Monthly Archives: October 2010

Craft of Gods Announces Largest Patch To Date

Craft of Gods Announces Largest Patch To Date

 

Kalanticus announced the launch of a new patch for its MMORPG Craft of Gods, the largest one released to date.

 

The new patch will introduce new content for both the P2P and the F2P servers of the game. It will not only fix many bugs, introduce new items, mobs and quests (including a Social Quest that will give out Kuns for every friend invited), but it will also introduce in the game many new features, some of which have been in the works for quite some time, as well as a new AI for many mobs, that will now make use of powerful spells and buffs.

 

The first interesting feature to be introduced will be the Cave of Tallion, a huge dungeon with 2 entrance one for Light players and one for Dark players divided in three areas. The first one is open to everyone and features also 4 bosses and some quests for both factions. The second area is closed by a gate players will need to do a quest in order to get a key to enter there. The area in inhabitated by higher level mobs and other strong bosses. The last area is closed by another gate that needs a key too. In the last area there is the strongest boss of the game: “The creature”.

 

Kalanticus announced the launch of a new patch for its MMORPG Craft of Gods, the largest one released to date.

 

The patch will also introduce three new battlegrounds (one for levels 1to 20, one for levels 20 to 40 and one for levels 41 to 60). Players can register in the queue to enter the areas by talking to an NPC that will be located in every town; the battleground will start when there are at least 2 players for each side in the queue. Each event lasts 30 minutes, the side that will reach the highest number of kills will come out as a winner.

 

Last but not least, events will be introduced in the game. There are four types of events: mob, drop, quest, double exp. Each event is announced with a server message. Mobs event will see a special mob with special drops appearing in some maps for a limited period of time.

 

With regards to quest events, an NPC called Herald located in the two towns during an event will give out some quests that will have to be completed during that same event. Drop events will feature mobs dropping special items needed for quests only during the event: so players can get the quest in any moment but the items will be dropped only during the event. Finally, double exp events will provide double exp from all the mobs for as long as the event lasts.

 

The patch will be released on October 14th.

TibiaME

TibiaME is one of the first massively multiplayer online role-playing games for mobile devices. Come together with hundreds of players and experience adventures in a colourful virtual world! Along with your friends you explore the mysterious land of TibiaME, fight your way through hordes of evil creatures and solve ancient riddles to find untold treasures. With every monster you defeat you will grow in strength and power. TibiaME is based on the successful online role-playing game Tibia which attracts thousands of players every day.

The Ups And Downs Of Being A Gamer

The Ups And Downs Of Being A Gamer
By Kei Beneza (dividelife), OnRPG Journalist

 

Historically, the term “Gamer” referred to those who play hardcore stuff like Dungeons & Dragons (the pen and paper one), White Wolf RPGS, and those who commit themselves to various forms of geekery. If you check the early cartoons and TV shows, gamers always seem to look like perpetual virgins who dress up in giant suspenders and get beaten up most of the time (mostly by football jocks and the guy wearing the black skull shirt). I guess today’s era pretty much labels that stereotypical outlook null and void, seeing as games have now become a part of our culture. Is it now safe to say that you’re a gamer? Well, enclosed is a list of random pros and cons of being one. Check it out.

 

Pros First

Unlike before, gamers are now blessed with admirable traits that have been overlooked throughout the years. Maybe it’s because some have learned to accept us for who we are, and the whole Science Club President gig no longer sums it all up.

 

Pro Number 1: Gamers Are Creative

CreativeTo some extent, gamers are quite perceptive when it comes to certain things. This allows them to come up with various gimmicks or methods that can really aid people in real life. Perhaps the only problem here are the ones on the listening end. If you listen to what they have to say (especially the anti-social ones), you’ll see that they have something awesome in mind.

 

Pro Number 2: Gamers Are Technologically Stable

Another commendable thing about gamers is that they are very much up to date with today’s gadgets and technology. While others are still busy trying to figure out how the printer works, these guys are already blogging and customizing their own virtual templates. Seeing as how Facebook is now one of the leading websites on the Internet, it’s a given fact that everyone’s enjoying the flash applications that came with it. Gamers knew how fun it was to play these games years ago, it’s just that nobody listened to them.

 

Pro Number 3: Gamers Are Goal Oriented And Are Formidable When Inspired

One thing about gamers that they themselves do not understand is their type of persistence. Gamers hate losing, especially the competitive types. When a gamer sets a goal, you can bet your +7 ass they’ll be giving a hundred and ten percent. Once a gamer is inspired, he’ll stop at nothing to achieve this goal. Heck, a few runs of Phoenix Wright would probably make them one of the best lawyers in town. Too bad for those who don’t know the trick behind this form of inspiration. Come to think about it, I know someone who got inspired by the whole Holy Knight facade… He’s now one of the most important members of his religious group XD. Gamers can be quite unstoppable when they’re inPVP mode so good luck debating with one.

 

Pro 3
A little too inspired?

 

Pro Number 4: Gamers Make Good Leaders

Perhaps the best part about being a gamer is their form of leadership. Believe or not, IBM thinks that MMO leaders are capable of leading a company (with proper training). It’s quite a shame that most of them don’t know their true capabilities; that their way of leading their party to victory is an admirable level of leadership. They’re goal oriented and quite persistent, they are creative and technologically stable… I suppose the only thing left to do is to give them proper training.

 

Here Are The Cons

Of course you don’t think that a gamer’s life consists purely of honey and sugar right? For every Yang, there’s a Yin, and now we’re going to discuss the dark side of gamer-dom.

 

Con Number 1: Self Belief

Perhaps one of the harsher traits that hinder gamers from achieving their goals is their low self-esteem. I’m not really saying that most of these people have the same problem, but it’s the one thing IBM’s been working on. These formidable fellows still don’t know what they’re made of. This is probably what Jane McGonigal was trying to say during her speech on this video: http://www.onrpg.com/MMO/Evoke/video/Gaming-Can-Make-a-Better-World .

Gamers must see that their ways are not really something to be ashamed of, but rather something to be exercised and harnessed.

 

Moolah
Moolah

 

Con Number 2: The Moolah!

If you’re the non-gamer type, you’ll probably have a hard time understanding how much these things mean to us. Gamers spend a lot of money for games; in fact, I doubt they even think about the consequences when splurging. I don’t really know what other hobby I can compare with the gamer’s spending prowess (probably toy collection), especially when it comes to MMOs where they buy items that are only available in the virtual world. Now for some, this is a very stupid act, especially since everyone’s used to the fact that only tangible objects can cost this much.

 

Con Number 3: Immersion

Gamers are out of this world, literally… Since the virtual world is much more interesting and enjoyable than the real world, gamers have the tendency to walk the virtual world a bit too much for their own good. It’s just so easy to succeed there, and the fact that they are around people who understand them completely makes this place a safe haven for their kind. Some even disregard their priorities just to play games. This leads to poor school performance and possibly the loss of jobs. SELF CONTROL PEOPLE!

 

Immersion
Immersed in an Epic Win

 

Con Number 4: Stereotypes

Believe it or not, one of the biggest problems affecting gamers today isn’t even executed by the gamers themselves. Yes, stereotypes… So what is a gamer? A gamer is a perpetual virgin, most likely obese and in his/her mid 30 without a solid job, and rather anti-social. This is perhaps the reason why gamers are so clueless when it comes to their capabilities. No one really gives them the chance to stand up and show people what they’ve got.

 

Conclusion

Overall I’d say I’m proud to be a gamer, and I’m sure you are too. The thing to be noted here is that we should be proud of who we are. Sure, there are some ups and downs in being one, but hey! If you think about it, gamers aren’t the only ones being stereotyped in various cartoons (remember the stupid jocks?). The good stuff can be harnessed, and of course, just like any game, a few patches and the cons would be eliminated in no time. Who are we? We’re a bit anti-social but are quite formidable, a bit out of this world but goal oriented when inspired, and despite the stereotypical outlook most would have over us, we are born leaders. Now let me ask you… ARE YOU A GAMER?!

Aurora Blade Review: Labels R’ Us

Aurora Blade Review: Labels R’ Us
By Vincent Haoson (Vincenthaoson), OnRPG Journalist

 

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with browser games lately. There were times that I simply got tired from clicking through text box after text box just to do one move. My utter disdain for browser based online games has somewhat toned down in a recent review when I got to experience a true MMORPG browser based game. 

 

So I had my hopes up that Aurora Blade would completely dispel that lingering bitter aftertaste I experienced in browser based online games however I was wrong.

 

Awkward First Step

Upon starting the game I was faced with my first problem with it. The placing of a lot of panels in the game were awkwardly placed specially when the tutorial box takes over for the first few minutes. If you accidentally refresh the browser or close the window where you are playing the game you won’t be able to get it back and be stuck with the quest you started with.

 

Aurora Blade Wold Map

 

I had to create a new character again so that I can redo everything from the start. It’s pretty inconvenient specially when you are using a browser that can’t seem to properly play the game. I even had to switch from firefox, to google chrome just to be able to play the game decently.

 

Lots of Labels

 My other complaint on the game is that the labels are too loud that it doesn’t jive well with the game’s overall look. Though it may be understandable that the design was supposed to be like this because the only way to navigate through the map is through clicking the names.

 

 

Aurora Blade Town

 

I was actually surprised that they were using this kind of game system. I was expecting that the game would be more of an actual browser based MMORPG rather than just a click heavy browser game.

 

Redeeming Qualities

Even with the awkward first steps into the game, Aurora Blade has a lot of redeeming qualities. The first one I noticed is the familiarity of the game features. Even with the limitations of animations, graphics and visual goodies you often expect from MMORPGs, the game does at least provide a little familiarity in the gameplay. You don’t need to learn anything new to play the game because everything that you can find in MMORPGs are already set in the game’s interface.

 

I also liked the fact that they were able to go around the limitations of being a browser game by putting everything in the interface. The chat box are separated into two panels for easier chatting while the game also allows the use of shortcuts that don’t mess with browser shortcuts.

 

Tabs are easily seen and you wouldn’t have to look for it with too much effort.

 

Immersion

Another thing that I liked in the game is the attempt of immersing the players into the game. With the obvious lack of visual capabilities, the game tries to put players in the proper perspective of the places they are visiting.

 

There will be moments where the main window of the game will change according to the location you entered. While I cannot say that the purpose of this attempt is successful, changes done on the main window are welcome so that I wouldn’t be too bored staring one static map after another.

 

Battles

Of course what would adventuring and MMORPGs be without battles? Aurora blade has a very simple battle system in place. All you need to do is click on the sword icon beside the name of the monster or player and a mini window will appear.  Battle’s happen in real time and there’s no indicator or sign that gives you a signal that it’s your turn to attack or not.

 

Aurora Blade Battle

 

The only active thing you can do in battles is clicking on the skills and the usable items that would activate in the succeeding attack opportunity you have.  While this shows that little imagination was used in the game’s battle system, and the obvious limitations of the game’s medium, this pretty much makes battles a little exciting. There were a lot of moments where I was clicking on the skill buttons crazily and was hoping that was able to defeat the monster before it knocks me out.

 

Aurora Blade Character

 

Adventuring

Before you can start battling you need to learn how to explore and adventure. For people who are not used to these kinds of MMOs I must warn you that you need to prepare your fingers for some massive mouse clicking. Adventuring entails you to click on the boxes you will find in the adventure maps all throughout the game.

 

Aurora Blade Adventure

 

While this welcomes you at the beginning of the game, it still takes time to get used to. If you’re the type of person who has little patience for constantly clicking for movement then I better tell you that this game is not for you. Save yourself the trouble and don’t even try the game.

 

Conclusion

Personally, I must say that I was pretty disappointed with my run of Aurora Blade. I guess I set the bar too high and expected a lot more from this browser game than I should’ve.  Patience will be a big factor if you will continue on playing the game for a while or not.  While I personally don’t have that patience I can say that if you do and you are looking for a browser based MMO then by all means you can try Aurora Blade.

 

You just have to make sure that you have more than one browser that you need to use. There’s an off chance that you may need to use a browser if the one you are currently using fails. However once you find the right browser, you’ll get to play a browser based game that’s easy on your computer’s resource.  The game’s is easily playable so you don’t have to need a high end computer to make it run.

 

Pros

Easy on the computer resources.
Feels like an MMORPG even with the limitations.
The game is easy to pick up and play.

 

Cons

A lot of the panels are awkwardly placed that you have to get used to them.
The game uses labels instead of seeing your character travel.
The game is click-heavy

 

Guild Wars 2 Interview – Hall of Monuments

Guild Wars 2 Interview – Hall of Monuments
Questions by Tully Ackland, OnRPG Senior Editor
Answered by Eric Flannum, Lead Designer, Guild Wars 2

 

We had the opportunity for an exclusive chat with Eric Flannun, Lead Designer for Guild Wars 2 to talk about the newly announced Hall of Monuments feature! Tully asked him the following questions:

OnRPG: Firstly, for those that may not be familiar, could you please give a brief rundown of what the Hall of Monuments featured in Guild Wars: Eye of the North is and how it interacts with Guild Wars 2?

Eric: The Hall of Monuments is a personal instanced area in Guild Wars: Eye of the North that records a player’s achievements across many different areas of the game. We created the Hall of Monuments to serve as a bridge between Guild Wars 2 and the original Guild Wars, as a way of preserving the legacy and recognizing the achievements of Guild Wars players in the sequel.  The trophies, titles, and achievements in the Hall of Monuments are all worth points that players can use to unlock special weapons, armor, animal companions, and more for their Guild Wars 2 characters.

Guild Wars 2 Halls of Monuments Feature Welcome Screen

OnRPG: You released Guild Wars: Eye of the North back in 2007 with the Hall of Monuments.  Have you made any significant changes to how the two games will interact or have things gone according to the initial plan?

Eric: Things have for the most part gone according to plan. Guild Wars 2 takes place 250 years after the original Guild Wars and is a completely different game system, so we knew that players would create new characters and that many of the mechanics in the original game would not carry over directly into Guild Wars 2.  However, we knew at a very early stage of development that we wanted a way for Guild Wars players to create a legacy that would benefit their new Guild Wars 2 characters, so we created the Hall of Monuments.  We knew generally that we wanted achievements in Guild Wars to carry over, so it was just a question of incorporating that into the design of Guild Wars 2. 

OnRPG: You’re unveiling the Hall of Monuments Reward Calculator.  How can a player see what they will be entitled to?

Eric: When you enter a valid character name from your Guild Wars account into the Hall of Monuments Reward Calculator, it displays what rewards you’ve unlocked in Guild Wars 2.  The Reward Calculator provides you with a breakdown of how the benefits are calculated and shows you how many points your character can still earn.  It’s designed to make it very easy to figure out what other achievements you need in Guild Wars to earn more points. 

Guild Wars 2 Halls of Monuments Feature Rewards Overview

OnRPG: Like most MMO gamers out there, I’m really interested in what kind of items I could gain by linking my characters together; could you give us a brief sneak peak on what we could be getting for our past achievements?

Eric: Let’s say you played a warrior in Guild Wars Factions and Guild Wars: Eye of the North.  You enter your warrior’s name in the Rewards Calculator, which displays how many points you’ve earned and which Guild Wars 2 items on the Reward Meter you can obtain.  If you play a warrior in Guild Wars 2, you could conceivably outfit him with a complete set of heavy Heritage Armor and may have also earned a vintage Wheelock Rifle.  If you decided to play a ranger in Guild Wars 2, you may have unlocked a set of medium Heritage Armor and a vine-wrapped Living Shortbow or maybe a special Black Moa animal companion.  You can only earn these rewards through the Hall of Monuments and we’ll give you the ability to keep using these special items as you advance to higher levels.

OnRPG: Will rewards earned be given to the entire account or to single specific characters?

Eric: Rewards are unlocked for an entire account and may be claimed by any character on that account. For example, if I make a ranger and a warrior, they can both claim the Ithas Longbow reward as long as it is unlocked for my account.

Guild Wars 2 Halls of Monuments Feature Reward Item Details

OnRPG: If I haven’t obtained all the monuments on my Guild Wars characters, will the reward calculator inform me to which I need to get?

Eric: Absolutely.  The Rewards Calculator shows you how many points you’ve earned in the five different monuments inside the Hall.  For instance, you can easily see how many weapon sets you’ve accumulated in the Monument to Valor, how many points the sets are worth, and what you still need to get.

OnRPG: Will monuments earned in Guild Wars after the release of Guild Wars 2 be reflected in the Hall of Monuments, and will they still be added for your GW2 characters at that point?

Eric: Yes, players will definitely be able to play Guild Wars and acquire achievements in the Hall of Monuments that will benefit their Guild Wars 2 characters, even after GW2 is released.

Guild Wars 2 Halls of Monuments Feature Category Details

OnRPG: Is there a storyline connection for players who are rewarded in Guild Wars 2 for past efforts in the original Guild Wars?

Eric: We don’t want to create story content that is available to some Guild Wars 2 players and not others, so we haven’t created any specific in-game content that is tied to Hall of Monuments achievements.

Since Guild Wars 2 takes place long after the events in the original game and since a player may make a character of a very different race than their original Guild Wars character, we decided against trying to come up with a story connection between the original account and the Guild Wars 2 account. We felt that any such story would be overly convoluted and complicated. Instead, we try very hard to give players rewards that will give them a sense of nostalgia for the first game while still being usable by characters in Guild Wars2.

Guild Wars 2 Halls of Monuments Feature To Do List Functionality

OnRPG: So, I’ve got a ton of awesome trophies and monuments, what ways can I brag to all my friends?

And lastly, when can we expect to see Guild Wars 2 on retail shelves?

With the Hall of Monuments Reward Calculator, you’ll be able to impress your friends on Facebook and other social networks.  After all, what good is a monument to your awesomeness if you can’t brag about it?

As to when Guild Wars 2 will be released, I’ll stick to our tried-and-true answer: when it’s ready!

Thanks Eric for taking the time to inform your fans via OnRPG.com!

MMO Running Trends (Time Loop)

MMO Running Trends (Time Loop)
By Kei Beneza (dividelife), OnRPG Journalist

Exactly how many zombies do I need to shoot before the whole zombie-gig stops? Don’t we get enough zombies in console games? Right now, MMOs are revolving around a specific time loop where genres and game styles are recycled and reused. How many elves must we kill before they pick up something new anyway? Yes, we are currently waiting for new games like Ragnarok 2, but will it deliver something new other than new class names (Lord Dragon Knight LOL) and location names (Avalongarde LOL)? The answer is of course, NO. Although there are tons of new MMOs coming this year, we will still be experiencing the same meta of game play. Whether it is questing or grinding, we’re all playing the same thing. The only difference is that other games present these features better.

Class Trends

Yes, that shadow dancer looks and plays exquisitely, but you know that you’re still playing a rogue class that focuses on DEX. No matter what you call them, or how you divide them, there’s no denying the fact that these characters were taken from the generic Diablo classes (If you deny these facts, there’s always Diablo 2). We have the tank, the high damaging character that could’ve been the tank, the spell casters (who each took their own skill tree), and fast DEX dude who does tons of damage but eventually dies due to their low vitality. Good job to EVE online for taking us away from generic linearity, and establishing a new world without barbarians and elf rangers.

Class Trend

Racial Trends

One of the most common facts in the MMO world is that Humans and Elves multiply like rabbits on Viagra. Rarely will you find a war-themed MMO without beings with pointy ears and metro-sexual physiques (and no, dark elves are no exception). Humans I can understand, but surely they could come up with more races than Tolkien’s cast. The guy’s been long dead for God’s sake, and I’m sure he’d butch-slap those developers for mass-producing Elves on a factory line. I mean, RF Online gave us Robots and Rohan gave us those pretty fish-folk, so why can’t everyone follow this exampleRemember those tiger dudes in Perfect World? They’re hip :D! I suppose everyone wants their virtual counterpart to look cool and sexy, so fish-folk are bound to be the  least played race (unless they’re uber hot).

Class

WAR Trends

While I am not a fan of PEACE, the whole medieval age is getting… well… old. There are various ways to promote war without using kings and titan gods who happen to act and think like humans. Odin’s men feast in the halls of Valhalla and fight to the death right after—- then they revive, go back to Valhalla and pig out until everyone’s ready to fight again. It is simple really, but definitely a lot more original than Orcs and Elves.

Weapon Trends

Swords and dual daggers again? Wouldn’t it be better if you just put in a scythe or something? Hmm… what about Nun-chucks (or in that setting, SWORD-CHUCKS)? One thing about the whole MMO setting is that although they all claim to be original, the weapons will always be the same. Yes, that barbarian’s probably sick of the giant iron sword. We need more original weapons! Seriously, although he is a complete loser, Squall’s gunblade seriously pwnz your Bastard Sword. If they’re going to follow the whole RPG trend, at least get some of the rare stuff. This is probably why I respected 2moons (Dekaron). They have friggin whips man!

Weapons

Console Trends

Although MMO games have revolutionized the aspect of multiplayer game play, they are still stuck in the same time loop as console games. One hack n’ slash outbreak in the console scene and we get a similar burst of beat em’ up MMOs. The same goes for the entire zombie outbreak thing. I’m sure people love shooting zombies, but give them more undead goodness and the concept loses its shine. Hell, we even have Sports MMOs. I was going say that we need something as unique as a dating sim, but the whole MMO scene’s a huge dating sim anyway.

MMO Breakdown

After playing (and reviewing) tons of MMOs, I’ve concluded that most MMOs run on a specific pattern in general. Below is an arrowed sequence on how an MMO is played.

LEVEL1-(Grind/Quest)àLevel Up (x10) – (collect money) à get your mount -(Grind/Level)à PWN Noobs- (Grind/Farm)à High-level dungeons – (Grind a little)à Get faster travel sources (Epic Mount or Wings)à End Game Contentà Kill NoObZ till next patch.

Note: Sucks for those games without the mount part

The sequence is still enjoyed by various players but it wouldn’t hurt to break the cycle… really…

Bored

Reason for Repetition

I’m just thinking. Maybe players love playing the same race in every game. So I guess that means they have a long array of Elves with different skills in each game. I really consider this as a slump for game developers, constantly following gaming trends to avoid making games that turn away from the gamer’s personal taste. This is understandable, as they want to get as many players as they can (with Elves, no doubt); however, I wish someone would have the guts to take things further.

The Verdict

There are times when I just ask myself when games in general will get out of this slump. We do get minor tweaks once every 10 new MMOs, but the provided changes are mostly squeezed out from generic features. A good example would have to be how a warrior could be divided into 30 different classes just for games to show people that they have more classes than the rest. I understand that games are just doing this in order to for them to not suck in the eyes of the biased players, but will elves continue to walk the MMO plane until we get flying cars and giant mechs? There’s still room for improvement, not to mention innovation. Weapons waiting to be discovered (created), just as new game mechanics are waiting to be unleashed. Right now, games are stuck in an infinite time loop that continues to polish itself into making us think it’s something new. Simply put, I think it’s time to break free from all this reality.

Bungie Going To Make An MMO Next?

Bungie Going To Make An MMO Next?

 

MMO and Halo lovers all over the world quivered with joy when Bungie creative director Joe Staten hinted that Bungie’s next project could feature “a world that was always there for you.” Does Bungie have plans for a Planetside like game?

 

Bungie's next project could very well be an MMO!

 

After speaking at GDC Online in Austin Staten accepted questions from the audience. He was very strict about not divulging any information about the new project Bungie is working on but one attendee asked a question that asked in very broad terms “what other areas of design the team was hoping to address that perhaps they hadn’t in the development of Halo”. he said “Wouldn’t it be great if we could make a world that was always there for you?” with a big grin on his face, “Wow,” he laughed. “That would be great!”

 

We’re calling it right here, World of Halocraft is on its way!

Max Driving

MaxDriving is an Underground Racing Simulation Game. You will race against other players around the world while you raise positions in the rankings.

The player becomes the owner of an underground car team, managing cars, garages, drivers and races. Players will win races selecting the best team, managing their car configuration and choosing the right mechanical parts.