Monthly Archives: May 2009

Maple Story celebrates fourth anniversary

Nexon America Inc. welcomes gamers to celebrate the fourth anniversary of its epic free-to-play game, MapleStory (maplestory.nexon.net). Launched on May 11, 2005, MapleStory became a legend in online games with its amazing social features, rich art style and open world opportunities. Players have flocked to MapleStory with over 92 million worldwide users and over six million users in North America.
Maplers have traveled through the many lands of the game’s vast world, as well as unleashed the game’s traits of individuality and freedom beyond its game borders. Players have turned MapleStory into an online video mainstay through blogs, community fan sites and fan videos. Over 200,000 videos are available by searching MapleStory at YouTube.
“After four years of service in North America, MapleStory continues to evolve and surprise us all. We are very grateful to our loyal fans and this celebration is for them,” said Min Kim, Nexon America’s Vice President of Marketing. “MapleStory fans have helped create something special and we’re going to reward them with new, exciting content to enjoy throughout the summer and beyond.”
The anniversary celebration will feature:
– Fourth Anniversary Maple Weapons – Monsters will be dropping special anniversary weapons. Or the players can exchange previous anniversary weapons and Maple Leaves for new Fourth Anniversary Weapons, Maple Hats, Maple Shields, Maple Earrings, or Fourth Anniversary Scrolls.
– Item Upgrades – Maple Hat and Maple Earrings obtained through monsters are upgradable using Maple Leaves. The earrings can be upgraded by completing additional quests.
– Leveling Up Event – Each time players levels up, they will receive Maple Leaves. The number of Maple Leaves rewarded will vary depending on the level. Higher level players will receive more Maple Leaves.
– GM Events – The GMs will run special events and summon last year’s anniversary boss, Big Puff Daddy, at random times.
– Monster Transformations – Any player can transform into one of MapleStory’s monsters for a given period of time.
– 4 Candle Event – Nexon is giving away 1,200 prizes over 40 days, including in-game items, Nexon Game Cards, digital cameras, iPod Touch and a laptop computer.  Players who play for 40 minutes will receive a candle. Once a player has a candle, they can receive up to four pieces of cake for each successive 40 minutes of game play. Players who get four pieces of the cake will have a chance to win.
– Maple Quiz – Players can take the Maple Quiz. For every question a player gets right, five Maple Leaves and a special cake will be rewarded.

Huxley: The Dystopia: Closed Beta registration open

The dream game for twitch-heavy first-person shooter (FPS) players looking for the character development and community found in massively multi-player online (MMO) games is within reach.  Huxley: The Dystopia kicked-off the second phase of its teaser Web site, marking the beginning of closed beta testing signups for ijji.com’s first-of-its-kind Unreal Engine 3-based MMOFPS.  Now eager players can enter their names for a chance to be among the first to try Huxley: The Dystopia. 
The Huxley: The Dystopia site’s new additions also boast a variety of previously unseen surprises and tidbits about the game.  New items include videos, access to forums, screenshots, character descriptions, storyline background, and much more.
“Huxley: The Dystopia is ready to reveal what it has evolved into, and we want our community to be the first to see the great progress we’ve made gearing up for the game’s launch,” said Philip Yun, CEO, NHN USA, Inc. “As just talking about the game doesn’t do it justice, we are excited to invite players in to see exactly how we brought together elements of FPS’ fast action and MMO’s character development, combining it all within a intricate storyline with stunning visuals.”
Huxley: The Dystopia is a powerful combination of massively multi-player online (MMO) game character development elements and the twitch-based fast-action game play of an Unreal Engine 3-based first person shooter (FPS).  Players are thrust into a dynamic world of crisp graphics and realistic environments, where they align themselves with one of two races, Sapiens or Alternatives, in the battle to harness dwindling resources in a war-torn land.  Game play is endlessly peppered with attacks from and against the Hybrid, a mysterious third group born of the two races.

Gala Net to publish Allods

Gala-Net, Inc. has announced their partnership with Nival Online to publish Allods in the North and Central American market.
“Allods is the unique combination of the Western art style and game design with the innovative Free to Play business model from the East. We are excited that Gala-Net Inc., a Free to Play game publishing pioneer, will operate Allods in North America. Allods will set the bar for the highest quality MMOs and reinforce the quality of free to play games.” – Sergey Orlovskiy, President, Nival Online.
Based on the popular RPG series, Rages of Mages [in North America and Europe], Allods is an award-winning classic fantasy MMORPG with extensive quests, intense PvP action, in-depth character development as well as great social features to boot. With an unprecedented funding of 12 Million USD, Allods Online is the highest funded Russian game development project to date. Allods boasts both the Best Online Game and the Best Game Developer award at the 2008 Russian Game Development Conference (KRI).
This highly anticipated title will have fans of the sci-fi fantasy genre rejoicing at the intricate storyline, distinctive game play and beautiful art style.

gPotato Europe to bring Rappelz to Turkey

Gala Networks Europe, the leading online games publisher that operates the gPotato.eu game portal, is proud to announce the upcoming launch of the free-to-play MMORPG Rappelz in the Turkish language. Boasting over two and a half million players worldwide, the critically acclaimed MMORPG will be available for free to Turkish players with fully localized game, community website and support team.
 
Rappelz is a free-to-play MMORPG taking place in a fantasy world and giving players the opportunity to tame terrible creatures and lead them to battle. Developed by Seoul-based NFlavor Corp., Rappelz has been acclaimed worldwide and is currently live in a dozen different territories, with French and German versions available from the www.gpotato.eu game portal. Rappelz recently became the first ever MMORPG to be fully localised into Arabic by publisher GamePower7, and Gala Networks Europe Ltd will launch a version for players in Turkey.
 
The Turkish version of Rappelz will be available through the official website http://tr.rappelz.gpotato.eu. The game will be fully translated in Turkish and will be supported by a Turkish team from Gala Networks Europe. The closed beta is scheduled to start during the third week of May 2009 and will last for a week. At the end of the closed beta phases, players who have reached the level 20 will be able to keep their name and creature for the Open Beta phase which will be commence at the beginning of June, shortly followed by the official release without any character deletion.
 
The Turkish release version of Rappelz will feature the brand new expansion Navis Lamia, adding new content for new and high level users. The pre-registration for the closed beta version of Rappelz is available at the following address: http://tr.rappelz.gpotato.eu/ad/. Don’t miss your chance to be the first to enter this exciting fantasy world !

Jade Dynasty to be published in North America

Perfect World Entertainment Inc. today announced the Company will launch a new Free-To-Play MMORPG entitled “Jade Dynasty,” early this summer. “Jade Dynasty” is the English-based version of Zhu Xian, one of China’s most popular Free-To-Play games. Based on the extremely popular internet novel, also titled “Zhu Xian,” “Jade Dynasty” features a unique martial arts style game play wrapped in a huge, evolving game world.
The closed beta program for “Jade Dynasty” will begin on May 26. Gamers are invited to register today at: jd.perfectworld.com to receive exclusive information and early access to the full game world prior to the game’s official release.
“As more players look to Free-To-Play games for innovative new gaming experiences, we are excited to introduce ‘Jade Dynasty’ as we feel its depth of play and extensive feature set will resonate particularly well with both free-to-play gamers and more hardcore fans of the MMO genre,” said Dr. Alan Chen, CEO of Perfect World Entertainment Inc. “‘Jade Dynasty’ exemplifies the exceptional level of quality that gamers have come to expect from Perfect World Entertainment and as a result we expect it will be one of our most successful releases to date.”
“Jade Dynasty” offers players a multitude of features and systems not commonly found in free-to-play MMORPGs. Once inside the crisp, clean game world, players begin their quest to uncover the secrets of immortality as they first assume the role of a simple paladin. Players delve into a system where choices between good and evil begin to shape their game play experience as they obtain different skills, items and ultimately, a story that is unique to every player. Among the many great features, the classless character progression system allows players to focus on the skills you desire to create the ultimate warrior.
Unlike other games that charge monthly subscription fees, “Jade Dynasty” allows gamers complete access to the game world free of charge. Players can trade, earn and spend virtual currency in the game to upgrade a large variety of items in real-time to further enhance and personalize their game play experience. Digital goods that players can obtain in the In-game Shop include: items that can assist with tasks such as consumables that aid player progress, others that reset or temporarily increase stats, expansion of storage capabilities, customizable fashion and equipment, such as mounts that allow faster movement and reduce travel time, social items and gifts that assist communication, and much more.

Allods

Allods is an award-winning classic fantasy MMORPG with extensive quests, intense PvP action, in-depth character development as well as great social features to boot. The game was originally developed in Russia and is now available globally.

Features:

PvP Emphasis: Experience an intricate storyline focused around 2 warring factions

Customization: Pick from one of 6 races and 8 archetypes to build your perfect character. Detailed talent grids with hundreds of skills exist.

The Astrals: Build an impressive Astral ship and wage war with others in intense Astral Ship battles.

Three Kingdoms Review: Mindless Grind or Extremely Unique?

 

Three Kingdoms Review: Mindless Grind or Extremely Unique?
By Mohammed Afzal (MageMoa), OnRPG Journalist

 

A high amount of gamers had been waiting for this game. When the game got released, most of the gamers were disappointed by the graphics of the game. It looked like it was another mindless grinding MMORPG, but was this true? The Three Kingdoms, developed and hosted by the gaming corporation “Uforia”, is based on an Asian novel, better known as: “The Romance of The Three Kingdoms”. The game is mainly about three clans who are constantly fighting against each other. The game is really great and special for the gamers that have read the novel; Not only are they able to see their favorite characters from the novel in the game, they can also talk to them and help them! But what exactly is this game and what can we expect from it?

 

Gameplay

When starting the game, you will definitely not be impressed; Everything looks like a regular grinding MMO. You will be able to choose between three clans and four classes. After choosing your clan and class, you will be taken into the game. And there you are; Standing in a big world full of monsters, quests and many things to do! At least, that is what you would think. The game doesn’t really start until level 40 and by then you will be sick of the grinding, but even though the graphics are disappointing and the huge amount of grind is just horrible, the game offers us many unique features!

 

Clans and Classes

There are three clans: Wei, Shu and Wu. These three clans have actually existed many years ago in the Chinese Empire! The clans don’t really have any differences and their status is dependable on their members; They are the ones that have to fight for their clan!

 

The four main classes of the game are nothing special; You must’ve encountered them in many games. These four classes are: Warrior, Archer, Craftsman and Mystic. The more unique part of the classes are the job advancements. There are three job advancements; One at level 20, 40 and 80. Let me explain the last two for you:

 

Warrior

When a warrior is level 40, he has to choose between two classes: Defender and Champion. The Defender has more defense and uses a sword and shield to attack. They deal medium damage, but they are the perfect tankers. When a Defender reaches level 80, he can advance to become a Guardian. This will make higher his health and defense and he will be able to keep even more enemies away.

 

The Champions use two handed weapons to deal damage. Their defense and hit points are lower than the Defender’s, but they can hit incredibly high. When a Champion reaches level 70, he can advance to become a Conqueror. This will basically make him even stronger and his attacking speed will increase.

 

Archer

When an archer reaches level 40, he can finally advance. He will be able to choose between two classes: Slayer and Ranger. The Slayer can be seen as the thief class of the game. It specializes in throwing weapons and it is faster than the Ranger class. It is a very challenging class, but really difficult to master. When a Slayer hits level 80, he will be advanced into a Warden. This makes him throw even faster and his agility will rise.

 

The Ranger class is more common. Rangers use bows and crossbows to attack their enemy from a distance. Their accuracy is almost perfect and their quick blows can take out their enemies before they reach them. When a Ranger hits level 80, he will become a Marksman. This will make him move quicker and attack even faster.

 

Mystic

The weakest offensive beginning class. It is really hard to get your Mystic to level 40 on your own, because of the lack of hit points and defense. When your Mystic reaches level 40, you will be able to pick an advanced class. The two classes you can pick are: Doctor and Tactician.

 

The Doctor class mainly focuses on healing and supporting their party members. They are not able to fight on their own and it is really a pain to train a Doctor if you don’t have any friends. When a Doctor reaches level 80, it will become a Shaman. A Shaman is capable of doing better damage than a Doctor, but it is still is very weak.

 

The Tactician class is the strongest class (damage wise). They can deal the highest amount of damage, but they fire slowly and they have a very low amount of health and defense. When a Tactician reaches level 80, he will advance into an Oracle.
Oracles can deal even greater damage, especially with their AoE (Area of Effect) spells. They can’t be missed in a good party!

 

Craftsman

The Craftsman differs from the other classes; It doesn’t focus on fighting at all. The Craftsman is a class which can play a huge factor in the game, because they are the only class that is capable of making weapons and armor. At level 40, a Craftsman can decide to take the path of an Armorsmith or a Weaponsmith. The names of the classes say enough about their function. At level 80, the Armorsmith will advance into an Artisan Armorsmith and the Weaponsmith will become an Artisan Weaponsmith. They will be able to make even greater equipment after the job advancement.

 

Features

The features of the game are stunning, especially the PvP. The PvP option of the game is more than just two players fighting each other. There are regular PvP battles, but there are also Castle Sieges. Let me tell you a bit about this unique feature. Castle Sieges are all about  GvG (Guild versus Guild) battles. Your guild has to fight guilds from other Kingdoms. If your Kingdom wins more Castles, the amount of gold and experience in your Kingdom will rise!

For more information about this feature, please check The Three Kingdom’s site. The second feature I would like to mention is the Hiring system. You will basically be able to hire someone or something to fight on your side. To hire someone or something, you will have to offer enemies money for the job. The only negative part of this feature is that there is a possibility that the enemies will not accept your offer and attack you!

 

Personal opinion

I could keep this very short; The game is unique in its own way.  The classes were challenging and the PvP was really stunning, but the level requirement for Castle Sieges was a letdown and the cash shop users had a real advantage above the regular players. And even though I am not someone who judges games by their graphics, the graphics of the game have really ruined it for me.

 

Pros:
– Great PvP options
– Stunning features
– Job advancements
– Great storyline.

 

Cons:
– Mindless grinding
– Disappointing graphics.

Fallen Earth: enter the Closed Beta

Fallen Earth, LLC, developer of the self-titled post-Apocalyptic MMO Fallen Earth, is excited to announce that the game has now transitioned into closed beta testing. Interested testers can sign up for the opportunity to receive a closed beta key at www.fallenearth.com and join thousands of fellow Fallen Earth players each week as the online community expands to accommodate more closed beta testers.
 
“This is a critical milestone for our team and an opportunity to showcase updated content and features,” said Colin Dwan, project manager for Fallen Earth. “We are excited to see how players progress through all three sectors without any interference, and anxious to see where we can improve the overall experience.”
 
The Fallen Earth team has been working very hard to improve and polish all aspects of the game. Recent updates include the creation of a comprehensive user tutorial and continued enhancements to balance the in-game crafting system. With the move to closed beta, players will have the opportunity to piece together aspects of the storyline, play freely through all three sectors, and gain a better understanding of how the game will look and feel at launch. Closed beta testing also allows the development team to better observe overall game play, perform system stress tests, and ultimately perfect the Fallen Earth game experience.
 
Set in the Grand Canyon in 2156 after a lethal disease destroyed most of mankind, the game features a classless advancement system, six factions and a unique crafting feature in which players can make 95 percent of game items. With 70 towns, real-time settings and interesting character modifications, all taking place within a post-Apocalyptic plot, Fallen Earth provides the ultimate player experience.
 
Fallen Earth will be released in Q2 2009. An exact launch date is forthcoming.