Casvian promises to bring some innovative new features to the Browser MMORTS market. This movie offers a small sneak peak.
Monthly Archives: October 2009
Onrpg Comic Issue #7 Team Fortress
By Dominik Antunovic, OnRPG Journalist

MLB Dugout Heroes: Major Update Coming October 8th
To celebrate the hottest month in baseball, MLB Dugout Heroes will introduce tons of new content changes coinciding with the Fall Classic.
Text:
To celebrate the hottest month in baseball, GamesCampus will introduce tons of new content changes coinciding with the Fall Classic in its popular online baseball game – MLB Dugout Heroes.
Among the new features are a new console style menu, a minor league system, an enhanced bench system, new team logo bonuses and a brand-new stadium.
Both new and current players can check out the new features starting this Thursday, October 8th.
Dodger Stadium
The newest stadium in MLB Dugout Heroes is here! Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962. Dodger Stadium is currently the third oldest ballpark, and one of the biggest in Major League Baseball, behind Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago!
New Console Style Menu
The new Console Style Menu layout is more common to players who are familiar with console style presentation. Console sports games use this vertical style option with a portion of the screen dedicated to individuals who are great ambassadors for the respective sport.
Minor League System
The Minor League System makes a smooth transition from retirement to replacement. The new Minor League System allows players to groom their players of the future while using their present players. Players can assign up to nine pitchers in the Minor Leagues, up to three per concentration: Balanced, Flame Thrower (Increased Fastball Growth Rate) and Finesse Pitcher (Increased Breaking Ball Growth Rate).
Players may assign up to twelve Minor League Batters in the Minor Leagues, up to three per focus: Balanced, Power (Increased Power Growth Rate), Accuracy (Increased Bat Growth Rate), Run (Increased Run Growth Rate).
Enhanced Bench System
Players can ensure their bench players are doing more than just growing old on the bench. They can customize the way each player earns EXP and all Bench Pitchers have only one type of growth rate. All the Pitchers in the designated slots will receive 80% of pitchers’ default EXP.
Bench Batters have the option of selecting one of five growth types; Power, Bat, Run, Throw, or Defense. Batters in the designed slots will receive 80% EXP of the following positions; 4th Batter in Lineup (Power), 3rd Batter in Lineup (Bat), 1st Batter in Lineup (Run), Catcher (Throw), or Shortstop (Defense).
Team Logo Bonus
Using the Special Team Logo, players will receive a bonus for the amount of past players of a specific team they have in their lineup.
User’s who recruit past players of their favorite teams — using the new Team Specific Draftcards — will receive bonus stats for having those players in their lineup.

Cloud Nine: Closed Beta Details
This is a quick reminder from your friendly neighbourhood OnRPG crew that the Cloud Nine Closed Beta only last for another couple of days.
In this CBT, six classes (Warrior, Hunter, Monk, Thief, Priest and Mage) for three races (Seneka, Koshare and Matska) have been revealed along with PvP modes such as party battles, guild battles between nations, and world PvP (that also allows PvP between players belong to the same nation) in the certain areas.
An upgraded ‘Class revolving system’ and ‘Seven Sign’ unique party skill combo system only in available Cloud Nine will be displayed upcoming CBT periods as well.
The G.O.D system (Game Organizing Design) is one of the most innovative features in Cloud Nine. This system provides new experiences to players with monster taming and transforming. With the monster taming system, players can randomly get monster cards from battles with enemies in the game and (after a bit of effort) use the monsters sealed in the cards as pets. The cards are not just for collecting and displaying, but for obtaining companions as well. This system will motivate players to want to start their own monster card collections.
Monster transforming gives players the ability to play as monsters by using monster cards they obtained from battle. Players will find this system providing unexpected entertainment. The system does not only transform appearances but also skills and stats so players will encounter a whole new type of game-play as if they were a monster in the field.
With these unique contents as well as standard ones like a crafting system, quests, and numerous dungeons, players of Cloud Nine will find something new and exciting to do everyday.
All of the Mgame USA staff wishes to give their thanks to players for showing their love and interest in Cloud Nine. They feel strongly in the belief that the successful start of Cloud Nine CBT is all because of them and will do their best to meet players’ needs and expectations.
Mgame USA also would like to remind everyone that while the CBT is going on, there are plans to test Cloud Nine’s security system with a limited amount of users as well. By doing this it is hoped that a faster and stronger system to prevent hacking and increase security can be built.

Hattrick Review: Because Everyone Deserves Their Own Football Team
By Kei Beneza (dividelife), Onrpg Journalist
Do you think that you’re good at soccer? Do you have what it takes to lead a soccer team to victory? If you love Soccer then this game is definitely for you. Hattrick is a browser-based MMO game, which doesn’t demand that much from your computer since it’s practically just texts and images. You don’t need any third party software nor any form of downloads to run the game. Getting into the game is as simple as creating an account and logging in. After agreeing to the game’s terms and conditions (provided that you’ve filled in the necessary information) then you’re ready to go. What makes this game really awesome is its massive player base (and I’m not even talking about soccer players). If you want to play football manager with a large community, then this game won’t disappoint you.
I want to play this game, but I don’t know anything about football!
Sorry bro, the game uses soccer terms so you will have to be familiar with the lingo before you start playing. The game is quite newbie friendly but only if the player is a soccer fan (posting the rules wouldn’t hurt you know). After starting my review, I immediately browsed through our library to find the “Soccer for Idiots” guide. After familiarizing myself with the terms and rules, I found that the game really makes you feel like you’re in charge.
Hey Michaels! You suck! You’re leaving!
Much like your average console Fifa soccer game simulator, you are in charge of your team’s wellbeing. Making sure they function well on the field, you get to pick between who goes and who stays. You can also train new players in order to surprise your opponents (yeah, nothing like a super rookie to catch them off guard). It’s up to you whether you want a better striker or a better goal keeper. The choice is yours and yours alone. Know that your decisions could greatly affect your team’s performance so choose wisely, for it is up to you to lead them to victory.

Bring in the bacon! More money means more aesthetics.
Players aren’t the only thing you can mess with in this simulator. The game (or application) lets you upgrade your team’s home court (or in this case, home field LOL). You can sell some of your prized players if you’re in a rush to purchase things (but that wouldn’t be very bright now would it?). If you want a bigger stadium, then work hard for it.
Oh! So that’s where you lack training!
After drowning myself in sports simulators, I was actually surprised at how this application (or game) managed to go in-depth with some information. Not only do the player’s statistics reflect their overall performance on each game, the stat board (player interface) actually shows you’re their individual strengths and weaknesses. It shows you which position your players are comfortable with. It’s a good and realistic feature for you can now assign your players in their own respective post on the field, knowing that they’re going to function well on your behalf. Bring in the money!!!
Graphics? Wuh?
Ever used the mybrute application? It would actually be a whole lot better if they managed to provide a cheap form of visuals in order to give you an idea how your team’s doing on the field (in real time). The interface is rather simple, and consists mostly of green and white boxes for your options. It’s user friendly, because that way you won’t have to browse the screen for the Home button. You do however, get a nice view of the city where your stadium is built, and yes you can see how well your stadium looks after doing some extensive upgrades. Players tend to have their own pics, which makes it easier for you to remember them.
Working your way to the top
Everyone has to start at the bottom of the food chain. If you feel like your team is on a losing streak, don’t mind it. Since your team lacks experience, it’s up to you to train them further. Don’t hesitate when fighting other (more experienced) teams since this could also work to your advantage as a newbie team. Grind your way through tough matches and hope to magically win against an experienced team (who knows?)

That’s all?
Unfortunately, if you’re not satisfied with the game’s free to play goodness, there’s always the addon option that lets you boost your in game experience. No, the addons are NOT free so I guess these things only apply to diehard fans. In case you were wondering, these addons don’t really make your players better (hah! Expecting something?). The addons merely enhance your options when dealing with aesthetics. It’s more or less the same as paying for a brand new wallpaper when you can just play with your default one (yep, nothing special there). You can also pay for the premium service which doesn’t really help much, again another form of aesthetic enhancer. You don’t really have to pay anything to enjoy this game. Register, login and have fun.
The verdict
One thing that makes this game (or application) run would be its massive community. It makes it easier for a lot of players to start because there are lots of people who can answer your newbie questions (considering the game’s lack of tutorials). Browsing through your player’s stat board is pretty awesome since it indicates how well you’re doing so far. The stadium builder is pretty cool, and you really don’t need any form of addons to make your in game experience better. The game requires proper endurance and perseverance since you’ll be experiencing tons of losses before you actually get a shot at something (hey everyone has to start small, so it’s no biggie). The only thing I find nasty about this game would be its total lack of tutorials. Not only did I have to ask people what to do, I even had to research how soccer was played. Anyway, though I’m not a fan of soccer, I actually found myself enjoying this game a lot more than expected. Must Play? Definitely
The good:
-Large player base
-Newbie friendly INTERFACE
-Addons
-No downloads necessary
The bad:
-Lack of tutorials
-probably something for Soccer fans only
-Addons are too expensive for what they’re worth
-Lack of visuals (some browser games do it)
Talisman Online: October events to celebrate two year birthday

Dance Groove Online Preview: GrooveÂs In The Title For A Reason
By Rickee Charbonneau (Jammart), OnRPG Journalist
Dance Groove Online is an exiting dance game in the process of being published by Outspark. It will soon be entering Open Beta, and I will be returning then as I have had a pretty positive experience in the first closed beta of the game. Do not be so quick as to judge this game to any other dancing games you have played online. There are so many aspects of this game that makes it unique and a real joy to play.
Of course, there were some flaws that I will get into later on in the review-some were just minor, and some are excusable due to it being in an early test phase. It was surprising, really. I was not expecting the game to be so fun!
..Dancing? ↑→↓↓↑←
There has always been a little bit of uproar on the topic of categorizing this genre of game as a “dancing game”. Most players will not necessarily be dancing as they play this game, simply because it is a little too fast for a dance pad at times, but those who wish to play with a dance pad are able to so long as it can be connected to the computer. Whether you play with your keyboard or the dance pad, you are still likely to have a riot!

It may not seem like a really fun thing to play with keyboard arrows at first glance-at least that is what I thought. The controls are very simple and the various elements of the game are very easy to learn. There are also quite a few game modes already available in-game. Here’s a quick rundown of them:
Normal Single Mode: This is the basic default game mode in Dance Groove Online. You guessed it; this game mode consists of you being well…solo, and you simply have to follow your screen as your bar reaches the arrows you will need to press. Yes, the bar actually moves towards the arrows, and not vice versa.
Normal Team Mode: This is the very same as the normal single mode, however the game play is slightly altered. You will be dancing in three groups of two or two groups of three. The concept is the same, although the dancing your characters will do will be in co ordinance of your partners, which looks really cool, and you have to rely on your team mates strengths to win the game.
Item Mode: This game mode is a little different from the others currently offered in-game. Similarly to the normal mode, you aim to successfully complete the arrow patterns that will appear on your screen, but there is a twist. The moment you get a “perfect” or “great”, and even sometimes a “good” rating for your dancing technique, you will be given an item. These items can then be used on yourself, your team mates, or your enemies. Some items will benefit you; some will destroy your enemies. They make extra arrows appear on other’s screens, wobble their arrow bar, make arrows seem upside-down, erase arrows from the screen, make arrows invisible, etc! These items are used by pressing the F1-6 key (one F key is assigned to a particular character in the match). However, make sure to use the right items on your enemies… try not to make things easier for them!
Step Up: Step Up is the final game mode that was available during the first closed beta phase. It is not available for team play, as it is basically a competition to see which dancer can “step it up” and blow everyone away! This game mode is extremely simple, but can also be a little frustrating at times. This mode plays exactly like the normal game mode, though you have to press the space bar after each pattern of arrows. The arrows will get more and more difficult as the song goes by, and you will sometimes encounter special arrow patterns that provide you with tons of points if you can hit them all.
All of these game modes can currently be played in regular mode or 2X key mode (everything is two times as fast) on either the introduction channel, the beginner channel, or the intermediate channel. The only difference between these channels is their difficulty; they offer the same content otherwise.
Personal Recommendation
I thoroughly enjoyed this game. The graphics were cute (maybe a little too pink, though), and the music was great for the most part. This was a wonderful contrast from Audition Online. Dance Groove featured high quality tracks that were generally recent. There were even a few that I really liked and added to my own media library. The game maps are pretty decent. Sometimes they are a little laggy and too flashy and bright, but in essence they did the trick. The camera angles offered in dance matches are great, too.

Character creation was also pretty fantastic. The character models are better in proportion than most anime-styled games, though there are still a few exaggerations. They also categorized height in age, which made absolutely no sense to me. The twelve year old body was the same as the eighteen year old body… only shorter. There was a severe lack in items to choose from to customize your character, but I am sure this will improve during the full release of the game, so no worries there.
Another aspect I really enjoyed was the messenger system. It works flawlessly and really organizes all you need to be in touch with your friends, your crew (guild system), and the lobby of players waiting to join a game.
All in all, this game is really worth trying. Even if you are not into the whole dancing game genre, you should give it a go. It is a very casual game (it should be, at least), and it is a great time killer. I had so much fun during the CB-I even got to challenge a few GMs to a dance off! Be sure to check this title out in Open Beta.
Happy Gaming!
Ambardia Interview: The Story Of Ambard
Questions by Bryan King, OnRPG Writer
Answered by James Newkirk, Ambardia Founder
OnRPG: Hello James! Thank you for taking some of your time to answer these questions. First things first, please introduce yourself to our readers!
James: Well Bryan, I am the creator of Ambardia Online. I hold the position of Owner/ Director. We also have three other owners as well, Aradia, Merlin and Richy. I began developing Ambardia Online two years ago after helping another developer with his game. At that time I was also a minor Game Sage and Aeria Street team member for Aeriagames. One of the Game Masters at Aeriagames left to publish his own game (Immortals) and so I left Aeriagames and followed him to his new production. I was hired to be an active manager of a team of beta testers.
OnRPG: Introduce us to the storyline in the world of Ambardia.
James: Ambardia takes place in the fantasy-themed realm of Ambardia, The world was populated with simple citizens who rarely questioned their lives or their surroundings until Ambard, an ancient folk hero of sorts, discovered that the realm was decreasing in size due to an imbalance between the forces of Order and Chaos. Ambard was chosen to receive the power to re-create his land, which he passes on to his descendants. The story goes on to describe Ambard’s search to understand the world around him and the forces that tie the world together.

OnRPG: There is a heavy emphasis on lore and storyline, what was the development process taken to make this so?
James: It was very important for us to make sure that the players were aware of the storyline even if they did not want to actively role play with it. We developed our tutorial area of the game in such a way as to offer the storyline to the players with books and NPC chats to be able to move forward through the tutorial. We also did it in such a way as to not “cram it down their throats”. Most of the quests in the game take this same approach to how we incorporate the storyline into the game. If players want to become more active with the lore and history later they can always go back and speak with these NPC’s again or read the storyline on the web site.
OnRPG: Ambardia has a wide variety of unique classes; please give readers a small preview on some of them.
James: Ambardia has 11 classes/races to choose from. I would not say they are unique but we do work to make each class have a unique style of play. We combined classes and races together due to the limitations of the game engine. An Orc is an Orc and a knight is a knight. There is no Orc Knight or Dwarven Barbarian. Each class has a different set of class specific quests to help the player develop their class more fully.
OnRPG: What’s your favorite class?
James: I personally enjoy the Mage class. A lot of players think this class is weak and unbalanced however we have worked hard to make it one of the most intricate classes in the game. At Ambardia, we don’t always rely on game AI for developing continuity. Mages are supposed to be more intellectually challenging than Knights to develop. If reason and learning are not your strongest points in real life then they will not be in the game as well. If however you are into martial arts then you will probably play a great Ninja class or Knight in the game.
OnRPG: The game features an expansive crafting system, with trade skills like Fishing, Processing, Cooking, and more. How has the community received this system, and do you guys have any more skills planned for the future?
James: We love our skill system. We currently have 17 skills in the game to help players do everything from create their own food to mixing ingredients for potions to warp around Ambardia. Players can also benefit from the skills directly by earning a percentage of their skill points that are distributed to their overall level. A player who does not want to spend all his time gaining levels the old hack and slash way can also do so by relaxing by a river and fishing. The players benefit from the skills by being able to create trade goods as well as manufacture or collect special items for quests.

OnRPG: What type of Player vs. Player aspects does Ambardia possess?
James: In Ambardia, a player cannot be killed by another player until they reach level 10. They can however kill a higher level player if that player is foolish enough to AFK in a PVP area. The mainland of Ambardia is mostly PVP free so that new players can enjoy exploring around without to much fear of where they go. This is not the case in some dungeons and most of the other lands are all PVP zones as well. We also have a war system. Every few hours an automated arena battle is started and players have 5 minutes to get to the Battle Arena. There are 4 different arenas players are warped to depending on their levels. In the arena players cannot heal, use food, or any other type of buffs. Once all players are eliminated, the last 3 players left can activate their reward and be warped back into the game.
OnRPG: The graphics in Ambardia follow a simple yet well-detailed design of isometric art, are there any plans to expand on this?
James: I do have plans to introduce a more unified style to all the graphics in the future. I have worked hard to set up, model and screen shot a lot of my own 3D work. For now, we are more concerned about developing our game balance and storyline/ quest line.
OnRPG: Does the game include a cash shop that players might find a little too “overpowered”?
James: We have a donations reward system. It is heavily guild oriented which is good for more than just the players’ benefit. We offer any guild that recruits 4 or more players into their guild and creates an offsite
guild forum and a free Guild Hall. Guild owners and members can then donate by Paypal to enhance their guild halls in many ways. Ambardia strives to be a truly “free game” by indie developers who find more pleasure in seeing people play than pay.
OnRPG: Ambardia is well-known for the community team’s great events, what kind of events can users plan to see by joining?
James: I learned from Aeriagames that players love in game events. We have reworked the code of the engine to allow us complete controls for certain events that we can turn off or on at a glance. Our 5 most enjoyed events are Double Experience, Double Skill Experience, Double NPC drops, Dragonight Spawns and our Kill Contest. I normally run a double skill XP Wednesday event for 24 hours to break up the week. On the weekends we run our Super Weekend events. They run from midnight Friday to Monday afternoon and can include any or all of the 4 events. Our kill contest is especially fun because we have a points system built into the code to award points instead of kill counts for the contest. This means a lvl 60 player gets no benefit from killing 10k rats and a lvl 5 player has as much of a chance to win as does the highest level player. We award the top 3 players special awards and XP. Our Dragonight Spawn event randomly places 5 Dragon type NPC’s in random areas of Ambardia. These powerful beasts have a rare chance of dropping fabled items as well as certain special shop tokens.
OnRPG: The development team just released The Magic Garden expansion, what exactly does this expansion include?
James: This expansion has been 4 months in the making and includes a huge new land mass known as The Magic Garden. Players travel to Tolmas Castle in Zazaline where they interact with its NPC’s to discover clues and secrets about this mysterious new land. This expansion is aimed at introducing more of the Order side of the storyline into the game. Richy has done a great job with the Chaos side of the story line with the 21 Gates expansion and this new expansion helps keep the balance. It includes a major new skill as well, Mage Cutting.
OnRPG: What is the Ambardia’s strategy for keeping players interested in playing? For an independent MMO, the game has had a high life-span and manages to keep players involved, how do you guys do it?
James: Our secret is passion, we love the world we have worked so hard to create. I knew from the beginning that if I kept the development to myself and refused to seek good help that the game would go nowhere fast. We actually play and live in our game as well as develop it and that dedication goes right down to the newest players. We want everyone to enjoy Ambardia as a place they can kick back in after a hard day of real life and relax, chat and play. We also listen to our players and try to get their ideas about what we can do to continue to make it a fun game as well. We are currently holding a quest writing contest and the winner of that will get $50.00 real dollars or 50 Ambardian Tokens to spend.
OnRPG: What future expansions can users anticipate for Ambardia?
James: Class specific Schools, research halls and strongholds of advanced study and learning. More specific class only skills and items. The completion of all the quest clue scrolls to keep players on track of the over 40 quests offered. Soon we are also going to be over hauling the log in screens and player user interfaces to a more modern and mystical look. I will also be working on a complete player sprite over haul so players can change their looks after certain levels are achieved.
OnRPG: In one sentence, explain why players should give Ambardia a try.
James: Because there is more heart and soul put into this free source game than any project I have ever worked on.
OnRPG: Last but not least, where do you see Ambardia a year from now?
James: This is really a very tough question. So much has been done in the last two years. I never expected the game to be as developed as it has become now. I think the next Ambardian year is going to bring us a refinement in player, NPC and item balance as well as a lot of graphical updates. I would like to thank Krankzinnig at Sushiboxstudios for their work on our soon to be released installer. I also want to thank all the unmentioned, devoted developers and players who have helped to keep Ambardia a living, breathing world. The future of Ambardia will not be written by me but by you!
CTRacer: Hackshield implemented
CTRacer is glad to announce the implementation of Hackshield a popular anti cheating software that will allow our players to experience fair and enjoyable game play.
To give way for the implementation CTRacer will be wiping out all the existing characters in the game on October 6th 2009. In lieu of the process we’re going to have 2hr server maintenance. Server will be up at exactly 9:00 [+9GMT]
In lieu of the games official launch, a total of $10,000 USD will be given away with the game’s first ever World Grand Prix (CTRacer World Grand Prix). The event will have an elimination round in each participating continent and at the grand finals the winners will be drive their way to become the first ever CTRacer International Champion. Furthermore Game Networks Inc provided a numerous number of minor events ranging from community building events for the players to participate as well as some events that can surely help them to be able to stand up in their first few hours inside the game.
We would like to ask for your kind understanding and cooperation about these recent changes. Rest assured that once the game servers are live, we guaranteed that it will worth the wait.

Trailer
For as long as anyone can remember a steel blade has been the only weapon standing between a hero and his dead. But in a land ruled by the cluelty of petty gods. A sword and a shield, just aren’t good enough…