Yearly Archives: 2008

Warrior Epic: key features and game details revealed

True Games Interactive, an international publisher of multi-player online games, has revealed the first key features and game details for its highly anticipated Online action MMORPG, Warrior Epic. Developed by Austin-based studio Possibility Space, the game has already developed a growing community since the developer launched the Warrior Epic website earlier this year. With the new publishing partnership, True Games Interactive is now sharing new features, screen shots and game details as it gears up for the game’s spring 2009 launch.

Warrior Epic is an online, action role-playing game set in an original fantasy universe. In the game, players will assume command of a Warrior Hall from which they manage their characters’ adventures. They can recruit from a wide array of Warrior Classes, each with its own style of play. The Classes and the Hall itself can be upgraded visually as well as functionally. Players adventure together in multiplayer campaigns, adventure mode, solo quests and PVP.

One of the most unique aspects of Warrior Epic is that death does not mean the end of a warrior. Instead, it opens totally new and strategic options for players. The game’s unique Warrior Spirits System enables fallen warriors to not only be revived at any time at their hall, but also to be transformed into Spirits that can be bound to weapons to increase and open weapon abilities and skills, or they can be called out to inflict massive damage depending on player needs.

“Possibility Space and True Games are doing an incredible job building the Warrior Epic universe,” said Jeff Lujan, Founder and Chairman of True Games Interactive. “The game creates this totally new genre of session-based MMO’s with incredibly innovative gameplay features that have been fine-tuned and are sure to offer global appeal. Gage Galinger and Feng Zhu, the founders of Possibility Space, are highly talented video game veterans.”

Lujan continued; “their game design and creative talent combined with the amazing technical and publishing background of our team at True Games makes for the perfect development relationship.”
Unlike most MMO’s today, Warrior Epic will offer players a satisfying online experience even if they have only a few hours a week to play.

One of the ways Warrior Epic achieves this is by putting a heavy emphasis on focused, session-based missions. These 20-30 minute sessions allow a player to make significant progress in regards to leveling their Warrior, gaining loot, and accomplishing more in a much shorter timeframe than other existing games.

Chronicles of Spellborn: travelling through the shards

Travelling and discovering new areas is done quite differently to other MMORPGs in The Chronicles of Spellborn. Since the world of Spellborn is divided in different shard realms floating through the Deadspell Storm, other means of transport are necessary than just walking or riding. In order to travel to the different rock realms, the fantasy online-roleplaying game offers impressive journeys on so-called shard ships. Similar to sailing boats these massive vehicles are able to fly from one shard to another through the magical Deadspell Storm.

To use the shard ships, players will need to be fame level 10 minimum and interact with specific NPCs to join the crew. Departing from the docks of Hawk’s Landing they will then experience a real-time journey together with other players and NPCs. Yet, they should be wary of the menaces lurking in the Storm and be ready to defend the ship. Hostile humanoids or even monsters could attack without warning during the travel. If a player fears these encounters and needs to travel quickly, he or she can also rent a cabin, which works like a teleport.

Hellgate London: relaunch limited to the Asian markets only

Community Manager Diane “Tiggs” Migliaccio clarified the situation about Hellgate: London through the game official forum, saying that Namco Bandai still owns the publishing rights for U.S. and Europe and there are no plans beyond shutting the servers in January 2009. Here’s the post:


“People are speculating and I don’t want anyone shocked on January 31, 2009 when the server and forums shut down and there is nothing.
Let me explain things a bit to see if it clears up any issues for you. Hanbit owns the IP and rights to publish anywhere other then the US and EU and I think the other territory is Japan. NAMCO owns the rights to publish in the US and EU.”

Therefore HanbitSoft’s relaunch plans will be limited to the Asian markets only.

Myth War II: PVP System Overview

You may try to play Myth War II without dabbling in PVP. But as an integral, not to mention wildly popular, part of the game, PVP is inevitable.

Taking grief from high level characters in PVP combat may be daunting task, especially when they have no problem rubbing it in after they win. The intelligence involved, skill and ability use, and strategic choices are only a few of the things that can and must be learnt from extensive PVP experience.

It doesn’t matter whether you are in a PVP arena, engaged in large scale guild wars or one-on-one duels, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat will definitely impart things that will help you when battling computer opponents. The people from Myth War understand the importance of PVP, but at the same time they also seek to keep it from becoming a way of bullying new players or getting out of hand. So, today they will be explaining some of the basics, so that everyone can participate and have a fair shot at glory!

Toggle PVP on
In Myth War II Online, players are allowed to take on a human opponent, then fight or even kill them. But repeated “ganking”, as the act of unfairly attacking and killing of low level characters has come to be known, may ruin the game by the sheer brutality involved when attacking players who are at a significant disadvantage, or without warning. Thus specific rules have been made to address this. Players are required to abide by certain PVP codes of practice to ensure fair game play.
To toggle PVP on, players must draw support from Devil’s Blood which is sold in groceries and in the Item Mall. However, Devil’s Blood does not work for players below Level 50, ensuring a rigorous amount of time in game spent learning how to fight before being thrown to the wolves, so to speak. After Devil’s Blood is activated, players can attack other players with toggle duel off. To start PVP, players press the attack button and left click on a target character to initiate an attack. An information popup will tell them that they are entering PVP combat. After the target receives the warning message of being attacked and toggles the PVP flag on, both parties are engaged in PVP combat immediately.
The PVP initiator can not run away from a PVP fight. But the person being attacked has two options: defend himself or attempt to escape. A dishonorable kill of a specific player will yield a reduction in the Evil Index. As PVP kills are tallied up, jail terms could be prolonged. The reduction in the Evil Index will affect death penalties incurred as well. PVP players will recover 10% HP after a PVP death takes them to their bind points. But if players being attacked are below Level 50, they will suffer no penalty.

PVP revenge mechanic
After players are attacked and die in PVP, they can ask their friends to toggle PVP on and kill someone in revenge. However, those who engage in revenge PVP don’t have to worry about the effect on their Evil Index.

If players gain five PVP indicators within one day, they cannot be engaged in any PVP combat. The PVP indicator is related to the times players are engaged in combat and the number of player kills. Their PVP indicators will be initialized everyday. In doing so, ganking and griefing should be prevented.

PVP in Myth War is not just about ganking other players; it includes politics and teamwork. Myth War is known for its close knit community of player’s, and those that plan to engage in sadistic PVP will find themselves quickly ostracized. However, those that PVP to make themselves more complete warriors and challenge themselves with worthy opponents have nothing to fear but their next opponent’s strategies. Then you’ll know who the best of the best truly is.
Follow this link to check out some new screenshots: http://www.onrpg.com/MMO/Myth-War-II/screenshots

Voyage Century: Pet Basics

Today the folks at Voyage Century are going to talk to you about how to raise your pet.
There are always times in game that can be lonely. Solo quests, or perhaps you’re into a late night session and all your friends are asleep. Pets can help you alleviate this sense of loneliness. But do you really know how to take good care of your companions and how your pets can help you?

1.The quickest time spent raising a pet from level 1 to level 100 should be 43 days.
2.A pet’s health decreases by 1 every 15 minutes. A first aid kit from the Item Mall can restore 10 health, so for those 43 days of development, a pet will consume about 400 first aid kits.
3.A pet’s satiation drops by 1 every minute. Pet food can restore 1 satiation so for those 43 days of development, a pet will consume 60,600 pet foods.
4.A pet has 5 different basic attributes, HP, attack, defense, hit rate, and dodge. 1 level improvement will increase a pet’s Max HP by about 46, and increase the other 4 attributes from 0 to 4 respectively.

What can a high level pet do?
If players take their advanced pets into a fight with some tough monsters, the experience and loot will be much easier to obtain. Because the Exp from killing monsters all goes to you and your high level pets, your pet can help shield you from taking considerable damage. For instance, an advanced fox has a high dodge rate, so it can be used as an ideal tank when you fight against a Guardian Beast.
Never underestimate how much a high level pet can help. Take your time and invest in the future.

LOTRO – Mines of Moria Preview

Posted on 31/10/2008
Tags: LotRO, MoM, Preview, Codemasters, 3D Fantasy
Mines of Moria Preview
by Gabriele Giorgi, Onrpg Writer

Eighteen months after the release of Lord of the Rings Online (the MMORPG set in the world created by J.R.R. Tolkien), Codemasters is about to hit the shelves with an expansion set, Mines of Moria. We have taken a sneak-peek at the new features it will add to the game.

The journey continues
One thing that sets aside LotRO from most other MMORPGs is the main storyline: everyone knows the works of J.R.R. Tolkien (by reading the books or through the movies directed by Peter Jackson) and it’s nice to see how the events unfold in a sort of parallel way. During your journey through the ancient dwarven kingdom of Moria, your path intertwines frequently with the Fellowship of the Ring and you will be able to visit all the places they passed through. The “session play,” a game mode introduced in LotRO some months ago, has also been used at its best to let you experience past events and give you the full scope of what happened inside Moria.
From Durin’s Door to the Twenty-First Hall, crossing the bridge of Khazad-dûm to finally reach the beautiful elven forest of Lothlórien, the journey in the tracks of the Fellowship will be a memorable experience, especially since all the places have been designed keeping in mind the original descriptions in Tolkien’s works… and when you get to Balin’s tomb you can’t help kneeling before it!

The halls of Moria
As soon as you enter Moria, you will be struck by the vastness of the place: high-ceilinged halls, huge statues (mostly ruined, remnants of a glory long past), deep ravines, roaring waterfalls: you will be easily dwarfed by such a scenery (pun intended)! And there are also narrow tunnels and hidden passageways, at times connecting different areas. Try jumping down a well in one of the chambers and see where you end up!
Speaking about jumping, the levels themselves are developed vertically, as much as horizontally: going up and down flight of stairs and rocky slopes, you can find different places, layer upon layer; you can even take advantage of it, shooting enemies from far above or fleeing from them, if you are not afraid to leap off a ledge… it may be even used to save you a walk!
Your primary goal will be to aid the dwarves into regaining their long-lost kingdom: the caves are teeming with orcs, goblins and other creatures, and the dwarves have set outposts throughout the caves, in all the different areas of the mines. No personal mounts are allowed inside, but you can rent yak-like animals to travel quickly from place to place (and instant travel will be available as well, once you’ve garnered enough reputation).

Skills and levels
With Mines of Moria, the characters can gain 10 additional levels, up to 60. Anyway, leveling in LotRO has never been a problem, and in MoM there are plenty of quests to keep you occupied: you will level without even noticing it… and of course you will be able to acquire new skills as well.
This expansion introduces also three different paths for each class: selecting certain traits will unlock additional bonuses, and you can even combine those paths to create your own build, since they require five traits at most, and at level 60 you will have seven slots available.
A stand-alone window is now available for traits, more user-friendly and better organized than before: you will no longer have to scroll down a long menu to find what you are looking for.

Items of legend
Legendary items (melee and ranged weapons, and class items) probably represent the biggest new feature in this expansion. You will receive your first one during the main quest, and there will be plenty of tutorial windows popping up to explain you how they work. Suffice to say that, when equipped, they will gain experience just like your character, and they will allow a good degree of customization: powers, bonuses, type of damage and, of course, a name… you can even change it (along with the rest) when you “reforge” the item: just think about Aragorn with Andúril (formerly known as Narsil)… and where would Frodo be without his faithful Sting?
The downside of this system is that ordinary weapons dropped or obtained as a quest reward will be quite useless, since you will tend to stick to your legendary item to level it up and unlock its powers. But weaponsmiths should not be afraid: legendary items can also be crafted, although this will require rare ingredients and recipes.

Two new classes
Mines of Moria introduces two new playable classes. The Runekeeper is a sort of a jack-of-all trades: he can work as a nuker or be an effective healer, while having some crowd control powers as well; problem is, if he concentrates on healing his offensive skills will be greatly reduced (or unavailable) and vice versa. Still, it would be a nice addition to a party, since his versatility allows him to take different roles in the group as required.
The Warden is an unusual sort of tank that relies on parrying, evading and heals rather than armour (in fact, he can only wear medium armour). He can be quite effective in ranged combat, but his distinctive feature are gambits, skills triggered by a certain combination of attacks, each one with diverse effects; so, in combat, you have to keep in mind what you need the most and time your attacks to enable the corresponding gambit.
As of now, though, there are no other ways to level these new classes fast, other than power-leveling, so it might take a while before we can see them in high-level areas and instances.

Other features
Visually this expansion is surely appealing, not only for the level design (as commented before) but also for nice graphical effects like blurred vision when you fight poisonous toads or the slight tremble in the air in hot areas. Music and sound effects help to emphasize the atmosphere, and some of the tunes are particularly inspired and suited to the settings.
About PvP (or, as it is called in LotRO, PvMP: Player versus Monster Player) many issues have been addressed from the freep side (the good guys), while the creeps (the monsters) have been given new powers and skills, not to mention starting from level 60 right away. The whole PvMP area of the Ettenmoors has been revamped as well. On the other hand, we cannot help but wonder what will happen to players without this expansion: a level 60 creep will be no match for a level 50 character. Why not create a new PvMP zone inside Moria with different kind of rewards, and put a level cap on the Ettenmoors? It is possible that this issue will need to be addressed in the near future.

Conclusions
LotRO has never been innovative as a MMORPG, but everything it does, it does it well. Plus, it’s supported by a solid setting and storyline.
If you have played (or are playing) it, you should get hold of this expansion as soon as it’s released: just venturing through the new areas makes it worth buying it, not to mention loads of new things to do that will keep you occupied for quite a long while.
Codemasters has constantly released free updates in the past, so if something (instance difficulty, PvMP, etc.) does not work properly from the start, we can expect it to be fixed soon enough.

Pros
1. Solid storyline and plenty of quests will help you level without noticing
2. Two brand new classes with their peculiar skills and style
3. Vast new areas, immersive and beautifully designed

Cons:
1. No new area for PvMP inside Moria
2. Legendary items will make other weapons pretty useless
3. Completing all the deeds for virtue traits might be a worthless effort, since they are capped to rank 10