
Yearly Archives: 2009
Alien Adoption Agency: Fancy Adopting a Little Green Dude?
By Vincent Haoson (Vincenthaoson), OnRPG Journalist
So here you are fancying yourself a pet and you cannot really decide what kind you want. You drop by various games that supposedly offer you different kinds of cute and uniquely designed cyber-pets. However they fail to grasp your attention because you want something small, unique and bug-eyed, something like an alien. That’s where Alien Adoption Agency, or A3 comes in. As the title says is a web-based game that gives you the opportunity to adopt a “little green man” of your own. You get to own your own bug-eyed outer space wonder and it is your responsibility to take care of the little tyke.
Yes you get your own little alien!
As in every adoption procedure, A3 lets you choose what kind of alien you would adopt. Sadly you cannot customize how your alien looks, so no weird shaped mega-scary aliens for you. What you get though is the stereotyped bug-eyed, slit nosed, big headed alien that kids would often draw if you asked them how they would picture an alien.
Given that you cannot make a freaky alien as your pet you are given the alternative of choosing the color of your alien. You are given a wide range of colors to choose from and the game puts a little zing to the colors you can choose. Imagine getting an old-school green, angry red or ugly purple colored alien for you to adopt, now that is something you do not get to have every day.
Now unto the fun part
As a ‘parent’ of your adopted alien it is your responsibility to take care of your little space baby. You can train your space wonder to become one of the meanest, strongest, smartest little bug-eyed man in this side of Sol Prime, the planet where your alien lives. Or you would have a sociable alien that would rather talk than fight. You have the freedom to choose how your alien grows in the game. This adds to the fun factor of A3 because you are not really constrained to follow a set path on how you want your alien to grow.
To help you along the path of nurturing your alien, A3 gives you various ways of how you want your alien to live in Sol Prime. You make your aliens work, study or you can even get your alien to have his or her own alien partner. To provide for the basic amenities of your alien, your alien must work for a living. Like in real life an uneducated alien would only earn a measly amount. This is where studying comes in. The more your alien studies the more it rakes in and of course the more your pet “develops”. Developing your alien pet means more stat points. This in turn makes your pet meaner, badder and smarter where you can try to duke it out with other aliens in the PVP arena the game has.
Real life for your alien
As you progress through your game in A3, the game feels more like a simulation game, with the arena system as something of a bonus and “bragging rights” thing you have. A3 is not really much of a PVP centric game and it gives more importance to how the in-game community grows.
Welcome to the family
Upon entering the world of A3, you are immediately welcomed by the staff. The first thing you would notice is the chat where most of the action is happening. Of course this depends on the people who are online at the moment you join the game however the staff does its best to welcome you into the game like you are part of one big family. You are smothered by members asking you to join their guild upon beginning of the game. This may seem a little daunting if you are the type you want to test the water first before immersing yourself into the game community.
Getting the hang of the game is easy to do because almost everything is given to you in such a casual manner. The tutorials are in comic-style so that anyone can easily comprehend what you should do. The drawback however of this game is that the target audience of A3 is the teenagers, so it is kind of difficult if you want to find someone you would like to talk if you are in your 20s.
Conclusion
A3 is an upbeat and fun web-based game where the only thing that limits you in enjoying the game is your ability to imagine. A browser-based game is already a game limit in itself but A3 circles around that limitation by giving you a lot of things you can do and enjoy even if the game is strictly browser-locked.
One of the drawbacks A3 has is that if you have prior experience on browser games like Neopets or Gaia Online, there would be times that it feels like you are playing like Neopets or Gaia minus the flash games. The thing about A3 is that it has lessened the cutesy factor that turns off most people from pet browser games and gives the this genre an edgier and more mature feel. Think of Hobo wars, a game application in Facebook and pet aliens as your basic gameplay and you have A3 pegged to the dot.
The game is first and foremost a community based game and you would not really truly enjoy your game experience with A3 if you would play this game solo. Nurturing your alien to its highest potential is only half the total fun you can have in A3, if you do not have buddies where you can share your achievements in the game then it defeats the purpose of Alien Adoption Agency altogether. There is a saying that goes no man is an island, the same is true to aliens.
Pros:
– You get to own your own little green alien
– The character designs fit with the cartoonish-feel of the game
– The game makes you feel like you’re taking care of an actual pet though it’s an alien.
Cons:
– You can’t customize the look your alien has
– The games sometimes feel a little too casual
– You can’t help compare the game to Neopets.
CCP Announces Dust 514, FPS Set in the EVE Universe
CCP today revealed DUST 514, a console-based hybrid MMO/FPS set within the EVE universe. The announcement, which included a video featuring gameplay footage, was made during a keynote address by CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Petursson at the Game Developers Conference in Cologne, Germany.
DUST 514, featuring first-person shooter and RTS-style gameplay, will interact directly with EVE Online, CCP’s critically acclaimed flagship MMO. This interplay between the two games opens the EVE universe to console gamers and gives them a chance to become part of one of the most massive cooperative play and social experiences ever.
“We launched EVE Online in 2003 and have experienced steady annual growth– a fact we appreciate as a rarity in the world of MMOs, especially given the global economy of the past year,” said Petursson. “Our success with EVE Online has afforded us the highest caliber global design and production talent in gaming. With a team of the best minds in the industry, we conceived an ambitious new take on virtual world development with DUST 514.”
The primary gameplay of DUST 514 features brutal ground combat that takes place on the surface of planets from EVE, delivering the visceral, adrenaline-fueled experience of futuristic firefights. Developed for the current generation of consoles, DUST 514 combines equal parts battlefield reflexes and strategic planning, giving commanders and ground infantry real-time configurable weapons and modular vehicles to manage dynamic battlefield conditions.
Now entering its third year of production, DUST 514 is the primary development focus of CCP’s Shanghai studio. The team includes veteran designers of EVE Online and experienced talent from various sectors of the video game industry.
“Since opening our Shanghai studio, we have invested in building a team that wants to push the envelope in gaming and be pioneers in the industry,” said Kjartan Pierre Emilsson, Managing Director of CCP Shanghai. “Having led the design and development efforts of the project from start to finish, our studio is honored to call DUST 514 our first title release.”
Underfoot Trailer
Follow the road to Underfoot if you’re ready for some fun. The giants must be defeated!
Shot Online: Cash Prize Competition

12Sky 2: Triple Mega Event Blowout
End Date: 1 September 2009, 0700hrs GMT (Until Server Maintenance Period)
• Second Prize: 15x US$150 in Cash Items
• Third Prize: 30x US$100 in Cash Items
End Date: 1 September 2009, 0700hrs GMT (Until Server Maintenance Period)
• Second Prize: 15x US$100 in Cash Items
• Third Prize: 30x US$50 in Cash Items
PvP Battle Arena Event
End Date: 14 September 2009

Fiesta Online: The Quest for the Coat of Arms

100 Year War: IGGÂs Newest Creation Unveiled at GDC Europe

Gods War Online Interview: OnRPG Questions Answered
Questions by the Onrpg Community
Answered by Shirley Yu, Product Manager of GodsWar Online
During June and July members of the Onrpg forum had the great opportunity to ask questions about Gods War Online directly to the developers at IGG. Find out the answers!
Onrpg: what are they planning to add in the game in the future?
I’d like to say we have made a tremendous effort to provide gamers with high-quality content. With a few new feature improvements on the way, we will be updating the Pet System and the Holy Suit system, plus hosting many new in-game events. We have released a special Dev Diary talking about the unique Pet System two months ago. And I expect the Holy Suit system to be one of our main attractions. There are three types of Holy Suits: bronze, silver, and gold. With bronze ware, silver ware, and gold ware, players can transform their equipment into the corresponding suits. Using Holy Boxes, players can transfer EXP into their Holy Suits to strengthen them. Adding EXP allows suits to upgrade from bronze to silver and from silver to gold.
Onrpg: What gameplay features will be provided to the game in order to give players an overall better experience?
Well, GodsWar Online is a leisure game and we are trying to make the gaming experience a social one. Aside from guild quests and apprenticeships, we are considering other themes such as marriages between players to make the game more interactive. We will also be introducing new maps, events, pets, fashions, and much more.
Onrpg: How did you come to the idea of basing your first IGG developed MMORPG on greek mythology?
^-^ Great question! When we first started the design process, we wanted the game to be rich in content. We chose Greek mythology as our background theme because of its popularity and familiarity to people all over the world. Who wouldn’t find such epic content fascinating?
With that decided, we incorporated ideas from the works of Homer, Hesiod, and Ovid, and the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides that dealt with Greek mythology. It was a difficult process, but in the end, we were satisfied with the ideas we came up with for creating heroes who could interact with Greek gods and goddesses. It’s both fun and somewhat educational, whether players know the myths already, are curious to find out more, or simply want a cool backdrop that’s not your typical sword-and-sorcery fantasy land.
Onrpg: Do you plan on changing the “AFK” feature? In my opinion it ruins the fun, since you can just AFK while you level up.
I don’t really think so We incorporated AFK as an option so players can make temporary use of the feature and avoid having to log out for every little distraction. We certainly don’t support players who abuse the feature, and we will continue to restrict its use in more events so it doesn’t take the fun out of other players’ experiences. For the most part, our players find this option helpful. Below are some forum examples of what our players have said about it. Maybe you could find more there.
excidium666: I have been playing for just under a week, I found it really fun, I found there is more to do. plus its exciting and different, I love the AFK and held in town in the Evil Boggyman…
ledhed: at low lvls its a great help, at higher lvls its a help as long and you use it as auto attack — and stay at keyboard — or you miss all the good loot and or — get killed by factions.
Deatho0ne: (1) Auto targeting (there might be another way I just have not found it yet) (2) The ability to do other things while in the area is nice, while I am here and have other things to do like school work, cooking, eating, and others.
Onrpg: Why did you decide to create (only) four ”classes” with two of them being melee and two of them being magic?
It’s because we don’t want to devote too much of our energy into developing more character classes. Rather, we want to do more with character development. The warriors are good overall with offense and defense. The champions are full-spirited, all-out attackers. The mages are superior in their magic attacks. The priests are considered to be the kindest, because their strength lies in their ability to heal the wounded. Even though there seems to be a division with melee and magic, we portray these classes to be unique in their own ways, and our players can choose the classes that are the best fit for their playing style.
Onrpg: Why is the AFK feature there unless for better leveling?
Well, as I mentioned earlier, the AFK feature is an option for players who choose to multitask. Another way of looking at this is it serves as a shortcut for players who are more interested in uncovering the storyline.
Onrpg: Why isn’t it called God’s War?
We chose the name GodsWar Online because it sets our game apart and has a good ring to it. We take great pride in the work we’ve done and wanted a unique name that tells the gaming community it is not just any god’s war but IGG’s GodsWar.
Onrpg: I am wondering when the pet feature will be activated.
You’re blessed with good luck. Since we just updated our game with version 237 and everyone will be able to check out our new pet system. We are adding new features such as soul contracts for pets, pet mergers, combining, and more. We published a entry of Developer Journal not long ago that tells players all about it.
Some great new pets:


Onrpg: What makes you play it?
I think you ask the easiest question today. GodsWar Online, in my opinion, is easy to play and rich in content. The level of involvement is entirely up to the players, though we do a lot to encourage their participation. We have tried many new things with this game. Aside from the unique systems I have covered, GodsWar has incorporated an uplifting theme in terms of surrounding graphics and background music. And best of all, it’s free. I can’t think of a reason not to try it.
Nida Online
Unlike ordinary 3D games that only accentuate realism, NIDA Online’s colorful and unique visual style gives the feeling of intimacy. A wide array of special effects makes full use of 3D graphics to provide a highly immersive gaming experience.
NIDA Online boasts a unique equipment system with items that have visual distinction. Experience the amazing changes your characters will undergo when wearing different types of items.
Each character in NIDA Online has a distinct development system. Simply changing the character will give you the impression of playing an entirely different game.
The setting of NIDA Online is not your run-of-the-mill medieval fantasy world. It fuses elements of the past, the present, and the future. Don’t be alarmed when you see a dinosaur. A realm far beyond your wildest imagination awaits you.
Special items are offered to individual players and guilds to endlessly stimulate the desire to challenge and prove yourself.
Every race possesses a diverse set of transports. Strategically utilize your transport’s skills and arsenal to experience the frenzy of cinematic blockbuster action.