Yearly Archives: 2009

Q-world Review: More than Meets the Eye

By Vincent Haoson (Vincenthaoson), Onrpg writer

Your country has slowly crumbled into decadent ruin. The successors of the powerful and wise SageLord that controlled the whole of Q-world has brought the once beautiful country into its knees. And through the acts of a courageous princess that peace and prosperity has once again brought back to the country.

This is the main storyline of Cubizone’s latest addition to its roster of MMOs, Q-World. Your mission here is to fill the void the princess left and you can only attain it through getting stronger.

Who’s who?

As you start your journey through Q-World you are immediately thrust into Q-World. You get to choose from 5 different faces and four different default hairstyles for both genders. There are no stat points in the game because your characters are defined by the skills you’d invest your points in.

Another thing about the job class in Q-World is that for the first ten levels everyone starts of as a rookie. From then on you will then be given the choice of following two paths, either become a Ranger or a Poet.

Rangers in Q-World are generally the weapon wielders. After you become a Ranger you progress to become a spearman or swordsman, with the spearman becoming a Halberd Lord or Blade Sovran in later levels while a swordsman evolves into a Doom Lord or Sword Sage.

While most of the job class in the Ranger class are self explanatory the Doom Lord is different compared to the job class within the Ranger class because Doom Lords have no weapon specific skills unlike the Sword Sage.

The other class, the Poets meanwhile is the magical counterpart of the Ranger class in Q-World. Poets evolve into either a Medico or a Warlock. The Medicos are the healers and buffers of the game and when they reach level 60 turn into an Omni Oracle, which are become more of a buffer or a Latric Master that is more of a healer. The Warlocks on the other hand, as the name suggests are the offensive magic types. Turning level 60 evolves them to either become a Divine Master, the class that uses magic extensively for damage or a Bane Lord, the status ailment centered magic class.

Game Features

Q-World has a lot of features jam-packed in it compared to other MMOs in the market now. One of its very convenient and I can say defining feature is the auto-walk. When you click a destination in your mini-map your character is “piloted” to the position you clicked.

This serves as a convenient especially if you are in a very crowded place and the only way you can move around is by clicking on the NPC icon.

There’s also the title system in Q-World. The titles in Q-World are not just for mere show, as you acquire different titles you get special awards and items as you progress through the ranks. You earn titles by either getting “prestige” or “reputation”. You can earn these as you progress through the game and do quests.

The guild system in Q-World is also unique because Guilds are given exclusive quests for members. The bigger the guild the better the quests and the rewards are. Also, the Guild quests are also redoable the second day after an update.

Other key features in Q-World include: pet and fight system, marriage system, video recording system, pet ride system and God’s grace.

God’s grace is the game system in Q-world where certain clickable “bubbles” are found as you travel in Q-World. Clicking them gives your character time-constrained buffs. You can click more than one however they disappear as you log out of the game.

Meanwhile, the PVP system in Q-World is your typical PVP system settings similar to other MMOs. The PK system is also the same. Players from level 20 below can’t PK and the game has buttons that specifically control who you can PK.

Conclusion

Q-world is your typical massively multiplayer online game with a lot of add-ons to it. The game is straightforward without giving too much emphasis on the storyline. The plot’s follows the standard adventure path that provides the background of your character’s whole existence in the game.

The game’s background music carries the Chinese mythological feel. Though it may seem at times that there’s only one kind of instrument used as the base lead of the music, the BGM is not that monotonous enough that even if you would still listen to it even if you have played from hours till end.

When it comes to the game’s visuals, you can’t really complain much as most of the game’s sprites, monsters and text because they are ok. However if you really like to get the most out of the game I’d l suggest though that if you really want to see how beautiful the game can be I’d suggest you to maximize the game’s resolution because the texts are clearer and the graphics are finer in this setting.

As I said earlier, the game is straightforward. Your goal is to get stronger. This is done either grinding through the numerous monsters found outside the cities and the various places in the on-game map or go through the numerous quests that NPCs seem to have in spades.

Even with the objective as simple as getting stronger, the game does provide you with alternative goals besides getting to that other level. The game’s unique reputation and title system is the alternative “goal setting” game system that would encourage you to strive for that higher level. Who’d want to play the game with a title “Q-world’s shrimp” hanging over your character’s head forever right?

Of course titles alone won’t make you try on reaching levels so and so. That’s why Cubizone encourages you more to reach those goals through rewards you get as you reach per title or attaining a certain reputation within the game. Q-World gives you rare items as you attain a title, rank or reputation in-game. Q-World’s title’s not only make you look cool as you strut your stuff in-game but also provides you something you can actually use.

All in all, Q-World with its ton of features still feels too generic as an MMO. It’s true that the game has a lot of features other games do not, but the game feels too familiar. If you do like MMOs where you have to do lots of tasks with the Chinese/oriental feel then this game is for you. However, if you are after something different rather than something familiar, you are better off with other games.

Pros:
– The game offers alternative goals
– Buffs found outside of towns help new players
– Auto-walk system is one of the most convenient system the game has

Cons:
– The game is too straightforward that it can be boring
– The game’s FAQ is empty
– Even with the numerous game system the game feels too generic

Asda Story New Event

Gamescampus.com announced today that it is giving away $5,000 in cash to new registered users of its MMORPG, Asda Story, to celebrate the start of the summer. Apart from this hefty cash giveaway event, Asda Story will also run a Refer-A-Friend program, Bonus Credit event and Double XP event.  All of the events and specials run now through July 20th.
“This is the Asda Story community’s first summer together since it officially launched so we wanted to celebrate the season in style,” said Jiwoo Park, Producer of Asda Story at GamesCampus.com.  “The generous cash giveaway promotion was a bold decision from the team, but I firmly believe that it will present a very special experience to the entire Asda Story community.”
New User Cash Prize Giveaway
Through July 20th, new users who register will receive event tickets simply for leveling up their character; each level attained will grant players the opportunity to enter — characters at level 20 will earn 20 entries!  A raffle will be held at the end of the event granting one lucky player $2,500 in cash–with five other prizes of $500 each also being awarded.  The more players play, the more chances they will have to win a host of generous cash prizes.
Refer-a-friend item giveaway
From now until July 20th all newly registered players and the player that referred them will each receive free Experience Potions!
First-time Credit Card Users Event
Now through July 20th, players who make a purchase with their credit card for the first time and purchase an item in Asda Story will receive a matching amount in Bonus Credit-making their first charge entirely free!
Double Experience Ticket Event
What would summer be without some Double XP? Now through July 20th, players will be able to collect Experience Ticket items throughout the game from monsters and turn them in to be counted at the Event NPC in any Channel.  Once that Channel reaches 1,000 Tickets, a Double Experience Event will begin for the next hour in that Channel, allowing players to level twice as fast during each Bonus Exp Period!
Based on a colorful, bright and cheerful world, Asda Story is a free to play exciting fantasy-style anime 3D MMORPG game that features a unique ‘Soul Mate System.’  The unique party system offers two players the ability to align to become ‘soul mates’ and allows them to wear unique costumes and use special skills. Another key feature of the game is the ‘Real Costume System,’ which gives players some of the most extensive personalization and design options ever seen in an MMORPG.

Free Realms Reaches 3 Million Users

Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) today announced that more than three million unique users have registered for Free Realms, the free-to-play, family-friendly online video game that launched on April 28, 2009. Recently awarded recognition by Guinness World Records for conducting the first concert to take place simultaneously in the real world and a virtual space during E3 in Los Angeles last week, Free Realms continues to redefine the scope and pace of online games.
“SOE worked diligently over the past four years to ensure that Free Realms would take the online space by storm,” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. “We are pleased to be able to provide such a vast, in-depth and, most importantly, fun world to an average of 500,000 new gamers per week.”
To celebrate the rapidly growing community of players, SOE will grant its first three million Free Realms registrants the “3M Pet Party Pack,” filled with goodies for use with their virtual pets, both cats and dogs. In Free Realms, players are free to do or be anything, including donning the job of pet trainer to raise a pet! From the in-game Marketplace, players can choose from more than 20 different types of playful dogs and cats to train, feed, groom and dress up. Players have until Friday June 19, 2009 (11:59 PM PDT) to redeem the “3M Pet Party Pack”.
Free Realms also features 14 other fun jobs to master, as well as the Free Realms Trading Card Game: a full-featured trading card game, playable both digitally within the Free Realms online game and offline via physical card decks sold wherever you buy trading cards.
To support the initial release and launch of Free Realms, nearly one million Station Cash game cards were made available across five major retail chains. Free Realms players can pop into select retailers to purchase Station Cash cards, which are used to redeem Station Cash and buy virtual goodies or upgrade to a Membership status in the game.

Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent Launched

The Neo Steam tanks are overflowing, the gears have been oiled up, and the master switch has been flipped! Players can now jump on a zeppelin and explore the vibrant towns and cavernous dungeons of the commercially launched Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent, a fantasy-steampunk massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). This game marks the first full-length title to join Atlus Online’s portal, a daily destination for community-focused gaming and interactive entertainment.
“The moment is finally here for us to open up the doors of Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent and invite players to take part in an experience that we are exceedingly proud of,” says Jun Hyun Kim, Head of Game Operations, Atlus U.S.A., Inc. “Over the past months, our community has continued to grow and share with us to build one of the most cohesive and collaborative portals I’ve seen. And now, we are so thrilled to provide them with a final version of the game, which they were so inspirational and instrumental in helping to make possible.”
With the commercial rollout of Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent, several previously locked features have now been activated. Most importantly is the premium item shop, which houses untold numbers of vanity items and character enhancers.  And now that Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent is live, Atlus Online will periodically provide fresh updates and run quirky promotions to further players’ fantastical journeys long after the game’s launch.
Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent, Atlus Online’s first MMORPG, transports players to a world where two nations battle over a precious resource called Neo Steam. From the onset, customization is key to each player’s experience, where they can choose which nation to join and select from a number of specialized classes. As players battle to expand their nation’s resources and protect their borders from invasion, they must learn to harness steam technology to upgrade their equipment, learn new abilities, and progress in their chosen class. Adding to the immersive aspect of the fantasy-steampunk world, the game also features various forms of steam-based machines and vehicles for faster in-game traveling.

GhostX

Ghost-X is the new type 21 century Online Action Role Playing Game.
In the moment of the access Ghost-X, you may make a soul contract with ghost arm and to find truth, you should resolve various mission and quest.
 
Ghost-arms are constantly evolved and make you strength for draw your extreme action.
Feel revolution! In the hidden story and reversion, you will be a metro action hero of Ghost-X.

Shaiya Review: Light Vs Dark

By Jeffrey Kerkdijk (Hyarume), Onrpg writer

Shaiya Online is a MMORPG developed by  Asian company Sonov Entertainment, and published by Aeria Games. Shaiya features two factions to join, six classes, and  gameplay which relies on teamwork. Shaiya is a game that is played by a lot of people all over the world.

 

Let’s start out!

The basic story behind the game is that there was one goddess long ago and she was split into two sides. One light and one darkness.

The first thing you notice when you log into Shaiya is that you will have choose between two factions. You can pick either the country of light or the country of the fury. The country of the light has the Human race and the Elf race and the fury side has their Vail en the Nordain races. The Nordain race is also known as the Death eaters.

Every race has its own appearance and all of the playable races can be male or female they all have several customization options. You can change the hairstyle, eyes, facial features and height of all the races.

Both sides have the same classes to choice from although they have different names. But when it comes to creating your character Shaiya has a new thing for you! Difficulty modes. You have the easy mode and normal mode available at your first play. You can unlock two more modes: hard and ultimate.

Easy mode gives you the fastest experience rate to level but you won’t get any special skills and you cannot level further than level 30. Normal mode gives you a lower experience rate than Easy mode does, you will get more skills than you do on easy mode, But not all of them. However, with normal mode you can level to the maximum level which is 60.

Hard mode can be unlocked when you hit level 40 on a normal mode character. You will get the exclusive hard mode skills, but not the exclusive ultimate mode skills. Experience rate this time again is lower than on normal mode. And you get seven stat points every level, instead of five.

And after having reached level 40 on hard mode, the final mode is unlocked ultimate mode. This mode gives you all the skills in the game, and is really hard to level and this time you get nine stat points every level. But there is a catch: if you die you must be resurrected within three minutes; this can be done with a cash shop item or with a priest/oracles spell. If you don’t get resurrected within these three minutes your character will be deleted permanently.

I think that this is an interesting concept for an MMORPG as it does add a lot of replay value to the game. But I also think that this can be a bit overwhelming also it can be a game you simply don’t want to get into because of it.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Shaiya Online is like an  console-action game mixed with a  MMORPG, with smooth WASD the ability to jump over and on things and combat that can get pretty intense. Quests aren’t much different from other MMORPGs on the market. This means you have the talk/kill quests here as well. Combat is amazing, it seems like there  is little or no delay when you are in combat and everything seems to work fluently. You can even dodge attacks by sidestepping!

There is an armor and weapon upgrade system in the game, you can get mounts to ride on as well. These mounts will make moving around a lot easier.

There are challenges in the game that you can’t do on your own, you do them in groups. A typical tank, healer, damage dealer setup is used most of the time. Also some of these challenges require some serious tactics.

 

The borderlands

The borderlands are lands that both opposing factions share, the faction of light and fury. Since you are enemies, you can attack all players from your opposing faction within that area. This will mean that in those areas you can PvPvE. (player versus player versus environment) This adds a lot of depth to the game, and makes playing it much more exiting.

You can also dual with other players, just for fun! You can dual against any character from your own faction all you need to do is select the player and select dual. Then you and the other player can fight against each other to see who is the strongest or to see who has the best tactic to win.

 

Visuals and sound

Shaiya looks great the character models look nice, the animations look awesome, and the atmosphere in the game is great. The game world looks detailed and has a lot of variation, monsters look different from what you see in most MMORPGs. It looks great.

Another thing noticeable is the sound of the game, the music in the game adds a lot to the feeling of a fantasy world when you are playing the game. When you discover a new place you will hear some new music. It really feels good when you are playing it. I can’t imagine playing the game without its music. It would not be the same.

 

Personal recommendation

Shaiya online is a great online game, the difficulty modes add a lot of depth and replay value to the game. The quests in the game are just like other MMORPGs, they aren’t really renewing. There is little story to the game.

The borderlands are lands where PvP is enabled, you can only attack players from the faction that you oppose. But it is a fun way of engaging in PvP while you can continue to play PvE. In these lands you can PvPvE.

If you are looking for an MMORPG with a great combat system. Look no further Shaiya is a game for you!

Pros:
– Difficulty modes
– PvPvE
– Great combat system
– Graphics and sound
– Mounts

Cons:
– Difficulty modes
– chance to lose a character for good in ultimate mode.

HolyBeast Online Launched!

CyberStep Communications, Inc.  is pleased to announce the starting of our Official Service of Free-to-Play MMORPG “HolyBeast ONLINE” as its second title, after the first title SplashFighters.
 
We are so pleased to deliver this news to all who has waited for a long time for HolyBeast ONLINE Official Service. “HolyBeast ONLINE” is MMORPG that you switch back and forth from cute animal form into a human form at will and aim to be a “hero” with other players. You will find versatile contents which include various skills, community function, monsters and pets. To celebrate this well day, we are going to hold “Item Mall Discount Campaign” from the start of Item Mall to the end of June. Additionally we are planning for more events, thus we would like all players to check further information at getamped.com.

Runes Of Magic: Elves Are Coming

In September 2009 Frogster is to turn over a new leaf for Runes of Magic with a second chapter. In the upcoming ‘Chapter II – The Elven Prophecy’, the name giving elven will find their way into the game world Taborea. A widely branching background story entwines about the fairylike race with many new challenges that are going to be told in lots of new quests and new quest rows. Thus, ‘Chapter II – The Elven Prophecy’ will lead players into new game regions characterized by elven lore like an elven island at the shore of Ravenfell.
After having lived in secrecy for ages, the elves are surrounded by an aura of mystery and aloofness. Nevertheless they are considered as one of Taborea’s oldest peoples. Because of their particular affinity with nature, the elves are mostly to be found in the remote and undisturbed areas of Taborea’s large forests. Members of the elven people are characterized by an extraordinary intelligence and dexterity. Their metal-working skills are on a par with those of the dwarves, whereas their style is much more filigree. The design of elvish weapons is of great elegance, almost fragility. But in the hands of an elvish fighter, they reveal an impressive effectiveness. A decisive influence on the effects of the elvish weapons derives from their owner’s purity and affinity with nature. Because of their esthetical value, the renowned elvish long swords and longbows are of great attractiveness for humans, too. But only the elves themselves possess the mental skills necessary to handle such elegant weapons.
Yore, the elvish kingdom has been located in the area of the present Aslan valley. Therefore the valley is also known as ‘The Origin’. The elven kingdom was shattered in the time of the primeval war between against the demons. After an oracle prophecy, a part of the elven people abandoned the area under prince Isnasil to keep clear of the conflict. A second faction under king Antaikolon affronted the combat. To avoid such confrontations for the future, the elven king had a magical wall erected in the aftermath to hold back the evil Naga people being allied with the demons. By inserting the holy elven sword ‘Arclight’ into the wall, he rendered it unsurmountable. Since that time, the descendants of the elven fighters around Antaikolon served as guardians and paladins of the holy sword ‘Arclight’ dedicating themselves devotedly to the enlargement of their martial arts. When elven prince Sig’aylas removed the holy sword ‘Arclight’ from the wall hundreds of years later to defend his human truelove, the wall perished and the naga threat flared up once again. With the upcoming ‘Chapter II – The Elven Prophecy’ for Runes of Magic, the elven people will enter the game world of Taborea. Starting with September 2009 players will be able to play their part.