Monthly Archives: September 2010

LOTRO Is Now Free To Play

LOTRO Is Now Free To Play

 

Turbine’s The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) is now free-to-play for players across North America. Launching today, players can download LOTRO for free and join with millions of other adventurers as they explore the most complete and authentic recreation of Middle-earth ever created and participate in LOTRO’s award-winning story up to level 50 for free. Players can also choose to visit the new LOTRO Store to purchase expansions, quest packs, items, and account services a la carte, or join the VIP program that provides unlimited access to the game for one low monthly price.

 

This major update will also extend the game’s epic story and expand the world of Middle-earth with the new region of Enedwaith while continuing to deliver state-of-the-art graphics and gameplay, as well as a rich set of features that until now could only be found in premium subscription-based online games.

 

 

Players can download LOTRO for free and join with millions of other adventurers as they explore the most complete and authentic recreation of Middle-earth ever created.

 

“We are continuing to expand the market by offering LOTRO free-to-play and providing players with a choice in how they experience premium online entertainment,” said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Today’s launch allows gamers to play one of the world’s best online games completely free while letting core LOTRO fans dive deeper into the game as they choose.”


“Turbine’s innovative pricing model, first introduced last year with Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Eberron Unlimited”, has become a proven success with over two new million registrations since going free-to-play,” said Kate Paiz, Executive Producer of LOTRO. “We expect LOTRO’s free-to-play launch will only continue to increase the player base and catapult the game to new heights of success.”


Highlights of the latest update to LOTRO include:

 

Volume III, Book 2: The Ride of the Grey Company – Having sworn to protect the heirs of Isildur, the Dúnedain responded with all haste to the urgent message from Elrond. Players will join the newly-formed Grey Company in Rivendell as they depart on their journey far from the relative safety of that hidden valley into the new region of Enedwaith. Book 2 consists of fifteen solo-able chapters full of exploration, exciting combat and a healthy dose of mystery.

The LOTRO Store is Now Open for Business! – The LOTRO Store is loaded with thousands of convenience items as well as expansion packs, premium content, additional character slots, potions, character customization and more. The LOTRO Store is seamlessly integrated into the game and lets the player identify new and exciting ways to enhance and customize their experience, using Turbine Points which can be purchased in the Store or earned through gameplay.

The Return of the Harvest Festival – When the days shorten and the nights begin to cool, it’s time to celebrate the bounty of the harvest. All the races of Middle-earth celebrate this time and gather at the Bree festival grounds for the Harvestmath events that include bobbing for apples, pumpkin picking and much more. This year’s festival features a brand new event located in the new Haunted Burrow, a haunted hobbit Fun-house!

And Much More! – This latest update also introduces the Wardrobe, a new storage system for cosmetic items that’s available for free to VIP players or can be purchased a la carte from the LOTRO Store, an updated character creation system, a revamped new player experience, the update and addition of “classic” instances featuring repeatable, scalable content, and much more!

 

The Lord of the Rings Online is the ultimate adventure. This award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most famous fantasy of all time. From the picturesque surroundings of the Shire to Moria, the most fearsome underground realm ever imagined, players will experience the world of Middle-earth for free!

Casual Online Games Bridging the Gap

Casual Online Games Bridging the Gap
By Vincent Haoson (vincenthaoson), OnRPG Journalist

 

In the world of serious gaming, casual games are a necessary evil. For hardcore online gamers, casual online games serve as a repository for “other” kinds of gamers. You must understand that in the mind of a hardcore online gamer, there’s the hardcore gamers, and there’s the rest of the world. Casual gamers used to be the so-called minority of the gaming world in terms of stature. However, if you consider the population, there are now more casual gamers than hardcore gamers.

 

Casual MMO

 

Changing Winds

In fact, casual online gaming is now picking up steam and there are mmos that have specifically targeted casual online gamers. Client based rhythm games have been in the forefront of attracting casual players due to their easy to grasp concept, the lack of any long time commitment and the idea of customizing your characters the way you want them to look. Of course I won’t be ignoring the existence of flash based rhythm games as well as they have very much taken the attention of hardcore and casual gamers alike.

 

For the hardcore online gamer, casual games serve as a break from the grinding, questing and raiding that is the very reason why they’re playing those MMORPGs. However, for the casual gamer, these games give them a reason to call themselves gamers. I’m not discussing the merits of a hardcore and casual gamer, I just pointed out these facts because it emphasizes the popularity of casual games.

 

 To further emphasize the point that casual online games are here to stay, there’s a survey that said that casual gaming is, in fact, recession-proof this means that casual online games are so marketable that even with the worldwide recession it’s still a profitable business. The bright future of casual online games will mean that companies will churn out more games hence increasing the number of casual gamers significantly.

 

Breaking Barriers

The possible income earning potential of casual games is the biggest reason why some MMORPGs have added casual games in their game features. Normally, the mix between casual games and MMORPGs have been restricted to only social online games, however, there are games that see the addition of casual gaming into their titles may widen the market for their online game.

 

Casual MMO
Dancing MMOs are rather casual

 

One good example of the mix of MMORPGs and casual gaming elements is the MMO, 7 Million. In the game you have a lot of MMOG elements such as quests, stats, achievements etc.. However, the game runs basically on a casual gaming basis because you are required to finish one mini-game after another if you want to progress through the game. Games within games.

 

Another good example of a successful mix between casual gaming and hardcore gaming is the cutesy MMORPGs like Hello Kitty Online. Actually, Hello Kitty feels more like an MMORPG than a casual game unlike 7 Million. HKO does require you to knock out a few cute monsters or two to level, but the game also has flash-based mini-games which you have to go through to progress through the game.

 

Of course these two games I’ve mentioned don’t seem to belong to the more “hardcore” MMORPGs so here’s another good example of two casual games that are included as an add-on in one of the biggest names in the MMORPG scene. Yep, that’s right! Two of PopCap’s famous games, Bejeweled and Peggle have their own WoW add-ons. I must emphasize however, that the add-on for these two games are more  hobby inspired rather than income-centered.

 

WoW Bejeweled
Bejeweled in World of Warcraft

 

Social Network Factor

I have already mentioned that Facebook has been an integral factor in the sudden rise of casual online gamers. That is why it is not a stretch to say that browser based MMOs may venture into getting into Facebook. If other casual online games have done it why can’t browser based-MMOs right?

 

What can pass as MMORPG gaming on Facebook right now are just plain browser based online games where the most action you get out of it is just clicking your mouse on one prompt or another. If Facebook continues to keep on adapting and changing I don’t see why we wouldn’t see a browser based MMORPG invade the world’s biggest social network sometime soon.

 

Unlimited Possibilities

Unlike in straight up MMORPGs, casual online games have a pile of ideas to tap into. Aside from the rhythm games you also have racing and karting online games as a growing part of the casual game category. There’s also the sports genre where the sports games we usually only get to play on consoles and offline have been tapped and forged into a decent enough MMOs. The possibilities for casual games right now are endless and it means that there are still a lot of untapped game types that have yet to be created for the casual gaming public. This means that game companies need to step it up to be the next best thing in casual online gaming, the number of casual online gamers keeps on increasing.

 

Even the world’s most famous creator of casual games is starting to reach into the online market by creating an online avenue for its casual games in the form of Popcap World. Though this is only limited to subscribers within the SE region it’s undeniably a sign that Popcap is taking things to a whole new level and it may come to a point where they may even give MMORPGs a run for their money.

 

Though I highly doubt that established MMORPGs are even phased by the emergence of something like an online equivalent of PopCap, but you can’t ignore the fact that there may come a time where casual games become part of MMORPGs. There is one definite result though if that time comes. Players will have more reasons to stay online on their game than ever before. If it’s a good thing or not only time will tell.

Special Force Tour: Free Competitive FPS

Special Force Tour: Free Competitive FPS
By Mohammad Abubakr, OnRPG Journalist

 

Special Force is a free to play first person shooter by DFIGames. It is the SEA version of Soldier Front by ijji. I was lucky enough to be given a tour of the game by GM_Millais and the DFIGames team. Let us take a look at what I learned about the game! The game plays like any other FPS game. The keyboard is used to move your character while the mouse is used to look around, aim and fire. You have the ability to change all the key bindings and adjust the mouse sensitivity to suit your play style. The in game graphics are decent. They are nothing impressive but are good enough for the game to be playable. You will not have to worry about having a tough time distinguishing between the environment and enemies.  There are not many choices for the resolution and you are limited to a maximum of 1280×1024.

 

The Lobby

There are many things that can be done in the lobby. The obvious use of the lobby is to look for and join a room to begin playing. However, players can access the character shop, weapon shop, item shop, inventory, replay and configuration. The character shop is used to buy new characters and equipment. When you create your character you have to choose a force to join. However, you may buy additional characters from different forces later on. The clothing and accessories are different for all forces and offer different colour schemes. If you buy additional characters, you may decide which colour scheme will help you to camouflage with the current map. Equipment can also give improved stats in certain areas and at times decreased stats in certain areas. It is up to you if you would like to sacrifice movement speed for more defence or lose some survivability to move quicker. Use this to your advantage to fully customize your character to suit your play style!

 

Additional weapons may be bought from the weapon shop. Players may buy primary, secondary and throwing weapons. Primary weapons are used as your main weapon for getting kills and the secondary weapons may be used for special cases. Some examples could be that you are in the middle of the fight but your primary weapon runs out of ammo or your primary weapon is a sniper rifle but you are forced to fight in close quarters. Throwing weapons are grenades and currently melee weapons cannot be bought. There are a decent amount of weapons available. Although there are not too many and the game could use a bit more to offer more variety, the game is still newly released. New weapons will be available in coming updates!

 

Weapon Shop
The weapon shop

 

The item shop will be used to purchase items using real money. You can think of it like a cash shop. Currently it does not sell anything but when it has been released it will offer items such as sprays. Players can equip their purchased items in their inventory. Your characters may be changed and their weapon sets can be customized. You may have two weapon sets which can be switched between during the respawn time. This allows you to be able to play different roles in the same battle.

 

One of the features that Special Force offers that not many F2P FPS games have is the ability to replay your matches. This feature will be unlocked in the future and can be used to record your game. Your matches will be recorded as a video file but the format is currently unknown. This feature might cost a small fee to use. Lastly, the configuration menu can be used to adjust key bindings, graphic options, mouse settings and macros. Macros allow you to say phrases without having to type the whole phrase but currently they only work in the lobby.

 

Game Modes

Currently there are five modes available to players in Special Force. First of all there is the training mode. In this mode there are targets scattered around the map where players can test out their weapons and improve their aim. These targets have the same amount of health and armour as a normal player without any items. Your damage is also displayed so you can practice which areas to aim and see how fast you can kill.

 

There is the Single Battle mode. This is the mode that usually goes by the name free for all. The objective is to kill as many people as you can and like the name suggests, there are no teams. There is also the team death match mode where there are two teams that aim to reach the required amount of kills to win. These are the two modes available if you just feel like killing people.

 

If you want to play a mode where there is an objective besides just killing, these next two modes may be of interest to you. First of all, SF has the team battle mode. In this mode two teams must defend or retrieve an item depending on which team you are on. The defenders may win by killing the whole attacking team while the attackers must retrieve the item or kill all the defenders. There is no respawning until the end of the round.

 

Captain mode is the unique game mode in Special Force. In this mode all players on both teams start as captains. Captains have a lot more health than a normal player and have bigger heads to allow players to know who the captains are. When you are killed you respawn as a normal player and the team to lose all its captains first will lose.

 

 Special Force Sniping
Having the high ground is great when sniping

 

Interview

 

I also got the opportunity to ask some questions to the Product Manager for Special Force.

 

OnRPG: Hello! My name is Abubakr and I am a journalist from OnRPG. Before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?
Hi! My name is Choi Hwa-Seok, but you can refer to me as Choi. I’m the Product Manager for Special Force: Singapore Chapter, working at DF Interactive.

 

OnRPG: In the future will there be IP blocks for Special Force or can anyone from around the world play the game?
We have no IP limitation for the Singapore Chapter. Our focus is on English-speaking countries around South-East Asia not covered by our partners such as Singapore and Malaysia. However, we are operating a global service and welcome anyone from anywhere to join us and play.

 

 

OnRPG: The item shop will allow players to purchase items with the use of real money. What kind of items will be sold? What is being done to ensure that paying players do not have a huge advantage over F2P players?
The cash item shop will feature an assortment of weapons, equipment, characters and functional items. Within the Functional Items, there is a very wide range of varieties, from bonuses (EXP multipliers), to aesthetic changes (Crosshair change), statistic resets (Kill/Death Reset) and even weapon bombs (Mystery gift boxes).

 

When it comes to ensuring F2P players do not have a huge disadvantage, it is all about balanced planning. Also, we have many in-game events where special weapons and items can be earned or won by anyone and everyone. At the end of the day, we want players to enjoy the game so much that spending money on customizing or upgrading their soldiers becomes one of the greatest pleasures in the game.

 

OnRPG: What can players look out for in the future?
In the immediate future, we are looking into implementing a clan system. This will help facilitate the gathering of gamers to form teams and clans, adding a deeper dimension to their online gaming experience. Furthermore, now that Special Force will be hosting its own annual World Championships, we aim to send representatives from Singapore and her neighboring countries when the competitive scene picks up. In addition, an agreement has been made that Special Force will be an official game for future World Cyber Games. So look out for great things to come. For the long term, we will continue to release game updates with fresh content to keep our gamers interested for as long as we’re in service.

 

Onrpg: What would you say is the most unique feature of Special Force that will want users to try your game out from the rest of the competition?
The most unique feature, or should I say advantage, that Special Force has over competing titles is that we have a uniquely large database of content to draw from. Special Force has been in service since 2004 in Korea and in many parts of the world, and its database has been, and will be continuing to, generate interesting content. Special Force has proven itself over the years and is still the no.1 FPS game in many parts of Asia, including Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, Korea and Japan.

 

Game Features

 

OnRPG: The replay mode sounds like an amazing addition to your game. Will all users be able to use it? Does it affect your computer’s performance or will all PCs that can run SF smoothly be able to use the replay feature?
The replay feature allows the gamer to record his actions in battle and replay it as and when he/she likes. We will also ensure that gameplay performance is not compromised and those PCs which meet our specified requirements should be able to run it smoothly. We have yet to implement the replay system, so I’m not able to answer your question with regard to the availability for all to use at the moment.

 

Onrpg: Each different force has its own exclusive equipment. Are there any advantages besides blending in with the map environment depending on the colour of the equipment for using a different force? For example, does a certain force have more movement speed equipment than others?
Each Special Force offers a different look but has no inherent advantage or disadvantage compared to the others. However, some equipment is exclusive to certain Special Forces and offer bonuses to the character, so you may want to do some homework before choosing.

 

Onrpg: What kind of gamers is Special Force aimed towards? (Casual, Hardcore, etc.)
The beauty of Special Force is that it caters to all sorts of gamers. We have game modes such as Captain Mode or Zombie Mode that caters more toward the casual gamer, while we also have modes and maps that cater for highly competitive gamers.

 

Conclusion

To conclude, Special Force is worth a try. It is a good free FPS that offers good gameplay and the opportunity to get into competitive gaming. Since this game is in WCG (World Cyber Games) it does not mean that it cannot be played casually so you can enjoy this game even if you are a casual player. Special Force will be available worldwide but may cause some users to have lag issues due to their location. If you are from NA, please take a look at Soldier Front if you encounter lag issues. 

New character to arrive in LOCO

new character to arrive in LOCO


burda:ic revealed details about the first new character to arrive in LOCO – Land of Chaos Online: massive, close-combat fighter AAKbah. Making his debut in the Land of Chaos on Sep. 14, AAKbah will be joined by two additional new fighters, Ellan and Partisan, in the coming weeks.

 

AAKbah has no recollection of his past, and no idea how he became the formidable opponent he is today. Waking up chained in the middle of a dark, empty dungeon, he was left to his own devices and has never figured out who placed him in solitude. With an insatiable rage burning within him, AAKbah broke free from his remote prison and now fights to uncover and take revenge upon those who transformed him into a monster. In the depths of his tortured mind, all he vaguely recalls is a lone woman looking down upon him in captivity.

 

The first new character to arrive in LOCO - Land of Chaos Online is massive, close-combat fighter AAKbah

 

AAKbah is a close-combat expert, utilizing his brute strength and dark arts to deal out massive damage to foes and structures alike. As AAKbah, players can increase the damage they do to their opponents by stringing together specific skills. When manning the frontline, players may want to consider using Bone Spear followed by Splatter Press, both ranged attacks, to reach opponents in the midfield before rushing in for the kill. When in close combat, Gore Tentacle can be used to hold an opponent in place and set up the doomed adversary for AAKbah’s ultimate damage dealing skill, Berserk Rage.


Icy Conditions in Bounty Bay Online

Icy Conditions in Bounty Bay Online

 

Frogster has announced another region in Bounty Bay Online which is to be released with the upcoming ‘Atlantis’ expansion – the Northern Islands.

 

From 22/09/2010 players can set off on their journeys through the cold northern seas to reach the foggy coastal waters of a new ice-bound island. Players must anchor their ships and head for base camp where they can start exploring the snow-covered island which includes a small town and the high-level ‘Polar Tundra’ instance. The idyllic snow-dusted scenery of the island, however, hides a range of dangers which players must face: deadly polar bears, fur-clad islanders, snow monsters and even werewolves.

 

In Bounty Bay Online players must face: deadly polar bears, fur-clad islanders, snow monsters and even werewolves.

 

The ‘Polar Tundra’ instance can be played in two difficulty levels and is spread over two different levels. On the first level players find themselves in the middle of a snowy landscape where they must confront ice werewolves ans a fearsome ice king. The second level is a gloomy cave inhabited by blood-thirsty vampires and is watched over by the mighty werewolf Luschence and his three offspring. Only the bravest of mariners who have already demonstrated their abilities in the lower level can attempt to face the challenges posed by the even more formidable creatures which inhabit the next level.

Lord of the Rings Online All Set To GO Free-to-Play

Lord of the Rings Online All Set To GO Free-to-Play
Neil Kewn (Murxidon) – OnRPG journalist

 

The Lord of the Rings Online is set to go free-to-play with the launch of Head Start, a two day event where former subscribers and closed beta testers have a chance to experience the full game before its public launch on September 10.

 

Announced back in June, players will no longer have to pay a monthly fee to adventure into Middle-Earth, with nearly all of the game’s content becoming freely accessible. Following a lengthy closed beta, players can look forward to the introduction of Book 2. A free update that not only removes subscription fees, but adds the new area of Enedwaith and continues the game’s hardened narrative.

 

LOTRO Ring

 

Turbine’s Tolkien inspired MMO will celebrate its fourth birthday next year, and has maintained a steady number of subscribers during its pay-to-play tenure. The game received a warm reception upon its release, we certainly liked it, and two expansions which followed garnered universal praise.

 

With the removal of the monthly $14.99 subscription charge, comes the introduction of The Lord of the Rings Online Store, a virtual shop that stocks premium in-game items, extra character slots and convenience items. Unlike many other free MMORPGs, it looks as if the LOTRO store will not put any free player at a noticeable or long-term disadvantage, as most items can be earned through gameplay.

 

Whilst a whole host of game content will be available without charge, Turbine has implemented a VIP service for current, lifetime and new subscribers. Along with a Premium service for players who purchase Turbine Points from the new LOTRO Store. VIPs can enjoy 500 Turbine Points a month, a larger inventory, no restriction on gold and priority login. Premium members receive many of upgrades VIP Hobbits do, but without committing to a monthly fee. A full list of advantages can be found here.

 

LOTRO Gameplay

 

The Lord of the Rings Online is criminally underrated in my book. It’s a polished, well-balanced game that successfully captures the essence of Middle Earth and the LOTR universe. With content bursting at the seams and a beautiful, detailed world dripping with lore, there is little reason not to try out this well-crafted MMO, especially now you won’t be paying a dime.

 

The Lord of the Rings Online free-to-play launches to the general public on September 10. Stay up to date at LOTRO.com.

Aerrevan Interview: The Aer Will Change You

Aerrevan Interview: The Aer Will Change You
Questions by Jonathan (Ardua) Doyle OnRPG Journalist
Answered by Sean Oosterveen

 

OnRPG: Hi there. Thanks for taking the time to talk to myself and OnRPG about Aerrevan. So onto introductions… Can you tell us a little about yourself and what you do for Aerrevan?
My name is Sean Oosterveen and I am the Project Manager for Aerrevan.

 

OnRPG: What can you tell us about the setting and idea behind Aerrevan?
Aerrevan is set on the continent of Lurris, a world plagued by the imbalance of a magical essence called Aer. Aer is a lifeforce of sorts and was always in perfect balance, until the Baehoman meteor collided with Lurris, bringing excess Aer to the world. Many died either by having their lifeforce stripped from their bodies or by becoming infected with excess Aer, causing them to mutate. With the onset of Baehoman came an influx of magical beasts that were able to mutate and form from other creatures. Two men came forth with solutions to the Aer problem. Great Mage Vastellyn discovered a way to disenchant the Aer and remove it from Lurris entirely.

 

Aerrevan

 

Alternatively, Great Mage Kalam discovered a way to harness the power of Aer and use it as a source of power. These conflicting views on Aer placed Lurris in a state of war. People began to side with one of the two Great Mages and now fight fiercely for their beliefs. Aer itself is now harvested and brought to Cemdyna or Cyzerr, the cities of Vastellyn and Kalam respectively. Aer in its solid form is now highly valued and in a way has become a form of currency. It has been four years since the Baehoman meteor collided with Lurris, but the battle for Aer has only just begun. If you want to find out more about the lore and story behind Aerrevan, visit us at our website and check out the lore and library sections.

 

OnRPG: Humans, Elves and Orcs are fantasy staples for good reason. What sets the ones in Aerrevan apart from how they are represented elsewhere?
Well, in many ways we have stayed true to the fantasy staples. I believe that people can relate better with their characters if they follow a fantasy stereotype. I would say that our representation of orcs is far less tribal and “brutal” than some others. Since Aerrevan does not rely on races for its alliance system, I think our representations in general are a little more neutral than some others. Orcs, Humans and Elves are all, for the most part, friendly towards each other. Looking back at the world’s lore you will see some wars based on racial divides, but since the Baehoman meteor collided with Lurris, the primary concern of all the world leaders is the conflict for Aer.

 

OnRPG: As I understand players will be divided by alliance rather than race and there will be PvP. How focused is the game on PvP?
One of our major focuses when designing Aerrevan was to make a 100% un-instanced game world with a unified set of game rules. This means that PvP and PvE co-exist within the same game world. For a player to engage in open PvP, you must join an allied guild. Once you join an allied guild, you are automatically part of the global conflict and can be attacked at any time by players of opposing alliances. Players who do not want to participate in PvP can simply not join an allied guild. So to answer your question, the global conflict, territorial control, and alliances rely on PvP, and that is a large portion of the game, however, you can choose exactly how much PvP you want to participate in.

 

Aerrevan

 

OnRPG: Has the classless system in Aerrevan given you trouble in finding a decent balance in PvP?
Classless systems always have their challenges while balancing, but I think we’ve managed to put together a system that is fairly well made. As beta progresses we have been working hard to ensure that our gold release will be well balanced. One major hurdle we have had to deal with is since we don’t have any class or level restrictions, keeping equips fair and balanced has been quite a challenge. As far as PvP goes specifically, I think we have done a good job of avoiding situations where certain builds are vastly superior to others.

 

OnRPG: Mutants! The Aer Mutation system seems to be another balancing act, but one for players. A little bit is good, too much is bad. Can you tell us more about the actual mutation system?
Aer is the magical essence of life on Lurris. When the Baehoman meteor struck Lurris, it disrupted the balance of Aer and unevenly dispersed it around the world. The Aer your character accumulates either by fighting infected monsters or visiting locations where there are high concentrations of Aer builds up, and your character can begin to mutate. There is a small window of opportunity where the mutation can increase your strength, beyond that threshold, however, you will sharply decline in strength. There will be various ways to purge Aer from your body, such as potions and priests of one of the two great mages.

 

OnRPG: Have items, will sell! Player run shops are always nice to see and can, by themselves, attract a subset of players. Will Lurris offer a good home to the trade inclined who want to have their own fantasy storefront?
Our intention is to introduce a player-run shop system to Aerrevan where players can set up shops in designated merchant areas. Aerrevan will also feature a system where you can hire an NPC to run your shop, for a fee. All in all, I think trade inclined players will be very pleased with what we have available to them in Aerrevan!

 

OnRPG: The Aerrevan beta released fairly recently. How was the shift from Alpha to Beta for you and the testers?
The transition was fairly smooth. We closed down the alpha testing for some time leading up to the beta and did all of our testing internally. Beta is obviously much larger in scale compared to alpha, so our interaction with the beta testing community is more structured and organized, but I like to think that we have done a good job of staying personal and in-touch with the community.

 

Aerrevan

 

OnRPG: Indie developers seem to breed close knit communities. How have you been finding the interaction with your testers and future player base?
I am very pleased with the community that Aerrevan has attracted. Since Aerrevan is a roleplaying oriented game, our community is, for the most part, comprised of seasoned and mature roleplayers. We pride ourselves on our commitment to strong community ties and interaction, and we don’t intend to stop any time soon!

 

OnRPG: What sort of server set up are you looking at for the game? Will there be several with different rule sets or one unified game world?
We will have several game shards available for our players. Each shard will have the same set of rules, however, our PvP system relies heavily on guilds controlling territory, known as guild control points. Each shard will have its own guilds, alliances, and controlling factions. This means that each game instance can have vastly different borders and territorial control. Controlling guilds will have the power to set some variables within their land, so in many ways each shard will differ. Over time I believe each shard will take on a life of its own and the players themselves will dictate what shards are more roleplay, PvP, PvE, etc oriented.

 

OnRPG: Anyone who crafts a world and takes the pains to create lore for it wants to see it used. Will there be role-play servers/areas in Lurris?
Aerrevan is all about roleplaying. We have tried to create a world that is very roleplay friendly with expansive lore and life. We believe that most MMORPGs don’t really deserve the RPG part of that tile. In a way we are trying to bring that element that, in our opinion, was left behind in the transition from RPG to MMORPG. Only time will tell how successful we are at accomplishing that goal. So far the response on some key roleplaying aspects, such as our Dynamic NPC Conversation system, has been very good.

 

OnRPG: Aerrevan is currently slated as a Pay to Play game. What else can you tell us about the subscription model at this time?  Will there be lifetime subs or micro transactions?
First of all, I would like to say that we are highly opposed to the concept of microtransactions. At its core, the purpose of microtransactions is to entice players to pay money to gain an advantage over other players. In a game such as Aerrevan where the focus is on roleplaying, microtransactions don’t really fit in. The pay-to-play subscription method has been highly accepted in our community and often commemorated. With so many games going the route of microtransactions, I think most players are simply fed-up with the poor communities and general decline in quality player interactions that seem to plague such games. As far as lifetime subs go, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility, however I can’t give a definite answer at this time.

 

Aerrevane

 

OnRPG: If there was one feature of Aerrevan you were the most proud of and wanted us to watch, what would that be?
I think that what I am most proud of isn’t one single feature, but rather our ideology of trying to break the MMO mould and make something that is truly unique. If I were to pick one specific feature, it would probably be our guild control points and how our PvP system works on a whole, however, that feature really fits into the bigger puzzle of a living world where players actions actually influence the outcome of world events, borders, and the global conflict. So I guess I am most proud of how we have applied the concept of a player controlled world in a non-instanced MMO setting. Not to mention the depth of lore and story that we have packed into the game. That brings the Dynamic NPC Conversation system to mind as well. The fact that every NPC in the game has extensive dialogue and knowledge of the world around them is testament to our commitment to a living and evolving world.

 

OnRPG: The question of course on everyone’s mind… Beta has only begun but is there an idea on when we will get a tasty gold release of Aerrevan?
For the sake of not being called a liar later down the road, I hesitate to give any sort of gold release date. What I will say is that gold may be closer than you think! Check up on us often to get the latest release information.

 

OnRPG: Thank you for taking the time out of the world of Lurris and the game Aerrevan to talk to us. Here’s to a successful beta and hopefully we’ll see you going live soon.
Thank you for the opportunity to share some information with your community.