enables them to control their souls.
Now, Soul Class level can be achieved.
War Breaks Out
While kingdoms are trying to fully recover from the great chaos and destruction the Kephra Boss Monster has made, Harden, an ambitious Seraph with great power, started to worry that these kingdoms might grow too powerful, too strong and too big that can threaten him and his evil plans to take over the mortal world.
Harden together with Nesses, a magician from the Kingdom Koren, saw a weakness of Wydians which they can use against them. They aim to divide the two kingdoms that united during the struggle to kill Kephra. They sent corrupted Seraphs to infiltrate each kingdom and influenced them to fight each other for wealth, resources, land, power and fame. They took advantage on the greed of man. They want Wydians to wage war to each other until one destroys another.
War is upon us! Which side are you on?
Prepare for the Citizen War!
System Updates and Changes
Soul Class Character
Ranking System
Citizen Relocation System
Character Sealing System
Skill Revisions
Food System Removal
New NPCs
Tax System
New War System
Casino System
New Hidden Ruin Map
+12 Upgrade System
To know more about Episode III: The Aftermath check out our micro site!
Here’s a newbie guide for all our new players to learn all the ropes before they starting their journey in fulfilling their destiny!
Choose your destiny!
Happy IGG 2nd Anniversary
We are preparing a series of events to celebrate IGG &a 2nd anniversary and express our appreciation to players for their constant support of IGG and Voyage Century. We hope every player will have fun playing our games and support us as always in the future.
Event 1 Duration: From June 4th to June 8th
Event 1: Double Experience
Players will get double experience while playing game from June 4th to June 8th.
Event 2: Monsters Party
Event 2 Duration: From 4:00am – 5:00am EST (GMT-5) on June 6th
From 10:00pm -11:00pm EST (GMT-5) on June 6th
Event 2 Description:
A large number of monsters will be found in the two cities. Player can team up with other players to kill monsters or kill them by themselves. The event will be divided into two time sections. Each section will last one hour. Monsters will be generated every half hour. The event comes to an end when all the monsters are killed.
We welcome low level players to participate in this event. So the city of Madeira is where low level monster Bosses are generated and is specially open to players of low levels, while the city of Revkjavik where high level monsters Bosses are generated is the paradise of high level players. You can decide which city you want to go to.
Event 3: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Event 3 Duration: June 4th from 4:00am to 5:00am EST(GMT-5) and 10:00pm – 11:00pm EST (GMT-5)
Event 3 Contents:
GMs will post riddles about where the treasure can be found. Players can get the answer to the riddles and try to find buried treasure. Rewards will be given to players who are the first to find the buried treasure.
GM will post riddles through the announcements every 20 minutes.
Notes: We are not responsible for the disappearance of treasure provided that players fail to find the treasure within its existent time.
News link: http://vc.igg.com/content.php?news_id=902
Myth War: New Edition, New Changes
Myth War (http://mw.igg.com) is an ATB turn-based MMORPG brought to you by IGG (http://www.igg.com). The release of the new edition of Myth War 2.0 is fast approaching. Today, the MW team was kind enough to introduce some of the features about the new edition.
Feature One: Characters change
Characters in the new edition will be not so gentle any longer. The Male Borg and the Male Mage are even more outstanding now with their handsome new equipment. Even the Female Centaur has the feeling of being combat ready. The delicate characters, exquisite lighting and shadow effects, vivid character veins and exact actions are some of the more important improvements in the new edition. It is no wonder that some players consider it to be almost a whole new game.
Feature Two: Maps change
The maps are absolutely amazing in the new edition. They are created using 3D models and 2D paintings. One big change is that players will be born in peaceful Woodlingor, not the familiar Sky Passage. The familiar Blython, Revive Arena and other maps have great changes as well. Meanwhile, Sunset Plains and Outcast City have been redrawn. Only powerful players can experience all the wonderful scenery.
For more information about the new edition visit: http://mw.igg.com
Angels Online: Hot Weekend Events Preview
Today Angels Online team from IGG brings us two great events for the coming weekend.
Event I: A Grand Marathon
Rewards:
Champion: Level 50 ride (evil lizard/ice magic cat) + 5 Double Exp Cards
Runner-up: Nature’s Egg + 3 Double Exp Cards
3rd place: Pestle*2+1 Double Exp Cards
For more information please visit: http://ao.igg.com/news/news.php?aid=1057
Event II: Double Experience
Duration:
From 12:00 midnight May 31st EST to 12:00 midnight June 1th EST: all servers
For more information please visit at: http://ao.igg.com/news/news.php?aid=703
Episode 3
May 28, 2008
Start: 2008-05-28 15:00
End: 2008-05-28 19:00
Timezone: Etc/GMT-7
It is finally here! Episode 3!
Server Maintenance scheduled at:
4:00pm PDT
Duration:
~ 3 hours
There won’t be a new client with this patch but we will be working on getting a new client soon. Expect a significant time to download the patch.
Helbreath USA, great for PvPers
Special Offer! New Payment Options!
We are now offering a new set of payment options! There will be the possibility of selecting a 6 month payment with a discount or a 12 month payment with a discount! That means you pay $50.00 for 6 months of play or $80.00 for 12 months of play!
May 27, 2008 The New Client is finally here!
The NEW client is ready to go and is available to download from the Helbreath USA auto updater!!! There have been a few other bug fixes and changes that were excited to share with everyone. Check out the 4.0 Update page on the web site for more details.
If youve not been around in a while, be sure to read all the changes to get caught up!
http://www.helbreathusa.com/UpdateV400.php
Compensation Experience Points!
As a way of saying thankyou and welcome back to everyone were giving away over 25 million experience points. In order to make the experience points available to all characters including your 180s weve split the points up in to 3.2 million lots. Be sure to read the details on the experience points!
For more details, click here.
http://www.helbreathusa.com/comp00Explination.php
Weekly Bonus Experience Points for Voting!
In order to raise Helbreath USAs profile on Top Web Games were offering 15,000 experience points per day for your vote! Not only are we going to give you the experience points but were also giving you a chance to get another 5 million experience points.
For more details, click here.
http://www.helbreathusa.com/bonus-vote00Explination.php
Got More EKs Than You Know What To Do With?
Well if youre 180 and have at least 2 Hero Items were going to give you a chance to use those remaining EKs and upgrade your statted armor and weapons. Join your friends and help them get their Hero Set while upgrading your own items at the same time!
For more details, click here.
http://www.helbreathusa.com/eventsscavhunt004.php