Monthly Archives: February 2009

Bounty Bay Online Review

By Eline Stiekema, Onrpg writer

In Bounty Bay Online it’s the players that write history! Similar to the great explorers, buccaneers and pirates of old times, the players have to write the history of Bounty Bay Online.

Bounty Bay Online is a MMO which takes its players back to the 14th to 16th century, when many parts of the world were yet to be discovered. They can choose the role they want to play and thus become as rich and mighty as possible.

Getting started

Bounty Bay Online is very diverse, which also makes it very complex. There are so many options that, as a newbie, you can easily get lost because you are being overloaded with such a lot of information and instructions that keep popping up on your screen.

But when you’re being a bit overwhelmed at the beginning, don’t give up! Just take some time to read all the ‘game infos’ on the website before you start. These provide some outlines of the game that will help you get the hang of it. On the website you can also read the ‘first steps’ but I recommend reading those after you’ve played the game a few times: when you have never played it, these ‘first steps’ are quite incomprehensible, because they only tell you what to do and not why. Instead, you can find an excellent newbie guide on the board, which is much more helpful. I even printed this out so I could use it while I was playing, and that was a great help.

Because there are so many options and ways to play the game, it was impossible for me to try everything. But the fact that you can fill in the game just as you like, was a big plus for me. You can play individually or team up. You can emphasize on fighting, trading or exploring, or combine all of this. You can play merely on land or on the open sea. And when you’re fed up with the way your character is going, you can always delete it and start from scratch again.

Gameplay

Bounty Bay Online can be played from two servers. The first is called Mary Read and is the Free 2 Play server: playing is free, but items for your character have to be bought in the itemshop with money you can put into an account. The second server is called William Bligh. For playing on this server, you have to pay a monthly fee, but the items are essentially free and only have to be achieved by good gameplay. I played the game on the Mary Read-server.

Playing Bounty Bay Online starts with creating a character. You can create two characters, but you can only play with one at a time. At first this might not seem logical, but when you start to understand the game a little better, you’ll see the benefits of it: the game is so diverse that you will only be too happy with the opportunity to play two different roles.

You can choose from four character archetypes, two guys and two girls, each with their own birthplace where you start the game. When you click a character, you can name it and determine what it will look like. When you’re done, you get some information on the character’s birthplace and then you can start the game.

You always start a new game with a short tutorial. If you’re not a novice anymore you can easily skip it, but the first time it really comes in handy. In this tutorial, just as in Bounty Bay Online as a whole, you get things done by clicking on certain people and starting a ‘conversation’ with them. They will tell you who to address and what to do or buy next. In the tutorial you get a short instruction to the game, a basic ship and some initial money by the Mystic Captain, you need to buy provisions from the Docker and cannonballs from the Shipyard Boss. After that, you can sail off and you learn how to attack pirates and how to sail to your first destination, which is always your birthplace. When you arrive, the actual tutorial part is over but you still need to get a lot of information by addressing the right non-player characters (NPC’s).

You can now choose what role you want to play: warrior, explorer, merchant or warship captain. Each has its own guild, to which you can apply. You can then do quests for the guild master, to earn some money. This money can be used to upgrade your ship. You can choose from three types of ships: the explorer ship, the merchant ship and the warship. Each ship has its own (dis)advantages. You should choose the ship that matches with the role you’re going to play.

From now on you can do whatever you like. You can learn and train all kinds of skills, you can try to make as much money as you can by trading all kinds of stuff, you can decide to become a pirate to attack other players and raid their ships, you can make teams or start your own guild with other players, you can sail around the world to discover new animals and plants or you can start to learn an actual profession, like shipbuilding or mining. And the fun part is: you can also combine all this!

Graphics and music

The graphics look very good and impressive, from the first moment on. Everything looks very realistic, which makes it even easier to become fully immersed in the game. The music is also very well chosen: it gives you an immediate ‘pirate-feeling’. When you’re playing it’s automatically turned low, so it stays in the background and doesn’t get annoying.

What I didn’t like was the inaccuracy of the spelling in the instruction pop-ups and on the website: I discovered a few misspelled words and in the pop-ups, words are often broken off at strange places, which is very irritating when you’re reading.

General recommendation

Although you have to take some time to figure this game out, I think it’s certainly worth a try. With Bounty Bay Online, a world has been created in which you can linger for hours at a time. Because the game is so diverse, I think I could play it for years and not get bored with it. There are so many places you can go and even more things you can do. I have played the game for some time, but I still have the feeling there is a lot I have yet to discover. I don’t mind… after all, I’m an explorer!

Pro’s:

– Great diversity in ways to play the game

– Very nice-looking and realistic graphics

– You can vary with two separate roles to play

Cons:

– Newbies can easily be overwhelmed by all the different aspects of the game

– Not everything is explained clearly and the ‘first steps’ I found rather incomprehensible

– Spelling is sometimes inaccurate

Astro Empires

Astro Empires is a highly addictive Space Strategy Game in real-time. Play in a Huge Universe with Thousands of Players. Build bases, spaceships, research new technologies, form alliances, fight epic Battles, and much more!

Can MMOs help to produce better real-world citizens?

Can WoW can help to produce better real-world citizens?
The following post appeared on Cnet.com:

An education professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison education believes that MMOs like World of Warcraft (WoW) can help to produce better real-world citizens.

Professor Constance Steinkuehler outlined her views at a recent campus event.

With about 12 million people playing World of Warcraft alone, MMOGs have become a new “third place” like “Cheers,” where everyone knows your name and all that, Steinkuehler said.
Players “hang out and engage with one another in informal social ways,” she said. “Most people go for the game and stay for the people.”


What do you think? Comment the news on our forums!

Joymax Celebrates Love With Three Weeks of EXP Bonuses and Unique Items!

Joymax, an independent developer and publisher of interactive entertainment for the global market, today announced the start of Valentine’s Day festivities in fantasy MMORPGs Silkroad Online and Deco Online. For the next three weeks, players will receive bonus EXP while adventuring in both worlds, and will have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of contests, from forum challenges to missions as an in-game cupid.

Players of Silkroad Online will receive 30 percent bonus experience from February 10th until March 3rd, and will have the chance to win extremely rare 10th degree Seal of Star weapons with every Silk purchase. During the next two weeks, they are also invited to visit the official Silkroad Online forums to participate in special Valentine’s Day discussions. The best answers to the official questions will have a shot at winning one of the many prizes being given away in the name of love!

From February 10th through the 17th, Deco Online players can earn cash item rewards by completing special “love messenger” missions. In addition, players will receive 200 percent EXP and 200 percent drop rate bonuses every weekend in February. The item shop also has some unique Valentine’s Day wares, including the chocolate stick emotion item and wearable angel wings.

Event information

Silkroad Online
– Date: February 10th – February 24th
– Event: Valentine’s Day Web Event
– Prize: Offline prizes to be announced later and Skill Points

Deco Online
– Date: Valentine Quest February 10th – February 24th \ Double EXP and Double Drop will be held every other weekend until March 8th
– Event: Valentine’s Day Quest \ Double EXP and Double Drop
– Prize: Redeem Love Box found from hunting mobs to receive one of 7 Rewards

Angels Online: Cherry Blossom on ValentineÂ’s Day

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and everybody is excited and busy preparing gifts, except Phelps, the NPC who is in deep memory of his dead wife Gisele. The Angels Online team from IGG hopes that our Angels can help Phelps collect Cherry Blossom, which was Gisele’s favorite thing in the world, and claim a special gift from him.

Event Duration
Everyone can participate in this event right now after the server maintenance on February 12th and this event will last before the server maintenance on February 26th.

Event Content
During the event, a new NPC called [Phelps] in the Angel Lyceum and a new event map will be added into the game. Players can claim a gift from Phelps if they can help him collect enough [Cherry Blossoms]. Players can obtain Cherry Blossoms by defeating level 21+ monsters or collecting level 21+ materials.

City of Sinners and Saints Launching This Summer

Telos International, an independent videogame development company, announced today that City of Sinners & Saints, a massively multiplayer online social networking game is scheduled to open the gates to its virtual city (Manatee Bay) in Summer 2009.


“City of Sinners & Saints is being specifically built for the next generation of virtual world travelers,”
says Sean Yeomans, president, Telos International. “Our vision is to offer a new kind of experience beyond the normal boundaries of social networking. The city is a place where visitors can enjoy rich content of cartoon-style graphics, comedic story lines, casual games, and social related quests that offer endless hours of challenging yet light-hearted fun.”

Built with the ground-breaking Multiverse Platform, City of Sinners & Saints is being designed for the next generation of social networkers looking for an expanded experience on a website. The city will offer virtual travelers from around the globe the opportunity to socialize with friends, create unique characters, play casual games, purchase virtual goods and real estate, and shop online for their favorite products – all within an original world where a laugh is around every corner.

City of Sinners & Saints offers:

* All the same key features found in other social networking products, while introducing a 3D comedic, cartoon-based style metaphor of the real world.
* A virtual friendship manager – track who is online, who is in your top ten, who you’ve interacted with and block those pesky players you don’t want to talk with.
* Animotes that break free of the simple happy faces that players have seen for years and come alive in pre-rendered animated comedic video sequences.
* An open world experience where players can complete comedic quests to earn in-game currency to purchase gifts for friends, acquire living space, new clothing, furniture and a variety of accessories.

Everquest: Happy 6th Birthday

Everquest Online Adventures turns 6 years old on February 12! (Awww, isn’t it cute?) And just like most 6 year-olds, EQOA’s main goal in life is to have fun and…well, play! We want to thank everyone who has adventured with us in Norrath over the past 6 years and we hope you’ll continue to play with us for a long time to come. Happy Birthday!

Priston Tale 2 Europe: Full Open Beta on Saturday 14th!

Will your valentine be a Tempskron or a Morion? Priston Tale 2 will be on full open beta this Saturday at 12:00 CET!

This means that you will no longer require a beta tester key to access the game! All you have to do is to create a Key To Play account at http://www.keytoplay.com/ and download the client!

If you encounter any problem, do not hesitate to check the Key To Play forums or contact the Key To Play support team!

Battlefield Heroes: Beta reopening

Battlefield Heroes beta is reopening today, has announced on the official website:

Hello Heroes,

You will be happy to know that we will start the Battlefield Heroes Closed Beta tomorrow, February 11th.

If you already have a Beta Key from the earlier Beta phase or activated your Beta account already, you will be good to go. You will NOT need to sign up again*. Starting some time tomorrow, you will be able to Beta test Battlefield Heroes.

You will also receive a new email with guidelines and instructions in case you still need to activate your account, (re-)install the game, etc.

If you don’t have a Beta Key yet, please keep in mind that we’ll be giving them out in the fairest way we can, which is as follows:

# Firstly, everyone still on the waiting list from the first Beta phase.
# Secondly, everyone else, including those of you who sign(ed) up using our form.

Haven’t signed up yet?
To be able to sign up you must be logged into the Heroes website with your EA account. If you don’t have an EA Account already, you can sign up for one here. Once you are logged in, head over to the sign-up form.

I just signed up, but I didn’t receive an email!
We’re not sending out emails yet. As slots open up for the Closed Beta, we plan to be sending out Beta keys in the thousands!

With the Closed Beta starting again tomorrow, how will I know if I’ve been accepted?

* As soon as a Beta slot opens up for you, we’ll contact you at the email address you use to log into the Heroes website.
* As the Beta progresses we’ll be letting more people in, so don’t be put off if you don’t get a key immediately. We’ll be adding a lot of people to the beta.

WoW 2009 Arena Tournament

World of Warcraft has announced the 2009 Arena:

We’re pleased to announce that the 2009 World of Warcraft Arena Tournament is nearly here. Starting next week (February 17, 2009), players will be able to sign up to compete in this year’s exciting competition. The tournament will feature an online qualifier played on our special tournament realms. Top teams will proceed to their respective regional finals and compete for a chance to reach the global world championship – with cash prizes totaling over $200,000.

These realms have been outfitted with level 80 character templates and the latest epic gear from Wrath of the Lich King. As an added bonus, we have included exclusive rewards that players can earn by participating in the tournament, including an Armored Murloc in-game pet. Top teams will also contend for a chance to achieve the “Vanquisher” title for their live characters.

If you would like to demonstrate your arena prowess, or simply want a chance to earn the exclusive loot, please check back next week for more details and register!