Yearly Archives: 2009

Champions Online: Launch Postponed

This message was published on the Champions Online official website:
 
We wanted our fans to hear this from us first… We’re changing our Champions Online launch date from July 14th  to September 1st of this year.
 
Why? Here’s what our own Bill Roper, Design Director and Executive Producer on Champions Online, had to say about it:
“It is critically important for an MMO to be as good as it possibly can be at launch. Through our constant dialogue with our vocal and supportive community of beta testers, we quickly realized that in order to implement certain features that we all considered important the development of Champions Online would require more time.  So that’s what we’re going to give it. Cryptic has a proven track record of releasing solid games and we want to maintain that with Champions Online.”
 
What does this mean for you? Simply, more beta play time right now and a better, more polished game at launch.

Free Realms: More Than 1 Mil in 17 Days

Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) today announced that more than one million unique users have registered for Free Realms, the free, family-friendly online video game that launched on April 28. To mark this milestone, SOE is rewarding all current Free Realms players with limited edition, in-game T-shirt featuring special graphics. The one-millionth player will also receive a lifetime membership to the game, a one-of-a-kind in-game astronaut suit, and 10,000 Station Cash.
 
“The excitement surrounding Free Realms, and the positive response the game has already received, is overwhelming,” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. “To achieve this milestone so rapidly speaks to the quality and the fun gameplay experience Free Realms offers to players of all ages.”
Along with the limited edition Free Realms T-shirt for their character to wear, 999,999 players will receive a matching pet T-shirt for their four-legged friends, and 200 Station Cash to use toward the purchase of in-game items.
 
In Free Realms, players can customize their characters, explore, quest, battle monsters, and play a wide variety of minigames in a safe, online environment, packed with stunning visuals, distinctive environments, and social networking capabilities. Players are free to do or be anything: Fight like a ninja, cook a tasty meal, raise a pet, battle goblins, set out on epic quests or connect with friends through a safe, social networking site. Also available is the Free Realms Trading Card Game: a full-featured trading card game, playable both digitally within the Free Realms online game and offline via physical card decks available wherever you buy trading cards.

Dungeon Party Launched

Focus Home Interactive and Cyanide Studio have announced the launch of Dungeon Party, a free MMOG in which two teams of up to 5 players compete over one or more rounds and victory is only assured when one of them gets out of the dungeon with the treasure. Players can choose from one of 6 character types and they can customise their hero with various items of clothing or other objects that might come in useful in a dark corner. Regular tournaments promise games of even greater intensity and will allow all players to measure themselves against the best, thanks to a real-time ranking system.

The Warlords: Join PK Tournaments

Attention adventurers,
 
To revive the militarism tradition of the Manchu and select the elite warriors, the Qing Court will host the regular PK Tournaments starting from May 17th.
 
There will be tournaments on every Sunday and the first day of each month, namely Weekly PK Tournament and Monthly PK Tournament. Each tournament is divided into 3 groups: Civilian, Soldier, and Veteran, participants can apply according to their levels.
 
In PK Tournaments, you will experience an intensive battle royal against your peers, and the last one standing will be the winner, to obtain various rewards and honor. Among the rewards, the Qing court has prepared the robust steeds for the heroes/heroines. With these loyal steeds, you can travel the Middle Kingdom swiftly, and wipe out those bloody rebels for the empire.
 
Warriors, prepare yourselves well to win the appreciation of the emperor.

Return of Warrior

Return of Warrior is the remake of Risk Your Life (RYL) with major upgrades. You choose between two factions; Humans or Ak’Kan and fight in duels or giant battles.
 
Take part in quests or missions, fight other players and trade virtual goods. All elements aim to secure your faction to win against the enemy!

Wakfu Review: The Sequel of Dofus

By Mohammed Afzal (MageMoa), Onrpg Journalist
Dofus had always been a unique game. It was 2 dimensional, it had many classes which not one other game had, its community was amazing and it had a lot of amusing features. After the success of Dofus, Ankama decided to develop a game that had the good parts of Dofus combined with modern graphics and a new world: Wakfu.
Even though the game is still in Open Beta, and it is still being developed, it is already popular and many former Dofus players decided to give the new game a try. They noticed many similarities with Dofus, but it was somehow different. They thought it was an amazing game, but could it beat the great reputation of Dofus?

At the Start

Right from the beginning of the game, you will notice that there are many differences if you would compare the game to Dofus.
When logging in to the game, you will have to create your character. Sadly, you will only be able to change the color of your skin and hair which means that you will encounter many people ingame that look exactly like you.
Keep in mind that Wakfu is only partly Free to Play. Most of the areas can only be accessed as a subscriber. 

Stats and Combat

Wakfu is a turnbased game, just like Dofus. This means that you will have to wait for your turn before being able to do anything.
The combat of the game is not very complex. You basically have to wait for your turn and select a spell to cast. Attacks and movement is limited; It is not possible to kill all your enemies or to move through the whole map in one turn.
Every player has an amount of AP (action points) and MP (movement points) to keep the usage of spells limited. Spells cost a certain amount of AP and moving costs MP. This is a great way to think very well before using a spell.
 

Classes

Wakfu has 12 unique classes. These classes can also be found in Dofus. There are some small differences, but they are practically the same, which is pretty disappointing since many players expected more unique classes.
Here is some information about all the classes:
 
Cra’s Range – They can be seen as the archers of the game. They have high range and they deal a decent amount of damage. The only problem is that their defense is low and they could use some more health. It is also a bad idea to fight monsters with spells, since Cra’s are vulnerable to magic.
 
Ecaflip’s Coin – They are real gamblers. All their spells are based on their luck. Sometimes they are able to hit very high, but they can also do very low damage.  Ecaflip’s Coin is a though class, especially for beginners, since they need decent stats to hit high.
 
Eniripsa’s Hands – This is the healer class of the game. They are very flexible, but their damage is not very high and they really need good damage dealers in their party to keep up.
Since they support their party members, they should focus on buffing and healing their friends.
 
Enutrof’s Fingers – This class has a bit of everything. They mostly tank or support, but they also have some attacking spells. The only problem with Enutrofs is that their damage is very low, which means they are a hard class for new players.
Feca’s Shield – A Feca’s Shield has a mix of defense spells and magical traps (glyphs). They are also a support class, since their frontal damage is really low. They should set up their traps and then start using their defensive buffs on their allies.
 
Iop’s Heart – Iop’s Heart is often called the strongest melee class of the game. They can deal high melee damage to their opponents, but they also have a lot of health, which means that they could also be used as a tank.
 
Pandawa’s Pint – The members only class of Dofus. This is one of the most amusing classes, because you are a panda and you can get drunk. What else do you want? When a Pandawa is drunk, it will be able to deal decent damage to more than one enemy. They have some AoE (Area of Effect) spells, but they are also able to carry their allies and they can even throw with them! Now, that sounds amusing, doesn’t it?
 
Sadida’s Shoe – They summon dolls to protect themselves and their allies. Other than that, they also have a decent amount of offensive spells. It is the best to join a party when fighting harder monsters, because Sadidas are not able to resist a high amount of damage.
 
Sacrier’s Blood – They have the highest amount of health, but they also can deal  heavy damage. Sacriers are mostly used as punching bags, but I personally think they don’t really need a party. They can practically handle everything on their own.
 
Sram’s Shadow – Many different spells is what makes this class so good. They can hide, set traps, clone themselves and deal magical damage. There are many guides on how to use this class, but none of them will make your character very strong, because it is almost impossible to deal very high damage with a Sram.
 
Osamodas’ Whip – One of the most challenging classes of the game. Most Osamodas rely on their summons in a fight, but they also have the possibility to max a magical attack to protect themselves when all their summons are dead.
 
Xelor’s Sandglass – A magical class that uses magical attacks to fight. Xelors mostly use their magical attacks to attack their enemy, but they also have some spells which allow them to steal AP from their opponent.

Features and graphics

The graphics of Wakfu are way better than Dofus’. The characters have been completely changed and the monsters look even better. The only negative part of this upgrade is that many players with an old computer will not be able to run Wakfu without any lag.
 
Wakfu offers us quite some features. The game has PvP, but it isn’t really special. It basicly is the same as normal combat; The only difference is that your opponent is a real player. A great feature of the game are the professions such as harvesting and planting. There are many different professions in Wakfu. Some of these can only be executed if you are a subscriber, which is quite disappointing.
 
The most unique part of the game is that the economy is completely player based. There are no NPCs who buy your items which means that it could go wrong if the players decide to ruin it.

Conclusion and personal opinion

Wakfu is a decent game and a good sequel of Dofus. Anakma has done a great job on upgrading the game. The bad parts of Dofus, such as the graphics and many bugs, have been fixed and many players will enjoy Wakfu.
I personally don’t think Wakfu has ‘beaten’ Dofus. Dofus will always be a great game that gives you everything you want of a game and nothing can change that. Not even a sequel.
 
 
Pros
– Amusing graphics
– Wide variety of classes
– Unique features
– Player based economy
 
Cons
– Mostly Pay to Play
– Disappointing compared to Dofus

Mir2: Big Update!

Gamepot USA, Inc., the U.S. publishing division of Japanese gaming behemoth Gamepot, Inc., is proud to announce the latest update to Mir2: The Legend Continues, “Crimson Dawn”, which brings a new class, “The Assassin”, to the world of Mir2.  In addition to the new class, 15 new maps are also available for players to test their skills.  Gamepot is also happy to announce the opening of the Premium Shop, holding attractive items for all players, available from May 14th. 
 
Owning their existence to the shadows, the Assassin Class, uses supreme agility, magic, and swift attacks to overwhelm foes.  Their abilities include enemy hallucination, concealment, shadow clones, and incredible athletic prowess to move in battle.  A true treat to play, players are invited to enter the world of Mir2 with this shadowy class to test their skills.
 
Assassins are expected to join their fellow classes in the 15 new maps. Built for the more advanced players of Mir2, these new dungeons will prove to be a challenge, with all new perils awaiting in the depths below. “This is another well-cooked update from our oven.” said Thomas Lee, Gamepot USA’s Senior Director of Business and Marketing. “Players will be sure to enjoy the latest offering in the ever-expanding world of Mir2”.
 
In addition to the robust content update, Mir2 debuts its premium shop, featuring a number of stylish and functional items available for all players, especially those eager to customize their gaming experience.

Warrior Epic: Official Release

True Games today announced the official launch date of its highly anticipated title Warrior Epic.  The official launch date for North America is May 19th.
 
“Our beta testers have given us a lot of great feedback and we are confident that the game is now reaching a point where we can provide the Warrior Epic community an engaging and compelling experience,”
said Jeff Lujan, Founder and Chairman of True Games.
True Games will continue to put Warrior Epic through rigorous beta testing through Monday, May 18th and are accepting a second round of closed beta testers to provide feedback before the official launch.
Those who wish to partake in the closed beta will be rewarded through in-game events and promotions.  Those interested in joining can register at www.warriorepic.com.
 
Developed by Austin based studio Possibility Space, Warrior Epic is an online, action role-playing game set in an original fantasy universe.
In the game, players will assume command of a Warrior Hall from which they manage their characters’ adventures. They can recruit from a wide array of Warrior Classes, each with its own style of play. The Classes and the Hall itself can be upgraded visually as well as functionally.
Players adventure together in multiplayer campaigns, adventure mode, solo quests and PVP.
 
One of the most unique aspects of Warrior Epic is that death does not mean the end of a warrior. Instead, it opens totally new and strategic options for players. The game’s unique Warrior Spirits System enables fallen warriors to not only be revived at any time at their hall, but also to be transformed into Spirits that can be bound to weapons to increase and open weapon abilities and skills, or they can be called out to inflict massive damage depending on player needs.