Yearly Archives: 2009

Runes Of Magic: new mini game

Frogster Interactive today announced that a new Mini-Game in Runes of Magic opens access to a new dangerous dungeon full of hidden traps and loot. Once every day, adventurers may go hunting for treasure – and with a bit of luck and good fortune, the reward is high-end gear, special recipes or rare crafting materials. Runes of Magic is a free-to-play MMO with over 600 quests embedded in an atmospheric world, six main classes, unique skills, impressive combo attacks and mounts in the later stages of the game. Players can choose from six main classes when starting into a new online career. According to individual preferences, they can select to play a warrior, ranger, cleric, knight, mage or a rogue. When a character reaches level 10, the player can select a secondary class, which augments the possible class combinations up to 30 individual combination types. Runes of Magic will be released on March 19th, 2009 – a new trailer has been added in our download section.

Watch the video for Runes of Magic mini game

WoW: Jeff Kaplan working on new MMO

With a post in the official message board, Jeff Kaplan, lead designer for World of Warcraft, has announced that he will be workin in the next, still unannounced, MMO for Blizzard. Here’s the post:


I wanted to take a moment to let the community know that I’ve switched roles here at Blizzard to work on our upcoming, unannounced MMO. World of Warcraft has been such a central part of my life these past six and a half years, and it’s success would not have been possible without the tremendous community around it, so I wanted to say thank you to all our players who’ve shared this amazing experience with us so far. Also, while I have served as the spokesperson and Game Director for World of Warcraft on Wrath of the Lich King, by no means would WoW be where it is today without the dedicated team that we have in place. The WoW development team is comprised of some of the most talented and experienced game developers in the world, and it was an absolute honor to serve amongst them, and they will continue to make WoW better than ever. I still plan to be very involved with the future course of World of Warcraft, but will leave the day to day operations of World of Warcraft to my partners in crime, Tom Chilton and J. Allen Brack.

When all is said and done, WoW is still my favorite game. I play it every day. None of that passion is gone. If anything, it fuels the challenge of making our next MMO even better. We know we have some big shoes to fill. So thank you to everyone who has been so supportive over the years, and likewise, thanks to those who have given us pointed feedback on all areas of the game. Without all of the feedback and participation, WoW would not be the game that it has grown to be. Azeroth truly belongs to you and we’re lucky to have shared in your journey. And as always, I’ll still be lurking on the forums and in the game.

Mostly, I just wanted to say thanks. It has been an absolute honor.

Jeffrey Kaplan

Mech Warfare: Co-op

Mech Warfare: Co-op is all about cooperative mecha action! Jump in a mech and join the battle online or on a LAN. Select your weapon load-out and use your newtype skills to defeat the rushing enemy. All mechs feature an unique design and have different specifications.

Features:
– Co-op Online or LAN!
– Missions designed for 4 to 6 players
– Mechs with unique designs
– A great varation in weapons
– Powered by a modified Torque Game Engine

Muniz Online Review: Cuteness and Gameplay Combined!

By Vincent Haoson, Onrpg writer

Muniz Online is a browser-based game from Acclaim, the company that has brought games like 9 Dragons, 2Moons and Bots! into the MMO scene.

Cuteness and Gameplay Combined

The game combines cuteness factor, a variety of mini-games you can spend time on, MMO elements like a quest and level system and community enhancing features like a marriage system and even a customize-your-own home feature. The result of this mixture of elements basically describes what Muniz Online is.

When you start playing Muniz Online, you get to choose from three different default skins, the cute egg-like Chapati, the male humans, Chapato, or the female counterpart the Chapata. Muniz Online lets you choose from a limited set of starting clothes that you can put on your avatar. You can get more clothes and accessories for your avatar as you progress through the world of Muniz Online.

Speaking of progressing through the world of Muniz Online, the exploration starts when you click on the Chat tab found in the website. You don’t need to download anything because it basically runs on flash and traveling through the islands is basically done on-site.

The game feels familiar because the gameplay is almost similar to Club penguin and Gaia Online. The customization and the exploration are similar, though some aspects of the game tend to lean on different paths.

The difference

What sets Muniz Online apart from the other browser games that I mentioned earlier on is that it has a marriage system. That’s right. The game has a marriage system.

The marriage system in Muniz Online is similar to the requirements when you are getting married in real life. You would need a place for the wedding to take place, witnesses and of course your significant other. Marriage in Muniz Online is as easy as it can be. There’s no gold or level requirement, you don’t even need to have a house of your own to get married.

Of course, like in real life, marriages have its pitfalls. So, if you don’t want to be with your Muniz Online partner because of one reason or another, the game provides you a way out. Yep, that’s right, you can divorce your “partner” and return to becoming a Chapati, Chapato or Chapata that is single and ready to mingle.

Another difference of Muniz Online to other games of the same genre is the leveling system. Muniz Online’s leveling system is unique to the genre because unlike in Penguin Club or Gaia Online where all the game features are available, Muniz Online requires you to reach certain levels before you can do certain things in the game.

The level system infuses the MMORPG feel into Muniz Online, though unlike most MMOs where the quest is already listed down, in Muniz Online you’d need to search for the quest NPCs that are scattered within the island.

The quests are somewhat required because areas in Muniz Online are level locked. So if you want to explore more of the island then you’d really have to spend the time to explore and level.

Conclusion

As a game that is community-based, Muniz Online has the right stuff. Most of the elements that make a community work and prosper are found in the game. The first proof of this fact is that the game gets boring If you don’t find anyone to talk to. Yes, you may quest or earn for that item you want your avatar to have, or even play all the mini-games that are available in Muniz Online, but those things won’t make you keep on playing.

One of my major problems with Muniz Online is its lack of any decent quest guides. I’ve tried looking for one in the forums but all I saw were a few questions on how to do certain quests. This can really miff some players especially when you log into the game and the people you get to talk to are as helpful as a bunch of toddlers being asked for directions.

The level-game system tie-in is a good decision to keep players interested on playing but the inefficiency of the quest system can kill the fun factor. If the quest system was more user-friendly and make it less asking-the-people reliant then it would really make this game a gem.

Besides the gameplay elements found on Muniz Online, the game is obviously centered on teens rather than those hardcore gamers. The cutesy graphics the game is the obvious proof. Though this may not deter the more community-centered gamers regardless of how childish the sprites may be.

Another thing that I noticed is the sound of the game. Though at first the inaudible and kid-style sound your avatar creates whenever you chat or make a smiley is cute and hilarious, you’ll eventually want to just turn of the game’s audio and plug in other mp3s.

Muniz Online has the tendency to be a little too cutesy. This can be bothersome for older gamers who would like to try the game. However if you would give the game a little leeway you can filter out the cuteness factor and just enjoy it.

Also, for a community based game like Muniz Online, it would seem that the forum still needs to become very active. As a game that belongs to this genre there is already stiff competition with Gaia Online, who has a bigger forum base and has already, established itself as a community-game. I myself can’t help but compare the two because of the stark similarities.

Still, as a flash game that is highly reliant to a big community base, Muniz Online still has a long way to go before it can be a big thing. The game can’t really attract the hardcore gamers because the gameplay is centered for teens, or at least for those people who would rather go for a community rather than playing. I would say that if you are into community based games then by all means try it out. Though my word of caution is that this game is made for teens, if you would like for a more mature community game go somewhere else.

Pros

– Customizable avatars

– No need for downloads

– There are a lot of things you can do in-game

– Avatar leveling can keep you hooked

Cons

– Too cute for hardcore gamers

– Forum community is not that big

– Sounds can be irritating

– Lack of a decent Quest guide

Champions Online video

Champions Online, an MMORPG based on the popular pen-and-paper Champions RPG, will give players the power of total customization of their hero experience while they explore a vast universe of richly detailed 3D environments. Watch the first video now!

Bounty Bay Online Review

By Eline Stiekema, Onrpg writer

In Bounty Bay Online it’s the players that write history! Similar to the great explorers, buccaneers and pirates of old times, the players have to write the history of Bounty Bay Online.

Bounty Bay Online is a MMO which takes its players back to the 14th to 16th century, when many parts of the world were yet to be discovered. They can choose the role they want to play and thus become as rich and mighty as possible.

Getting started

Bounty Bay Online is very diverse, which also makes it very complex. There are so many options that, as a newbie, you can easily get lost because you are being overloaded with such a lot of information and instructions that keep popping up on your screen.

But when you’re being a bit overwhelmed at the beginning, don’t give up! Just take some time to read all the ‘game infos’ on the website before you start. These provide some outlines of the game that will help you get the hang of it. On the website you can also read the ‘first steps’ but I recommend reading those after you’ve played the game a few times: when you have never played it, these ‘first steps’ are quite incomprehensible, because they only tell you what to do and not why. Instead, you can find an excellent newbie guide on the board, which is much more helpful. I even printed this out so I could use it while I was playing, and that was a great help.

Because there are so many options and ways to play the game, it was impossible for me to try everything. But the fact that you can fill in the game just as you like, was a big plus for me. You can play individually or team up. You can emphasize on fighting, trading or exploring, or combine all of this. You can play merely on land or on the open sea. And when you’re fed up with the way your character is going, you can always delete it and start from scratch again.

Gameplay

Bounty Bay Online can be played from two servers. The first is called Mary Read and is the Free 2 Play server: playing is free, but items for your character have to be bought in the itemshop with money you can put into an account. The second server is called William Bligh. For playing on this server, you have to pay a monthly fee, but the items are essentially free and only have to be achieved by good gameplay. I played the game on the Mary Read-server.

Playing Bounty Bay Online starts with creating a character. You can create two characters, but you can only play with one at a time. At first this might not seem logical, but when you start to understand the game a little better, you’ll see the benefits of it: the game is so diverse that you will only be too happy with the opportunity to play two different roles.

You can choose from four character archetypes, two guys and two girls, each with their own birthplace where you start the game. When you click a character, you can name it and determine what it will look like. When you’re done, you get some information on the character’s birthplace and then you can start the game.

You always start a new game with a short tutorial. If you’re not a novice anymore you can easily skip it, but the first time it really comes in handy. In this tutorial, just as in Bounty Bay Online as a whole, you get things done by clicking on certain people and starting a ‘conversation’ with them. They will tell you who to address and what to do or buy next. In the tutorial you get a short instruction to the game, a basic ship and some initial money by the Mystic Captain, you need to buy provisions from the Docker and cannonballs from the Shipyard Boss. After that, you can sail off and you learn how to attack pirates and how to sail to your first destination, which is always your birthplace. When you arrive, the actual tutorial part is over but you still need to get a lot of information by addressing the right non-player characters (NPC’s).

You can now choose what role you want to play: warrior, explorer, merchant or warship captain. Each has its own guild, to which you can apply. You can then do quests for the guild master, to earn some money. This money can be used to upgrade your ship. You can choose from three types of ships: the explorer ship, the merchant ship and the warship. Each ship has its own (dis)advantages. You should choose the ship that matches with the role you’re going to play.

From now on you can do whatever you like. You can learn and train all kinds of skills, you can try to make as much money as you can by trading all kinds of stuff, you can decide to become a pirate to attack other players and raid their ships, you can make teams or start your own guild with other players, you can sail around the world to discover new animals and plants or you can start to learn an actual profession, like shipbuilding or mining. And the fun part is: you can also combine all this!

Graphics and music

The graphics look very good and impressive, from the first moment on. Everything looks very realistic, which makes it even easier to become fully immersed in the game. The music is also very well chosen: it gives you an immediate ‘pirate-feeling’. When you’re playing it’s automatically turned low, so it stays in the background and doesn’t get annoying.

What I didn’t like was the inaccuracy of the spelling in the instruction pop-ups and on the website: I discovered a few misspelled words and in the pop-ups, words are often broken off at strange places, which is very irritating when you’re reading.

General recommendation

Although you have to take some time to figure this game out, I think it’s certainly worth a try. With Bounty Bay Online, a world has been created in which you can linger for hours at a time. Because the game is so diverse, I think I could play it for years and not get bored with it. There are so many places you can go and even more things you can do. I have played the game for some time, but I still have the feeling there is a lot I have yet to discover. I don’t mind… after all, I’m an explorer!

Pro’s:

– Great diversity in ways to play the game

– Very nice-looking and realistic graphics

– You can vary with two separate roles to play

Cons:

– Newbies can easily be overwhelmed by all the different aspects of the game

– Not everything is explained clearly and the ‘first steps’ I found rather incomprehensible

– Spelling is sometimes inaccurate

Astro Empires

Astro Empires is a highly addictive Space Strategy Game in real-time. Play in a Huge Universe with Thousands of Players. Build bases, spaceships, research new technologies, form alliances, fight epic Battles, and much more!