Monthly Archives: January 2009

Aurora Blade: Competition System

Competition has always been a very important element in MMORPGs. Players enjoy the fun of questing and the personal interaction with friends all over the world, but it’s the red blooded competition with others that really drives these games. Today, the Aurora Blade team from IGG is giving a brief introduction to their competition system for all players.

Competing is quite different from PK and more like a friendly duel. Players can find the answers to how to become a competition leader by equipping different gear sets, how to use many skills in combination and also some smart ways to operate, through competing. When you compete, you get a chance to earn the respect of your opponents or even to make friends with them. However, one of the main attractions of competing has to be the fantastic rewards!

Instruction on how to join a competition
The Competition button is located below the game interface.
Click on the button to join the list of players waiting to compete. The system will then automatically match you with someone of around your level to take up your challenge. Join the list of players waiting to compete. The system will inform you of the start of the competition once an opponent has been detected. Click on the Competition button again to quit. You are on the waiting list! [Quit] All you have to do is to move your mouse and click on Quit the list to finish. Players who take part in competing will be rated.

Zu Online: Ten Tough Bosses in Wei-Yang Palace

As one of the major battlefields in the battle between the Deities and Demons, Wei-Yang Palace in Zu Online became littered with corpses soon after the battle broke out. Ten thousand years have passed since the battle and the evil forces have risen again. To re-occupy Wei-Yang Palace, the evil forces have even sent an extremely strong vanguard to begin the attack on Wei-Yang Palace. Among them, the ten daring vanguard warriors are especially tough and are even regarded as on the same level as strong bosses.

No. 1: Pagoda Guardian
They are heavenly guardians with a small pagoda in their hands. They were originally common monks in Zontan Palace but they have since joined the Purple Mansion force because they could not bear the strict rules and became the apprentices of the Vacant Monk, one of the three talented masters of the Purple Mansion.

No. 2: Axe Guardian
They are heavenly guardians with a heavy axe in their hands. They were originally common monks in Zontan Palace but they have joined the Purple Mansion force because they could not bear the strict rules and became the apprentices of the Vacant Monk, one of the three talented masters of the Purple Mansion.

No. 3: White-star Canaria
Their wings are covered with white feathers. They have often attacked the passers-by since they were demonized by the Taoists from the Purple Mansion.

No. 4: Soul-eating Beetle
They were originally primitive beetles in Wei-Yang Palace. They look sky-blue in color and have the Eight Diagrams carved on their back. Someone says they often appear on Tanzoo Platform eating the souls of punished celestial beings. But they have become manic and agitated since they were demonized.

No. 5: Wandering Ghost
Wei-Yang Tomb is where the celestial beings’ bones are placed. When the Purple Mansion forces broke into the tomb, they struck down tons of memorial tablets, which have released many ghosts to wander in the tomb.

No. 6: Blackarm Taoist
They are Taoists shrouded in black robes and carrying long scepters in their hands.

No. 7: Mist-riding Guard
They are golden armored heavenly guards. They were originally nobody in Heaven, but when they helped the Purple Mansion forces a lot in the Zontan Palace Battle they won the Sparrow Mansion Lord’s honor.

No. 8: Fiery Swan
The Fiery Swans were originally primitive creatures in Wei-Yang Palace. They are covered with blackish feathers and have very sharp claws. They became ruthless after being demonized by the Taoists from Purple Mansion. They have damaged Wei-Yang Palace and they often attack the forces of good.

No. 9: Stony Scarecrow
No one knows who made those Stony Scarecrows. But everyone knows they are quite intelligent. They can move and even know the language of the humans. They often serve as vehicles in Shaoyeen Ferry for carrying items.

No. 10: Acinaciform Maid
Originally a snake demon, it became a human faced creature with a snake body after being enlightened by Neeshew. Rumors say that it often stares at the curved moon at night.

Since you’ve learnt much about the ten tough bosses, are you scared? Remember, knowledge is half the battle!

Conquer Online: preorder you ninja t-shirt

TQ Digital has decided to go ahead with pre-orders for the Ninja promotional T-shirts. Interested? Well pre-orders will be taken from January 8th until January 22nd after which we will post the character names of those who we have received full details from. Be the first to order these promotional T-shirts. According to popular demand we have decided to remove the logo from the front of the t-shirt. There is only a small logo on the back near the collar.

This is a landmark occasion; it is the first time we have done such an offer. If proven successful there may be future plans to expand designs and perhaps offer additional merchandise. So new to us, that for this offer, we unfortunately cannot offer standard payment methods such as an online store.

Fiesta: New Character Customization Options Now Available

Need a new look in 2009? Fiesta has got you covered with dozens of new premium character customization options! Choose from red afros, purple dreadlocks, and neon pink samurai hairdos, plus new face styles for male and female characters!

Be sure to stop by the Fiesta forums and show off your new makeover in the Before & After screenshot contest for a chance to win one of five $25 prepaid Outspark gift cards.

The new Blue Dragon Costume is also available! This 2-piece armor set boosts your critical rate by 7%, letting you slay the baddies of Isya in style!

Cabal Online Review: Skill-Centered Gameplay

Cabal Online Review: Skill-Centered Gameplay
By Vincent Haoson, OnRPG Journalist

 

In Cabal online you have the chance to be the defender of Navareth, a world that was devastated by an evil entity named Cabal. After a thousands years has passed, Cabal has once again showed itself in the lands of Navareth wanting to finish the destruction it has caused. It is your responsibility, to take part in the protection of the Devastated lands of Navareth.

 

This would be your story as you enter the world of Cabal Online, an MMO developed by OGPlanet, the company that brought you games like, LaTale, Rumble Fighter Albatross18 and BB Tanks. Cabal is known as an action-based MMO, where spectacular graphics and an engaging story line and in-game content enhance the players experience to a whole new level.

 

The way of the Force

Before I go in depth with the characters in Cabal Online, you would need to understand first the importance of the “Force” in the world of Navareth. The Force as the game puts it is the energy found within their world that can be used as a force to attack or defend themselves. To put it into a loser context, the force concept in Cabal Online is similar to Star Wars’ concept of “the force”.

 

With that out of the way, I would like to introduce you to the six available job class in Cabal Online. The six job classes in Cabal Online are segregated into two, namely the three who were established before the Navareth Exodus which are the Warrior, Blader and Wizard. While the remaining three, the Force Archer, Force Shielder and the Force Blader were the new skills that was established after the Navarethian Exodus.

 

To help sort things out, the first three classes can be considered as the “pure breed” types of Cabal Online. The first three, the Warrior, Blader and Wizard are job classes that concentrate heavily on one stat. Unlike the last three, the Force Archer, Force Blader and the Force Shielder where they are the “hybrid” types in Cabal Online, mixing their stat points by including the force skills as part of their concerns.

 

You will not have to concern yourself with builds though. Cabal Online eliminates the concern for stat builds due to the growth goal system that is part of the game. Upon reaching each growth goal, you get to receive upgrades that would be helpful for you as you progress through the game.

 

Another reason why you should eliminate skill builds in Cabal it is the items, equipments and weapons dictate on what stat you should concentrate on. The stat system is reminiscent of Diablo, where equipments have stat requirements.

 

The famous Combo System

Cabal Online introduces the Combo system to the MMO scene. This is where you can inflict massive damage to monsters just by activating the combo mode. In this mode your skills cool down faster, your attack damage increase as the combo continues and that you gain more experience points. This revolutionary system can be used in both PVE and PVP, whereby you can be a lethal force to other players even if you are a lowbie. The downside for using the combo system though, is that it takes perfect timing to get things right. We do have to admit that not all of us are great when it comes to that. Another possible problem you can face while in combo mode is the lag. Once lag hits, kiss your combo goodbye.

 

The World of Navareth

With the game boasting its engaging effects Cabal Online does deliver. Each skill in your arsenal can be quite a spectacle, especially when you do combos. But things are different when it comes to the game’s in-game background. There are times when your surroundings can be such a pain to the eyes. The contrast of the spectacular effects plus the drab environment can sometimes make you blink so you can adjust to the whole thing. The problem with that though is you could miss a critical moment in your combo hereby causing you to cancel your combo due to a visual issue.

 

In addition, the environment in Cabal Online lacks the energy that is found in other MMOs of this genre. You can move to area upon area without seeing your environment move except for the littlest effects of a wind blowing past when in fact some of the background should be moving with the wind too.

 

My Overall Verdict

Concisely, Cabal Online brings many innovative features to the MMO industry, the combo system being its biggest pull. Another good characteristic of Cabal Online is the rich storyline it has. However, it is the usual plot of you chosen as one of the defenders of a planet that was ravaged by a greater force. Cabal Online does it with style.

 

Cabal has many problems in the graphics department but the game brings a very fun and amazing experience come PVE battles. It is a rewarding experience when you finish off a monster with a combo. Besides the storyline and the combo system, Cabal Online also has one of the best equipment designs seen in an F2P. Though things are different with the character design, you can see the contrast of the flashy and trendy clothes your character wears to the drab environment the game has.

 

Cabal Online also follows the Equipment requirement stat system that Diablo also uses making character builds almost irrelevant in the game. However, this may kill the fun for some players who are into character builds and such, this system brings a refreshing change to the usual MMOs out in the market. In addition, Cabal Online is more of Skill centric rather than level-based. As per skill tier you can accomplish your character earns stat points. With this system included in Cabal Online, low-level characters can in fact defeat the higher-level characters as long as their skills levels are higher. This eliminates the level advantage that is usually seen in MMOs, this may be laborious to some players and would be a turn off for them.

 

The quests are numerous in Cabal Online so you can never get tired of playing because you have a lot of things to do. Players may get overwhelmed with the amount of quests they need to finish. Furthermore, questing seems to be the only thing you can do in Cabal Online. You would notice this as you reach higher levels, it seems that it’s one quest after another in the land of Navareth.

 

Overall, I can say that Cabal Online is a treasure among the F2P games available in the market. Several of the game’s features are unique or put into a really new jacket. Yet it has its downfalls too, as visual features are of very different quality within the same scene and some of the original elements as well as questing may seem very extensive and laborious to beginners. Play Cabal Online and see if you can stand and fight against the hordes of Cabal.

 

The Good:
– Game has a lot of quests
– The combo system is a good innovative system
– The Character clothes is one of the better designs in a F2P
– Stat builds are not that important.
 

The Bad:
– The environment is drab and static
– The BGM can be irritating when played for a long time
– Its seems that quests are the only thing you can do in the game.

WoW: frustration brings teen to threaten suicide

Middletownjournal.com reported the following news a few days ago:

A 17-year-old Fairfield Twp. teen pretended to be suicidal when he became frustrated with an online video game, Fairfield Twp. police reported.

According to officials, the teen was arrested Monday, Dec. 29, for inducing panic after patrol officers and medics responded to the boy’s home in the 3000 block of Pimlico Court. The charge is a first-degree misdemeanor.

The teen was having an online conversation with a representative of Blizzard Entertainment, an online video game company, when he typed that “he was suicidal and that the game is the only thing he has to live for,” according to the report.

The company representative called 911.

The juvenile told police it was a joke “to try to get what he wanted for the game,” according to the report. He was then handcuffed and placed in a patrol car. The boy was released to his father.

The boy is scheduled to appear in Butler County Juvenile court on Tuesday, Jan. 6

Angels Online: Sunken Ruins in Atlantis Preview

Located to the south of the Blue Ocean, the Sunken Ruins are always quiet and mysterious. The water temperature is extremely cold here.
Because it is remote, even the warm current which runs through the whole of Atlantis each year doesn’t arrive here. Today, the Angels Online team from IGG is very happy to give a brief introduction to this lonely land of death for all players.

After the splendid city of Atlantis sunk, the Sunken Ruins became am under water ruins in which the broken walls secretly tell such stories about their past resplendence. The murky water makes it difficult to clearly view those destroyed statues. The far-flung seaweed covers the buildings with a green covering and gives a sense of timelessness.

No traces of human presence can be found here, and the monsters here have become very fierce. They are giant and aggressive to everyone nearby.

Rage Shark: These fierce monsters are always ready to attack players nearby. Because of their hard shells, they possess extremely high defense. It is better for players to attack them in a team.

Angel Fish: Their elegance always deludes players. Pay attention! They possess defensive abilities as high as Swordsmen. Their attacking abilities even rival those of Mages.

Bottle Mermaid: Migrating from the Blue Ocean, they are as beautiful as the Angel Fish. However, they are hostile towards strangers because they have lived here alone for such a long time.

In order to rebuild the past resplendence and continue the culture of Atlantis, an exploration team from the Iron Castle has arrived here and to work hard in this terrible environment. At the entrance of the map, there was an explorer called Elite. He has a preliminary understanding about the local creatures and the water situation.
However, he was annoyed by those fierce Rage Sharks. If players help him out when they pass here, Elite will greatly appreciate your efforts.

At the other end of the map, several merchants always hide and collect super equipment made during the glory of Atlantis and now left here. They try manufacturing brand-new weapons with those equipment pieces. It is said that weapons made by them are better than the top ones in Atlantis. Players should work hard if they want to buy a weapon or equipment from them.

Face of Mankind

Face of Mankind is a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) Action RPG in a single persistent universe. You will control a single character in the science-fiction game world.

 

Once installed on your PC you will have access to an ever changing game environment via your internet connection. Thousands of players throughout the universe co-operate, compete or co-exist in a realistic and futuristic world of the 24th+ century.

 

 

The skill and luck of the players from rival factions change the balance of power. Players have full control over their gaming experience by creating their own rules, faction hierarchy and story. The objective of the game is to evolve your character to its ultimate potential, whether that is the accumulation of wealth, power, social status or all three.

Soldier Front Review: Like CS With Fun Features

By Vincent Haoson, Onrpg Writer

Soldier Front is a tactical MMO First-Person Shooter from Dragonfly. You get to choose between a variety of characters that have roots to real-life world famous elite soldier groups. Go head-to-head with other players around the world either solo or in a team. You can also get to choose from a variety of guns based from real-life weapons used by these soldiers.

Ten-hut!

In Soldier Front, you have the choice of becoming a soldier from the different elite groups such as the American, Delta force and Force Recon, The British GIGN and SAS, Israel’s GSG-9, Australia’s ARTC, Germany’s SPETSNAZ, Korea’s KSF and ROKMC and the enigmatic SRG, SF’s own version of an elite group of international soldiers.

Whatever unit you choose in SF, you can buy equipment such as gloves, pistol holster, helmet, extra armor and more. The equipment you buy has an attribute bonus such as prevention from headshot, increased accuracy and the like. You can also buy weapons in SF that can be your default weapon in the duration of your play. Most of the guns you can buy in SF are based off real-life weapons. You can buy submachine guns like Uzis, MP5s, P90s, rifles such as the golden AK-47S, TYPE89 and the G343. Sniper rifles and machine guns are also available. Besides the primary weapons, you can also buy secondary guns which are pistols and shotguns. You can also buy grenades, flash bangs and smoke grenades that would be your main weapons in your battles in the future.

Like most First-person shooters, there are different game modes where you can enjoy SF online. Different modes include, Single Battle, Team Battle, Clan Battle, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Captain. In single battle mode, the objective here is to be the first one to reach a certain amount of kills that is set by the room master. Whoever reaches the kill point wins.

Team battle mode is more tactical in nature. There are various operations where the room master can choose with each operation has its own goal. In blast operation, the red team’s goal is to set up a bomb on a target while the blue team would have to defend and eliminate the red team. Capturing operation on the other pits the red team on acquiring a certain item that is defended by the blue team. Flee operations however is different in because red team members would need to reach a certain area and the blue team must prevent the red team from doing so.

Lastly, the dual operation of SF is its equivalent of Capture the flag. Both teams have a certain item that they would need to defend, their objective here is to bring the other team’s “item” and bring it back to their base.

Clans are the in-game community in SF. As part of one you can take part in Clan wars, think of it as the same as team battles but this time you are with your clanmates.

Team Deathmatch is more like the single battle mode in SF but in this mode you get to choose to be part of either the red or blue team. The objective is basically simple, all you have to do is kill the opposing team and meet the kill point requirement of 100 to win.

Lastly, the Capture the Captain Battle mode in SF is a variation of the Dual operation of SF. The goal of this battle mode is to kill the other team’s captain, which is randomly generated every round. Whoever eliminates the other side’s captain wins.

Comments

SF took the elements that made network-based FPS shooters so addicting and clothed it into a MMOFPS. You have fast paced action, a nice set of game modes and even customization that other FPS doesn’t have.

A lot of the elements found in FPS are quite reminiscent of Counter Strike, the controls, the weapon categories and even the game missions have one way or another reminded me of my CS hay days. The fact that the game does feel like you’re playing CS can be good and bad, good is that CS has been one of the better FPS available in the gaming market when it comes to military-style shooting games, bad because SF can feel so generic that some players would rather go online with CS than spend their time playing SF.

The generic ‘feel’ of the game will be the biggest problem most players would face. But that doesn’t change the fact that SF is indeed a fun game to play.

There are a lot of little extra game features that can make your SF experience a bit fun. For example, when you are killed by another player more than five times, that player will become part of your “hit list”. Being part of a player’s hit list entitles you to see a chicken icon over the other players head and that you can see in your line of sight where the player is. This may seem unfair but I bet you that if you experienced being killed by the same guy for five times and more, fairness is thrown out of the window and the satisfaction of exacting revenge would be your top priority.

It is true that SF is a fun game to play, but there are some aspects of SF that can really bug you. One reason is the fact that the lag issue is at play here. Lag can definitely kill your SF experience metaphorically and in-game. Playing a lagging game in SF can irritate even the most level-headed players especially when you die unexpectedly or that you when you eat the bullet of another player that was supposedly dead.

Another let down in SF is that some of the maps can be quite boring as you continue on playing. Thankfully the developers do include updates once in a while so that your SF experience would never get boring.

With a game this addicting and the possibility of having more in-game weapons, equipment and items that will be released in the succeeding months to come, SF can be a nice MMOFPS that players can fall in love with.

Pros:

– Simplistic and easy to learn controls

– Large trove of weapons to choose from

– Realistic elements especially when shooting

Cons:

– The game feels to generic

– Customization only includes the equipment you wear

– Maps can be quite a drag

Earthrise: beta applications open

Masthead Studios is excited to announce that Beta Applications for Earthrise, the post-apocalyptic, science fiction MMORPG, are now available to players. We invite everyone to complete an application for a chance to join the developers in this exploratory stage of Earthrise and to take an early peek into the world of Enterra Island.

If you want to know more about Earthrise, you can read the interview we recently made with the developers!