Yearly Archives: 2009

Gatheryn Closed Beta Opens

Mindfuse, developer of the upcoming MMORPG Gatheryn, has issued the following news:
 
We at Mindfuse are preparing to start the Beta Testing phase for Gatheryn! As of today, we are opening the registration process to become a beta tester, and as thanks for your early interest and support, we’d like to invite you to be among the very first to sign up. By completing the full registration form, available now, you’ll be signing up for an actual Gatheryn account, and you’ll get a chance for an early look at the steam-powered Elymian Islands!
 
Please note that our Beta Tester selection process is going to occur in waves, with our first rounds of testers playing strictly by invitation. Completing this form will not guarantee you an immediate Beta account. We will, however, be giving consideration to our earliest supporters, so sign up now, and thanks once again for your interest in Gatheryn!

Rappelz Going To Turkey

Gala Networks Europe, the leading online game publisher that operates the gPotato.eu game portal is proud to announce that Rappelz, our first fully localised Turkish language game enters Closed Beta this week. Between Wednesday 27th May and Wednesday 3rd June, players across the world will be able to join over two and a half million players who have played Rappelz with fully localised Turkish content and community features, backed up by the Turkish customer support team.

 

During the Closed Beta week, players who win the level 20 challenge will be able to keep their friends lists as well as getting an exclusive item pack for the OBT containing the Red Lydian mount for 30 days, an Adventurer Cloak and two stamina savers. Creatures who hit level 20 will also be kept at the start of the OBT but reset back to level 1. There will be a wipe of player data and friend lists for everyone who does not reach level 20, and guilds will also be erased.

 

Available to download from the fully localised Turkish website at http://tr.rappelz.gpotato.eu , Rappelz takes place in a fantasy world and allows players to tame a wide variety of terrible creatures and lead them into battle against thousands of other players. Lucky beta key holders will be able to experience this brand new world on the 27th of May, and those without a beta key will can still enter the lottery to participate by pre-registering at http://tr.rappelz.gpotato.eu/Ad/?TYPE=PREREG .

Dragonica Europe Open Beta Dates

Dragonica’s Closed Beta Test draws to its conclusion today as players wrap up the ten day preview in the world of Dragotaka. The free arcade-style 3D side scrolling MMORPG won’t be offline for long though, and the gPotato Europe team is proud to announce that Dragonica enters Open Beta Testing across Europe on Wednesday 10th June.
 
Dragonica has received positive previews in the games media, and the thousands of players who have participated in the European CBT have given us fantastic feedback about the game. Players who have reached level 20 when Closed Beta servers close will have their character’s appearance and names kept for June’s OBT, as well as having a surprise gift when they log in.
 
A number of features have been held in reserve during the Closed Beta, and we are happy to announce the brand new features that will be available to players when servers reopen. Players who have explored the continent of Elyades in May will have a brand new continent called Melanathos to explore, filled with a ton of new locations, enemies, weapons and bosses.
 
Dragonica will also feature brand new class intro movies, complete with localised voiceovers, giving players a background to their characters and why they embarked on their journey to join the Dragon Fellowship. Players will also be able to go all the way to Level 60, with the second job change unlocked, allowing players to pick between a total of twenty unique playable classes. There will also be a number of bug fixes that have been highlighted by players.
 
Last but not least, members of Guilds will be delighted to hear that a brand new multiplayer feature is to be introduced in June as Emporia Wars, Dragonica’s fifty player 25v25 battlegrounds open.

GamersFirst Announces Partnership With Vae Victis

GamersFirst, a service of K2 Network and one of today’s most popular free2play online game destinations, introduces Victory: The Age of Racing. Victory will make its debut at the E3 Expo June 2nd – 4th.
 
A world inspired by the 1960’s Formula One racing scene, sets the stage for Victory, a Fantasy Formula One MMO Racing game. The Racing Authority organizes the racing movement in the world of Victory as it converts old industrial locations and cities into high performance race tracks. Players complete quick competitions to gain experience, collect performance points and customize their cars to increase their effectiveness in a style unique to each driver. The mix of esthetics from the past and the modernization of new technology give Victory a unique feel amongst other racing games. With realistic and detailed car physics, Victory gives you the thrills of driving without ever having to leave your home.
 
“Our goal is to deliver top quality games to the Free2Play market and Victory is one of these titles we are proud to have on our site,” said Carlo Natividad, Associate Producer, GamersFirst. “Victory is a fun and exciting game that everyone can enjoy.”
With an innovative multiplayer mode, Victory is based on quick competitions giving experience points to increase the cars characteristics and ascetic appeal.
Victory’s car physics engine is derived from the full-featured Net Kar Pro physics engine. Victory uniquely blends a realistic and detailed car physics simulation to deliver an unprecedented car handling racing game. The car customization system starts with an innovative blocks system that provides players with different car parts to choose from to create a unique car model. Endless combinations allow players to choose the car’s features and looks they truly value.
 
“GamersFirst is the perfect partner to publish Victory;  not only are they one of the best free- to- play publishers out there, but they also share with us the great passion for gaming and for the integration between games and social networks,” stated Antonio Moro, Creative Director, Vae Victis. “The GamersFirst Connect platform permits us to realize what we just dreamed one year ago; a fully featured social network behind our game and this collaboration will bring players a whole new level of gaming.”

Rise of Empire

The world we live in witnesses the endless wars. Innumerable great civilizations had lived here. Rough living conditions and cruel wars caused chaos in the world. Only a small number of races remain with their distinctive culture. But battles between different civilizations never stop; in stead, they develop into more fierce conditions. In order to expand the territory and gain better develop space, many ancient civilizations had fight for centuries. 
 
As a magnificent web strategic game, there is no download needed. Also playing the game is always free. “Rise of Empire” pictures a world war in medieval period. With its broad world views and different development routes of 10 ancient civilizations, you can build up their own empires among them. You can expand your territory through continuous exploration and/or robbery. Meanwhile, infrastructure needed for empire’s development can be built on the increasing territory, which is also the major content for an empire.

Regnum Online Tech Update trailer

NGD Studios has dedicated an internal team to developing a new MMO game engine, codenamed NG3D2.0. NG3D2.0 means the Regnum Online community can expect another major release for Regnum Online in Q4 2009, as NGD is already hard at work to implement this next generation technology to push Regnum Online to the next level.

S4 League: Onrpg Video Review

S4 League is a stylish action manga game where different elements like sports, eSper and strategy combine. This is the first official Onrpg video review, made by one of our own members; Elvisqwq. Discuss what you think of the Onrpg video review here.

Puzzle Pirates Review – Play Puzzles For Each Skill

By Eline Stiekema, Onrpg writer
 
At first it may sound a bit contradictory: pirates and puzzling? An image of Jack Sparrow trying to solve a Rubik’s cube pops up… erm, puzzling pirates? Seriously?
Okay, it’s not as crazy as it sounds. It’s actually quite fun. In Puzzle Pirates, players move their ship and sword fight against other players by playing puzzles. On these ships, you don’t have to be a good sailor to make a good pirate. Practicing you bejeweled skills is enough.
 

Getting started

Getting started as a Puzzle Pirate is very easy. You don’t have to download and install anything; you can play the game directly from your browser. When you have created an account, you can design your very own pirate and give him or her a nice piratey name. This name may only contain of one word, which is a bit of a shame. Playing the game I saw a lot of characters with two word names (‘Silent Sarah’ and the like), but I figured they were NPC’s (or, as they are called here, ‘NPP’s’, meaning Non Player Pirates).
You can maintain three pirates at once, but you can only play with one of them at a time. You can choose each pirate’s hairstyle, hair color, skin color and you even have the ability to style their outfit for a bit. Cooler clothes and other items can be purchased at the ‘palace shoppe’. There are many ways to pay for these, like credit card or PayPal. There are also a lot of ‘shoppes’ in the game itself, which are managed by other players. Here you can pay with the gold you’ve earned accomplishing missions.
As a newbie pirate, you first get a few simple missions to learn basic skills like sailing, rigging, bilging and sword-fighting. Each skill has its own puzzle. Sailing and sword-fighting are a lot like Tetris. Bilging an rigging are more like bejeweled.
New pirates also get their own little shack and some free furniture. Other furniture has to be purchased at one of the ‘shoppes’.
 

Gameplay

The puzzling is very relaxing. It’s simply fun. The puzzles are relatively easy, especially at the beginning, but it was because of this simplicity that I liked the puzzling so much. But if you are the kind of player who likes it rough, this might not be your thing.
A very annoying feature, however, is the ‘duty report’: a screen that pops up when you’re in the middle of a puzzle, to tell you how everyone is doing. You can’t close this screen, you just have to patiently wait until the puzzle continues. Sometimes this takes up quite some time, especially when it keeps saying ‘no duty reports’. It really slows down the game.
There are always new missions to embark on to improve your skills. However, when you get tired of the work on a ship, you can explore one of the many islands. On these islands, you can visit the ‘shoppes’, where you can buy new stuff or find a job to improve other skills, like distilling, alchemistry or blacksmithing. These also have their own puzzles. Don’t feel like working? You can also go to an inn to play parlor table games like hearts, poker or spades. Even drinking is a puzzle.
The games you can play on land are only free a couple of days a week. You can subscribe to be able to always play for free. One month of full access will cost you $9.95. On the help page, called ‘Yppedia’, you find a schedule of the free puzzle days.
Speaking of Yppedia, this is a really good help for newbies. You can check the page while you are playing, which I always find a big plus. The information is arranged very neatly, with clear explanations. I strongly recommend reading the ‘starting out’-chapter before playing the game for the first time.
When you think you have practiced enough, you can take a job with a real crew. This is serious business: if you don’t work hard enough, there will be penalties. When you really are an advanced player, you can also start your own crew or get your own stall on one of the markets. Puzzle Pirates seems to be a game that you can play for a long time without getting bored, because there are always opportunities for you to grow and try new stuff.
 

Graphics and sounds

On the one hand, the graphics look nice, happy and friendly. The characters reminded me a bit of playmobil. The graphics ooze a kind of ‘feel-goodness’, although some may experience them as a bit childish. On the other hand, when your pirate walks over an island, navigating is kind of hard because it’s impossible to zoom or look around. This was a negative issue for me, because it makes the game look a bit obscure. It’s hard to see where your pirate is heading. Luckily, there’s also a map on which you can click the location you want to go.
Once again, I happen to find the music incredibly annoying. I’m starting to think that I will probably consider all game music annoying, since I can’t remember writing that I liked it once. So maybe it’s me. But still, it was annoying, so I had mostly turned it off. The sounds were very good though; while playing a puzzle, you hear the creaking of the ship and all kinds of other sounds that give you the feeling of really being at sea. When you log off, the sounds fade out instead of bluntly stopping; I liked that too.
 

General Recommendation

Puzzle Pirates is a cute, low-key kind of game with a friendly atmosphere. Everyone is welcome to play and everyone can do it. The puzzles are relaxing and certainly not too hard. If you like this kind of ‘soft gaming’, this is a really nice one to get involved in. But if you are the kind of player that likes a bit more excitement and challenge, you might easily get bored with it.
Still, Puzzle Pirates is a nice alternative to all the monster-slaughter kind of games. Sometimes the puzzles get a bit repetitive, but overall this game could really keep you going for a while.
 
Pros:
– Low key kind of game with friendly atmosphere
– Puzzles are relaxing and quite simple
– Really good help function
– A lot of variation in activities for more advanced players
– Friendly graphics and good sounds
 
Cons:
– If you like it rough, this could easily get boring
– ‘Duty reports’ slow down the game
– On land it’s hard to see where you’re going

DragonFable update interview: The Lost Content

Questions by Mohammed Afzal (MageMoa), Onrpg writer
Answered by Cysero, Creative Lead of DragonFable
 
Artix Entertainment has become a great and successful company in these few years. They have managed to keep up with the needs of the players and they have been able to develop new games. One of Artix Entertainment’s titles is DragonFable.
DragonFable tells us the story of brave warriors and their adventures in a fantasy world full of monsters, enemies, friends, pets, magic and more! But this game offers us more than that! No downloads, no spam, completely free with member option, thousands of weapons and armor etc…
 
We have asked ourselves the questions: Will DragonFable be able to keep up with its players? Will there always be something new?

Cysero: To answer these questions, Onrpg had the opportunity to interview Cysero, Creative Lead of DragonFable.
 
 
Onrpg: Could you introduce yourself, please?

Cysero: Sure thing. I’m Cysero, the Mad Magical Weaponsmith. I’m also the creative lead for DragonFable, the lead cup holder tester and one of the development team for our new MMO, AdventureQuest Worlds.
 
Onrpg: DragonAmulets can be purchased with real money. What are the benefits of having one?

Cysero: A better question would be to ask “What DON’T you get with a Dragon Amulet?”.The list would be shorter.
DragonFable is a single player browser based RPG build exclusively in Adobe Flash. It is the story of your custom-created hero and your faithful dragon as you try to save (or possibly destroy) the world of Lore. Your dragon can become one of the most powerful creatures on the planet if you raise it right, and a Dragon Amulet unlocks you and your dragon’s full potential.
With the one-time purchase of a Dragon Amulet, you get the ability to fully use EVERY SINGLE class in the game. You can also use any and every weapon, helm, cloak, ring, belt, necklace, pet and you also get exclusive use of trinkets, which are ONLY available for our Dragon Amulet holders. You get full access to every quest in the game and special member perks like the ability to Beta test the new class armors and help the team balance them before they are fully released in the game. You even get a pouch of our in-game currency, called Dragoncoins!
 
 
Onrpg: DragonFable has had many updates. Could you tell us more about the Dragonpedia Masters? 

Cysero: Our forums are a very big part of the DF community. Thousands of our players go to the forums to comment on the weekly content releases, find out information from our more experienced, helpful players or just toss around ideas about what they’d like to see added to the game. One very fun section of our forums is the DFpedia, where players can make entries about every new quest, event or item and other players can go there to find out more about anything in the game! The players can add descriptions, pictures, items stats…ANY useful information, but in order to contribute to the DFpedia you have to be a member of the elite Dragonpedia Masters.
 
There is nothing quite like going to the DFpedia and seeing that you are the first to do a write up of a never-before-seen item!
 
Onrpg: Players now have the possibility to fish in-game. Could you tell us more about this new feature?
 
Cysero: We’ve all played an RPG where fishing is a feature, and it has always been one of my favorite parts of any RPG world.  We have finally added a fishing minigame to DragonFable that ANY player can play, with or without a Dragon Amulet. There are 20 ranks of fishing including Chum Bucket, Chief Neurosturgeon, Cod Among Men and Hook Master and each fish you catch adds points to your rank. An example of every new fish you catch goes into your aquarium , but right now there are only 20 fish to catch (including a boot and a stick… both of which also go into your aquarium). We will be adding more fish soon, along with special shops that you can only access by ranking up your fishing and special fish that will add effects to your battles like additional health, mana, or even the ability to get a critical strike!
 
 
Onrpg: We’ve noticed that the DragonFable staff has casual contact with the players. Why have you decided to do this?

Cysero: Because we can’t hear them way up here on these pedestals, heh. Actually, it’s because we’re all gamers, just like our players. We think hanging out and chatting with them is just as fun as they do. Maybe more. We like to know what they think about our games and what they think will make them better, and we like them to feel connected to the games and to us as developers and game characters. Without them, there would be no DragonFable, or any of our other games.
 
Onrpg: There are ‘Doom weapons’ in-game. Could you describe them for us and are they available to regular members?

Cysero: The Doom Weapons are weapons that have become infused and corrupted by elemental darkness. The players don’t know much about them yet, but the story of the Doom Weapons goes a lot deeper than anyone suspects. They have always been one of the most powerful weapons in the game… but no one seems to ask what the price for that power is. The weapons also tend to be a bit snarky.
 
Yes, regular players and Dragon Amulet holders can all get Doom Weapons, but there are many levels of Doom Weapons that you can get as you level up and only Dragon Amulet holders can obtain the highest, most powerful (and frankly, coolest looking) versions of the weapons.
 
Onrpg: What are the newest features of DragonFable?

Cysero: The newest feature of DF is the Archknight storyline. In between our first game and DF, Artix hand made a mini-RPG called Archknight which is the tale of a young boy named Ash Dragonblade whose only purpose in life is to save a princess and become a knight. Ash has been a staple character of DF for as long as the game has been around and a lot of players asked when we were going to finish the original Archknight mini-RPG, so we’ve made Ash a playable character for Dragon Amulet holders. They can play through the totally re-vamped Archknight storyline within DragonFable.
 
We’ve nearly caught up with the end of the original mini-game, but we have decided to continue his story in DragonFable. Our players have a lot more of Ash’s ridiculous adventures to look forward to!
 
We have also recently added cup holders to the game, for player comfort.
 
Onrpg: Will there be events held where players will be able to get a free subscription?

Cysero: As of now, we have no plans for any contests or events where a player could win a DragonAmulet …but who knows?
 
 
 
Onrpg: What is the so called ‘Popsprocket’ which has been released recently?

Cysero: Popsprocket is a steam-punk themed city of gnomish design. The town has been taken over by a horde of steam and clockwork powered robots who are being controlled by an evil Technomancer. You are racing the game’s lead villain, Sepulchure, to that Technomancer to grab his power from him. If you like shiny brass and copper, clacking gears or really, really short resistance fighters then this is the zone for you!
 
Onrpg: If you look back to the original release of Dragon Fable, and compare it to the current version of the game, what is the biggest difference? 

Cysero: I’d have to say that the biggest difference is that it’s a GAME now. In the beginning, when we left Beta and entered the real world of browser-based gaming, we knew that we would be adding more and more to the game with our weekly releases… but at the time we had  3 base classes (basic Fighter, Mage, Thief combo), 1 quest, 1 town, 6 monsters and about 200 items. No game intro, no plot, and no cup holders!
 
We have grown SO much since that time that is boggles my pre-boggled mind! We just broke 400 quests… we’ve added nearly 400 separate monsters, about 2500 different items, several mini-games and skills like fishing, blacksmithing and potion making with cooking in the works, several towns, several world-changing events, and we have even added DRAGONS to DRAGONFable!
 
Onrpg: Was the difference something that developed naturally or something that caught you by surprise?

Cysero: Bit of both. Could hardly be one without the other. The more substance we added to the game, the more the players liked it and the more players we had… that’s more people to please and more people with great ideas. So we added those ideas, too. Then more people came and THEY KEEP COMING. It’s become this giant snowball of insane fun, and mayhem that is carried along by the force of its own momentum. Well, the force of its own momentum and the fact that we’ve got banner ads on as many websites as we possibly can.
 
If you spend a lot of time here (on the web) keep an eye out for them. I bet you’ll see a few.
 
 
Onrpg: Can we expect any new features in the future? 

Cysero: No. We’re bored with making this game and we’ve all decided to take up contact juggling as a hobby, just like we’ve all wanted to do since we first saw David Bowie doing it in Labyrinth.
…What?
 
Ok, I was just informed that those weren’t David Bowie’s hands in that film, so never mind. Back to work!
 
You can ABSOLUTELY expect more future features! We have so much planned for DF it can’t all fit on one production schedule calendar. When we take stock of all the great players’ suggestions and our own ideas, we will NEVER run out of features to add for our weekly releases.
 
 
Onrpg: Could you tell us more about these features without giving too much away?

Cysero: Sure! As I mentioned before we have cooking in the works, we have more of the Archknight Saga, we will be expanding fishing to include a number of new fish and new features, we are thinking about adding warming/cooling features to the cup holders AND this summer we will be doing a cross over with AdventureQuest’s first huge war… the FIRE war!
 
 
Onrpg: Will you release a downloadable version of DragonFable soon?

Cysero: Never going to happen. All of our games are browser- based and that’s part of what makes them great. A lot of parents and kids don’t like to download game files because you can never be too sure what you’re installing. With DragonFable and our other games, all you need is an internet connection and a web browser and POW… you’re in the middle of the action!
 
 
Onrpg: There have been rumors about new events. What is your response to that?

Cysero: Rumors are interesting things, especially on OUR forums. There have been a few times when we thought that the rumors that we saw on the forums were such great ideas that we incorporated them into the DragonFable! Whenever possible, we make sure that self-fulfilling prophecies fulfill themselves.
 
 
Onrpg: Are we going to see any new titles of Artix Entertainment in the future?

Cysero: All we know how to do is make good games. It’s the best job on the planet and we’ve got the best players on the web. They ALWAYS want to see what kind of adventure is over the next hill and we will never let them down. We will keep making new and better games until our mice break… then we’ll use sticks or something…
 
 
Onrpg: Thank you for answering these questions!

Cysero: Thanks for asking them!

12 Sky 2 Europe Official Launch

MAYN Interactive Pte Ltd. is all set to announce the commercial launch of the highly anticipated title “Twelve Sky 2 – Rise of the Sky Clan” on 26th May 2009, an endeavour which signifies MAYN Interactive’s commitment towards complete gamer satisfaction and leave them craving for more.
With the launch of TwelveSky 2, one of the most compelling Free-to-Play PvP (Player versus Player) MMORPGs online, players can look forward to a more dynamic warring environment, with large scale PvP battles. TwelveSky 2 boasts of three gallant clans, Tiger, Dragon and Snake. During our commercial launch we shall be launching the much awaited Sky Clan – a more exclusive clan for our gamers. TwelveSky 2 promises to be more interactive with special features allowing gamers to take control of a dynasty by getting elected as a Clan leader and selecting 12 vices. Once elected, gamers are in control for an entire month leaving them not only to display gaming skills but strategic planning as well.
Team MAYN is gearing up for the big day, and after successful Beta testings, we are ready to launch “TwelveSky 2” which is available for free download at our official website at 12sky2.com.  New gamers can sign up and immerse in the Orient right away, while returning players can use their existing accounts and characters created during Beta. ” We are indeed very excited about the Commercial Launch, “ said Young Shin, CEO of Mayn Interactive. “We hope with this venture we can achieve complete gamer satisfaction and cater to their every need.”
Here’s a brief glimpse of what’s in store for all you gamers out there!
Rise of the Sky Clan – You’ve heard it over and over again, and it’s finally here! As the newest member of TwelveSky 2, The Sky clan is ready to join the battle grounds with the existing clans. An age old power led by Lord Kian, holds the key to the ultimate battle. However long, tireless warfare awaits and only the brave hearted can venture into these new terrains with new foes. Experience state-of-the-art maps specially designed to accommodate the newest arrivals. The Sky clan will be released at our commercial launch of TwelveSky 2, where the platforms are completely ready, with no technical glitches to interrupt your violent carnage. After numerous testings and trouble shooting Team MAYN is ready to deliver the highly anticipated, adrenaline pumping MMORPG. TwelveSky 2- Rise of the Sky Clan is now ready to roll, so clench your swords and get ready for war, cause it’s going to be a long one!
 
New Pets- Your faithful accomplices throughout your war torn journey just got better! We added 5 pets last week and Team MAYN is rolling out 4 more for all gamers out there. Introducing the Tribal Lion, Azure Magpie, Crown Seahorse and Flying Hawk, these pets will be by your side throughout your battle. Each pet is endowed with a special buff; so feed them and watch them grow, and they will protect you in return.
 
Cash Item Mall- If you thought things were going good, well they get even better! The all new Cash Item Mall for TwelveSky 2 also makes it’s entry into the battle grounds. With 55 brand new items for you to browse through and purchase, the Item Mall is a delight to every gamer. Sparkling and novel goods overflow in the Mall’s shelves. Look out for the Kirin Scale which prevents your items from breaking and crumbling into pieces. The 8 Tri-game gives the gamer added inventory space, more storage for your valuables. The Guardian Edict stops your experience from deteriorating even when attacked by a powerful monster. The Talisman endows the user with double experience points. Phoenix Tears allow double experience for an entire 60 minutes. Many more Vanity items to make your character look it’s best and stand out in a crowd. Sounds tempting?Can’t wait to get your hands on these precious goodies? Join the war today!
    
 
Alliance System- Tired of seeing only one clan slay foes mercilessly? Tired of hearing their battle cries of victory echoing in the fields, over and over again? Fear not, in the upcoming Patch on 26th May, two clans can actually gang up against a powerful clan and form a strong alliance. This allows for more balanced play, and of course more dynamic war fare. Based on a clan points system, if a particular clan has more points than the combined points of any two clans, then the weaker clans have no reason to crouch in a corner or run for cover. Form an alliance and explore the infinite possibilities of a combined kinship! In an alliance you can access either of the two clan’s maps, which means more unexplored grounds, so check it out now!