Yearly Archives: 2009

Conquer Online: Raiding Clans Steed System Preview

Upon its release in 2003, Conquer Online has been constantly evolving with loyal players’ suggestions and our design team’s hard-work. Now CO has become a thriving and diverse online community for all players from different parts of the planet! For Conquer’s 6th anniversary, the TQ team has prepared for our community a brand-new expansion, Raiding Clans. As the title indicates, the soul feature of the expansion is the mount, the Steed System! Soon adventurers will be able to travel with their trusty steeds, as they ride headlong into battle!
These loyal steeds will accompany their masters as they journey across the vast continent of the Middle Kingdom. Showing no fear, they are willing to charge forward with their riders into the furious battles waged in the world.
There will be various types of steeds, with many different appearances, all suited to a players’ personal choice. You can utilize these gorgeous mounts to customize your character, putting yourself in the spotlight of the community. But good looks aren’t all that they give, as the steeds possess their own unique attributes. Common field horses could provide you with convenient transportation during your travel, while the top-ranked ones are as fast as lightning. A legendary steed can help its master to dominate the universe of Conquer.
The times of merely running into battle are through! Now, the time has come for you to saddle up and ride headlong into destiny!

WonderKing

WonderKing is a 2D, side-scrolling MMORPG that takes players on an adventurous journey with story-by-story quests, much like a fantasy novel. Along the way, players will travel from beautiful beaches to murky marshlands and frigid snowfields as they battle to save the world. Don’t let the lack of a third dimension fool you, as this game is a highly developed MMORPG, including features such as:
* Home Town System: Players can personally decorate a private room where they can rest and store items and trophies.
* Pet System: Adorable, loyal AI animals will aid in hunting, item collecting, and other tasks.
* Class Change: The game allows players to focus their character’s abilities and change between classes to learn powerful techniques (mage, swordsman, thief, and scout).
* Mounts and Vehicles: Get moving with a variety of vehicles to ride and animals to mount, providing boosts to attack and defense.
* Castle Battles: Engage in PvP battles using siege warfare across castles.
* Crafting and Cooking: Weapons, food, and potions can be made to give players an edge in battle.
Designed for gamers of all ages, WonderKing is set in a vibrantly colorful world and features some of the most uniquely creative character designs and gorgeous graphics in any game. As with all of NDOORS’ titles, the game is 100% free-to-play.

Eudemons Interview: The Divine Path

Questions by Rick Charbs, Onrpg writer
Answered by Song Wang, Game Designer
 
With Eudemon’s latest expansion: The Divine Path’s release, a new storyline and some interesting new content will be available to all users! ‘‘Well, in this expansion we have prepared several new features for our players, including new regions, new monsters, new skills and new quests…’’ said Song Wang, game designer of Eudemons. Planned for full release on May 8th, get ready for new features such as the Apotheosis and Godship status!
 
 
Onrpg: Congratulations on your near-release of Eudemon’s latest expansion: The Divine Path! What have your ambitions been to publically introduce this expansion?
 
Thank you very much. Since its release in 2006, Eudemons Online has been doing pretty well in both the domestic and  international markets. Currently we have published 5 language versions for this game. As the industry is getting more and more competitive, we recognized that it was critical to add something fresh to keep the in-game community vibrant. Therefore, we announced the new expansion, The Divine Path, this Feb.
 
 
Onrpg: What kind of work was involved in making this great addition possible? What do you expect of its success?
 
We had to think of some extras to add to the game while keeping it balanced so that all the current players will find the game they have come to love but also a new level of enjoyment with the expansion.
 
 
Onrpg: What core features will The Divine Path add to the game?
 
Well, in this expansion we have prepared several new features for our players, including new regions, new monsters, new skills and new quests… Among all these features, the most important one is the Apotheosis system, which can grant players with god-like power in the universe of EO.
 
 
Onrpg: Does this expansion provide an addition to the game’s storyline?
 
Sure. The theme of the expansion is about well-known ancient Greek mythology. The Twelve Olympians will descend to the mortal world, and seek their chosen warriors among the top adventurers of Yartland. The adventurers will be able to explore the mysterious Divine Realm, receive a series of new quests and have a glimpse at the stories behind these deities.
 
 
Onrpg: Could you please explain the Apotheosis system for us? What improvements does Apotheosis have on a eudemon?
 
In the expansion, players will have a chance to obtain the divine power – the Godship from the deities. However, they have to pass the test called Apotheosis. To reach the ritual spot, adventurers must defeat the deities’ servants guarding the 5 shrines. After the Apotheosis ritual, adventurers are allowed to obtain only one type of Godship. Meanwhile their eudemons will also evolve into Divine Eudmons with a new exclusive attribute.
 
 
Onrpg: Do you have any rough estimate as to when this major update will take place?
 
Well, the preliminary release date for the expansion is May 8th, and we will start the major resource update around the end of April.
 
 
Onrpg: Could you please offer us a little more insight on Godship?
 
Sure. The Godship represents the divine prowess of the Twelve Olympicans. There are 4 types of Godship, representing the different characteristics of the Twelve Olympians: Passion, Valor, Wisdom and Loyalty. Adventurers are allowed to obtain only one Godship in their lifetime.
 
 
Onrpg: What kinds of benefits and abilities players will receive upon obtaining Godship?
 
The Godship does not simply equate to combat skills. It allows players to perform various community interactions. The Valor Godship can be utter monkey business, like turning someone annoying into a donkey or a doggy. With the Wisdom Godship, you can award other adventurers with extra experience, or even invincibility in battle. The Loyalty Godship can enhance the bond between you and your eudemons.
 
Meanwhile, the Godship will help adventurers to learn different XP skills according to their class. With this divine XP skill, you can wreck havoc upon your opponents.
 
 
Onrpg: Eudemons features new events weekly. What are some of the intriguing events you have held in the past?
 
For the community, we have constantly provided various special quests on major festivals, such as Christmas, New Year, Valentine’s and Easter Day. Also we hold offline and online competitions, allowing players to use their skills at art, writing, forum scouring, or general knowledge to win in-game items.
 
 
Onrpg: The Recruit Quests is an interesting ongoing event. What are these quests, and what rewards do they hold?
 
The Recruit Quests will help new arrivals to learn the systems and functions of the world better. During the quest series, players can get experience and other rewareds, so that you can explore the Eudemons world more easily.
 
 
Onrpg: How thoroughly can players customize their characters in Eudemons?
 
In Eudemons, players can choose different hairstyles, garments and gear to decorate their characters. Moreover, you can raise and train various types of eudemons to customize at higher levels. There are over 100 kinds of eudemons in EO, and each has a unique appearance and attribute. Most eudemons can fight alongside you in battle, while some types can be mounted like a horse.
 
 
Onrpg: What are some of the most unique features of the game?
 
Apparently the eudemon system is one of the most unique features of the game. Apart from it, I would say the PVP System. The Eudemons is a PVP oriented game in which you can encounter other players in most maps. In such a harsh situation, players have to find a good mentor or join a strong legion for protection.
 
Also there is a unique Battle Power system to decide players’ prowess. The Battle Power is an attribute calculated by the level, gear, eudemons and even social relationship. It has a critical impact on your character’s performance in combat with monsters or other players.
 
 
Onrpg: Could you please give us a brief overview on the game world and its terrain?
 
The universe of Eudemons is set in a western-styled mythical world, called Yartland. The continent contains various types of landscapes, plain, forest, desert, and icy land. Players can explore the forgotten history on this vast land and challenge monsters and other players.
 
 
Onrpg: What is your favorite Eudemon and why?
Hmm. Personally, I quite fancy Saint Bear. It’s cool and I like to ride tandem on it with my in-game spouse.

Valkyrie Sky Revie: Arcade Shoot-Em Up

By Michael Justice (Alphamage), Onrpg writer
Various types of MMORPGs have crossed my path in my online gaming life, yet I never thought I would play an arcade-style shoot-em-up MMORPG. The thought of it was neither excitement nor was it disappointment. In all honesty, I don’t think anyone would know how to feel about a bullet-curtain type MMORPG until they have played it. Allow me to give you some insight as to how the game works and feels, and perhaps you will know how you feel about it.

Character Creation

From the beginning of the game, you choose a job “type” and in that type there are 3 “classes”. Sounds pretty basic, right? The bad news is that the character is gender locked with little-to-no customization except armor and weapons. Definitely not a game for people who wish to “unique” with their character, but hey, I came for the gameplay and you should too, because if you aren’t looking for gameplay, maybe Second Life would better suit your artistic character creation skills.
 
The jobs are somewhat generic. You have your standard Swordsman, Magician, Bowman, and then you have the Summoner, which is obviously the most awkward class out of all of them. Warriors are strictly closed-range, meaning they have to actually go in to the fray and smack them up, he can also deflect most bullets with his sword as a skill, so he’s very vital to parties.. Magicians and Bowmans attack from far using ranged projectiles and the Summoner uses her… pet to attack the enemies. Seriously… all she has to do is hold down the shoot button. She doesn’t have to aim anything, the pet just kills everything. Every job has a special “Valkyrie mode” they can use, which is basically a timed  HP+attack buff, and each class also has a ultimate attack thing they can use which makes them invincible and clears most enemies off the screen.
 
The class archetypes themselves are not so bad. It really depends on your playstyle as what archetype you want to be. It’s probably one of the more profound types of customization in Valkyrie Sky. Surprisingly, one of the really great things this game does is it lets you change class archetypes practically on-the-fly. After acquiring a certain amount of levels, you can spend skill points and gold to change your class back to one of the other 2 available. It incorporates a nice little bit of unique elements to the game which won’t keep you bored.
 

Areas

There are three parts to Valkyrie Sky: towns, the world map and stage maps. Towns themselves generally have plenty of people in them, shops to buy items, people to give you quests and perhaps an area to fish or cook. You are on the ground for the entire time you are in town and you take to the sky when you go to the world map. The world map itself is not just some screen that says “select stage”, it’s an actual place where you are flying in the sky. It was pretty exciting seeing something like this for the first time. You can’t necessary change your altitude or anything, but you can move around to the various outposts and stage areas.
 

Stages & Stage Areas

Stage areas are basically like waiting rooms for people who want to do missions in the respectable area they are at. There’s some features that make things easier to find people like the party list, where you can invite people around your level and portals which allow you to teleport party members to your outpost regardless of where they are. After you have plenty of people together, you can choose the difficulty and such.  In order to “clear” a stage area, you need to beat “acts” of the stage in sequential order to get to the final part of a stage which is usually a boss of some sort. Up to 4 people can be in your party, which definitely limits your interaction with large amounts of people.
 
Acts themselves are actually very hectic at times. It is exactly what you think it would be, a vertical scrolling shooter with enemies coming at you from most angles. Some of them shoot you and occasionally there will be a mini-boss in the normal stages. It is not necessarily a danmaku(japanese  for bullet hell) type of shooting game, but with 4 people there is bound to be confusion. You do have HP, but it’s kind of pointless considering anything will kill you in about one or two hits, if you’re lucky. Monsters do drop little HP orbs, so if you get hit and manage to survive, you can recover that way. There is no type of “MP” system, just cooldowns on all of your skills. You have certain charges on your skills depending on how much skill points you’ve spent on them, so you can use them a lot as you put more and more skill points in to them. You’re allowed two continues if you die. If you use both of those, you can buy credit coins, which cost real money.
 
You’ll acquire items throughout stages. There is a rarity system like in many other MMORPGs which categorize items by rarity and the more rare an item is, the better it does in combat. In stages, you can also acquire etc. items used for production, upgrades and quests. Bosses especially drop lots of items. At the end of the stage, your loot is split among everyone equally at random.
 

Stamina System

Alas, more and more games are clinging on to the notorious “stamina” system and sadly, Valkyrie Sky is one of them, however, it does not take it so seriously as other games. As you progress through stages, you’ll waste a certain amount of stamina out of your stamina bar. The harder the stage, the more you waste. You also waste twice as much during in-game night, which kind of sucks. You gain a set amounts of stamina at in-game morning, but it doesn’t fill up completely. There’s also equipments that give you a max stamina bonus and a stamina regeneration bonus. If you somehow manage to run completely out of stamina, there are actually ways to get it back.
 
For one, if you cook food using ingredients found from cooking NPC traders, you can consume food for stamina. It’s a very easy way, but it wastes plenty of money. People usually fish during the night and cook the fish they caught for stamina, that way they don’t waste twice as much stamina and use the time waiting for day to gain more stamina. Another way you can get stamina back is listening or playing music. Music regenerates a set amount of stamina every set amount of time, for example 5 stamina every 15 seconds. Higher quality music gives more stamina. You can also charge people to listen to your music by the second. They both can be ranked up by how often you do them, and they are both really good side-additions to the game.
 

Graphics

There is nothing to be too stunned about. The game relies on a very clunky animation system, and even on high end, you can still see the very low amount of frames devoted to movement and attacks. Most of the scrolling backgrounds are 3~5 second loops and the bullets themselves aren’t even that impressive. You won’t see your own character very often unless you’re in town or at a stage outpost. Again, it’s definitely a game you just play because you enjoy playing it, you don’t enjoy it for the pretty colors and textures.
 

Conclusion

The game is very innovative while retaining a large amount of the MMORPG qualities we know and love. It’s definitely something you can play off and on when you feel like it if you’re a fan of the shoot-em-up genre. Unfortunately, Valkyrie Sky is still waiting to enter it’s commercial release so keep an eye out! Changes will be made to the game, but it will hopefully be for the better.
 
Pros
– Innovative gameplay
– Plenty of things to do on the side
– Ways to regain stamina
 
Cons
– No character customization
– Not exactly a long-term MMORPG
– Stamina system can get in the way sometimes

Kings of Nations Open Beta started

Kings of Nations Open Beta Test started at 22:00 PDT 12th May.  All players are welcomed to join the test. After the OB, we will not delete character information.
Kings of Nations is a browser based multi-player online game. In Kings of Nations, player selects one from two of the civilizations, either Eastern Civilization or Western Civilization and plays on a randomly created map. Players begin with one main city, Central Government and some necessary resources and fight against other kings or cultures until he/she finally remains in the world. In the Central Government player can build different constructions, and developing new technologies. Different constructions have different functions. Before you launch the war either against the real player or against the NPC city, make sure you city economy is healthy. You have to find a balance point between economic developments and enhance your military force. Once your reputation reached enough level, you can set up your own country and command your underlings to attack your enemies.
You can also allies with some other nations, but remember choose your friends carefully, your enemies will choose you.
Kings of Nations is not only a strategy game, it has AI system and battle scene. You can command your army and decide its tactic when you are online. If you are offline, the AI system will help you.
Different Civilization will have some slight differences in the future.
Your Nation is waiting for you to explore, my King.

Runes of Magic Passes The Million Mark

Frogster announces today that the online role play game Runes of Magic has now reached over a million registered users in Europe and the United States. In less than one year after announcing the game, the Berlin based publisher has been able to reach a further important milestone in the marketing of its multi-award-winning MMORPG.
 
“We at Frogster have been looking for a real hit title for two years and are happy to have found one this last year with Runes of Magic.” Summed up Andreas Weidenhaupt, Chief Licensing Officer of Frogster Interactive Pictures AG and CEO of Frogster Online Gaming GmbH. “We are convinced that with the up-coming offering of additional language versions we will achieve further strong growth in Europe.” Weidenhaupt continued. The Berlin based publisher plans to release at least two further localised versions this year. In addition to this, the already announced Korean version is to appear in association with Frogster Asia, as well as a Russian version in a cooperative partnership with Game Factory Interactive.

New MMO Wonderking Announced

NDOORS Interactive today officially announced their newest title, WonderKing. Planned for release in the second half of 2009, WonderKing is an unconventional MMORPG from the developer Ryu & Soft that is designed for gamers of all skill level. The beta is scheduled to launch early this summer.
“With the success of Atlantica Online and Luminary: Rise of the GoonZu in the US, we feel the market is eager for a variety of MMO games,” said Peter Kang, CEO of NDOORS Interactive. “WonderKing’s introduction to the North American market will offer a truly encapsulating experience for gamers of every taste and preference.”
WonderKing is a 2D, side-scrolling MMORPG that takes players on an adventurous journey with story-by-story quests, much like a fantasy novel. Along the way, players will travel from beautiful beaches to murky marshlands and frigid snowfields as they battle to save the world. Don’t let the lack of a third dimension fool you, as this game is a highly developed MMORPG, including features such as:
– Home Town System: Players can personally decorate a private room where they can rest and store items and trophies.
– Pet System: Adorable, loyal AI animals will aid in hunting, item collecting, and other tasks.
– Class Change: The game allows players to focus their character’s abilities and change between classes to learn powerful techniques (mage, swordsman, thief, and scout).
– Mounts and Vehicles: Get moving with a variety of vehicles to ride and animals to mount, providing boosts to attack and defense.
– Castle Battles: Engage in PvP battles using siege warfare across castles.
– Crafting and Cooking: Weapons, food, and potions can be made to give players an edge in battle.
Designed for gamers of all ages, WonderKing is set in a vibrantly colorful world and features some of the most uniquely creative character designs and gorgeous graphics in any game. As with all of NDOORS’ titles, the game is 100% free-to-play.

Shot Online To Host

San Jose-based online game publisher, Gamescampus.com announced today that it will launch the 2009 United Cup, a global scale tournament between the USA and European Union in its game, Shot Online. The preliminary tournament will take place today, May 13 through Tuesday, May 19th and will be held in the game’s Hela course.
The finals for the tournament will be held on May 21st at the game’s Rufus Arena. Shot Online can be downloaded and played for free at http://shotonline.gamescampus.com/index.asp. There is a fee of 200,000 NG to enter the tournament. Prizes will be awarded to the top ten players and will include special equipment, clothing sets and campus credits.
 
“The United Cup has become our most popular event because our US and European players love to battle each other for the win,” said Eliot Kim, Community Manager of Shot Online. “Shot Online has a tremendous following across the globe and we are looking forward to a great turnout, as always, for the tournament this year.”
 
About the 2009 United Cup
 
Any player (beginner, amateur, semi pro or pro) can participate in the
2009 United Cup. Players are allowed to participate in the tournament with only one character (the highest level character per account) and can participate in this tournament up to eight times. The best score submitted will be the player’s final score.
In the tournament, players will be asked whether they are from United States or the European Union and then will be matched against players from their own region. Players also have the option to choose to represent either the United States or the European Union if they have a preference.
 
The top ten players from the USA and European Union will play in the United Cup Finals on May 21st at Shot Online’s Rufus Arena for special prizes. Winners will each be awarded prizes including a set of United Cup clothing, a repairable United Cup driver and 5,000 campus credits.