Yearly Archives: 2008

Tabula Rasa: Track Famed Video Game Developer Richard Garriott as He Orbits Earth

Space Adventures’ Orbital Space Client Is Currently Onboard the International Space Station and Will Return to Earth October 24, 2008

Space Adventures’ sixth orbital client and famed Ultima and Tabula Rasa video game developer Richard Garriott is currently onboard the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting Earth, conducting research and experiments, and helping Stephen Colbert save humanity by depositing his digitized DNA on the “Immortality Drive” that will serve as a remote offsite backup of the human race. Down on Earth, you can check in on Garriott and track his space mission activities, latest photos and videos, and more by visiting richardinspace.com.

Garriott is the 1st second generation astronaut and only the sixth private individual in history to go to space. His mission to the ISS is the latest destination in a life defined by adventure and innovation. In recent years, Garriott has conquered incredible quests that span the globe including searching for meteorites on the continent of Antarctica, tracking mountain gorillas in Rwanda, canoeing down the Amazon, deep ocean hydrothermal vent expeditions and dives to the Titanic. While in space, Garriott aims to accomplish numerous efforts including scientific and environmental research, and educational outreach. Always the leader of the pack, Garriott also will host the first-ever zero-gravity art show in space.

The site is constantly updated with details on Garriott’s adventure and includes rich videos and photos of Garriott throughout his training, launch and current spaceflight. Visitors to the website can track his exact location as he orbits Earth; pose questions to Richard; view the multi-media gallery, which offers an inside look into what it takes to go to space and back again; and check out awesome video links like Garriott’s ZERO-G weightless training and water landing training.

On Monday, Oct. 20, at 1:20 p.m. EDT, Garriott will be part of the NASA-sponsored videoconference with Expedition Crew 18.

About Richard Garriott

Garriott was born in Cambridge, England and raised in Nassau Bay, Texas. In 1980, Garriott attended the University of Texas at Austin where he developed the Ultima computer game series. Garriott, along with his father and brother, created Origin Systems, a private video game publisher. In 1992, Garriott sold Origin Systems to Electronic Arts. In 1999, Garriott left Electronic Arts and in 2000 he formed Destination Games and partnered with NCsoft. In November 2007, his latest game, Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa, was launched in North America and in the European Union.

About Space Adventures

Space Adventures, the company that organized the flights for the world’s first private space explorers, is headquartered in Vienna, Va. with an office in Moscow. It offers a variety of programs such as the availability today for spaceflight missions to the International Space Station and around the moon, Zero-Gravity flights, cosmonaut training, spaceflight qualification programs and reservations on future suborbital spacecrafts. The company’s advisory board includes Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, Shuttle astronauts Sam Durrance, Tom Jones, Byron Lichtenberg, Norm Thagard, Kathy Thornton, Pierre Thuot, Charles Walker, Skylab/Shuttle astronaut Owen Garriott and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Usachev.

Fantagetar 2nd Close Beta Event: Double EXP, Double the FUN!

Dear players,

We are glad to bring you the 2nd close beta of Fantagetar Online!

As all the characters is being reset, during this close beta 2 period, players will enjoy with fulltime double rate!

Event Rate:
– Character Exp Up 150%
– Pet Exp Up 150%
– Gold Drop 150%
– Drop Rate 150%

Now everyone can enjoy the game with double leveling pace, and hunt more treasure while exploring more about the game.

Event date: Start 21 October 2008 till end of CB 2!

Jumpgate Evolution Interview

Hermann Peterscheck, Producer for Jumpgate Evolution was interviewed by Rick Charbs, Onrpg writer

Jumpgate Evolution, the successor to its preceding title, Jumpgate, is currently in heavy development. The development team was present at the PAX conference, stating that they had gotten a great amount of feedback they thrive on in order to perfect their title: “we got a ton of feedback that we can use to improve the game and make the experience even better, said Hermann of the Jumpgate Evolution team.” The focus on this title was to revamp the AI, as well as the overall experience of Jumpgate, such as the graphics. Be prepared as they are getting closer and closer to their open beta release!

Onrpg: It is known that Jumpgate Evolution was presented at the PAX conference. How was the experience, and what kind of feedback did you receive?

Hermann: It was great, actually! We had about 8 machines out for people to try out the game, and they were full pretty much the entire time. In addition to getting some nice exposure, we got a ton of feedback that we can use to improve the game and make the experience even better.

Onrpg: What are the core differences between Jumpgate Evolution and its preceding title, Jumpgate?

Hermann: There are lots of differences; however the spirit of the game is the same. The key areas of improvement are visuals, more AI and activity, more “MMO” types of features and improved accessibility. AI and improved graphics were what we worked on first.

Onrpg: Why did you come to the decision to revamp your current title, Jumpgate?

Hermann: The short answer is because we wanted to. MMOs are long term, major commitments, and so if you’re going to embark on one, you better really want to do it. We had an existing space game, we really love space games, and there is a notable lack of this kind of game in the market. Those three factors really contribute to the decision to make another Jumpgate MMO. I feel like I still can’t play the Freelancer, Wing Commander, X-Wing experience online with thousands of people. Also, having an existing game gives us a big head start, because we have years of data to pull from as well as an existing game to test to evaluate what we should and shouldn’t do.

Onrpg: How long have you been working to perfect this game?

Hermann: The new game has been under development for over two years now, but we had a head start, since we had an existing game to build on. While we have changed quite a bit of the game, we are building from many years of technology which we already had.

Onrpg: What kind of environments and areas will players be able to explore and battle in?

Hermann: One of the areas that we really wanted to focus on was variety. Space games tend to be dark, empty and, frankly, boring. We want to have a universe that was visually compelling and interesting. We want people to explore and feel that sense of not knowing what they might see next. Obviously there are limits to what you can do because of engine limitations, resource limitations and so on. That being said, when you make a game you are free to be very imaginative and it’s fun to not be constrained by the real (boring) world. As we continue to develop the game we fully intend to add all kinds of interesting things. The nice thing about MMOs is that you can do this well past going live.

Onrpg: Jumpgate Evolution has three factions: Solrain, Octavian, and Quantar. Could you please explain these factions in more detail?

Hermann: There’s actually information about them on our website: www.jumpgateevolution.com, and then go to the galactic database. In short they have a different kind of world view as opposed to being separate classes per se. Solrain is a more mercantile kind of profit driven group, however they are mercenaries and smugglers as much as CEOs and business people. Octavians tend to be more militaristic, regimented and honor driven. The Quantar have a more spiritual bend to them.
We’ve tried to make the fiction, ship design and other aspects reflect the flavour of the different nations without giving one an inherent advantage or disadvantage. Thus, each group is capable of fighting, mining, trading, manufacturing and so on.

Onrpg: What is your personal favorite faction?

Hermann: I’ve always had a soft spot for Quantar, but I will certainly be actively playing all three as I tend to play all the various groups in MMOs.

Onrpg: The world of Jumpgate Evolution is entirely player driven. Could you please explain how players dominate this game’s economy?

Hermann: An important part of MMOs is for players to feel a sense of ownership and belonging in the world. In terms of economy, it is mostly player driven. Specifically this means that there are stores that sell basic goods and equipment, but most of the objects in the game are either made or found by players. By having a crafting system and auction house, you allow players to dictate the price and availability of goods. The order is similar to the way production works in the real world. Miners are able to harvest various raw materials (raw materials may also come from other sources such as defeating opponents). Those raw materials can then be turned into refined goods (for example common ore may be refined into metal bars). Those refined goods are then used to build various objects in the games such as guns, missiles, or engines, which are then resold to players. That’s one example of where players may have an impact. We also have other features that accomplish this, such as PvP mechanics which will be detailed later?.

Onrpg: Could you offer us an approximate date as to when you plan on releasing this game in open beta?

Hermann: The honest answer is when it’s ready. Game development is a rather messy and unpredictable kind of thing so it’s really hard to estimate things like beta phases. We are reasonably close, however, and the goal is to get there as soon as possible.

Onrpg: Will players need to pay a monthly subscription for this title, or will it be fully free? Will it have an item mall?

Hermann: We haven’t announced final pricing model. I know there is always a lot of discussion about how to charge for a product but I always believed that if you make something really fun and high quality the pricing model is largely secondary.

Tantra Global Release announced

Citizens of Tantra!
Great news! After the successful Open Beta Test of Tantra global, we will be having the Commercial launching of Tantra Global!

On October 31, Tantra Global will open its premium item mall at the Commercial Launch of Tantra Global! Players can now purchase usable items using taney bringing your Tantra experience to a whole new level.

Also, we will be finally announcing the winners of the Make a comment, get a gift event!

Be part of the commercial launch of the only legitimate Tantra service out there!

LGP Online: Tribal War System is released!

Are you bored with the everyday tribal quests? Do you fancy PvP combats? It’s time to try the Tribal War!

On October 16th, we released the long-awaited Tribal Battle system. All tribes in LGP Online can join the war and vie with one another for the control of legendary Sunset City.

Sunset City, locating in the depths of the land of LGP Online, has been a crucial strategic point since ancient times. Every week, elites of all tribes will gather here fighting for the leadership of the town. The tribe who successfully wipes out all players of other tribes inside Sunset Palace (a building in Sunset City) will be able to occupy Sunset City.

The winners of tribal battle will be rewarded with a large amount of EXP, some precious items, and what’s more, 5% EXP bonus for training. 5% of NPCs’ revenues will go to the fund of the winning tribe as well.

Don’t hesitate anymore. Burn your passion in tribal battle!

Age of Conan: Update Preview

The next game update is now progressing very nicely on the test server and we hope to have it ready for the live servers over the next couple of weeks. As anyone who has read the test server update notes or visited the test server will be aware the amount of changes and new content coming with this update is substantial. The next update will introduce many new adjustments and additions so today we wanted to give you all an idea of what to expect from this update.

PVP Consequence System – The Notoriety System

The next game update brings with it a major new game-play feature – a new consequence system for PVP. Off the back of the PVP leveling system introduced in the last update, this new system aims to bring even deeper meaning to PVP and introduce real consequences for your actions. Players will be now run the risk of becoming a criminal or even a murderer depending on their actions in PVP.

If you take part in anti-social actions in PVP, picking on weaker foes and such you will find yourself accruing ‘murder points’ that will eventually mean the attitudes of NPCs in the world will change towards you! Murderers will be outcast from society and will have to depend on new outlaw camps which can be found at remote locations in various different playfields. You will still have access to vendors and travel through these camps, but that will now come at a cost! A consequence for being a dangerous individual!

It will be possible for those evil doers to redeem themselves however. Murderers can try to solve specific quests to lower their murder points to one day receive amnesty and loose the status of a murderer. Until that time other players can hunt down and kill murderers to punish them for their crimes. We think this system will introduce a great new dynamic to PVP game-play. Do you dare to try and live a life outside of the laws of the land? Do you have what it takes to be infamous, or indeed become famous for hunting down these most treacherous of player targets!

Changes to Trade-skills

Brand new types of armor and weapons will be introduced with the next update. There are so called ‘Base’, ‘Culture’ and ‘City’ armors and weapons recipes which give weapon-smiths and armor-smiths many new pieces to craft. The recipes for these new items also include new resources that Alchemists, Skinners, Weavers and Woodcutters will have to provide so working together with other player crafters and gatherers is encouraged and even necessary.

Listening to player feedback made it clear to us that especially the Alchemist profession had to get an overhaul in terms of the too high number of available alchemy recipes and needed resources to craft these sorts of items. With this update the number of alchemy resources has been reduced by about two thirds and existing recipes have been adjusted accordingly. This will make crafting for alchemists much more enjoyable and allows this profession to focus on crafting specific items and potions as an unnecessary high number of different recipes and resources made it hard to actually find what was needed.

In addition all other trade-skill resources have had their chance to drop increased which should result in players being able to gather the resources needed for recipes much easier.

Combat Updates

There are quite a few significant adjustments to the combat system for this update and we wanted to give a sneak preview of some of the significant changes here.

Firstly the way how crowd control and immunities work has been adjusted. This change now will cause players to break stuns, fears, roots, snares and charms when they have lost a certain amount of health. This should give players a fair chance to withstand these spells and fight back.

We are in this patch making some changes to combos which will affect melee and ranged classes. The background for this is split in two; first we saw a problem where the longest combos generated damage spikes that were too big. This is due to the combo length being the most important factor in defining the damage of the combo. Players had also taken to firing the first stages of their combos ‘into thin air’ to better land a big blow at the end. For the longest combos this strategy would deal a lot of damage – even though the majority of the strikes of the combo did not land on the target. This just didn’t feel quite right, and we felt that we needed to adjust the system to provide the right reward for executing your combos effectively, while also ensuring they aren’t cumbersome to pull in PVP.

This patch will fix these two issues by changing, across the board, lots of combos to have fewer steps. As they will take shorter time to execute, and then deal less damage, the DPS should not be significantly different. The damage you deal should merely be distributed more evenly throughout battle than before. The second change we are making is to introduce a penalty when you miss with your directional combo strikes. This penalty will increase with the number of missed strikes the following way: If you miss one strike, you get a 5% damage penalty. For each additional strike you miss, you will get another 10% penalty on the finishing blow. As an example, if you have a four-step combo (including your finishing blow) and you miss with two strikes, you will get a total of 15% damage penalty on your finishing blow.

We have also received feedback that too many combos were too long to perform, where players felt that hitting directional keys was dominating the game-play more than it should. Reducing the number of steps on the longer combos should hopefully rectify this feeling.

Obviously this move does affect the potential damage players do, and given that we also wanted to start addressing the effectiveness of healing in combat. We approached this by giving some classes utilities to make the healing of others less efficient. As a result, the Ranger, the Demonologist and the Herald of Xotli have all received healing debuff abilities. This is obviously an area that we will track closely and if additional changes are required it will be an area that continues to get tweaks and adjustments.

GUI Adjustments and Additions

Additional possibilities for raid leaders to add and move members from different raid teams and also added more versions to display more detailed information about the team members to show different bars as well as debuffs will be coming with the next udpate. And this is not all! Many other changes and improvements to the GUI are added and we also will continue to bring such adjustments in future updates.

Wrapping up!

In addition to the content highlighted above this update brings also brings many more changes on various other topics like for example, massive PVP sieges, mounts, quests, raid encounters, items and tradeposts –to mention just some of them.

A full list of updates will be made available when it is deployed to the live servers, but remember if you want to take a look for yourself right now, head over to the test server to experience the new content for yourself, or check on the latest opinions and feedback over on the test live forums!

City of Heroes: 2008 Halloween Event Has Begun!

This year’s event has a new twist with a group of unwanted guests looking to spoil the trick or treating, Zombies!

As a special thank you to all City of Heroes and City of Villains players we’ve begun this year’s Halloween Event early! Now through November 2nd, enjoy the 2008 Halloween Event!

Zombies
These homely fellows seem to be literally rising from the ground beneath us and attacking heroes, villains and citizens without discrimination. Their taste in fashion is despicable, not to mention the flies and the smell! Be sure to have the zone event channel added to one of your chat tabs in-game to see the event notifications and take part in all the fun!

Badges, Temporary Costumes and Other Rewards
But know this! With new challenges come new rewards! All of last year’s trick or treating goodies are back this year. Heroes and Villains can collect Classical Costumes (and wear them) for Trick or Treating throughout the city. Badges will be available for those who collect the most Classical Costumes. It’s almost enough to make heroes and villains set their differences aside. Almost.

Old Enemies Return
Ravenwing Cabal’s Annah will be in Croatoa to explain more about some of the activities, as will Granny Beldam in Nerva Archipelago.

Wonderland Online: Ver3.0 Boss Preview

Some brand new and amazing Bosses will be released for the new Wonderland Online version 3.0. They have dazzling appearances as well as strong powers. Next, we will give you a comprehensive sneak preview of these monsters.

Evil Snake Woman: From ancient times, snakes were thought to be insidious and crafty. According to the Bible, the snake is the craftiest animal among the creatures created by God. It lured Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, causing her to be driven out of Eden. In Chinese mythology, a lot of snakes transform into beautiful women to tempt men. All kinds of legends have defined the Evil Snake Woman’s viperous appearance.

Bird God Garuda: It has the head, wings, and mouth of an eagle but the limbs of a man. In different cultures, it has different identities. Buddhism regards it as one of its guardian gods. In Indian mythology, it is a mount of Vishnu, thus it is a noble symbol of Thai royalty.

Lion Dove: It is a righteous creature. It has the head and wings of an eagle but the body of a lion. Because of its appearance, it is considered as one of the strongest monsters. It is often sent to watch over various treasure chests. If you meet it, it won’t be easy for you to leave safely.

Erawan: Widely worshipped in Thailand. According to Thai historical records, it is gentle and its four sides represent mercy, kindness, love and fairness respectively. Its statues and temples can be seen everywhere throughout Thailand and India.

Centaur: The upper half of the body is a man and the other half is a horse. They are good at using bows and spears. Due to its half horse body, it is very flexible and fast in battle. Sagittarius is derived from such a centaur Chiron.

Elephant God Ganesha: The most cherished God in India, Ganesha was the son of Shiva and Parvati. When Shiva discovered that he had cut off Ganesha’s head by mistake, he asked Vishnu for help. Vishnu told him that if the head of the first creature that was found was transplanted onto Ganesha’s neck, then Ganesha would live. Shiva found an elephant first, and Ganesha lived.

WYD (With Your Destiny): Battle Dungeons Revealed!

Because of our high registration this month WYD Global Team is proud to announce the addition of a new system update, the Battle Dungeons as sign of our warm appreciation to the continuous support of our gamers.

WYD Global Battle Dungeon
Risking your life while killing mobs in the outside world is not the only way to level up or gain items in WYD Global. There are also alternatives we call “Battle Dungeons”

Battle Dungeons are PvE dungeons that Wydians can jump into. Battle Dungeon keys can be bought from NPC Aki merchant in Armia Town. However, there are 3 different variations of the Battle Dungeon to try, and all are available through NPC Aki. Each of these BDs also comes with a character class restriction that must be respected and some are only available to Guild Zone owners.

Battle Dungeon Key (Normal) – Mortals (Guild membership is not required on using the key.)
Battle Dungeon Key (Mystic) – Gods (Needs to own a Guild Zone on the server you are trying to use the key)
Battle Dungeon Key (Arcane) – Celestials / Soul (Needs to own a Guild Zone on the server you are trying to use the key)
To use a Battle Dungeon Key you need to be in a town and if you are trying to use a Battle Dungeon Key (Mystic and Arcane) you need to be a member of the guild that owns a guild zone in the server you are trying to use the Battle Dungeon Key on (except for Mortal Characters ) .

Battle Dungeons (Normal)
Battle Dungeon (Normal) is the easiest among the three kinds. This can be bought from the NPC Aki in Armia Town. Only mortals are allowed inside the Battle Dungeons (Normal) and they need to be a member of a guild that owns a guild zone.

Battle Dungeon (Mystic)
Battle Dungeon (Mystic) This can be bought from the NPC Aki in Armia Town. Only Gods are allowed inside the Battle Dungeons (Mystic) and they need to be a member of a guild that owns a guild zone.

Battle Dungeon (Arcane)
Battle Dungeons (Arcane) is the hardest among the three. High level equipments and some of the most coveted item are dropped here. The ticket can be bought from the NPC Aki in Armia Town. Only Celestial Gods and Soul character are allowed inside the Battle Dungeons (Arcane). You need to be a part of a guild who owns a guild zone to be able to enter the realm.

NexusTK

NexusTK is a friendly community run game with an evolving storyline of war, magic, and myth.

Enter a virtual world and discover the hidden secrets of The Kingdom of the Winds. Become a devote citizen of one of the three kingdoms — Koguryo, Buya, Nagnang — or reside as a neutral wanderer of the wilderness. Choose your path of a valiant warrior, a cunning rogue, a powerful mage, or a healing poet. Then band together with a group to solve arcane mysteries and discover treasures kept away from the Nexus’ greatest foes.

In a family friendly atmosphere, you can become a legend! The Kingdom of the Winds has a unique PVP system where players engage in fast paced battle. Spruce up your skills and become a hero in daily carnages, bloodlusts, elixir wars, and fox hunts. Outside of the arena are tons of areas to hunt and gain experience to boost your strength in the game. There are many crafting abilities such as carpentry, jewel crafting and food preparation to choose from. Learning these skills will not only help you attain higher levels in the game, but will also give you the funds to build your character.

The Kingdom of the Winds is also home to a multitude of roleplayers. When you become more accustomed to the Nexus, you may choose to join a subpath and/or clan that is led by players of the game. Each subpath is unique and has its own practices in the Nexus. Warriors may choose to become a honorable Chongun, a skilled Do, a rage-filled Barbarian, or a devoted follower of the blue dragon Chung Ryong. Poets may choose to follow a path of solitude with the Monks, of art with the Muse, with nature with the Druids, or of devotion to guardian Hyun moo. Mages can choose to become diviners, geomancers, shamans, or followers of the mighty phoenix Ju Jak. Rogues can choose a path of hunting and tracking with the Rangers, of espionage with the spies, of riches with the merchants, or of stealth with the mighty Baekho.

Ride upon the Winds; discover your own legend!