Yearly Archives: 2009

Karos Online Closed Beta

Seoul, Korea –Friday, 14th August, 2009 – NHN revealed today more details about the closed beta schedule for its upcoming MMORPG Karos Online. Players registering at www.karosgame.com can apply for access to the first Closed Beta Weekend Event, which will take place from Friday, August 21st until Sunday, August 23rd. The precise times when the servers will open will be announced on Karos Online official website, www.karosgame.com. There will be more Closed Beta Weekend events, dates to be released later. Access to any Closed Beta Weekend event also grants access to the following ones. The game is scheduled to be released in English during Q4 2009, followed by versions in German and Turkish.

In the first Weekend Event, players can choose from three different character races, with each race offering one class. Classes can specialise twice during the course of the game, a choice of four focused sub-classes . During the first phase of Closed Beta, only the first specialisation will be available.

Races and classes in Karos Online:
• Humans are the dominant race in the world of Asmara. Although their physical forms offer
little advantage, Humans are highly adaptable and adept at survival. Their intelligence and
cunning sense of diplomacy have enabled them to spread quickly across Asmara, developing a wide variety of languages and cultures.
? The Human Blader is a valiant melee fighter, who specializes in wielding twohanded
weapons. He specialises first into a Swordsman or Spearman.
• The proud, handsome race of Shadows are easily distinguished by their pale blue skin and
fine figures. They come from the remote Eastern Regions of Asmara, and have only recently
come to friendlier terms with Humans after centuries of open hostility. The Shadows have a
very sophisticated native culture, and their blood carries a unique type of magic, which has
passed down through many generations.
? The Shadow Rogue is a deadly master of deception, expert in wielding dual weapons for maximum damage. He can specialise in either Daggers and their critical attacks, becoming an Assassin, or Swords and the art of Evasion, becoming a Duelist.
• The Seroines are a beautiful half-human, half-elemental race who are very closely bonded
with nature. Seroines have interacted with Humans for a long time, have no appetite for
conflict or politics and pursue balance in everything they do. They are very gifted with magic,
and can communicate with the natural spirits.
? The Seroine Bowmistress is a skilled expert in ranged combat. She can
specialise in either stunning and mesmerising opponents as an Archer, or longrange,
high-damage attacks as a Ranger.

Two more races and six more classes will be revealed and made accessible to players during the
Open Beta and after Commercial Launch.

Karos Online

 

Oracle Pack Coming! Free Gifts for New EO Characters

Another heat wave is coming mid-summer for all new EO characters! Ready? Here we go!
 
Beginning Aug.14th, 2009, every newly created EO character will be able to claim an Oracle Pack from Headmaster Silas as a WELCOME gift! The new pack will be giving out different gifts everyday for 15 days straight! Double-Exp time, stones, scrolls, Expballs, Eudemon books, elite and super gear… the higher level you reach the better stuff you get! Whatever you need to reach level 90 will be included in this pack!
 
All you need to do is log into the game every day, upgrading your character to certain levels, and then you’ll be able to claim your prizes the next day! Just a little tip, to claim the prizes, you need to come everyday and reach the required levels! If you fail to come on any of the 15 days, you will be unable to claim the prizes for that day. To claim the prize for the next day, you have to login and reach the next required level. Good deals wait for no man. So, make sure you don’t out!
 
Have fun!

World of Kung Fu: Differences Hunting in Screenshot Collection Event

We can’t play games forever, but we can be friends forever. Form the very beginning until now, we have been enjoying a variety of gaming experiences. They are all precious memories. How to cherish our memories? Picture is a good way!
 
Now a fantastic event to welcome players to offer their screenshots will be launched next week. It is called “Screenshot Collecting and Differences Hunting Event”! Just as the name implies, this event can be divided into two parts. The first one is collecting screenshots from gameplayers, and then screenshots will be processed and become footage material of the “Differences Hunting”. “Differences Hunting” means there are two pictures which look very similar at first sight. But if you compare them carefully, you will distinguish tiny differences between them. So the second part is that players need to tell us how many differences there are between the two pictures.
 
Players can choose either or both parts of this event to join, Screenshot Collecting or Differences Hunting. This event will be held from August 17th to September 17th as a daily event. If your screenshots are selected, or if you are the first player who gives the correct answer about the number of differences between two pictures, you will win some excellent items in the game!
 
More details about the rules and the rewards of this event, please visit http://www.worldofkungfu.com or check the “Event” section on the forum to join the discussion with other players.

World of Kung Fu

Aurora Blade: Teams Up with MySpace

Aurora Blade team has announced a new cooperative initiative with MySpace, the massive social networking community of more than 30 million users. Now anyone with a MySpace account can log into the game without signing up for Aurora Blade account.

 
An APP plug added to the MySpace interface allows players to log directly into Aurora Blade once they have a MySpace account. New players can now choose to register either Aurora Blade account or a MySpace account to enter this fantastic game world filled with adventure.
 
In addition, MySpace users who add a short introduction about developer on their page will receive a newbie gift pack, including a Level 35 mantle, an Angel’s Kiss (1h), and a Small Accelerator from the official Aurora Blade website. The first 20 players to add an IGG introduction will earn a larger gift pack, including an Ion Accelerator, an Angel’s Kiss (6h), a Lucky Stone, and 5,000 in-game coins.
 
At MySpace, players can make friends with people all over the world and then enjoy Aurora Blade together. The MySpace initiative is just one of many planned by the Aurora Blade team, which is looking toward cooperative efforts with other popular websites such as Facebook and Xfire in the very near future.
Aurora Blade

War of Angels

War of angels is a unique MMORPG with a rich detailed anime style. Fight on land, underwater or even in the skies. Pick a faction and join into the intense PvP battles. Whether you prefer PvE or PvP, War of Angels will blow your imagination.

Features:

– Detailed fighting system
– Death Blow system
– Guild Town system
– Instance Dungeon system
– Imprint system

Red War Interview with GM Sumiscroxe

Questions by Rickee Charbonneau
Answered by GM Sumsicroxe


Onrpg: Seeing as you’ve so recently launched Red War: Edem’s Curse, what kind of feedback have you received directly from the player base regarding the game?
Players definitely agree that Red War has some great PvP action! Players have also commented on the ease of levelling in PvE if you truly take advantage of all the experience bonuses in the game.


Onrpg: Could you please explain the meaning of the title: “Red War: Edems Curse“?
The players are the Edem and their curse is the eternal war against the Mista in order to prevent evil from destroying their world.


Onrpg: Do you believe the isometric point of view really compliments this game? If so, how does it play its part in the ensemble of the game?
I love the isometric view in Red War.  It really brings back a sense of nostalgia of a good old dungeon crawler game.


Onrpg: You’ve recently updated Red War with some higher level content. Tell us a little bit about this update.
We just recently added Iris Temple, the third city.  We also added the newest set of maps for players who are Level 71 and above which can drop the new rank “A” gear.

Mummy King


Onrpg: A gamble-esque system, Monster Race, is one of the unique features of this game. Is it any popular? What are the benefits and rewards of the Monster Races?
There are always people at the track trying to make it big.  It’s a good distraction from the grind and if you play the odds you can walk away with some serious gold.


Onrpg: Honour seems to be a unique way to class players. Could you offer us a little bit of information on this small system?
Honour is gained when players kill monsters and it is lost when a player kills other players or gets killed by a monster.  The higher your honor the less likely you are to drop items when you die.  A person with perfect honor will not drop any items when they die.


Onrpg: Could you enlighten Onrpg a little on “Red War”, the game’s most prominent feature?
During the Red War tournaments the player’s character is set to level 80.  They get access to most of their skills and 110 stat points to distribute.  After 5 minutes, the players are put into teams at random and fight it out until one team reaches the kill target first.  The winning team gets increased experience points for 2 hours and a chance to kill a boss for even more goodies.


Onrpg: Red War is definitely very PvP oriented. Considering this, do you plan on balancing things out to make the game more versatile for PvE players?
We just recently added a new party system so that PvE players can tailor their parties to suit their needs.  We’re also developing new skills that should help PvE players and PvP players at the same time.

Olympus Arena


Onrpg: Do you plan on taking action in the customization field? Will players be able to look unique even though there are only three character classes available in-game?
This is one of the major issues we are focusing on.  One way to solve this is that we’re going to be creating new types of armour so that players can start looking different.  Armour of the same tier will drop with different color schemes.


Onrpg: Could you offer us a little information of the clone feature? Do you deem this feature essential to the game?
Clones provide a way for players to vend items they find out in the field while they level their main character.  While this is very useful in and of itself we’re considering making clones an additional controllable combat character for players in the future.


Onrpg: I was pretty impressed by the learning curve and the way Uforia treats newbie characters in-game! Since you seem to take interest in newcomers, how would you rate the importance of new players to the game?
New players are always welcome.  One of the great things about Red war is the Red War Tournaments which let players as low as level 20 fight side-by-side with high level players and truly learn their class early in the game.


Onrpg: What are the benefits to the mentoring system? How does this system work?
The mentoring system is a community building feature with benefits.  The Mentor gets an increase in experience points for every student online and the students get increased experience points while their mentor is online.  Mentors also get rewards when their students reach certain levelling milestones, so everyone is encouraged to help each other out.


Onrpg: What makes Red War’s castle sieges different from other MMOs with large scale PvP systems?
Players are pitted against each other while they have to attack key points in the castle and defend against strong guardian monsters.  Timing and strategy is crucial.  The winning guild gets free access to a special dungeon that other players have to pay gold to enter.  That gold, of course, goes to the controlling guild.


Onrpg: How would you say the gameplay style of Red War is better than most MMOs out there?
Red War’s gameplay is a lot tighter than the other isometric MMORPG games out there.  The skills are grand and the PvP is epic.

Arena Merchants


Onrpg: What are some of the events you are currently running, both in-game and on the boards?
We tend to have GM run events throughout the week.  We are constantly creating new events to keep everything fresh.  And once a month we have U-day which is an event-packed day surrounded by a week of increased experience points, themed invasions, and limited edition gear. We also have a forum-based event every two weeks that showcases themed screenshots or videos.  Red War also uses social media like Twitter to inform gamers of specific event details and gives players sneak peeks into future events.


Onrpg: What updates and upgrades do you have in-store for the near future of this MMO?
We’re going to be adding new maps, new items, new systems, and new skills.  Red War is in a constant state of change and every week brings something new for the players.   It’s really great when every week I’m asked by players if anything new is going to be added and I can always tell them yes. This constant change really keeps up the excitement about the game. 


Onrpg: Thank you for your time!
 

Masters of Belial: RTS With Flair

By Vincent Haoson (Vincenthaoson), OnRPG Journalist

Masters of Belial is an MMORPG-RTS game by Brain Seal. Masters of Belial centers around the age old battle of good and evil where the proverbial ‘good guys’ the angels are the ones who are conquering while salvation rests on the wards of destruction, the Daemons.

Characters

Before you start playing Masters of Belial, you’d have to choose the hero you would be using. They are segregated into four groups which are the Truthseekers, the Royal Guard, the Angels and the Daemons. For Free accounts you have limited access to the heroes and to fully have them you’d need to upgrade it to the subscription account.

Once acquiring the subscription you get to access all the heroes and you would have access three more maps thus giving you a wider scope of the maps you can play.

Gameplay

Masters of Belial’s gameplay is RTS in a 2.5D locked environment. You navigate your character by clicking the path it would take and using either the mouse or keyboard you can use the skills that are part of your hero’s abilities.

Every time you level up you are provided both stat points and skill points which you can allocate to level up your character. For stats you can upgrade your life, mana, attack speed and damage. For the skills, every character has four skills and you can use the skill points you earn to either upgrade or unlock the skill your character has.

Aside from the growth of your character your camp also provides NPCs that sell items you can use. The choices you have are swords, equipment or usable items that can boost your character’s stats or would help regenerate your lost HP and Mana points as you continue on fighting.

Masters of Belial

Upon entering the game map, you would not only have to face the troops of your enemy, you get to also meet and eventually kill monsters that protect books  that give experience points, attribute points or skill points or chests that contain huge amounts of gold.

You have this going on while you try to finish your mission which is to kill the leader of your enemy. Thankfully the game provides an offline training session so that you can get used to the game’s controls and even get to meet which NPC sells which item.

Conclusion

Masters of Belial is an MMO that has fully maximized the potential of an RTS infused with MMORPG elements into a fast paced game. Right off the bat you get to play with your chosen hero on maps where you get to explore and compete against other players.

The game encourages competitiveness. It’s as if that when you choose your character you are immediately whisked away into ancient Earth where your hero is against monsters and humans to break free from the wrest of those who are in power.

The game has wonderfully infused storytelling into a dynamically fast-paced game without burdening too much with the graphics intricacies other MMOs have been trying to achieve. Though it is obvious that the game has traded off visual extravagance with an effective gameplay, I doubt anyone would complain about it.

Master of Belial’s story is something that should be noted about the game. The whole concept of Angels and Demons or in Masters of Belial’s case Daemons puts a spin to the age old belief on good and evil, making Angels as the suppressors while those who bring destruction would bring forth salvation.

The story concept maybe a hard pill to swallow especially in a society that has forever seen Angels as the bringers of good into the world, however the game does carry enough background info that would appease those who take the time to play the game.

The game creates a whole new philosophy in terms of the idea of good and evil but you wouldn’t actually notice it because of the engaging gameplay it has. The mix of RTS and RPG elements has been smoothly done that you would barely notice the story itself. You would rather concentrate on your hero to effectively kill whatever enemies it finds in its path of course that would eventually lead to victory.

MoB Enemy

If I compare the overall gameplay of Masters of Belial, I can say that the game is like Warcraft III’s custom game Defense of the Ancients with RPG elements mixed into it. This keeps the gameplay upbeat. However, new time players would have to get used to the items and NPC locations first because it would be a handful when you’re in actual combat.

Thankfully, as a remedy for the sheer overwhelming feeling of having too much info being pressed into you in an instant, you can train offline and get a hang of the game.  This at least the drive for players to really get into the game so that when they go online and finally go head to head with other players they can be better at it and maybe get to kill more people.

Masters of Belial is one of those games that is not highly flashy but has the nailed the game that they want. The core gameplay is solid and even with the graphics being as it is the game is such a treat because it’s that good. However, if you are the type who gets tired of playing the same thing over and over again, I’d suggest that you try out the free account first before investing on an upgraded amount. At least you can get to feel the game first.

Pros:
– The game is easy to pick up even if you’re not into games like this
– There is variety in choices of the heroes you can use even if you’re using a free account
– The game has an offline version where you can train and get used to your heroes.

Cons:
– The game would eventually get repetitive due to the lack of variation in gameplay
– Hero choices are limited for the free accounts
– New players can be overwhelmed with the items they need to find out at the onset.

EverQuest Underfoot Release Date and Preview Events Announced

Sony Online Entertainment is proud to announce that the 16th expansion to the legendary EverQuest franchise, EverQuest Underfoot, is scheduled to launch November 24, 2009. In anticipation of this EverQuest milestone, SOE is also kicking off the first of three “Road to Underfoot” in-game events.
 
Scheduled to begin on August 12th, the Road to Underfoot commences with the first event, Giants, Giants, Giants, which features:
• New adventures in Norrath: gather friends and slay some of Norrath’s most fearsome giant creatures.
• Encounter the greatest “big” foes of Norrath, from the Ancient Cyclops to the powerful Lord Brekt. Seek out Tzudani, Emissary of Veeshan, in the Plane of Knowledge to heed the call.
• Gain valuable rewards: the farther you get through the Giants event, the better your reward!
 
EverQuest subscribers who timely pre-order and purchase the Underfoot expansion and participate in all three Road to Underfoot in-game events prior to November 10, 2009 will receive early access into the expansion*!
 
The other two Road to Underfoot events are slated for September and October to give adventurers a taste for what’s to come in the next expansion.
 
The first Road to Underfoot event is scheduled to begin on August 12th ; the second event is scheduled to follow in September and the third event in October.
 
EverQuest Underfoot is scheduled to launch November 24, 2009.

Galaxy Online II: Spectacular 3D Universe to Bring New Conflicts

The universe of Galaxy Online II will be very different from the one currently being explored in Galaxy Online: a whole dimension different, in fact. When players get their first glimpse of the 3D universe in the next edition of this exciting game of space fleets and intergalactic warfare, it will open their eyes to adventure on a grand scale.
 
Presently in Galaxy Online, galaxies are named after constellations and the universe as a whole looks like a planar web, flat and lacking depth. In Galaxy Online II, galaxies will not only be named after constellations, but their locations will also be determined by the constellation’s position in the real universe. The whole universe in Galaxy Online II will be three-dimensional, giving players a deeper, more complex environment in which to compete.
 
Each constellation will consist of multiple galaxies containing Transition Platforms and Magnetic Cloud Areas. Transition Platforms will allow players to transfer a fleet from one constellation to another. The new Magnetic Cloud Areas will be filled with purple clouds of gas. Storms will often strike within Magnetic Cloud Areas, adding to the dangers fleets must overcome. These areas will be neutral, so fleets from any faction can be stationed within them. No combat will occur inside, and while there fleets will gain antimatter they can use for energy. Lingering too long will carry a stiff penalty, however, since a fleet’s durability will decrease gradually over time. Should they reach zero durability, fleets will vanish.
 
When the new 3D universe goes live in Galaxy Online II, players will also have to adjust to a change in home galaxy mechanics over the game’s predecessor. A player’s home galaxy will no longer be absolutely safe, adding new defensive concerns to each player’s strategic goals.
 
Enhanced competition, new challenges, and a spectacular 3D environment all await players looking forward to Galaxy Online II. The fates of galaxies will rest in your hands. Will you be among the conquerors or the conquered?