Yearly Archives: 2009

HolyBeast Online Goes Open Beta

CyberStep Communications,Inc has published the following announcement:

We’re pleased to announce about our second title, “HolyBeast ONLINE” Open Beta Test.

Open Beta Test starts from May 21st, but all users can start to register and download the client from May 15th.

We are so excited about its opening and cannot wait to see users having fun at the game!

Thirteen1, New Issue Is Out!

Thirteen1 – Press Release, Hull, Wednesday 13th May 2009…
www.thirteen1.com/Issues/mag.php go here now to skip the below text and dive straight into the latest edition of Thirteen1!
The Thirteen1 guys have been working tirelessly over the past month to keep your favourite magazine evolving, with a bunch of software tweaks and loads of top content resulting in the smoothest T1 read yet!
But don’t take our word for it – try it for yourself…
Top Content!
The May edition is jam-packed with bags of top content to flick through – starting with a special preview feature of Dragonica, an up-coming side-scrolling MMORPG that is winning all sorts of plaudits in the Thirteen1 office.
Over the course of the month the T1 guys have managed to get lost and lonely in the dark with Chronicles of Riddick, bossed an entire city in The Godfather II, made a return to Taborea to catch up with Runes of Magic, shown that they just don’t care in their underwear with Naked War, and burnt a bunch of bad-ass ballerina zombies in Burn Zombie, Burn.
Though Thirteen1 is always looking to the future, last month’s anniversary recap must have appealed to the retro corner of their brains – because this issue is rammed with old-school goodness!
There’s the start of a brand new section where they take a look back on classics like Earthworm Jim and Abe’s Odyssey. They dice with smiley-death in HeatBeam’s retro-hearted Emotigeddon, go deep into the world of Geneforge 5 AND save the human race with Gravity Core.
Beta Key Giveaway!
Between the furious gameplay sessions, the T1 team caught up with the guys behind Omerta – the Mafia MMORPG – to get both a sneaky peak at their brand new version 3.0 release and a bunch of exclusive beta-key invites so you can play it!
Flip to page 5 of the mag now to get your hands on one!
Free Comps and Giveaways!
As always, the latest issue of T1 comes with bags of free gaming goodies for you to get your hands on.
There’s loads of game give-aways this month to keep you occupied, including your choice of 20 awesome retro titles to celebrate the launch of our brand new Retro corner. Pick and choose from the likes of Abes Odyssey, Earthworm Jim, the Fallout series and many, many more…
Quality prize if we may so ourselves.
Enjoy the issue!

PoxNora

PoxNora is a collectible, turn-based, tactical, online fantasy game. Players command armies of fantastic creatures, cast spells of devastating power, and summon relics and equipment of ancient renown in order to defeat their opponents. These creatures, spells, artifacts and equipment are represented by Runes – items of magical power that, when activated, come to life on the battlefield. Each Rune type has its own set of traits. Some traits, like Nora Cost and Cooldown, are common to all Rune types.

Features:

Hundreds of Runes: Over 900 runes exist in PoxNora, across ten expansion packs.

Ranked Lobby: Head to battle against other factions, earning faction points to raise your personal and faction rank.

Campaigns: Adventure against a computer-controlled opponent in single player mode. Both free campaigns and special story campaigns are available.

Rune Forge: Complete your collection by using the Rune Forge to destroy spare runes, earn nora shards, and create new runes.

My Addiction to World of Warcraft (part 2)

Questions by Joshua Temblett (Dontkillmydreams), Onrpg writer
Answered by Oliver, ex World of Warcraft player
 
This is the second part of an interview with “Ollie” who gives his opinions on the game and tells us his story of addiction to World of Warcraft.
 
 
Q:  Do you think anyone else will come out with a game that will beat World of Warcraft?  Could Warhammer Online be the WoW killer?
 
A: The thing about World of Warcraft was that for a lot of people, it was their first MMORPG; it was a small taster of game that had a tight community and large scale world.  I think that with Warhammer there was a lot more expectations for you see there was a dramatic change from people playing a single player game like Super Mario, to WoW, which had a huge populous and was generally epic in scale.  At the time it was such a big change for players, it was gob smacking.  I think with new MMORPGs like Warhammer people were expecting the same giant leap.  Perhaps this is the reason people found World of Warcraft so addicting, because of the amazing new experience it gave them.
 
 
Q:  Would you say that you had an addiction?
 
A: Well I think most of the game’s players would say, “No I’m not addicted to it, I just enjoy it a lot”.  I mean in reality it’s very different to an addiction to something like smoking, which harms you physically and is done more for social acceptance. There’s different types of addiction and people that criticise WoW don’t realise that it’s not addictive in the sense that it’s causing the addicted harm… It’s just people that play it really enjoy it.  If someone enjoys something they’ll do it more and more.  For example if someone really enjoyed music and listened/played a lot, you could classify that as an addiction… but you wouldn’t call it that as it’s not anything bad in fact if anything it’s making them a better person. 
 
Going back to the original question, I guess I was addicted to it but that was because I enjoyed it so much.  I couldn’t give it up because if I gave it up, I’d be incredibly bored and there would be less fulfilment. 
 
 
Q:  Did your addiction have any bad implications for you?
 
A: I did pretty badly in my exams. At the time I might have blamed that on World of Warcraft but the thing is I’m still doing badly in my exams now.  Of course now I’m not playing WoW so I haven’t got an excuse.  To be honest… I would have probably gotten out more but when it comes down to it, so what if you go out more?  You just go out spend more money and stuff.  Basically I’m not exactly bothered if it did have any social repercussions on me, because I was so young, it didn’t really matter.  It was a small part of my life, two years. 
 
 
Q:  You hear stories about people neglecting their families and their spouses for this game…which is completely ridiculous.  What would you say to someone who was addicted to WoW?
 
A: I would say you’ve got to remember the game is not going to be around forever, you’ve got to keep a link with the real world.  At some point the servers are going to close, and whatever might be out at the time might not be half as good as World of Warcraft and when it does close down you’re going to have no social contacts and you will be major cold turkey.  You’ve got to make sure you have some social links or hobbies.  A lot of players at the moment are just playing because they haven’t got anything better to do.  In fact I was just so bored I got to the point where I was just creating a new character and playing them just for the sake of it.  I was like “Wow this really is the same it was before”.  Make sure you have something outside of WoW.
 
 
Q:  Do you think a lot of people use it for escapism?  For example, I used to play a game which had a very tight community in which one player found out that a teenage girl from the community was being sexually abused by her father.  Of course he did something about it, he called the local police near her and luckily enough she’s safe now. 
 
For some people though obviously their problems aren’t quite that horrific, and maybe they just lack fulfilment with their lives.  Is it right for someone to escape?
 
A: I’m sorry to hear that story about the teenage girl, it must have been a horrible experience for her.  At least she’s better off now.
 
The thing is…you can’t escape forever.  If you’re playing WoW because you feel like your life isn’t what you want it to be and you want something more, you want to feel more worthwhile and for your life to mean something (which MMO’s provide) then yeah you get that in WoW.  Thing is it’s like drugs.  They work for a brief time but they have repercussions, they will affect you in the long term, with the repercussions being a bad social life.
 
 
Q: Then again, at the same time the community could help them with their problems, right?  I suppose it works both ways.
 
A: Yeah, totally…I know a lot of communities which meet up with their guilds outside of online games.  I know a friend and she’s found all of these friends online and you know what, she’s going to have them for years.  Which I think is really great for you see she’s not judging them by looks or status.  She may not have been friends with them if she had known them from school, but because of WoW she knows who they are and she’s friends with them no matter what size they are, what they sound like or whatever.  So in that respect I think it’s good because you meet people you otherwise wouldn’t.  If you’re looking for that type of thing then you’ve got to make sure you don’t play the game alone and become a loner on it because that won’t help.  At the end of the day, the key is don’t play too much of it.  Don’t let it engross you.  If you play it in moderation you’ll have an incredible time.
 
 
Q:  Is there any piece of advice you’d give to someone who was really addicted?
 
A: Get a haircut first; lose some weight and start feeling good about yourself.  Most of the people I played with had life plans of joining the army and stuff…I mean fair enough…but it was obvious they had low self confidence.  Just get a hobby that isn’t technically anti-social.  When I stopped playing, one of the things that helped me was that I got into music.  That was a real hobby for me; I basically channelled all my energy into that.  It’s also a lot more…socially acceptable.  You’ll feel a lot better about yourself if you’re more socially accepted. 
 
 
Q:  My final question…you know what it is Ollie.  Would you ever go back to World of Warcraft?
 
A: You know what I was thinking about it this morning.
 
Q:  Oh my god!  No way?

A: A lot of people that quit can’t let it go.  Especially when you have depressing dips in your life…WoW is like a little devil poking you in the side with a pitchfork that’s going “Go on then, come and play!  It’ll make you feel better!”…it’s such a drug. 
I keep thinking “I could go back and try the new expansion, that’d be great!”, but after a while, it’s going to go back to the stage where I’ll be playing it because I’ve got nothing better to do and at that point I would lose all my social contacts and all of my friends. 
What I’m trying to say is that, even though you may feel like it may make you happier now, you’ve got to realise that you will lose everything you have at the moment, even if it doesn’t feel like a lot because you’re going through a bad time of your life.
The majority of people have got friends outside of school or whatever and have got a relatively good life.  No major illness or anything.  You’ve got to realise that you’d lose all of that if you went back into that world.  It’s going to fail in the end and you’ll just end up starting from zero again. 
That’s the only thing that’s stopping me from getting back into it.
Interview with “Ollie” by Joshua Temblett.  
So there we have it…Just remember that someone, somewhere will always have your back and that no matter how depressed you get or how much your self confidence drowns in a well of despair that someone in the real world will always lift you back up again. 
Never leave behind your family or loved one’s for some game that is just pixels and code because I’m sure that they still want you with them and beside them, and that they still want to walk with you through life.

Project Powder Shortcut Tips And Raffle

Project Powder: There are tons of ways to reduce your finishing time for each map besides doing amazing tricks to gain speed boost. Shortcuts are always available, but it’s usually up to you to find them. However, for a limited time only, you can find out a neat little trick about the ever popular map, Smallpox Part1. Click here to see the post.
 
Also the Pro Shop Raffle is still going on until May 17th. Purchase any jacket or pair of pants at the Pro Shop and earn an entry into the raffle. First place will win a Cordless Desktop MX3200 Laser Keyboard and Laser Mouse combo pack ($100.00 value). Second and third place will win Kudos (in-game money).

Lineage II The Chaotic Throne: Gracia Final

Dev Diary # 4: Territory Nattles in Gracia Final
Written by: The Lineage II NCsoft West Team
Territory Battles in Gracia: Final
Experience battles on an epic scale. With the release of Gracia Final comes the introduction of Territory Battles, where any player, even those not belonging to a clan, can participate in an epic scaled war.  Territory Battles not only pit clan against clan, and territory against territory, but they also introduce the concept of mercenaries in the largest PvP battles to ever take place in Lineage II.
Clans that possess castles have been given the authority to proclaim a Lord who reigns over an entire territory.  To be deemed worthy of Lord status, you must be of stout mind and body and have completed the appropriate trials and quest.  Once a Lord has been proclaimed, time is of the essence and one should prepare for an attack from other territories.  Clans should actively recruit any able bodied Lineage II player to their aid, since territory wars allow anyone to register and participate as mercenaries.
 
Once the battle begins, you and your allies must have your wits about you to capture and retrieve the opposing territory wards.  After the opposing team’s ward is safely back at your territory’s castle, you must defend it from any attackers until the end of the territory war.  Beware; mercenaries and siege equipment are very deadly and like you the enemy is trying to take your territory ward and will employ all its might against you.  To the victors go the spoils of war.  Any player from the victorious territory will receive access to merchants that offer extraordinary items for sale, with each territory offering unique items. 
 
Examples of the items are powerful S grade weapons, armor and A grade accessories.  Clan members for each territory will also receive exclusive territory skills which will increase key characteristics and potentially give them an edge in battle. 
Fighting against friends and foes alike, territory wars are yet another way Lineage II is bringing unique game play on an epic scale to players.  Pick a side and join the fight today!

Mafia MMO Against Chinese Law?

Jlmpacificepoch.com is reporting the following news:

Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Film and TV is being sued by a private citizen, surnamed Li, for inclusion of mafia-related content in Shanghai-based online game company Giant Interactive’s (NYSE:GA) in-house developed MMORPG ZT Online, Oriental Morning Post reported May 11.

Li Junmin, a lawyer, claims to have immersed himself in the game for four months before complaining to the Ministry of Culture (MOC) that ZT Online glorifies gambling, killing and thieving in contravention of China’s regulations on the administration of Internet culture. The MOC told Li to take the matter up with Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Film and TV. Li’s decision to turn to the courts came after letters to the administration went unanswered, according to the report, a claim the administration contests.

(source: Jlmpacificepoch.com)

A Song of Ice and Fire To Become a Videogame!

Cyanide, an independent video game studio, and George R. R. Martin today announced their partnership to create the first-ever video games inspired by the author’s award-winning, international bestselling ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ fantasy series.
Under the terms of the agreement, Cyanide has obtained the exclusive rights to develop ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ video games for next-generation consoles and PC, and in collaboration with George R.R Martin, development has begun.
«We are all huge fans of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, so it is a true honour for our teams to be entrusted with creating the first video games inspired by this masterpiece» stated Patrick Pligersdorffer, Managing Director of Cyanide. «The twists and turns of the plot will allow us to deliver an experience which can be enjoyed by both long-time fans as well as gamers new to the series.»
Published most notably by Bantam Books in North America and Voyager Books in the United Kingdom, the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ novels have been translated into more than twenty languages (including Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Russian) and have been nominated for numerous prizes. Set in a world where nothing is simply black and white, the rich web of characters makes it an ideal background for numerous genres of video games.
‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ has already been adapted into a card game and a board game. More recently, HBO acquired the rights with the intent of turning the novels into a television series.

Next Blizzard MMO Based on New IP

Blizzard community manager Zarhym on the World of Warcraft forums posted the following update regarding the new Blizzard MMO which is currently under development:
“We have nothing to advertise for the new MMO because it’s a shell of a game thus far. We’ve already stated it’ll be a brand new franchise, which means the lore, art, and game play are being developed entirely from scratch. It’s an overwhelming process, but a process through which we excel. Our track record supports this”

City of Heroes Goes Rogue with New Expansion Pack

NCsoft®, the world’s premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), and Paragon Studios, the developer of City of Heroes®, today announced the development of City of Heroes Going Rogue, the first major expansion for the City of Heroes franchise since the launch of City of Villains® in 2005. As the name implies, Going Rogue will blur the line between heroes and villains in the first and longest-running super-powered comic book MMO game.
 
In the Going Rogue expansion, hero and villain characters will become immersed in the new parallel universe known as Praetoria, which is governed by Tyrant, the evil incarnation of the game’s main protagonist, Statesman. As gamers search for Tyrant and the rest of his Praetorian guard, implacable foes and fierce resistance will arise to face them from all sides, causing heroes and villains alike to question their loyalties.
 
City of Heroes Going Rogue will introduce a new alignment system that helps players explore the shades of gray that lie between good and evil. For the first time, hero characters can become villains and vice versa, enabling hero archetypes to cross over to the Rogue Isles and villain archetypes to experience Paragon City. Clearly marked missions, in addition to behaviors and decisions made by the player, will move a hero’s or villain’s moral compass, which could eventually change the hero’s or villain’s alignment. Going Rogue will also introduce two primary new fictional characters representative of this alignment shift in the game’s lore: Maelstrom, a pistol-wielding hero gone rogue, and Desdemona, a demon-summoning villain who has been redeemed.
 
“City of Heroes has brought a fresh new perspective to the MMO stage with its foray into the super-powered hero comic book genre, and we are excited to present gamers with even more innovative content in Going Rogue,” said Brian Clayton, general manager and executive producer at Paragon Studios. “For years, players could choose between playing as a hero or a villain. Now we will present a third, malleable path where players can be affected by the results of their actions, enabling them to further develop, unveil new perspectives, and overcome new challenges.”
 
NCsoft will share more details on Going Rogue in the coming months. The game is currently in development by NCsoft’s Paragon Studios, the City of Heroes development team that most recently launched the ground-breaking Mission Architect system. The launch of Mission Architect sets a significant milestone for City of Heroes as the first MMO to allow players to create user-generated content. City of Heroes has and continues to set new standards among its MMO peers and player community with its engaging and approachable comic book-inspired universe theme and consistent delivery of concepts that break the standard MMO mold.