Yearly Archives: 2009

Rohan: new race added

Online PC game publisher and developer YNK Interactive today launched an expansion to their MMORPG, Rohan: Blood Feud, by adding a new race, The Giant Warriors.
 
"We are thrilled to finally reveal the long-awaited Giants to our Rohan players," said Fred White, Director of Marketing and Communications.   "Each race has a different role in the game, so the Giant addition will bring new twists in the collaborations of the seven races during game play, including bringing Township Battles to a whole new level."
 
The Giant Warriors is the 7th addition to the multifaceted races that make up Rohan: Blood Feud, joining the Humans, Dark Elves, Dekans, Elves, Half Elves, and Dhans.  Bigger in size and abundant in strength, players can build their Giant characters towards their second job specializing in PVP as Savages, or party play as Berserkers.
 
Along with the Giants come brand new weapons, skills, mounts, and maps.  The Giants’ weapons of choice are polearms and dual wielding swords, which are suited for their powerful attack skills.  Their homeland Draht, an arctic terrain, is an addition to the Rohan continent, consisting of new mobs to battle, new NPCs (in game characters) to meet, new territories to conquer, and newly revealed quests to embark upon.
 
A plethora of events, contests, and other festivities are all part of the celebration, happening in game and on the official website.

Spellborn: US closed beta starting

Acclaim Games releases the official game client for download in anticipation of the release for The Chronicles of Spellborn MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game).  Players anxious to join the game can begin downloading and installing the game on their PC now, so they will be completely ready to play once the game is available.

The first players that will have access to the Closed Beta are handpicked from the Acclaim chats, David Perry’s twitter and Historian’s beta tester list. This first group of players has been limited to 200-500 players to allow thorough game testing. After the first group of players test the game Acclaim will start activating 1,000 new accounts every 12 hours starting on Friday March 14, 2009. Acclaim will activate accounts until they feel the servers are at capacity for the Closed Beta. The first player accounts to be activated will be players that have Acclaim Memberships and then at random from Acclaim’s user base.

Starting March 13th, 2009 check your Acclaim ‘Account Summary’ to see if you have Closed Beta access: it will say ‘Spellborn Status Active’.  If your account is ACTIVE launch the game client and login.

The Closed Beta will be available for a limited time and Acclaim hasn’t decided if they will refresh player accounts once the game transitions into Open Beta. During the Closed Beta premium subscriptions will not be available for purchase.

World of Kung Fu: new version coming!

VestGame Entertainment will release a new version to its popular MMORPG, World of Kung Fu in the near future. VestGame is happy to foreshow it so as to be sure of informing gameplayers. The coming version will bring an important upgrade, including new systems, new maps and new items. They are all fresh, and reveal the Chinese custom and culture.
 
Besides 2 brand new high level Maps and 2 new Instances, this version will activate a lot of new systems, in which the new coming "Legendary School" and "Kungfu Campaign" will be a great enhance to our current weekly event system. Together with the currently popular "Town Crier’s Event", there will be totally 3 different kinds of events held by system EVERY DAY, which will surely cover more of our players in different time zones too. Moreover, these events will be all different from Sunday to Monday! There is NO WAY to get bored.
 
In China, everyone knows XII Shengxiao – which is 12 different kinds of animals who represent different years as a rotation — as guarding demon of people who were born in their year. They will soon arrive as pets of our players, not only pick up loots for their owner, but also bless people with nice buff.
 
Trading System will be activated in this coming version too, which makes earning fortune no longer a tough thing.
 
As mentioned above, this version will add many amazing features; however, the new systems mentioned in above paragraphs are only a fraction of the coming version. More detailed information about the new features and enhancements remains to be seen.

Tantra Global Interview: A Touch of Hinduism

Questions by Rick Charbs (Jammart), Onrpg writer

Answered by Dennis, Tantra Global M

Tantra Online is an MMORPG released in late 2008 by Game Networks. Dennis, a member of the Tantra Global Team, kindly answered some questions for us. “The Tantra Global plot is inspired by oriental countries. The touch of Hinduism and ancient Indian cultures has been gathered to inspire this game.” said Dennis. As you can see, the setting of the game is of great importance for this game… but that is definitely not their only focus. Also focusing with great priority on the community, the Tantra team is very integrated in participating with their players. Read on to find out more!

Onrpg: Congratulations on completing the beta phases of your game! What have you accomplished in terms of bug fixing and game arrangements since then?

Dennis: Thank you, as of now connection problems started from OBT was now fixed. It’s one of the things that we really focused on for the players. Minor bugs occurred but our developers are fixing it now. For the arrangement, since Tantra Global is in its original settings unlike other servers (especially private servers), we slightly increased the experience rate so that it wouldn’t be that hard for players in grinding. Players need to enjoy and that’s what we’re aiming for as always.

Onrpg: What new additions have you made to the game since its commercial launch?

Dennis: Since commercial Launch we opened our Item Mall for the premium items and make it available in-game. Newest features of Tantra had been released like in-game email system, Ashram (guild) Search Board and Party Search Board. Unique events and promoting new items every month to keep the players interested.

Onrpg: What are some of the different environments/regions of the game?

Dennis: The Tantra Global plot is inspired by oriental countries. The touch of Hinduism and ancient Indian cultures has been gathered to inspire this game. Reliving of ancient times with gods and its powers (Chakras) can be felt while playing the game. Through its environment, almost all designs and architectures that can be seen was derived from the real ones that exist long time ago.

Onrpg: Could you please explain the God system in detail? What advantages do players have for choosing a certain God to follow?

Dennis: God System is where you have to choose from three (3) gods, Shiva Brahma and Vishnu. Believing in God you choose means you have to defend their temple and fight the other Gods to earn “Caste”. Levelling Caste will give you a chance to have God Skills that will make you owning and powerful. Seeing your character name in the rankings is the most important to many players where the highest Caste level character will be post. This is the most anticipated by the players which will be going to be available soon.

Onrpg: Is this game very PvP oriented? Are there any large scale guild battles?

Dennis: Tantra Global has many PVP battles in which you’ll sweat your hands on holding your mouse and keyboard. From God War (God to God PVP), to Castle Siege: Owning Biryu Castle (to be in control of game economy: taxes in shops and vends) and Fortress War (to own Dungeons with high experience rate and lots of rare item drops). We also have our upcoming events that will be in battle based for them to test their characters if it really is strong enough to be in top.

Onrpg: Could you please offer us some information of the Progeny of Gods event?

Progeny of Gods event is an event where GMs representing each god will help players in winning the “Kala”. It’s a stone in the middle of the map of Kruma (PVP map) where they have to destroy in order for them to open a portal going to a certain Map called “Karya” in which monsters were tough but gives very high experience rate. First god who can destroy this Kala can only be the one to enter in Karya. These GM characters or the so called offspring of the Gods will kill anyone to help their believers in obtaining Kala. We held this event every Wednesdays and Saturdays this month in times of God War.

Onrpg: What other events did you hold during this holiday season?

Dennis: Last Holiday season we did our 7 Days of Tantra event were you can trade loot items to accessories and premium items. A fan site making contest back to back with Tournament bouts and lots of gift box dropped in any map in exchange of other items and experience. And a Big Christmas Tree in main Village with good music of Christmas to feel the spirit of the holiday season.

Onrpg: Will players have to rely on partying to level, or is soloing an option?

Dennis: Playing with others is more fun than alone thus we encourage them to be in party when levelling up. Though you can do it in solo in other maps, we do recommend them to do the quests instead.

Onrpg: How much can one customize his or her character?

Dennis: Variety of armours set and weapons that will depend on your level with different looks in every gender and a choice of customizing your hair style and face is enough to say that every character has its own uniqueness according on how you customize it.

Onrpg: What is the crafting system like in this MMORPG?

Dennis: Crafting in Tantra Global is almost same in other MMORPG but it is one of the most exciting parts of the game. Upgrading your weapons and armours to a certain level and refinement may cost you a lot of in-game money (rupiah), chances and luck may vary also in this system, failure will cost your items lost or disappear. Succeeding it especially from +12 will be declared in the whole map that will activate experience festival 50% increase for an hour. Accessories and other items can be refined through quests.

Onrpg: Gambling is a unique feature in Tantra Global. How do players gamble in the game?

Dennis:
Players can access this feature by simply going to a certain Map called Biryu and visiting NPC Curio Dealer Dive. The NPC simply sells dust items. These items can be activated into another random item. You can get high weapons with upgrades and refinements but you can also get crappy items. You can depend on your luck in doing this feature.

Onrpg: What benefits do players have for purchasing premium items?

Dennis: Premium items will benefit you a lot especially in refining weapons and armours. It also gives the players an advantage in levelling and in hunting for they can use premium item that can only obtain in Item Mall like charms and other items that will add to your stats increasing your defences and resistant against other damages. There are potions that give recovery rate and items that resurrect you when you die. You can even customize your looks by changing your hair and face according to your style.

Onrpg: What in your opinion makes this MMORPG stand out from the rest?

Dennis: It is the only game that incorporates a battle system with polytheism that originated in oriental parts of the world, particularly from the Indian Mythology and Hinduism. Thus it requires a lot of team work, but at the same time, you should be able to stand out among your fellow disciples.

Onrpg: What is your favorite character class, and why?

Dennis: Every character class has its own vital role in the game. One class can be a combo of another and vice versa. It can also be the opposite in which first one to miss in PVP match dies. I guess every class is my favourite.

Onrpg: What will we see in the future of this title?

Dennis: One Tantra …Tantra Global…The choice of your heart…

Damoria

Damoria is a medieval kingdom-management MMO featuring accessible real-time strategy elements. Match up against conquerors from around the world and fight to claim the ultimate throne.

Business Model: Free-to-Play

Microtransactions: Yes, there is a premium currency available for purchase.

Key Features:

 

Royal Orders: Scrap together a paltry settlement and transform into an indomitable fortress over time.

Keeping a Keen Eye: Scout out your surroundings for potential mining opportunities.

Iskandar: Lead veteran soldiers into battle against rival armies.

 

 

Runes of Magic: Castles added!

Frogster America, Inc. today announced that players will now be able to have their own castles in the fantasy world of Taborea.

Frogster is activating the long-awaited ‘Guild Castles’ feature today in Runes of Magic, the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) that is redefining the standard for free-to-play titles and launching March 19, 2009. In-game castles will give guilds the opportunity to live together and furnish their personal guild dwelling. The next step in the plan to support guilds is to enable the guild wars function which will allow players to wage war against each other in GvG (Guild vs. Guild) combat.
However, building a castle isn’t going to be so easy. Guilds must first reach level seven and must have their community coffers well stocked with ore, wood and gold. Should guilds meet these conditions, they will have access to a fortress located in an instanced part of the game world. This will then open a range of opportunities for the guild. For one, the guild castle will contain a central bank for its members and the players themselves will be able to decide what kind of furniture they wish to use to furnish their castle. Guilds can even acquire a throne for their castle as well as practical upgrades such as gates or teleporters that will be useful tactical elements in the planned guild wars.

In future conflicts, guilds will be able to conquer opposing castles. However, guilds may go to war only if they also possess their own throne. The destruction of a throne marks the end of the conflict and the defeated guild loses its throne as well as a part of its assembled resources.

There is also a plan to introduce guild furniture which is reserved specifically for use in castles and grant guilds special bonuses. Guild wars are currently in development and a launch date has not yet been announced.

Blizzard to face big lawsuit?

Play.tm is reporting the following news:


Thom Kidrin’s Worlds.com outfit are in the midst of suing game makers NCsoft, alleging that the Korean MMO giants infringe Worlds.com copyrights through their various persistent online universes.

Kidrin says that if the lawsuit against NCsoft is successful then his firm will go after Second Life’s Linden Labs and – the big daddy of them all – Blizzard.

The executive confirmed legal proceedings a few months ago, claiming that Worlds.com owns the rights to create virtual, scalable worlds encompassing thousands of players.
Whether the case against NCsoft will actually prove a success remains to be seen – but we imagine Blizzard and Linden are watching proceedings with intense interest.


(source: play.tm)

WoW’s expansion blocked by Chinese government

Jlmpacificepoch.com is reporting the following news:


The government has rejected two applications by the second expansion for The9’s licensed MMORPG World of Warcraft, “Wrath of the Lich King,” since China’s Spring Festival (January 25 – February 1), reports Sohu quoting unnamed sources. The applications were rejected due to content that didn’t meet requirements, including a city raid and skeleton characters; the submitted version did not contain WLK’s Death Knight first hero class, said the insider.

WoW game developer Blizzard Entertainment recently deleted a link on the game’s North American site to the site’s simplified Chinese version, said the report.

WAR: State of the Game

Mark Jacobs, GM of Mythic Entertainment, just published the following message about Warhammer Online, talking about past, present and future improvements in the game. here’s the entire message:

Folks,
It’s only March and it’s been a very hectic year already for us here at Mythic. The last six months have seen an awful lot of excitement and change here at the studio. We’ve launched another successful MMORPG but this time in the face of the worst economic conditions that most of us have ever seen. We’ve done some things that we are very proud of, some things we regret and some things that we are very excited about going forward. As I’ve said about Mythic throughout the years, we are not perfect but we will always try our best to create great games. So, without further preamble (or simply ramble), here’s my Winter’s End State of the Game with a quick peek at the past, the present, and a much deeper gaze into the near future.

Right now we are in the middle of our first LIVE expansion for WAR. As part of that, we have just released our biggest patch yet for WAR. While I am a long-standing member of “There is no such thing as a miracle patch” club, this patch cycle (1.2) and the one that will follow it (1.3) represent a huge number of changes, bug fixes and additions to our game. Given the proximity of these two releases, I think it is pretty safe to say that these represent one of the largest (if not the largest) amount of new content, tweaks, adjustments, etc. to any MMO over the course of several months. The team has worked very hard on this and the scope of this patch cycle demonstrates Mythic’s willingness to continue to work on WAR as it stands now and not focus resources in other directions. While the 1.2 patch, like big MMO patches in every game, came with its own warts, overall it was a big win for Mythic and the WAR community. I would be remiss if I didn’t talk a little bit about our next patch, 1.2.1. Currently, the 1.2.1 patch already contains 400+ bug fixes in both content and systems and we hope to add even more fixes to this list. Additionally, 1.2.1 also contains the initial Keep Upgrade system (more on this below), more improvements to T3 in terms of content and experience and the Combat and Careers team will give some extra loving to the Archmage, Shaman, White Lion and Marauder, another Live Event and much more. Currently, this version is slated to be released next month. Since 1.2 launched, we’ve already had a number of hot fixes and we continue to make adjustments to 1.2 on a daily basis even as we prepare for 1.2.1 and 1.3. RvR has never been more active and exciting in the game and we have a lot more coming down the road some of which I shall address now. We have also launched our first ever public forums and so far, things are going great over there. We’re getting a lot of feedback and the discussions there are quite spirited and at times, quite helpful.

One of the things that the team has been doing since we launched is gathering player feedback from a variety of sources. Whether it is blogs, in-game feedback, public tests, our own experiences as players or through the forums, we have been looking at what people are saying about our game. So, I would like to take the rest of this SotG to address many of the key concerns. So, without further delay, here’s an “Eleven Enticing Enhancements” list for WAR.

1. Client/Server performance in RvR – We will continue to work on ORvR performance from both a client and server standpoint throughout the game focusing on both frame rate and client stability improvements. While on the server side, we have made a ton of progress on fortress takes and overall game stability, we need to keep working on overall client performance and we intend to do just that. We will also continue to make improvements on game interactions and ability responsiveness in large RvR battles.

2. Bug & Polish – I’ve written before about our need to spend more time on both bugs and polish as they are two sides to the same coin. Patch 1.2 contained many hundreds of bug fixes and we aren’t stopping there. Bugs are a priority and always will be throughout the this game’s lifespan. In terms of polish, we have already made improvements to UI, Guild Window, Warband UI, Art, Animations and other areas that need polish. The Ward System will be receiving an overhaul to make it more understandable and accessible. Again, this is only the beginning and more improvements are in the works as we continue to polish these and other areas of the game.

3. Open RvR in general – As the core of our game is RvR, we will keep refining all the systems to help encourage people to join the RvR action, especially those that have never participated in RvR before. We hope that the Zone Domination helps bring players together by encouraging defense (and attacking) of BOs and Keeps. We are also working on a new ORvR Influence bar which is filled by killing players and unlocks higher Renown ranks in T4. We also want to improve XP, Renown and Influence Rewards for fighting other players apart from those bars. Additionally, we are working to implement a new RvR ToK section which tracks and rewards RvR and especially ORvR. We are also looking at implementing a “Nemesis” system which tracks the top 20 enemy players that kill you and which will give you rewards for hunting them down.

4. Keeps in general – Getting the balance right for Keep attacks and defence has been quite challenging. We want to encourage players to get involved in the ORvR action and while we have done a lot of things already, we want to do even more. Our current plans include putting in a Keep Upgrade system that encourages guilds to claim and upgrade Keeps. These upgrades would be usage upgrades, not just visual upgrades. We are looking at giving interesting and useful things to guilds who upgrade Keeps; defence improvements, guilds rewards, etc. We also want to put in more attacker options, more attacker abilities, and experiment with new types of siege warfare. Down the ramp (a pun a day and all that) a bit, we are also working on putting in an additional ramp to the Keep Lord room in every Keep and Fortress in the game. Finally, we are working to refine the experience in the Fortress so that Fortress attacks happen more often and attackers have a better chance of winning (get Conqueror gear into the world).

5. Keep Defense – We have improved Rewards for Keep Defence in 1.2 and we will continue to improve Loot, XP and Renown for defending keeps as well as giving Loot rewards (gold bag) to guilds that successfully claim and defend Keeps through Zone Capture.

6. Battlefield Objectives – They are getting a lot of attention in the current patch cycle (1.2/1.3). This includes tying in the BOs to Keep takes in a more meaningful way. We want to make BOs more relevant and necessary from Keep take to Zone Capture progression. Our first step in this was the Zone Domination system, but we are looking to do more than that. We also plan on improving the rewards for BO defence.

7. Zone Capture – This is a major part of our ORvR system and we want to continue to refine it. This includes what we have already done to make Zone Capturing more straightforward and understandable, improving the Zone Control UI to give more information about Victory Points and where they are going, and the new Zone Domination System. We will continue to tweak and improve Zone Capture through the current patch cycle and beyond.

8. Zone Capture rewards – Along with improving the mechanics for capturing a zone, we want to improve the rewards for doing so. We will also fix the problem with Renown and XP in T4 Zone Captures. It currently is awarded only on campaign capture, but we will push this down so players are rewarded at the Zone Capture level. We also want to give specific Zone Capture loot rewards that include access to a select piece of Conqueror gear after a certain number of Zone Captures.

9. City Raiding for fun and profit – The City Raid experience that we currently have in the game will also get some additional work. Our primary goal is to add more RvR opportunities throughout the entire Raid. We are looking at a number of options and possibilities under consideration for more “RvR” and less “PQ action”. For example, players will no longer be able to bypass other players in City Selection and you will no longer have City Instances which are 40 vs. 0! Defenders will be allowed to remain in the City the entire time it’s contested, but not in the large PQs such as Bright Wizard College or the City Dungeons. We have a couple of other things in the works as well that we’ll talk about as we get closer to 1.3’s release.

10. Career Balancing – Patch 1.2 contained a lot of changes, tweaks and adjustments to careers and we will continue this process with the 1.3 cycle and beyond. Our primary focus over the next few months will be the Crowd Control concerns and we will continue to investigate and fix issues we find with this type of ability.

11. Scenarios – While controversial for some, Scenarios are a major source of enjoyment for a large number of our players. We will continue to experiment with, and improve, the Scenario experience. This includes adding new Scenarios temporarily for events, adding new permanent Scenarios, and continuing to refine the Scenario play experience.

So, those are the primary things we are going to focus on over the next few months and beyond. I would now like to talk a little about the Tomb Kings. The work that the team has done so far on this area is nothing short of fantastic. For those that played DAoC and have fond memories (and/or the occasional nightmare) about Darkness Falls, this area will seem both right at home as well as something new and exciting. As the art team did with WAR, they have nailed the Tomb Kings shut (sorry, couldn’t resist). The area already looks great and will only get better over the next few months. The team has also been working on certain improvements to PQs and doing some rather, ahem, interesting things, within the Tomb King area to make sure that the players have a quite memorable experience while dropping by for a visit. So, take your shoes off, feel the sand beneath your feet and if you feel the sharp edge of a blade touching your neck as you go through some of the areas, well, what’s an eternity or two between friends?

Well, that just about wraps it up for this State of the Game. I hope that you agree that we are focused on the right things and that you are excited about the things we are working on. On a personal note, I’d like to extend an invitation to all our players to try out our forums and give us your opinions there. We’ve got a lot of things coming over the next few months and as always, we want and need your help and feedback. With our PTS and our official forums, we’re giving you a great opportunity to both help us make your stay in WAR ever more enjoyable.
As required by lawyers everywhere throughout the universe, here’s the usual disclaimer that this letter is a guide to what we hope to include in this upcoming patch cycle and not a guarantee of any kind. Personally, I’m waiting for the day that we contact extraterrestrial intelligent life and the first thing that they say is not “Take me to your leaders” but rather “Take me to your lawyers!”

As always, I thank you for your support, patronage and interest in WAR.

– Mark Jacobs
VP, GM Mythic Entertainment

Luna Online to be published by GPotato in Spring

Luna Online, is a free to play Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) with an innovative take on its genre. The game was developed with a spotlight on the community within the game and provides extensive social systems for players to connect and meet other players. Luna Online’s focus is on its Family System, Matchmaking System and its Guilds Alliances System. All three systems are set in place to connect players from all over the world together. The Matchmaking System pairs up players with complementary characteristics in which both players mutually beneficial. For example, a player with a strong attack and weak defense can be paired up with a player with a weak attack and a strong defense. Players are also awarded with additional powers after each match, making each matchmaking session unique. Matched Players can also start families of up to 5, with Luna Online’s Family System. The Family System allows players to band together to create and run a Farm. The Farm allows the Family to grow and cultivate items for crafting exclusive items including vehicles, weapons, and equipment. The innovative Guild and Guild Alliance Systems add even more layers of interaction, allowing Guild vs. Guild, and Alliance vs. Alliance battles allowing each opponent to wager items cash or even experience.

The combination of Luna Online’s exciting blend of social community, great graphics, and cute character design sets it apart from other MMORPGs in its genre.


“I’m excited to see how the North American market reacts to Luna Online, the extent of our unique social features has the potential to make lasting significant connections among all our players. This game is a perfect fit for our game portal. Luna’s social features help bring gamers together as a community, which is one of our main goals for the gPotato online game community.”
– Elliott Coward, Producer of Luna Online