Yearly Archives: 2009

TwelveSky 2 Launches In Turkish

MAYN Interactive Pte Ltd., begins open beta for KaraHan, a Free-to-Play, Massively Multiplayer Online Role Play Game (MMORPG).
KaraHan  is the Turkish version of TwelveSky 2. Just one month after the launch of their first project, TwelveSky 2, MAYN Interactive has worked with their Turkish partners to localize and translate the game to cater to the needs of the Turkish population. Named “KaraHan “, the highly anticipated game has received good responses from the Turkish population so far.
“The launch of the Open Beta of KaraHan will be a great success!” said Young Shin, the Chief Executive Officer of MAYN Interactive. “This marks a great milestone and a remarkable achievement for the company.” Indeed, gamers from all around the world will keep their nose closer to MAYN Interactive, watching out for upcoming projects and releases.
Players can also expect to enjoy a series of events held specially for them over the coming days in celebration with the launching of Open Beta. Held by the Guest Service Representatives (Game Masters) in Turkey themselves, there are bound to be loads of fun and prizes to be won from these events. Interested parties can get more information from the forums.
Word is that there will be more EU language versions of TwelveSky 2 coming on the way. MAYN Interactive is set to carve a name for themselves on a solid ground with these projects, sounding a warning to rival competitors about its gradual emergence into the online gaming industry.
 
Interested parties can proceed to karahanonlineworld.com to sign up for a game account for free if they have not done so.

TwelveSky 2 Launches In Turkish

MAYN Interactive Pte Ltd., begins open beta for KaraHan, a Free-to-Play, Massively Multiplayer Online Role Play Game (MMORPG).
KaraHan  is the Turkish version of TwelveSky 2. Just one month after the launch of their first project, TwelveSky 2, MAYN Interactive has worked with their Turkish partners to localize and translate the game to cater to the needs of the Turkish population. Named “KaraHan “, the highly anticipated game has received good responses from the Turkish population so far.
“The launch of the Open Beta of KaraHan will be a great success!” said Young Shin, the Chief Executive Officer of MAYN Interactive. “This marks a great milestone and a remarkable achievement for the company.” Indeed, gamers from all around the world will keep their nose closer to MAYN Interactive, watching out for upcoming projects and releases.
Players can also expect to enjoy a series of events held specially for them over the coming days in celebration with the launching of Open Beta. Held by the Guest Service Representatives (Game Masters) in Turkey themselves, there are bound to be loads of fun and prizes to be won from these events. Interested parties can get more information from the forums.
Word is that there will be more EU language versions of TwelveSky 2 coming on the way. MAYN Interactive is set to carve a name for themselves on a solid ground with these projects, sounding a warning to rival competitors about its gradual emergence into the online gaming industry.
 
Interested parties can proceed to karahanonlineworld.com to sign up for a game account for free if they have not done so.

Taikodom Is Coming

GamersFirst introduces Taikodom as the newest addition to GamersFirst’s already stellar line up of games being shown a E3 in Los Angeles, Ca.
Taikodom is a Massive Multiplayer Online Game set in the 23rd century Taken by surprise when a mysterious energy field blocked Earth; humankind has then expanded to the space, where people joined in different space communities. Several terrestrial humans have escaped Earth in suspended animation. Awakened by the Consortium, a sort of centralized government, these humans are now called resurrects, who have to struggle in order to guarantee a spot at space society. And you will enter Taikodom as one of them. Set in a breathtaking journey through the universe, Taikodom is filled with adventure, riches, danger, and glory; are you up to the challenge?
“Taikodom is a perfect addition to our already stellar lineup of games.” Says Joe Rush, Director of Game Operations, GamersFirst. “The quality of gaming we intend to bring to the Free2Play market can be truly seen with Taikodom.”
In 2073, an inexplicable anomaly has created an inexpugnable energetic field surrounding planet Earth, the event became known as Restriction.  Space population wasn’t able to supply Earth with resources anymore, which has lead the planet into complete chaos. This is the beginning of the age of Earth Restriction (ER): 2073 AD is now called year 1 ER. When a player joins Taikodom, they are taken to the year 156 ER and, like any other inhabitant of this futuristic universe, are virtually immortal, for they can transfer their personality records to a spare clone and activate it when needed. Now, gigantic distances are traveled in seconds, and anyone can face the fiercest combat without fear of death. Alone or together in corporations, players take part in combats, mining activities and commerce across the space in real-time. Taikodom has a rich, coherent and fully detailed story which is continually expanding and evolving as time passes.
“Hoplon is proud to be working with GamersFirst; they have established themselves as a leader in the Free2Play market.” States Tarquinio Teles, CEO, Hoplon “We are looking forward to the launch of Taikodom and a long and prosperous relationship with GamersFirst.”  

Galaxy Online Trailer

By the 28th century, with earth stripped bare of its precious natural resources, humanity has been forced to adapt to a new and harsh environment. Are you ready to step in, join your faction and fight for survival? Then watch this new trailer for the 2D free MMO Galaxy Online!

WoW Review: Welcome Heroes of Azeroth!

By Kei Beneza (Dividelife), Onrpg writer
There’s no denying the fact that World of Warcraft (WoW) served as a pioneer for some of the latest MMO features today. WoW carries on from the worldly renowned real-time-strategy game Warcraft 3, allowing players to create their own personal relations with the world of Azeroth. The powers of the infamous Lich King grows stronger each day, and it’s up to you to make a difference. The cold war between the Horde and Alliance hasn’t reached perfect stasis, making it hard for everyone to work together despite their horrid conditions.
 
WoW takes role-playing to a whole new level, giving players a chance to experience the Lore firsthand.  Getting to interact with famous Warcraft characters also served as a plus for this game; especially since the lore is loved by millions of gamers worldwide. Its pretty much given that people would ask for a chance to coexist with these heroes and heroines hence this famous MMO RPG.
 

We Hate Each Other… But We Have No Choice

WoW focuses on two factions namely: the Horde and the Alliance. These two factions have been at it since the game’s RTS predecessors. Upon the arrival of the putrid undead Scourge, the two factions were forced into a momentary truce. Although we know that there’s a bit of bad blood (ok… maybe a whole lot of bad blood) towards each other, both factions must band together in order face their greatest enemy yet. 
 

Class Differences

Unlike other MMOs, WoW’s classes each have their own User Interface (UI) as well as their unique  form of gameplay.
For example: Warriors don’t have mana the same way mages do, nor do they earn rage points (warriors mana) like spell casters gain mana for spells. Why the hell would real warriors use mana? All they do is grunt, slash and shout anyway.
 
This gives players a chance to experience a different play style when playing other classes, making it less routinely thus enhancing the game’s replay value. This feature is designed to optimize each class’ performance, allowing them to function well in their designated roles both for raids and PVP.
 

Character Customization At Its Finest

Each class has three Talent Trees to choose from. Like most MMOs, this feature lets players customize their characters– helping them fit the player’s scope of gameplay. Talent points are acquired as you level up throughout the game, and though these points lock firmly in place after you use them, you can always ask your local class trainer to reset your talent points for a small fee.
 
Each tree represents a different play style. An Affliction based warlock can function well on raids unlike Demonology ones are better with questing and doing PVP. This serves as a concrete form of balance, giving each tree its own specialty thus removing the linear feeling of a certain class being played by different players. Since you can distribute points on each tree regardless of which tree you start with, you can also create a perfectly balanced character at the cost of not getting a certain tree’s final feature. This may sound dull but it works well for most of the players online.
 

Thank Elune for Dual Spec

Ever had those moments when your character is at the bottom of the food chain? It is pretty hard knowing that your build isn’t good enough for a particular situation. Since most of the Epic gears can be found in raids, PVP-type characters would have to re-spec often. Believe me, you wouldn’t want to be the center of attraction just because they expected your character to be something else.
 
Upon the arrival of patch 3.1.0, players were granted the dual spec (dual specializations) system. Upon visiting their local trainers, players can pay a generous fee of 1000 gold for them to unlock their dual spec feature. This feature lets players reserve another talent build allowing them to switch builds at any given time. It also replaces your action bar (hotkey) settings, just so you wouldn’t have to fix your skills every time you change your talent tree. This removes the difficulty of having to adjust to your surroundings, letting you switch to your reserved spec for trials that may give you a hard time while in your current build.
 
Talent Tree
Talent Tree
 
Although the feature is as great as hell, some players would rather do things the old-fashion way. It’s probably because of the steep price (I mean come on! 1000 gold doesn’t grow on tree elementals you know). Though this new addition seems promising, a 15 gold manual re-spec seems to be a lot cheaper and more practical than the given feature.

We Are SPECIAL!

When choosing a race, one must consider what further enhances his desired play style; it’s far more important than choosing a race only because it looks cooler than the rest. Each race is blessed with their own unique racial skill that could improve your character’s performance. A Tauren Warrior may be ideal for a devastating stun lock due to the Tauren’s ‘Warstomp’ ability, while Orcs can increase their melee damage making them deadly at close range.

All in all, the whole idea of getting to choose your race and class gives you a good definition of what your character’s role would be.

 

The Ultimate PVP Experience

PVP in WoW is much rewarding compared to other online games so far. Honor points are gained by killing members of the opposing faction. These points can be used to purchase gears and upgrades; therefore, making your lust for blood quite reasonable.

PVP can be found almost everywhere in the world of Azeroth. There’s group PVP, 2 versus 2, 1 on 1 and even an all-out war for territorial advantage. Since the war is ongoing, players may kill anyone from the opposite faction even in the comforts of their home. You may also kill town NPCs in order to slow down their opponents’ progress, killing quest givers to stop them from turning in quests to gain experience.

 

Raiding Like Never Before!

Unlike other games, WoW gives you bosses like you’ve never seen before. Most games would usually ponder on who hits harder, with tons of blood thirsty players hacking and slashing while the tank takes all the damage. Players would need more than powerful gear to beat raid bosses in WoW. Some even require you to catch his spears, wherein the only way to beat him is to throw it back at him causing his barrier to go down. Some are rather merciless, blocking any form of heals making the healer more or less useless throughout the fight.
 
Raid
WoW Raid
 
 
WoW raiding requires harmony and proper attempts; you can’t always go around thinking that you’re safe from the boss’ attack or that he will give you enough time to heal yourself. Like I said, everyone has their own role to play.

Warcraft 3 Graphics On Steroids

The graphics look like a more detailed version of the early Warcraft models, rendered beautifully while still sharing the colorful Warcraft 3 trademark visuals. It’s as though you were really yanked inside the World of Warcraft. The graphics may not be as good as that of Hellgate London or other up-to-date MMOs but the low output may also be a key for it to work well on old computers. He visuals are incomparable to any other game and one glimpse would instantly bring you into saying that the game you’re looking at is undoubtedly World of Warcraft.

 

EPIC Sounds For An EPIC Game

The soundtrack is just amazing with tons of tracks to boost your personal relationship with your surroundings. Unlike other games the music in WoW doesn’t standout; instead, it blends along with the ambiance creating a harmonious combination that pulls you deeper into the game (possibly the same effect as what made people cry in movies). 
 

The Verdict

World of Warcraft is a great game all in all, with hundreds of servers ready to cater players with WoW goodness. The different forms of classes allows players to find their own meta of gameplay making it easier for other gamers to know why they actually chose that class. The name World of Warcraft pretty much defines what this game is all about or what you can expect upon signing up. Even if you’re not a big fan of the lore, this game is still worth playing. The game has a lot of quests, so many that I think no one has ever done them all with a single character before. With good quest lineups and a big variety of armors and equipment, I’m sure there’s more than enough to satisfy any MMO gamer out there.
 
Pros
– Great system
– Excellent replay value
– Intense PVP battles
– Tantalizing raids
– Broad character customization
– Good quest lineup
– Gigantic world map
 
Cons
– Quite Expensive to play
– The main thought of having to buy the game and then subscription

Martial Heroes Review:

By Jeffrey Kerkdijk (Hyarume), Onrpg writer
Martial heroes (D.O second edition) is a martial arts MMORPG developed by CR-Space. The game sets place in a unique ancient oriental world.  Where you can become a Martial hero!
 

The Martial Heroes

Instead of creating your own character you can pick a hero, the warrior “the Legend of Sword, Jang Moo Geuk” the assassin “Black Shadow, Heuk Young” the monk “Deung Hwa Gun” or the mage “Chen Master Ah Sung”. After picking one of these heroes and giving them the name you want to carry you can start the game.
Every hero has three weapons to fight with, picking one and specializing in that weapon is almost crucial for character development. Each of these weapons are familiar with fans of martial arts games. The fan which a mage can use, the sword, the lance  and of course the claws.
Each of these weapons has their own skills, and their own style of battle. Claws for example are very fast,   the Lance has strong physical attacks and the fan has stylish magic attacks. Pick the weapon that suits you the most and fight your path true the world of Martial Heroes.
The world is interesting you follow quests and these quests take you all across the land in this martial world. The quest are pretty much the standard type of quest but really force you into traveling across the lands. In the first 40 levels you will see all sorts of landscapes from hills to forest, from caverns to ancient temples, the game has no shortage when it comes to variation in landscapes.
There is a weapon upgrade system in the game but further more nothing that is really unique to the genre. Combat has a nice feel to it, it really feels like you are becoming a legendary warrior (or mage..) skill animations look great and feel powerful.  The skill design is awesome.
 
The game plays like your standard point and click game with martial arts skills, but at a faster pace. Fights can get pretty intense and It suits the game well.  Special skills such as the ability to run faster can be obtained for the ease when traveling. At higher levels this can be extremely fast.  This is a nice feature.
The game also has the well known “potion spamming” decease. Stock up your potions before you head out! And keep them spamming!

Graphics And Sound

There is no point of denying it, the graphics are old really old. Nevertheless for a game its age the game looks great, the style of the game can be seen everywhere and the lands are interesting enough to travel trough. But don’t play this game if you are a hihg-end graphics addict.
Sound is good enough, it really gives the game world the final touch. It just suits the game. The sound effects are also pretty old, but that doesn’t ruin the game.
 

Personal Recommendation

Martial heroes is a great game, there is enough to see and enough to do if you can manage to overcome the game flaws. The world is solid and there are plenty of new places to discover alon the journey through this ancient oriental land. The game does feature plenty of skills, a variation of classes but almost no customization options at the beginning of the game. In the final levels you will seem like clones to one another. But like I said before if you can overcome the game flaws that doesn’t matter.
 
The gameplay is where Martial heroes really shines, the combat system is solid and there is enough variation in the game, what I really like about the game is the martial art moves that came in the game. The game doesn’t feature as much styles to fight like as in Nine Dragons, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  The game mechanics work just perfectly.
 
What amazed me is that a lot of people still play the game, after all these years the game is still growing strong. What really makes the game interesting also is the PvP aspect of the game, the game has a lot of guild versus guild PvP, and a revenge PvP system which allows you to teleport straight back to the person who killed you so you can take your revenge.
The game also has a Combo system, you can put a few skills together and you can execute them with one skill. With the total possibility to chain up 5 skills (at higher levels). This is very fun, this gives you a lot of combo’s to try out and see just how they will work out. I like this a lot because you can try to make combo’s with the most damage and use them in PvP.
Martial Heroes is a great game, it has a few flaws and almost no customization, poor graphics, old sound effects but if you can oversee those you have found yourself a great game.
Pros
– Great skill design
– Variation in landscapes
– Stylish martial arts theme
– The PvP system
Cons
– Graphics
– Sound
– Potion spamming

Matrix Online Closing Down

Sony Community Manager Daniel “Walrus” Meyers posted the following message on The Matrix Online forums, announcing that the game will close down in July. Here’s the message:
 
In May 2004, I embarked upon a journey. I decided to take the red pill in a big way—I became the online community lead for The Matrix Online. Later that year, many of you joined me as you jacked in for the first time. It was a brand new world—a vision of online games that didn’t involve elves, spaceships, or dragons. We became part of the Matrix storyline; living our own adventures in the world painted by the movies.
 
It seems not so long ago I was jumping into Mara Central and going toe-to-toe with other devs at E3 2004. I had no idea this journey would take me to a whole different company, managing a major revision of the game, and my first producing gig. “Long, strange trip” doesn’t describe the half of it.
Now we’ve seen how far the rabbit hole goes and it’s time to wake up from that dream (or go back to sleep, depending how you look at it). On July 31, 2009, we will be jacking out for the last time. It’s a bittersweet moment for everyone involved with the game; as a player or as a developer.
 
It has been a good run. Where many games have fizzled out before or shortly after launch, by August we will have lived on in our home at SOE for more than 4 years. To this day, I have never worked with a community as dedicated as The Matrix Online community.
I’ll be at Fan Faire this year showing The Agency and hanging out with any redpills making the trip. The past couple years have been a blast, so I hope to see some of you there again..
 
The team will also be whipping up an end-of-the-world event. It won’t be quite the same as having over 100 developers in the game as Agents like when we ended beta, but we have 4 years of tricks up our sleeve. It’ll be a chance to revisit all the things that make MxO the memorable experience it is. And how could we pull the plug without crushing everyone’s RSI just one more time?
I have a lot of fond memories from my years working on MxO. We’ve had a good time in the Machines’ little playground and will be sad to see it end. I hope everyone enjoys the last few months of playing The Matrix Online.
 
See you on the other side.
Daniel “Walrus” Myers

Angels Online: House System Function Overview

Angels Online has your VIP pass into the biggest House Party of the year! As the biggest feature included in the new version, owning a house means a lot to every player. Today the official team is going to share with you all the latest information on the crown jewel of the new version-the House system, and let’s see what it can do for you!
When players get their house, they’re getting more than just 4 walls and a roof. Not that they need a roof over their heads, this is Eden, not Seattle. However, these new houses offer so much more than just a place for your character to stay when your offline, they are a gathering place for friends, a storage facility for your items, and a place for you to unleash the creative designer within everyone. This is a space for players to call their own. A place they are encouraged to personalize as they like, without requirements or rules. The only limits are player’s imagination, and of course, whether a particular piece of furniture is available or not. However, even availability is constantly changing, as the AO team develops more and more furniture to feed the creative monster sure to emerge from players design demands.
Storage Space
In fact, after players get past the superficial decoration features, which are a blast to play with and are sure to keep Angels busy during the dog days of summer, they will find that having a house will make their life so much easier, they’re going to wonder how they ever lived without it. The biggest convenience has got to be the storage space that players now have. Instead of having to journey to one of the main cities to store their things, they can just talk to Maid Eilian in the house and open their warehouse directly. When the house has been upgraded to a certain level, they can even access their Guild warehouse by talking to her. 
Social Gathering Spot
Getting past the basic functions that make houses useful, of which there are many, let’s look at them in another light – as a social gathering spot. IGG and AO spend a lot of time and effort promoting the “community” of players they have and the Ball function fits this mold perfectly. By inspiring players to visit other players houses, and rewarding them for doing so, they are not just encouraging friendly gatherings, but also working to strengthen Guild bonds, and move players past the one dimensional “team up and fight” relationships that so often plague MMOGs.
Mercenary system
Not that teaming up and fighting isn’t still important, it is, and players who find themselves on at odd hours will love the mercenary system. Simply call on Maid Eilian and she delivers a soldier of fortune to you. She is the Jeeves of AO, bringing players whatever they need, even a grizzled mercenary to watch their back when no one else will. Even Google can’t do that for you!

Parabellum: Closed Beta Started

GamersFirst, a service of K2 Network and one of today’s most popular free2play online game destinations, in cooperation with Acony announce the release start of closed beta for Parabellum.
Parabellum begins in the year 2018 and wars are being fought in a whole new way. Armies stand idle while specialist teams carry out precision strikes – straight in, straight out and get back home in time for drinks at the bar. This is a good time to be a mercenary. ‘Private security’ firms handle everything from ground-pounding to covert operations. Governments like the deniability of mercenary actions and mercenaries like money; to the men and women on the frontline however it is simply business. Welcome to your new office.
 
“Parabellum is the newest and most compelling game to hint the market under the Free2Play business model.” David Demers Associate producer, GamersFirst   “GamersFirst is honored to be able to deliver the quality in free2Play that all gamers desire.”
The Parabellum closed beta will be offered with four maps that can be played in either Team Death Match or Reinforcement mode. Gamers will have access to two pistols, ten primary weapons and three different support weapons. Along with the necessary tools of the trade all gamers will have access to millions of options to customize there character.
 
“We are very proud to take our relationship with GamersFirst to the next level.  The entire team has worked diligently towards this goal, and everyone involved is very excited indeed.” Stated Andre Herbst, Marketing Director/Founding Partner, Acony “We are extremely excited about the opportunity of hearing feedback from the gaming community during this important closed beta phase.”