Monthly Archives: May 2009

Final Fantasy XI: Version Update Tour

Final Fantasy XI: Version Update Tour
By Mary Garcia (Vil), OnRPG Journalist

 

The April 8, 2009 Final Fantasy XI version update brought a plethora of changes to the world of Vana’diel, with both brand new content and much anticipated adjustments. Below are some of the highlight’s from this latest version update.

 

Augment System

The April version update introduces the augment system, where items will receive additional attributes to already existing attributes. This system opens up seemingly endless possibilities for a character to choose from. There are several new quests that reward adventurers with these augmented items. To balance things out, once items receive augmentation, they may not be sold or traded to other players. It is a fair trade off, since some items will end up with rather nice attributes.

 

A Crystalline Prophecy

First announced at Final Fantasy XI Fan Festival 2008, A Crystalline Prophecy is the first of three add-on scenarios to be released. Players get to revisit some old favorites as well as meet new characters in this brand new adventure. There are no new areas to explore, and no new jobs either; the majority of this scenario is based on the original Final Fantasy XI and Rise of the Zilart content. While the adventure may seem short and lacking to some, this add-on scenario definitely has its strengths. Taking advantage of the new augmenting system, defeating missions allows players the opportunity to choose two augments from a set list to enhance one of three new unique body pieces. Other rewards include randomly augmented equipment and items. Adventurers may repeat these fights once a day for a chance at making these augments just right.

 

Fields of Valor

Due to its popularity immediately after release, Fields of Valor has been expanded into several new areas. Adventurers may now partake in exciting new training regimes, or try their hand at the new “elite training” regimes added in the latest version update. Elite training regimes allow adventurers to try their luck at fighting Notorious Monsters for a chance at augmenting items. Training regimes can be accessed via the Field Manuals in the same way as before.

 

New Job Abilities and Magic: White Mage & Red Mage

White Mage Afflatus MiseryWhite Mages and Red Mages will rejoice alike at the latest adjustments to their specific jobs.  Afflatus Solace and Afflatus Misery have been added to the list of White Mage specific abilities, with each of them enhancing current and new white magic spells. Afflatus Solace enhances magic based on the amount of hit points restored by cure spells, while Afflatus Misery enhances magic based on the amount of damage taken by the White Mage. New magic to accompany these abilities is Esuna, Cura, Sacrifice, and Auspice. A very welcome job adjustment that will keep many White Mages entertained.

 

Red Mages also receive a new job ability this version update, called Composure. With Composure active, all magic spills will receive an accuracy bonus with lengthened recast timers. Any spells cast on self will have a longer duration as well. In addition to this, new white magic spells have been added for Red Mages; Enfire II, Enblizzard II, Enaero II, Enstone II, Enthunder II, and Enwater II. These new spells add elemental damage to a character’s first hit, as well as reducing the targeted enemy’s resistance to the opposite element. A monster which has been attacked with Enthunder II, for example, will receive a thunder elemental blow and will have its resistance to earth reduced. Solo Red Mages will find these spells handy.

 

New Wings of the Goddess Quests

New quests also accompany the April version update, and they are not disappointing. As the nations prepare for the final battle, adventurers will be at the front of major key turning points that will leave them anticipating for what comes next. For storyline lovers, keep that hanky handy. The cut-scenes make for very engaging screenplay, with most of the action taking place in Windurst’s quests.

 

Personal Recommendation

The White Mage adjustment is definitely the highlight of this update. Many new strategies and game play styles will be used here, keeping it fresh for white mages everywhere. The new quests are also very interesting. The rewards for completing them may not seem worth it for some, but the real purpose of these is to advance the storylines.

 

Pros:
– New augment system makes for interesting new way to customize a character’s equipment.
– New spells and abilities for White Mages and Red Mages make for exciting new gameplay.
– New Fields of Valor areas and elite training make for even more ways to gain experience and treasures.

 

Cons:
– Add-on scenario content may seem too short for some.
– Trying for augmented items only once per day may lead to frustration.

Eudemons Divine Path to Be Unveiled on May 8th

TQ Digital is proud to announce that the Eudemons expansion, The Divine Path, will be unveiled to players on May 8th. In the expansion, the Twelve Olympians are planning to reorder the mortal world. Great adventurers will start the new journey in the once forbidden Divine Realm to then pursue god-like power.
 
Main New Features
 
Divine Realm
Adventurers will be able to enter the Divine Realm, in which they will observe magnificent statues of the Twelve Olympians, receive a series of new quests and have a glimpse of stories behind these omniscient deities.
 
The Godship
The Twelve Olympians have arranged a string of gritty tests to select the most powerful warriors in the mortal world. Adventures that can pass these tests will apotheosize, and obtain god-like abilities from those deities, called Godship.
 
Divine Eudemons
For the Apotheosis quest, loyal eudemons will accompany their masters to endure the ultimate test of the Olympic gods. After successfully passing the test, the 40-star eudemons will apotheosize with the adventurers, into divine eudemons.
 
Divine Equipment
As a deity, you can forge Divine Equipment, which contains abilities beyond a mortal’s imagination. Divine equipment can be classified in 5 ranks, and to improve the Divine equipment’s quality, the artisans must utilize some rare gems from the Divine Realm.
 
The Celebration Events
To celebrate the release of The Divine Path, the TQ team has also prepared a string of events for our vibrant community.
 
1. New Rewards for Class PK Tournament
From May 8th, the champions of Class PK Tournament can choose one gift pack as reward from the 3 options below:
Pack A: 25*SaintXO + 25*UniversalXO
Pack B: 25* SaintXO + 5 God Tears + 5 Oracle Stone + 5 Smelt Symbol
Pack C: 25*UniversalXO + 5 God Tears + 5 Oracle Stone + 5 Smelt Symbol
 
2. The Celebration Quests
There will be 2 celebration quests for the release of The Divine Path: The Prayer Miracle & The Skyrockets. They are scheduled to be released on May.15th. From these 2 quests, adventurers will receive some helpful items for the new journey, or just set off gallant fireworks for the ceremony! More details coming soon.
The gate to the new journey is about to open. Adventurers of Yartland, prepare yourselves for the test from the deities, and take the road less travelled.

Freesky Online: Closed Beta Quickly Coming

The Freesky Online closed beta test will be released at 9:00pm on May 7th, 2009(GMT-4). For all you potential beta testers out there don’t worry, your hard earned information and character data will be retained. The majestic castles, vast fleets, and miraculous miracles will be ready to greet players shortly. In addition, the activation page for Freesky Online will be released on May 4rd (GMT-4), and players can visit the page to use their activation codes to activate accounts.
 
Freesky Online has prepared a lot of events for players to win registration codes. Check out these events and get your CB code now!
 
1.        Alliance Recruitment – The Alliance leader will be given plenty of activation codes, and the Alliance can apply to create a special group in the forum with the Alliance name. 
2.        Post for activation codes – Post a thread containing content relating to Freesky Online in other forums. Each player can earn only 3 activation codes at most.
3.        Blog Event – Players can link Freesky’s pictures to their blogs, share wonderful moments with their friends and get activation codes.
 
Note: All character info, including character data will be retained.

Gala Net to publish Aika

Gala-Net, Inc., a leader free-to-play online game publisher, has announced their partnership with HanbitSoft to publish Aika in the North American market.
 
“We are delighted to work with an experienced publisher like Gala-Net, Inc.,” adds Kee Young Kim, CEO of HanbitSoft, “Gala-Net, Inc. has a proven track-record of successfully marketing MMORPGs in North America and we are confident that together we will make a lot of players excited about Aika.” 
 
In additional to traditional MMO features like quests and item crafting, Aika presents a large scaled PvP system that range from small dungeon groups of 6 all the way up to wars of 1,000 vs. 1,000. Its highly developed user experience also features a PRAN system and sophisticated in game voice-overs. Aika is presented in dramatically stunning graphics; however, the game client boasts a small client size of only 300MB!
 
Aika Online, will appeal to the diehard MMO fans eager to play a highly distinctive MMORPG. Stay tuned to http://Aika.gPotato.com for up to date news on Aika Online.
 
“We are excited to publish Aika! With a highly innovative gaming company like HanbitSoft, Gala-Net, aims to provide the best online game experience through Aika,” says Jikhan Jung, CEO of Gala-Net, Inc.

Shadowbane Farewell Extended

Shadowbane, the P2P MMORPG which was supposed to shut down on May 1st, will still be around until July 1st. That’s the announcement published by Ubisoft:
 
Following our recent news, the support and enthusiasm the community has shown for Shadowbane has led to an extension of the closure date to July 1, 2009. This should allow the community enough time to play out its final days appropriately. We are looking into various options to make these final days as fun as possible!

GodsWar Online: Challenge Up Quests

Set in Greek background, GodsWar Online has always been a place of intelligence and innovation. As the birthplace of democracy, philosophy, technology, warfare and tactics, it is also famous for braving warriors. Why not come and try out the amazing Up Quests which is designed especially for brave warriors with extraordinary abilities.
 
Players can appraise their equipment’s attributes on the Quest Log panel, and as long as the attributes meet the requirements, a “+10” mark will be displayed behind the players’ name and throughout the server. This mark means that they are able to accept an Up Quests that is 10 levels higher than their current level. Additionally, their max quest number will be increased from 20 to 30.

Shot Online: 2nd Annual Charity Tournament

San Jose-based online game publisher, Gamescampus.com, today announced the second annual online ALS Charity Tournament for its popular MMO golf simulation game, Shot-Online. The memorial event has been held annually since 2006 to remember a Shot-Online player who passed away from ALS (commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease).
 
The GamesCampus ALS Charity Tournament is underway and will run through May 14th on the Shot-Online Sasori golf course. Players of any skill level are welcome to join the charity event. GamesCampus will donate $1 for every player who completes the entire 18-hole Sasori course in the Shot-Online game.
 
GamesCampus will also waive the green fees for all participants. All proceeds from the tournament will be donated to the Driving 4 Life organization to benefit its ALS Therapy Development Institute and ALS research efforts.
 
“We are pleased to announce our annual event for this great cause and proud to provide all proceeds from the tournament to the Driving 4 Life organization to help raise awareness and cure ALS,” said Tony Liu, Producer of Shot Online. “We encourage all Shot-Online players as well as their friends and family members to take part in this special event which is for such a great cause.”

AIKA Online

Aika is a free-to-play fantasy MMORPG with an emphasis on realm versus realm (RvR) PvP combat, which boasts an impressive 2,000 player battlefield. The game offers six gender-locked classes, a unique ‘Pran’ pet system, squad systems, dynamic sieges, and many other classic MMO features. Released in 2009, Aika Online continues to offer low system requirements for players concerned about taxing system resources.

My Addiction to World of Warcraft (part 1)

Questions by Joshua Temblett (Dontkillmydreams), Onrpg writer
Answered by Oliver, ex World of Warcraft player
 
In this interview I talk to Oliver, an ex European World of Warcraft player who has been a part of the game and its community from the very beginning.  Playing the game for years, he finally quit, after realising just how much of his life he was losing.  In this interview I attempt to find out why he quit and how he feels about the massive MMORPG.
 
 
Q:  How did you get into to World of Warcraft, how did you find out about it?
 
A:  My cousin first discovered it, he told me about it and I thought it sounded pretty cool.  So I checked out the website with a friend and we got really into it and there was this month wait (when the stores were waiting for new stock, just after launch) before we got the game and we’d check the website everyday and look at the screenshots.  We were thirteen at the time, so we would get this image of this new world that looked so fun to play, it was like magic almost.  So after waiting for a month we finally got the game and it was just so cool.
 
 
Q:  So it was something you had never experienced before?
 
A:  Yeah, it was my first MMO, and it was the first time I had played online with a proper community, it was pretty amazing for me.  It was a lot better as well being a kid as you kinda felt it more and got into it a lot more.
 
 
Q:  Now you said that you were part of the second generation of World of Warcraft players…
 
A:  Oh yeah definitely, I started playing just after the launch.
 
 
Q:  When did you stop playing WoW?
 
A:  I stopped about seven months ago.
 
 
Q:  So you’ve been playing for a while then, what drew you in?  Was it the gameplay, the community?  What was it that got you hooked?
 
A:  It was just the idea that there was so much to explore, and that it was just like a whole new world and when you first get into it, it gives you all these teasers of what the rest of the world is like and each time you would go up to a new area and it would get that much better and you’d be like, “Yeah alright, that’s pretty cool”.  It just got better and better and the first time you go to a major city it’s just so, so amazing.  I go there now after like four years of it and it’s just as boring as hell but the first time it was just jaw dropping.
 
 
Q:  So you think the fact that you were a kid, gave the game more of an impact?
 
A:  Yeah, definitely.  A lot of players complain about how they should make the age rating higher than a 12 because you get all the newbie kids playing and stuff but they can really appreciate the game so much more than a lot of the adult players could, just because they can feel more of the magic of it.  It’s a bit like Disneyland, isn’t it?
 
 
Q:  Did you feel like you’ve learnt anything from playing it? 
 
A:  Erm yeah, I think this goes for most players that play the game now, if there was no community in it, it wouldn’t be half as good, in fact nowhere near as good a game as it is.  I mean it was the whole idea that, especially in the first few months of the game’s launch, everyone was together.  When the game first started everyone was a newb, and there were no “pro” or “hardcore” players cos no one had got to that stage yet, so there was this real sense of community and togetherness, everyone would help each other out, everyone was a newb so there was none of this, “well you suck!”, kinda thing because everyone did, which was why it was so good. 
 
 
Q:  So as the game grew and grew, would you say, the community got worse? 
 
A:  Yeah, yeah I think most people that played it will agree with me on that, those who played from the beginning anyway.  As the level caps got higher the rate of “pro-ness” and the level you can achieve just gone up and it got a lot worse.
 
 
Q:  As sad as it sounds, some people say that playing World of Warcraft has enhanced their social skills due to the sheer number of different personalities and perspectives you come across in the game, what do you think of this?
 
A:  I think this would apply to most MMOs.  It’s like the world starts all over again.  At the moment in the world, we’ve got all this racism, hatred and all that.  World of Warcraft was a very biased free zone.  The only biased there was, was towards classes and what talents you were and stuff, which was such a stupid thing to have a hatred against.  There was such a good friendliness, there was no real hatred or judgement because you were judging them for the character or how they played the game as opposed to who they were in real life, which was really good, it was really good to not have to judge someone by what they look like or how they dress, or anything like that. 
 
 
Q:  Do you think it’s changed the way you look at people then?
 
A:  Yeah, there’s a lot more of the whole don’t judge a book by its cover kinda thing in WoW and you’ve gotta keep that rule in mind.
 
 
Q:  Now why exactly did you quit playing World of Warcraft?  Was it because you felt like you’ve grown out of it? 
 
A:  Well, it was partly due to that.  I first started playing it as a kid and it changed a lot, I can’t just blame the game for that and say that “aw the designers screwed it up and stuff”.  I think a lot of original players from the first few months will agree that, yeah Blizzard have screwed up a bit, especially the “Burning Crusade” which was a big duff up and lost a lot of players…
 
Q:  Why was it a big duff up?
 
A:  Well it was such a drastic change, a lot of players just didn’t like it as Blizzard introduced small things which a lot of people didn’t like and just the whole extra space issue.  The game felt incredibly different.  That was a large degree of why a lot of people left.  I think the reason why I left was the community I was in fell apart.  I was in such a great community we were always doing little raids and we had a really good time just going around the place doing whatever we wanted, but obviously because of real life issues some of the players started leaving and then because of that we lost certain players, certain roles in the guild.  In the end we had lost the leadership, we found ourselves a bit misplaced and without that person we couldn’t function properly as a raid group and if we couldn’t get someone to replace them, it would have all have to go down the drain.  That basically led to the end of the guild and our small community.
 
 
Q:  So I guess you’d say it was the dying community that made you leave?
 
A:  Yeah, I mean I go on there now (especially the general chat and stuff) and you see there are a lot more ignorant players and it’s really disgusting because it’s just a game.  I really miss the old, everyone being a newb kinda thing as there was no biased or ignorance.  It was bliss.
 
 
Q:  Would you say that a lot of the players left around “The Burning Crusade”?
 
A:  Yes, I’d say so.
 
 
Q:  Do you think those people were the “hardcore” WoW players?
 
A:  I wouldn’t nessarcaily say it was just the “hardcore” but also some casual players to.  An example of this is with the original PvP (player verus player) reward system, from which you’d gain ranks from getting a certain amount of kills in battleground and from each rank you’d get a reward. It was a very anti “casual gamer” system but I personally, as I was quiet a casual gamer at the time (maybe not as much as I am now), preferred it more than the system we have now, which is just too casual gamer oriented.  I think it totally ruined the PvP system in the game, and a lot of the older players left because of that, and it also changed a lot of people to PvE raiding and that has upset the PvP balance in the game.  A lot of the players playing now weren’t from the first year or so, and thus don’t know how much better the PvP system was.
 
 
Q:  Would you say there aren’t a lot of first or second generation World of Warcraft players now?
 
A:  I wouldn’t say there’s that many, after two years I found the game quite depressing, I felt almost isolated from all the players I used to know (due to them quitting), it felt like leaving family, as sad as it sounds.  I couldn’t ever find a guild as good as my original one…
 
 
Q:  Do you wanna do a shout out to your guild?  What was its name?
 
A:  *Laughs* Ah no… It was Mayhem on Stormrage.
 
 
Q:  Woo!  And how long were you in the guild for?
 
A:  It must have been half a year to a year or so.
 
 
Q:  And it was the guild that had the biggest impact on you?
 
A:  Definitely.
 
 
Part two coming soon!