Monthly Archives: January 2009

Myth War II: Equipment Splitting System

Still scratching your head trying to come up with some good ideas about how to handle the useless gear pieces that accumulate after extensive questing? Thinking of the time and energy you spent to obtain them, it’s not a smart choice just to give throw them away or sell them at a “charity” price before you’ve tried dismantling them and stripping off the valuable elemenst to be incorporated into other gear.

The people from the Myth War Online team think gear dismantling is an underappreciated art form. It is a beautifully ‘green’ process which results in the recycling of valuable and hard to find elements. The incorporation of ore into other combat gears maximizes the value of everything you loot as well as the time spent looting.

In the game, players can take advantage of this system design to acquire items for gear refining and power leveling. The game designers want to help players make rational use of every piece in their inventory and avoid the dreary process of material collection before any refining and leveling. Player’s may get white gear, gems or ore after dismantling is done. It makes gear upgrades that much more entertaining and enjoyable.

Through dismantling gear, you will get:
1. White gear pieces
2. Gems of the same level
3. Ore of the same level

HolyBeast Online

HolyBeast Online is a cute cartoon-style, 3D, MMORPG. It has been serviced in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan and very popular among female gamers as well as males.

You can enjoy this game by fighting cute beast animals with extremely various quests in the multifarious maps.

Features:
Transformation And Evolution – Players can transform from Beast to Human at will. Beasts can also evolve into a higher form!
Items – When beasts go berserk, their Beast power is awakened. Human forms can fight with job skills and magic.
Many Different Kinds of Skills – Items shine and glow when they are enhanced. There are lots of interesting items. Players can trade items with the Market function.
Community Function – Players can set up Groups and Packs with lots of members, and chat with their friends and everyone else.
Monsters and Pets – Raising lovely pets, players can enjoy more exciting adventures.

Bounty Bay Online: Off to new shores!

Frogster has launched the Colony Add-on as the second large expansion to Bounty Bay Online. With the free add-on, players can now establish colonies in 33 coastal regions of the historical explorer world. After completing a special quest series and with the necessary resources, they are able to capture the area and build up their own town and port. Colony founders can then determine the trade policy and development of their new realm. This way, ambitious guilds can acquire their own retreat and a lucrative trading base. In the German version launched last week, all colonies have been taken over within a few days. Now it’s up to the players to create their first colonies.

Besides the colony features, the Colony Add-on integrates new quests into Bounty Bay Online, which are partly a continuation of quest series from the first expansion Storm Island. In addition to some new land bosses with improved tactics, new powerful pirate ships are now terrorizing the seven seas. Conquerors of these corsairs can expect huge amounts of gold, but they are protected by new dinghies. The small boats are only lightly armored, but dispose of considerable firepower. However, the developers have created a worldwide network of informants, so that news about the sighting of a pirate boat and his whereabouts spread like wildfire within the community. Another new feature of the Colony Add-on concerns ship convoys. As a last resort before sinking, the leading ship of a convoy can now launch small speedboats, trying to save its treasures before the impending demise.

Moreover, with the Colony Add-on players receive the possibility to salvage treasures from the sea. Previously, these could only be found on land. A practical innovation has also been implemented to the complex trading system of the sailor MMORPG. Players can now systematically search all sales stalls of an area for specific items and compare goods and prices to find the best offer.

The free colony add-on is available for both the subscription and free-2-play server and has a size of roughly 500 MB. It is being installed automatically with the next start of Bounty Bay Online.

Mabinogi Review: Limitless Possibilities

Rick Charbs

Mabinogi is an MMORPG with limitless possibilities… as long as you can pay for them. This innovative MMORPG was fully released by Nexon Inc. on March 27, 2008. Since its release, Mabinogi has gone through a few major updates, and is constantly being patched with scheduled maintenance periods. Recently, the Extra Generation patch had been announced. It will feature a housing system, guild robe creation, gestures, a postal system, and many other updates that revolve mostly around guilds. This game is widely popular across North America, and the population of the game grows continuously. The one downfall this game has is their item mall that will drain all of the money you have unless you are frugal. That is, if you chose to use the item mall, as you will probably want to with all of its perks. Nevertheless, Mabinogi is loaded with entertainment for all ages.

General Gameplay

Mabinogi is very well known for its wide variety of content. It is mainly recognized for its large amount of quests, skills, storylines, and items. With three mainstream Generation quests, and various: beginner quests, hunting quests, part-time jobs, party quests, skill quests, and events, there are many paths to choose from. Characters are left without any limitation of classes, because skills are obtained freely. You get to choose the skills you want, and with that, create a class of your own.

The only restrictions that you will face are your character’s race (which is only human in the NA version currently), and the amount of rebirths you can pay real money for, to obtain more skill points. Another interesting feature is that your character will advance in age (one year per week) and he or she will look taller and more built as you progress in age. Characters of higher age are stronger, although every age acquired gains you ability points (aka skill points), so starting off as a younger age is recommended for more ability points.

Aside from character aging, you can completely customize your alter-ego. For most options, you do have to pay, but even without paying real money you can look entirely unique. Most crafting skills allow you to create something that really stands out from the crowd.

Divided into four large categories, some skills you will be able to level up are: Combat, Life, Magic and Alchemy. Combat skills are weaponry skills, archery, and defensive skills. Life skills refer to crafting skills, performing skills, fishing, cooking, and the like. Lastly, Magic and Alchemy skills contain fire, ice, lighting, and healing. As you can see, judging by the amount of skills one can level up, players will most definitely each have their own way of playing this MMO. You can play as a cheerful bard, a dedicated craftsman, a wise fisherman, a humble merchant, a courageous knight, or even a legendary chef; it’s up to you! Players finishing the main story quests can also unlock other special skills.

The game has so many different play styles that the gameplay really depends on the player. You may choose to raid a dungeon with friends, or just simply gather materials for your famous shop. Whichever way you want to play, Mabinogi allows it.

Graphics and Sound

Mabinogi contains cell shaded graphics that are somewhat mediocre. They are definitely not fine point, although if you have a decent machine, they can look pretty nifty. The glow is very nice, though it may cause some lag. Otherwise, this game’s graphics are not really something to complain about. They are alright, though they may seem overshadowed by the great gameplay. The sound is also just alright. I much prefer listening to player’s compositions over the in-game music, though it is alright. I never switched to my own playlist, so I suppose the music passed my test! The sounds are alright as well, especially in the crafting and magic fields.

Personal Recommendation

Mabinogi was a very fun game to play. Most compare it to Runescape, and the reason why is pretty obvious. As there are many features in-game, you will be faced with a pretty large learning curve, though pay no mind as you will learn with the various guides and references they offer. The style is very anime-like however, so if you do not enjoy that, this is definitely not the game for you. This game is user friendly for the complex gamers and the simplistic ones, hardcore gamers, casual gamers.

You make the fun out of the game on your own. It really is a great concept. Nexon still has to master it, although I think the future is bright for this game (especially when they release a new playable race). The biggest downfall this game has is most definitely its item shop. You are almost required to pay up if you want to get strong within the game, and that is taking it a little too far. It is quite literally “hidden p2p”. If you can access the premium items, or have a lot of time on your hands, this is a great game choice for you. There are so many things to do; you will never find yourself in boredom while playing the game. The community is actually pretty great. There is the average mix of immature and mature players, but everyone seems to get along. So check it out, and happy gaming!

Pros

– Large customization

– Warm community

– Many skills

– Varied gameplay

– Unique features

Cons

– hidden p2p though item mall

– Wide learning curve

DOMO: New quests!

Gametribe.com, the premier destination for Free-to-Play games is offering a new update for DOMO on next January 21st. Following the big content updates last weeks, this one will add new quests and costumes.


Three new quests are waiting for fierce Dreamers:

  • Crossbone Swordsman in Canute Canal. Instanced quest
  • Merchant job quest. Talk to Eileen in East Sea Plain. lvl 30
  • New Year Event Quest: Catching the Pupu in Darkdale (NPC Simon)

New items and goodie bags:

  • New costumes Punk and Gothic Lolita (hat and dress)
  • Hair dyes : Emerald and Pale Blue
  • Costume goodie bags available until February 4th:
    • For girls: Little Red Hood costume, Gothic Lolita costume
    • For boys: Big Wolf costume, Punk costume
  • Special riding Pet goodie bag available until February 4th: you may get a permanent Speedy Pu or Blue Pu!

The new update will be available to players after the weekly Wednesday maintenance window on January 21st.

Zu Online: Tips for Training Level 180-210 Characters

Once you reach level 180 in Zu Online, you may be wondering where you can get more training to improve even further. Well, we’re pleased to give an introduction to this today.

Have you ever been to the Frozen Sea? What was your first impression? If you said “dangerous,” then you might be right. The Frozen Sea is indeed a very dangerous zone. However, as the saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained. At the Frozen Sea, the brave and daring can have great opportunities to gather new experience through their conquests. Here is a brief introduction to the monsters you might find there.

Level 180-190:

When you are between level 180-190, Bear Ride Robbers (Level 183), Icy Robbers (Level 185) or Fiery Winds (Level 187) are suitable opponents for you.

Level 191-200:

When you reach level 190, you can challenge stronger enemies like Venom Birds (Level 192) and Water Ghosts (Level 196).

Level 201-210:

If you are able to defeat the deadly Tundra Bear, you might be ready to step up to a new challenge. Icy Silkworms (Level 207), Seal Guards (Level 210) and Ghouls (Level 211) will match you as your level goes up gradually.

The Frozen Sea is a great place for players at level 180+ but don’t pretend you haven’t been warned!

WAR goes to Russia!

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning continues its worldwide march as Mythic Entertainment, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio, today announced that the fully localized Russian version of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) will go live on February 5, 2009. The Russian version of WAR will feature a fully localized gameplay experience as well as regionally-based servers and customer support.

First launched in North America, Europe and Oceania in September of 2008, WAR continues to receive praise from media for innovative features such as Realm vs. Realm gameplay and Public Quests, picking up numerous year-end critics awards including GameSpy’s MMO Game of the Year Award and IGN’s Best of 2008.

“Everyone at Mythic Entertainment is honored and gratified each time we get the chance to bring the glory of WAR to those who have yet to experience it,” said Mark Jacobs, co-founder and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. “In February a whole new force of Russian recruits will join the ranks of Order and Destruction – and it’s going to be fantastic.”

Based on Games Workshop’s epic and longstanding tabletop fantasy war game, WAR is a unique MMORPG that features revolutionary Realm vs. Realm (RvR) gameplay that will immerse players in a world of perpetual conflict for years to come. WAR has been recognized for its unique play style that appeals to novice MMO players while offering incredible depth for more seasoned players.

Russian gamers will have a choice to acquire one of three different packaging options in the Russian market:

Collector’s Edition – 2499 Rub
The Collector’s Edition will include an exclusive Games Workshop miniature – Grumlok and Gazbag, the fully localized original Graphic Novel – Prelude To War, Art Book, 30 days of gameplay and additional in-game quests, items and rewards. A limited quantity of 5100 Collector’s Editions will be available.

Limited Edition SteelBook – 899 Rub
A Limited Edition SteelBook version will feature the game, Russian user manual and 30 days of gameplay.

Jewel Case – 499 Rub
The Jewel Case will contain the game and unique key for new account creation with 14 days of gameplay. Alternatively, the key can be used by existing account holders as a 30 day prepaid game card.

Additionally, active WAR accounts will be able to buy a 60-Day prepaid game card. Packed in a DVD box with a stylish coaster for beverages, it will be available for 899 Rub.

Angels Online: Buzz Rewards Program Renewed

To meet most Buzz members’ requirements and give them something back for their continued support, a brand-new Buzz reward mode has been released for all members.

Angels Online Buzz members would be the first to experience this mode in advance.

The main revolution for this renewed program is Players can choose [Consumption Reward] or [Level Reward] and they can change it at any time.

Level Reward: The new mode. Choose it and players can directly obtain the corresponding IGG points after players they’ve promoted reach the required level in game.

Consumption Reward: The default mode. Choose it and players can obtain the corresponding Buzz credits after players they’ve promoted purchase any IGG points. The Buzz credits can be used to take part in the Fortune Wheel event and abundant rewards are waiting for all players.

Fiesta Online: What’s New in Fiesta in 2009

Outspark has lots of exciting features coming to their free MMORPG Fiesta in 2009. Looking to the Fiesta community for their questions, the Fiesta team posted their first Ask Outspark Q&A today, highlighting some of the biggest features coming to the game in the first quarter of 2009.

From Fiesta’s first instance dungeon – the Dragon’s Tomb – to permanent mounts, player housing, and the upcoming free Level 105 expansion, there are many great new features coming to Fiesta in the coming months.

Check out the Outspark blog now and get all the details on Fiesta in 2009.