Yearly Archives: 2009

TOP :New High Level BOSSes Added

The most successful MMORPG under the IGG banner, Tales of Pirates has been swashbuckling its way into players hearts for 2 years now. Thanks to the developers’ constant innovation, more band new monsters have been added to the new version. Some high level BOSSes which not only have eye-catching appearance but also own top-grade epic drops, appear in Aurora Area and Dark Area. If players want to have a sneak peek, the following instruction can not be missed.


Aurora Area BOSSes:

1. Firm Guard
Level 130 BOSS, will do anything to protect the Aurora Area!
Drops: Robot Wheel, Metal Funnel, Rune of Courtesy, Sealed Aurora Sword, The Box of Prowess

2. Furious Kara
Level 135 BOSS, used to be wife of North Ville. She’s gone crazy since
North Ville left.
Drops: Sealed Crusaders Shield, Sealed Bane Bow, Rune of Justness, Sealed
Judgment Shot, The Box of Hornor, The Box of Sacrifice

Dark Area BOSSes:
1. Vicious Relic Protector
Level 130 BOSS, was cursed by an infinite dark seal and became a monster. Nobody yet knows how to clear the curse…

Drops: Robot Wheel, Metal Funnel, Rune of Pity, Sealed Dreadful Dagger,
The Box of Justice

2. Morpheus Abyss Demon
Level 135 BOSS, able to control the power of evil, as well as being arrogant and conceited.
Drops: Devil Gem, Sealed Aegis Sword, Rune of Courage, Sealed RedemptionStaff, Sealed Amulet Staff, The Box of Empathy, The Box of Inspiration

How hard are these new BOSSes to defeat? How powerful are they’re spells and attacks? Only those who have enough courage can find out and get the chance to claim their valuable drops!

LOTRO: The Leaves of Lórien out now!

Codemasters Online is proud to announce that the latest major free content update to The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria is now live and ready to play!

Free to subscribers, Book 7: The Leaves of Lórien is a huge new update with a whole host of new features. These include the continuation of the Epic storyline, a new 12-man raid and the enhanced new player experience.

The Spring Festival Returns!

Starting 3rd April and ending 17th April, the Spring Festival will be open for all to enjoy.

To take part in the various spring festivities which include new antics from the Tavern League, flower picking, dancing, fence running and other fun mini-quests, head to the Festival Grounds in the home lands.

Don’t forget to get lost in the new Hedge Maze in the Horsefields. There’s much fun to be had amongst the foliage there!

Square Enix’ Next MMORPG

by Joshua Temblett, Onrpg writer

Final Fantasy XI was not only a fantastic MMO, but it also gave birth to a lot of features which are now commonly used within the genre. Despite the game’s rising success in 2005 Square Enix announced that they were working on a successor to Final Fantasy XI, and that’s when the buzz began. In fact just recently Square Enix Boss, Yoichi Wada admitted that the developers of FFXI are preparing to take the title into its final years and move onto their next game. Will Square completely phase out Final Fantasy XI? I doubt it, as other reports by Square (and FFXI producers) have stated that they want the two games to co-aside with each other, and that the new MMO will be a much different experience from its much older brother.

There’s only one thing we know for sure: Square is working on another MMO and its code name is Rapture. We can also assume that they have been working on the title for a fairly long time and that the game is certainly very close to launch (or pre-launch). Rumours have been circulating that Square Enix will announce the game at this year’s E3 and to be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t. Square Enix’s video games sales have seen a fall across all regions last year (despite this though their profit surprisingly raised by a slight hair) and this could be something to do with the quality in their recent titles dropping below what it used to be. I know what you’re thinking, “Blah Blah Blah, but what does it mean?” It could mean that Square Enix might find itself in trouble at some point along the line and that the company will certainly be looking for something to boost up its sales. Looking at the sales and the games released will help us get closer to finding out just what type of game Square Enix’s new MMORPG will be.

Japan’s video gaming market isn’t doing so well at all and is definitely not stable when compared to America’s and Europe’s market (with the United Kingdom being the second biggest gaming market in terms of purchases). This has had a huge impact on Japanese developers, especially on how they approach not only these markets, but the games they create. Japanese devs are finding a need to “Westernise” their games, so that their games can appeal to a wider audience and earn more profits worldwide. Square Enix has been greatly affected, as the company hasn’t really changed the way they create games (and what demographic they’re aimed at) since the first Final Fantasy and this is a major problem in a more fast paced western and casual orientated market. If we assume for a moment that the sequel to Final Fantasy began production in 2005, when the Japanese market had already started suffering, one could come to the conclusion that the next title will be slightly more westernised and will definitely aim to cater to a much larger audience.

In this economic climate, Square needs to approach the market differently, or else they’ll fail. World of Warcraft (a Western MMORPG) kicked through the doors of conventional MMO’s and produced a title that was easy to access, so that the emerging casual audience could get into it easier. It had features that were, at the time, original and mind blowing, and would of course appeal to a hardcore audience. WoW had another strong factor that put it in first place though, and that was the way it created an addictive and interesting experience, proudly made by the community Blizzard built up, which has attracted millions of normal people into the game’s unique world. People wouldn’t stop talking about the game (mainly due to their addiction to it), and this meant that if you had friends who wouldn’t shut up about the title, like I did, you’d either have to join them or leave them. Unfortunately the human race has a need for social acceptance among their friends/peers so most of them joined in the action.

Square needs to create a game that is unique, easy to access (they need to get rid of the stressful Play Online), fun to play and above all else addictive. If we take a look at some of the company’s recent MMO inspired releases, we might be able to piece together just how the game will play. There is one game that comes to mind when thinking about titles that would work as an MMORPG and that is Final Fantasy XII.

Final Fantasy XII was released in 2006 in the US and Japan, which was then followed by a 2007 release of the title in the Pal Regions. The title had suffered through a lot of problems, one of the main ones being that developers and designers were constantly coming and going, thus the game’s central focus got ruined which made it the weakest title in the series. FFXII was originally rumoured (and I fully believe designed) to be online or at least contain some online features. You can easily see that the game was meant to have some online aspect, and this is apparent from the open approach the game took and the battle system. The battle system put together the best parts of the previous Final Fantasy ATM system and mixed them with a more “Point and Click” MMORPG approach. This created a slightly boring but very in-depth system that you could just imagine playing in an online RPG. Not only this, but the game didn’t feel slow like Final Fantasy XI but rather fast paced. I would consider Final Fantasy XII an evolution of Square Enix’s online MMO battle system.

I’m not saying that just because FFXII featured MMORPG type gameplay that Square’s new MMO will be like it, I’m just pointing out what it could be like. If they want to appeal to a wider audience they need a faster and easier game. Things one needs to consider is SE’s approach to the new approaching market and the effect this has on their games. For example the company has recently set up a development team in America to approach the strong western market. Could this show that they’re moving to much more western influences for their games? Just something to think about.

One of the main questions I wish to answer is whether or not Squares’ new MMORPG will be a P2P or adopt a more open F2P (with an online market place) approach. SE is fairly renowned for taking their money up front, and can you blame them? Looking at the economic climate though would that be wise? It’s a well known fact that F2P games, on average, have much higher profit than P2P titles, but the amount of money made from Free to Play games can be unpredictable from month to month, whereas for Pay to Play games the developer is certain that every month they will get the same amount of money. This is the reason why P2P is much more popular with developers. If Square Enix released the title on a Buy to Play scheme though (much like Guild Wars) and gave the game some proper marketing, then it would no doubt sell. I personally think though that going for the free approach is much better as that way it will be more accessible (especially during the present economic climate) and you could end up gaining millions of gamers who are more than willing to pay for items and new clothing. Of course I know the game will be P2P as, after all, it is Square Enix.

So to wrap up, just how different will Rapture be? My answer: very different. The developers have learnt a lot from their experiences with Final Fantasy XI and from various other MMO titles about how to approach the market and just what you can achieve. I predict that the game will be slightly faster paced then its predecessor, and will be a lot easier to get into and play. Not only that but I think the game will certainly have a western appeal, whilst at the same time keeping Square’s well known injection of Japanese culture that they always put into their games. The big question is, will it be another Final Fantasy title? If they want the title to co-exist with Final Fantasy XI the answer is no, but if they wish the new game to replace it, yes. I can definitely guarantee you one thing though, it’ll kick rear.

Fallout MMO in the works?

Interplay has released the following announcement. It is rumored that the mysterious ‘Project: V13’ will be an MMO based on the popular Fallout brand.

Here’s the announcement:
Interplay Entertainment Corp. announced today that the company has signed a binding letter of intent with Masthead Studios to fund the development of a Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG), code named “Project: V13.”

The game has been in design and development at Interplay since November 2007. Masthead and Interplay teams will work together under the direction and control of Interplay to complete development of the project.

As a part of the agreement, the game will utilize Masthead’s proprietary tools and MMOG technology developed for Masthead’s “Earthrise” project.

Commenting on the announcement, Interplay Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Herve Caen said, “We are looking forward to turning the vision of our game designers into a compelling online gaming experience. The planning and design completed for Project: V13 thus far, combined with Masthead’s resources, tools, and growing team of dedicated MMOG developers, will bring this unique game to reality.”


Masthead Studios President Atanas Atanasov said, “This arrangement is ideal because it leverages the technology our professionals have specifically built for advanced Massively Multiplayer Online Games into what we expect will be a groundbreaking Interplay gaming title.”

MechQuest

MechQuest is a Free browser-based giant destructive war machine battle game. It is heavily inspired by the art from every mecha & giant robot series ever created including magic and laser swords. Try out the ‘Anything Goes’ build and battle ‘Lunchbreak-sized’ gamea.

Game Features
Create your pilot and explore our ever expanding universe with new equipment, storylines, special events, and new planets as they are added in the regular updates. MechQuest is in ongoing development! On the game forums players can even offer suggestions for new releases!

Three Kingdoms: major game updates

Uforia announced today that it has made some major updates to its Three Kingdoms: The Battle Begins game. The first major change is that the PVP Battles occur every hour of every day. The addition of nearly twice as many battles allow players who previously were not available to participate in them to compete for experience points and in-game gold. The battles take place in multiple locations throughout the game and players are alerted to their whereabouts via a pop-up alert notification box.

The other major addition to the game is the increase in number of premium items for the Chests of Fortune. This item is a container that when purchased gives the player a chance of receiving an item which in turn can boost a character’s stats or enhance character appearance or restore a player’s HP. Players can purchase Chests of Fortune in the Item Mall.


About Three Kingdoms: The Battle Begins

Three Kingdoms: The Battle Begins tells the story of the fateful last reign of the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), when the Chinese empire was divided into three warring kingdoms. As players experience the world of Three Kingdoms: The Battle Begins they can rewrite world history by carefully planning and executing political assassinations.

Three Kingdoms: The Battle Begins also offers a one-of-a-kind quest system that delivers quests to players while they are still in the battlefield, maximizing the player’s enjoyment of and involvement in the battle. This unique feature allows the player to continue their travels while having the benefit of receiving items from completing quests. Player vs. Player (PVP) battlegrounds are available on the hour every hour 24/7 which allow the winners of the battle to become Lords who are granted access to exclusive skills and items. Honor points are awarded during these battles and can be used to purchase unique items and equipment from special merchants.

Fasaria World Stimulus Package: $9.95

Fasaria World is launching a Stimulus Package where you can purchase Fasaria World for only $9.95 for a very limited time, no monthly fees. We want to give all players an opportunity to play Fasaria World by giving everyone a big financial break. All you have to do is put in the coupon code and you will only be charged $9.95 for each account. This is 75% off of the original price and will go back to normal when the offer is over.

You can buy up to 4 accounts for the price of one. Get a great game, join a great community and pay very little for it. Give it to family or friends, or just get one for yourself, but do it before the offer is over.

You will not see an offer like this again. Offer will officially end April 9th.

War Rock: Call to Arms

GamersFirst, a service of K2 Network and one of today’s most popular free2play online game destinations, announces completely new look for War Rock.

The new update revitalizes War Rock for new and old players alike. New onscreen “help” features ease players into the exciting, fast paced combat War Rock is known for and the sleek design and layout make interacting with our online world faster and more efficient than ever. Along with the release of the update, War Rock will be holding a new GM Event; in this event players will have to find and Hunt the “rabbit” (GM’s hiding somewhere on the server.) The trick to this event though is in the kill, only Headshots with a Colt will win. Every one who kills the “rabbit” (with a headshot fired by a Colt) will get a random prize from free Dinar (in-game currency) to 30 days Gold Premium! If you are not able to participate War Rock will also be offering all gamers a 10% boost to Xp and Dinar gained from Friday through Sunday.


Current Changes:

– New User Interface that scales to your game resolution, Login screen, Options, Room List, Lobby, Item Shop have all been redesigned with new look and feel.
– All new high poly character models
– Optimized shadows and special effects
– New added to the Item Shop m16A4 (assault rifle)
– Updated game engine (Jindo)
– Favorite’s option added to server list

Our level designer has heeded our player’s call and updated our Artifact Map so players can now play on Explosive Mode. In addition the War Rock team released a new map called Decay. This map is a sniper’s paradise. Its cloudy exteriors and dark interiors provide plenty of perches for sniping.

– 2 new CQC Maps: Decay- Explosive and every man for himself Deathmatch (Map modified) Artifact – This map is now switched to Explosive and every man for himself Deathmatch mode.


“All in all this new update brings War Rock into the next generation of MMOFPS games and continues to keep it a force to be reckoned with.”
Stated Jon-Enée Merriex, Associate Producer, GamersFirst. “The War Rock team is happy to be able to provide the changes and more that our gamers have been asking for.”

Voyage Century: Fleets, Guilds and Merchant Alliances, Oh My!

IGG has just unveiled the latest expansion to its MMO hit Voyage Century Online. In the month since its debut, players have been getting to know the new features much better, making their way into the new realms and, most importantly, learning the intricacies of the relationship between Fleets, Guilds and Alliances.
 
Today we are going to be learning even more about this.
 
Fleet vs. Guild:
A Guild is made up of several different fleets. It is the Fleet Captains who are authorized to apply to join a guild. When membership is approved by guild leaders, these fleets will be affiliated with the guild they belong to. All fleet staff will thus become legitimate guild members.
 
Individual fleet members are not allowed to be employed by other fleets in the same guild. It is understood that each member of a fleet has an unspoken bond with the fleet they serve. They must quit before joining any new fleet.
 
If a Fleet Captain leaves a fleet, the Vice Fleet Captain will be automatically promoted to the position of Fleet Captain. However, in case there is no Vice Fleet Captain, the Fleet Captain’s application to quit will be declined. Fleet Captains will also be removed from a Fleet after being removed from a guild.
 
If a Fleet Captain who is also a guild leader decides to disband their fleet, all fleet members will be kicked out and the Vice guild leader will be appointed as the next guild leader. If there is no vice guild leader, one of the Fleet Captains from another fleet will be chosen to act as the guild leader. The guild will be disbanded if there is only one fleet left. Therefore, each guild must try hard to recruit as many fleets as they can and ensure they have enough gold in the guild bank.
 
Guild vs. Merchant Alliance
Guilds are affiliates of the Merchant Alliance. It is a violation of PK rules for two guilds from different Alliances to ally with each other, or two guilds in the same Merchant Alliance to act with hostility to each other in PK combat, or even to declare war on each other.
 
Guilds attached to the same Merchant Alliance can bid for Siege War and scramble for control of cities in the Merchant Alliance.
The city governors of any Guild Built City Level 5+ will receive the title of Alliance Leader for victory in Siege War while occupying this city. Alliance Leaders also can’t change their identity as a guild leader in any way during their tenure.