Monthly Archives: November 2010

Interview: LOCO and the Book of Heroes

Interview: LOCO and  the Book of Heroes
Questions by Mohammed Afzal (MageMoa), OnRPG Journalist
Answered by Hendrik Loga

 

OnRPG: Hi there! My name is Mohammed Afzal and I am an OnRPG journalist. Could you introduce yourself to our readers, please?
Hi Mohammed and hello to all OnRPG users. My name is Hendrik Loga, and I’m the Product Manager for our latest game LOCO – Land of Chaos Online. I’m very excited that we have been able to expand our range of games on the US and EU market with such a strong and breathtaking game like LOCO.

 

Loco Classes

 

OnRPG: Merinos’ book of Heroes is a helpful guide and it seems to be a great read, especially for new players. What was the idea of creating this ‘book’? There are quite some interesting questions on the back of the book of Heroes. How are the players able to answer those and does it have anything to do with the future storyline of the game?
Well, our idea behind the “LOCO Chronicles” was to introduce the heroes of LOCO to our users. We have prepared a lot of interesting background stories and detailed information that show how lively and varied the characters are who inhabit the Land of Chaos. Each character has their very own story and reason for taking part in the battle between the “Army of Purgatorium” and the “Forces of Nature.”  With our constant content updates we will bring more and more interesting heroes into the game. There are some pages of the books still missing, maybe they will be found someday… who knows.

 

OnRPG: Are there more books similar to the book of Heroes? If so, can LOCO players obtain them in-game?
The second book of the LOCO Chronicles series is Laair Hathy’s Spellbook. Laair Hathy (on the image to the right) is a very disturbed character full of hate and destruction. But deep inside, she is just a lonely and shy girl who only wants to be loved. She is very interested in dark and black magic. Throughout her whole life, she has written all spells she has found all over the world into her spellbook. In her notes, users can read about all the spells of the different heroes with some additional advice on strategies for using them. This book is a collection of all currently known spells and skills in the world of LOCO. We plan to disclose more books to users in the near future.

 

OnRPG: The book of Heroes introduces its readers to the main characters of LOCO. What would be your favorite character and why?
Well, I currently have three favorite characters; I would guess most players have three because that’s part of the gameplay in LOCO. The player selects and equips up to three heroes in advance before a battle. During the battle, a player can switch between characters and change their tactics according to the hostile reactions and current situation on the battlefield; this is a very important part of the game. Pro gamers always select three chars to optimize their strategy by equipping them with optimal items and by choosing the best skills and spells.

 

Loco Magic

 

In my eyes it makes sense to choose three completely different heroes to be prepared for every possible situation. I like to play with Stella as a quick melee fighter. In the first phases of a battle it is my task to level up and gain experience as fast as possible. In the next phase of the battle, my teammates and I are going to destroy the opponents’ defense towers. For this job, I like to bring Minity Grey into the battle. She has very weak protections but extremely strong spells against buildings.

 

The last phase of a battle is the boss fight, having destroyed the enemy headquarters already. This final fight is very harsh and challenging, and I often like to use a tougher character like Atin for this phase. Good preparation, strategy, and equipment are recommended to successfully win this battle.

 

OnRPG: I have read that there will be a total of 30 playable characters, but not all of them are currently available. Can we expect more characters in future? Could you give our readers some more information about these characters, please?
We decided to stay away from common known hero races like elves or dwarfs and classes like warriors or mages. The characters of LOCO are absolutely individual and uncommon. Currently our users can select between twelve of these unique heroes, and three more will be added in the coming weeks – AAKbah, Partisan, and Ellan. More info about them can be found in the Book of Heroes on the official site. For future patches and updates we plan to offer more and more other heroes, of course.

 

OnRPG: When playing the game I have noticed that one’s spawn time keeps increasing whenever you die. What was, in your opinion, the reason of creating this?
This is a typical game design question. A match needs to come to an end, that’s how the game is constructed. If people respawn constantly after a couple of seconds, the playing time would be extended dramatically, therefore the respawn waiting time rises constantly with the process of the match. There are some strategy options to reduce this time during a match though, like upgrading the “Recall Spot” – one of the main buildings in the own base.

 

Loco Warrior

 

OnRPG: Our readers have mentioned that the Intrusion System seems to be a bit vague. Could you explain this system to our players, please?
The intrusion system is basically our answer to the commonly used reconnect feature. Reconnects work well – as long as you are sure the player really got disconnected and didn’t purposely leave the game. If this happens, one team will find themselves permanently outnumbered and will have little chance to win. LOCO’s intrusion system does not save a spot for a specific user, but allows the team to vote whether they want to allow intrusion or whether they would like to share all resources the disconnected or kicked player has earned instead.

 

If intrusion is allowed, the matchmaking system will suggest that game to players who are looking for intrusions. They’ll be taken to the waiting room of that game and will see all players within that game and how long the game has been running, but they won’t see any information that would make it too easy to predict the outcome of the game. If you intrude a game and win, you’ll get Experience, Coins, a Win and you can bid in the auction – if you lose, the game won’t be registered as a loss and you’ll still get a little Experience and Coins, so it’s actually quite worthwhile. Oh – you can of course intrude back into a game that you got disconnected from if the slot is still free! Usually, an empty slot in a team will be filled in under 3 minutes, so winning a game is still entirely possible even after having had multiple people go missing. We are constantly working on the optimization of this system according to our users’ feedback.

 

OnRPG: The Reputation System seems to be a nice way to reward good players. How does this feature exactly work and isn’t it possible to abuse the Reputation System?
Actually, the Reputation System’s aim isn’t necessarily to reward good players, it’s to prevent “rage quitting”, so you can’t actually abuse it. Basically, if you leave a game before you can surrender, two things happen: your reputation goes down and you will not get the Items, Experience and Coins that you would usually get, even if you were to lose. If you have the best possible reputation, you will get 20% more Coins at the end of a game regardless of the result, simply because of your reputation. Now if you’ve left a game, you won’t have the best reputation in the following game, so you not only won’t get anything for the game you actually leave but you will also get less rewards for the next game you play! If you leave every game you play, you will hit the lowest possible reputation very quickly and that’s displayed as an angry red smiley next to your name, which everybody can see – and once you hit that stage, you can also be kicked from waiting rooms by anyone.

 

OnRPG: Some hero skills appear to be locked, and players need Skill Scrolls to unlock them. Why did these skills get locked?
Basically each hero in LOCO possesses a total assortment of ten different and absolutely unique skills consisting of eight Basic skills and two Ultimate. From this range of skills the user can select four Basic and one Ultimate within a match. Not all skills are available from the beginning, these locked skills need to be learned over time by using “Spell Scrolls” which can be earned as quest rewards or found in boss loots.

 

Loco Boss

 

OnRPG: Many players have been hoping for new maps to be released. Will you release any maps in the near future? Can our readers expect an underwater map?
Currently you can play on five different maps in LOCO, including the recently added “Ruined Arena.” Of course, we plan to add more and more maps with content updates, and, who knows, one of them could end up being an underwater map.

 

OnRPG: Is there anything you would like to add to this interview?
Thank you, Mohammed, for this interview. I’m pretty sure that the OnRPG users will love LOCO – Land of Chaos Online, they just need to register a valid game account at www.loco.alaplaya.net to play LOCO and all other games at alaplaya for free.

Interview: Clarifying LOTRO Customer Support for F2P Players

 

Interview: Clarifying LOTRO Customer Support for F2P Players
Answered by Bevan Davies, Community Liaison Officer at Codemasters

 

We’re all very excited about Lord of the Rings Online going Free to Play. Our loyal readership has known for a while now that “F2P is the way to go” so it’s great to see another triple A title join the ranks! To our surprise though we had to report yesterday that Codemasters would not be offering full Customer Support to F2P players.

 

Today we have the opportunity to ask Bevan Davies, Community Liaison Officer at Codemasters, some questions to clarify the situation. Thanks for taking the time to discuss this with us Bevan.

 

OnRPG: You clarified to us yesterday that free to play players would still receive support for account and technical issues could you give us some examples of these?

 

Bevan: It is obviously very important to us that all players (whether free or paying) are able to play the game. As a result, we provide our players with a range of support including account creation, game access issues and technical support for downloading, installation and execution of the client.


Lord of the Rings FAQ

 

OnRPG: What type of issues will a player need to use the self-service online system for and how does this function?

Bevan: The self-service system is our Knowledge Base, providing information on known issues and ways to resolve these issues without the need for a Game Master or Customer Support Representative. At this time it is only available through the website but we are working on a solution that will enable this to be viewed from within the game to help all our players see this valuable information and offer help where possible. It’s important to remember that ALL players will get support with out of game issues such as technical support and account issues.
 
OnRPG: As a follow up: what redundancies are there to ensure that people don’t get stuck with problems that are unresolvable by themselves?

Bevan: Players can always fall back on the tried and tested method of posting on the forums. We have a very active and friendly community here who will always endeavor to help other players with their problems. Along with this, the community team regularly read the forums and work with players to ensure players get the best experience possible out of the game.
 
OnRPG: As you’ve previously mentioned f2p players are a vital part of any gaming community, how will you address the view which may form that they are being treated as second class citizens of middle earth?
 
Bevan: The Lord of the Rings Online™ isn’t your typical Free to Play game, it uses a hybrid model which offers a range of ways to play. You can choose to either play for free or pay a standard monthly subscription. Whilst some players may not have access to all content, this doesn’t alter how important they are to us and the continued growth of the game. We will always treat each of our players equally when dealing with them.


Lord of the Rings, Nice view!

OnRPG: What was the motivation behind this tiered level of support?
 
Bevan: We offer a very high level of support to all of our community- usually answering support tickets within a matter of minutes.

In order to maintain this high level of support, we now provide a solution that reduces the number of tickets we receive in order to assist players in fixing some issues by themselves as many of the petitions we receive are answered within our Knowledge Base and we also have a substantial FAQ that players can consult for other queries relating to the game.

If over time we feel the need to broaden the range of support we offer we can easily amend the systems to do this, and we will always look to provide the highest quality support to our players.

OnRPG: We’re glad that we got that cleared up. The internet is abuzz about LOTRO being F2P now and lots of people seem very eager to try it now for the first time, are you guys ready and eager to welcome a big flood of new players?

Bevan: With the successful launch of LOTRO Free to Play in Europe on the 2nd November, we’ve seen a significant increase in players on our servers and have opened up two additional worlds in order to meet this increasing demand. Not only that, but within the frist 48 hours of launch we had already broken our all-time peak concurrent users record!

In preparation for launch, we have gradually been upgrading our hardware and systems to support this influx of new and returning players.  We have additional capacity on all our existing worlds to accommodate new players and there are several new worlds waiting in the wings should we see a need to turn them on.

In the build up to launch, we also ran a Preview Event where current players were invited to try out the new Free to Play service update and help us stress test the new code on our environment. These tests, thanks to the thousands of players who helped us, managed to exceed all of our expectations. The combination of our upgraded hardware and the new game code mean that we can now handle more players than ever on a single world, increasing our capacity even further than we initially thought was possible.

In summary, this leaves us in a very strong position moving forward to deal with an increase in players now that we have gone Free to Play!


Lord of the Rings FIGHT!

 
OnRPG: Is there anything you would like the say to the OnRPG community that we haven’t asked you about yet?

The Lord of the Rings Online™ over the last three years has been one of the most successful subscription MMOs on the market, providing players with a detailed, immersive and fun experience of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

Now that we are now Free to Play, LOTRO has been opened up to a whole new audience and we hope that everyone takes this opportunity to download the game, log in and join Frodo, Aragorn and the others on their great adventure.
 
Once again, thank you for taking the time to discuss this with us Bevan, and all the best to you and the team on getting LOTRO to new heights as an F2P title!

WEBZEN.com Expands Its Global Publishing Service to Over 180 nations

WEBZEN.com Expands Its Global Publishing Service to Over 180 nations

 

Webzen an online game developer and publisher focuses on expanding its global games portal WEBZEN.com service to gamers from over 180 nations!

 

Webzen provides game services overseas in two ways. The one way is publishing its titles with its local partners in countries like China, Taiwan and Japan, the other is self-publishing with its global games portal, Webzen.com.

 

Launched on May 2009, ‘WEBZEN.com’ has been publishing ‘MU Online‘, ‘Archlord‘ and ‘S.U.N: World Edition‘. The service is free and available to gamers from all over the world except for the few countries where WEBZEN’s local partners provides the service.

 

The portal boasts of global gamers from 180 countries, while 60 % are from Latin America and Europe. Game guides, official game clients download, community activities/features like Twitter and blog can be found at Webzen.com. Gamers can enjoy the premium item service of any titles of the portal easily and conveniently by simply purchasing W-coin, a virtual currency and Webzen believes that this increases the gamers’ satisfaction.

 

The Webzen portal boasts of global gamers from 180 countries

 

Meanwhile, Webzen has been holding many events for the gamers at its global game portal. Recently Webzen invited gamers of Webzen.com to Gstar, the biggest game show in Korea which starts on Nov 18th, 2010. The invited gamers are scheduled to visit Webzen, meet and exchange opinions with developers of the games that they have enjoyed and to experience the new online games at G star. OnRPG will be visiting Gstar as well of course!o

 

“With its own global games portal, Webzen has been able to reflect the changes by directly listening to diverse opinions from global gamers with different background.” said Chang Keun Kim, CEO of Webzen. “Webzen has set up a special team to facilitate the communication between gamers and Webzen. This is to provide a quality service and this will help Webzen to expand its service more effectively.”

 

Currently 5 languages including English, German and Spanish are available at ‘WEBZEN.com’ and more languages such as Eastern European and Arabic are planned to be added in the future. The company’s MMORPG ‘R2: Reign of Revolution’ is planned to be launched soon via ‘WEBZEN.com’

Dreamland Online: Official Website Goes LIVE!

Dreamland Online: Official Website Goes LIVE!

 

With the Dreamland Online Alpha Test right around the corner, the DO team is pleased to announce that the official Dreamland Online website has been released on Nov.4th. This site will serve as a resource for both game testers and future players, as well as a common platform for the community to follow what’s happening in the game.

 

the DO team is pleased to announce that the official Dreamland Online website has been released

 

For all the latest game information and news, you can visit official website at http://do.igg.com. Also, don’t miss out on the latest discussions going on in the forums at http://forum.do.igg.com!

Preview: World of Warcraft Cataclysm – Deepholm Sweet Home

Preview: World of Warcraft Cataclysm – Deepholm Sweet Home
By Neil Kewn (Murxidon) – OnRPG Journalist

 

Do you remember when World of Warcraft was released? I do. I had been playing RuneScape for a couple of years and was pretty content with chopping trees and making bread. In fact, I thought RuneScape was the best thing since sliced bread. Around the time Warcraft hit shelves something strange began to happen to my little browser game. My co-players slowly began to appear less and less. My friends list became derelict in just a few weeks and I was left to kill Lesser Demons alone. Why? They had all moved onto what would become the biggest game in the world. World of Warcraft had begun its uprising. Five years and two expansion packs later, it has left most other MMORPGs bruised, battered and beaten. And my friends list is still just as empty.

 

So why does Blizzard’s virtual cash cow attract so many, and more importantly, why do they continue to play half a decade on? To put it simply, Blizzard Entertainment create quality video games, but they also create quality expansion packs to improve their quality video games. The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King received accolade after accolade, and with constant patches Blizzard made sure that players would not be left without something to do. Two years have passed since Arthas unleashed the Lich horde, and now that Deathwing the Destroyer has arrived from Deepholm, Azeroth is about to be plunged into turmoil once more.

 

wow cataclysm login

 

Whilst lore is all well and good, and Cataclysm is sure to revive the faltering role-playing scene, it’s the details, the changes and the updates that players lust after. How will my rogue be affected? What about PVP? Can I finally fly my Celestial Steed around Kalimdor? The level cap has increased to 85, two new races join the fray, raid mechanics have been altered, the interface has changed and stats have undergone a makeover. But don’t worry; you still don’t have to use your real name on the forums.

 

A Tauren-t of New Features

For the first time since The Burning Crusade doubled the install size of WoW, Cataclysm adds two new playable races. The Alliance greets the human-werewolf worgen clan to their stable, whilst the goblin traders of Azeroth find a new home in the Horde. There are no new classes this time around, but new class choices are available for most races.

 

Worgens

Worgens have several interesting characteristics that will no doubt see them swarm Alliance zones in the weeks and months following release. These feral beasts were originally human citizens from the city of Gilneas, but the worgen curse has fallen upon the town and residents have taken up arms in a valiant fight against the creatures. Those familiar with World of Warcraft may recall the savage wolf-beasts making an appearance in Shadowfang Keep.

 

You start the game as a human, but are soon bitten by one of the infected and fall victim to the curse. Luckily, you aren’t sent to the slaughterhouse and manage to get a hold of your senses, even taming your feral being to the point that you can play as either your human or worgen form. Of course, combat will transform you into the latter. Worgen have several interesting racial abilities, including a 15% reduction on all curses and diseases, and the option to drop on all fours and run at a speed mimicked by most mounts. The opening scenes and beginner’s quest line are extremely well made and truly entertaining. It’s a must for all expansion owners.

 

Worgen

 

Goblins

The famously comical Goblins have an appropriately humorous starting area. The quests you undertake and the characters you meet are all very slapstick, so the first few levels are sure to keep you entertained. Thankfully, beginner’s quests aren’t all kill, collect and deliver affairs, and the isle of Kezan is a joy to explore. The goblins have made it their home; enslaving trolls, building roads and shooting off rockets by the bucket load. Rockets also feed into two racial abilities, one which propels you forward and another that launches a barrage of missiles at an enemy. As goblins are traders at heart, you will also have the ability to call up a bank at any time and even find the best deals when conversing with vendors.

 

Goblin

 

The Shattering

One of Cataclysm’s most talked about changes is to the landscape of Azeroth itself. Not a lot of attention has been paid to Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms since the game’s release half a decade ago, so the arrival of Deathwing is a perfect excuse to spruce things up a bit. And by “spruce things up”, I mean drastically alter the aesthetics of each zone by decimating them all. Fiery lava pits and rivers of molten lava run deep across the landscape. Some towns no longer exist, The Thousand Needles has flooded, Stormwind is in need of some construction work and trees have begun to populate The Barrens. It makes playing a new character interesting again, and revisiting old haunts on your now-unrestricted flying mount is sure to please many.

 

Deathwing’s arrival from Deepholm has ruptured the ground of Azeroth. With earth and land shifting, opportunistic explorers can seek out new treasures and artefacts unearthed by The Shattering. Cataclysm marks the debut of Archaeology. A new secondary profession focused on tracking, locating and collecting precious items. Similar to other gathering professions, digsites are tracked on your map, but the actual location of each treasure piece isn’t. Instead, players must investigate each site and find the exact location of the item (via a new “Survey” ability) before looting it. Whilst found items may need to be pieced together with others to form an artefact, many of the treasures unlock special rewards and even buffs for you and your group.

 

Orgrimmar

 

En-Thrall-ing Upgrades

Level 80 characters aren’t left out in the cold. Whilst there’s no new continent to explore, new high level zones have emerged on both sides of the Maelstrom, including the sunken city of Vashj’ir. Perfect to show off Warcraft’s upgraded water effects, which whilst technically impressive, look out of place in WoW’s ageing graphical engine. New dungeons and raids also appear for post-80 players, including revamped Heroic instances of classic Warcraft dungeons like Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep. Seven other 80 to 85 dungeons will also make their debut, along with several new raids. One of which is Firelands. Revealed at Blizzcon, it will feature seven bosses and can be completed in one sitting, perfect for those unable to commit to twice weekly raids.

 

One of the most talked about aspects of Cataclysm is the changes in gear stats. Drastic alterations have been made to simplify stats on each item, and the resulting changes are a cause for concern for many players. Both Spell and Attack power will no longer be found on gear, with Intellect increasing the former and strength and agility the latter. Block value is being removed from the game, along with Defence and Weapon Skills. Balance is one of the most important parts of any MMO, how these changes affect both PVE and PVP remains to be seen.

 

Stormwind

 

Cataclysm is shaping up to be another high quality addition to the world’s premier MMORPG. If a reshaped world doesn’t give you a reason to reroll, then two interesting, well-crafted races surely will. I’m unsure as to how Archaeology will feed into the game’s economy, but the premise is an intriguing one. An abundance of exciting changes are coming to Warcraft, and if you weren’t lucky enough to receive a beta invitation, there isn’t long to wait to experience them in full. Cataclysm is sure to breathe new life into World of Warcraft, but with over twelve million subscribers, it’s not like it needed it.

 

Interview: ASDA Story Chapter 3, The Demon’s Shadow

Interview: ASDA Story Chapter 3, The Demon’s Shadow
Questions by Vincent Haoson, OnRPG Journalist
Answered by Liz Allen, Associate Producer ([GM] Aris)

 

Asda Story recently released Chapter 3, the Demon’s Shadow. The update adds a lot of game system and game feature updates which will provide “a whole new dimension to the gameplay experience”. To see if that rings true we talked to Liz Allen, Associate producer of Asda story to get to know the update better.

 

OnRPG: That you for giving us the opportunity to talk with you guys. Seeing that you just released Chapter 3 I’m sure you have your hands full in tweaking the game. Let me start off with my first question. How has ASDA Story fared since the release of Chapter 3, The Demon’s Shadow?
Asda Story is going strong, and we’re very excited about the amount and quality of higher level content we’ve been adding recently, as well as improvements to game systems overall. We’ve gotten a lot of varied feedback from the players about Chapter 3, and many suggestions about the direction the game should go from here. Overall, the feedback has been positive-even more so than our Chapter 2 updates. But you’re quite correct in saying we’ve got our hands full! There’s a lot that still needs to be done. The update itself was actually split into two parts due to the volume of changes being made. The second part will come at the end of October after we finish tweaking and polishing the part we’ve just released.

 

Asda Story Element

 

OnRPG: Is Demon’s Shadow intended for both new and old players? Or is it targeted to specifically?
Most of the Chapter 3 updates have been concentrated on higher level content, such as adding the highest level boss we’ve ever had, the Grim Reaper, on the highest level map. We’ve also expanded our repeatable quests up to level 70, and added in the latest tier of character skills and abilities for our 4th Job advancement at level 60. Our focus has been to extend the amount of high level content for a long time, as our newer and lower level players have a large number of quests, maps, and other content systems for them to progress through. This isn’t to say that there weren’t any content changes with Chapter 3 that affect our low level players. We’ve made a range of adjustments and improvements to our existing systems, leveling, and items for them as well.

 

Faction War was updated with the tax system, which we’ll get in to later. But another important change is that the war is now split in to 3 level ranges. This is something players have been requesting for a long time. Low level players can now enjoy PvP without getting creamed by players twice their level, while high level players can better enjoy the competition between rivals.

 

We always try to add some updates to what I’d like to call our “side-content”-that is, content all players can take part in when they don’t wish to go in to battle. We added several new titles to our achievement system, where players have always had fun collecting and competing with each other. The Fishing feature was also updated with new fishing areas, rewards, and related titles.

 

OnRPG: How did the players receive the updates and changes in Chapter 3?
We’ve gotten a pretty wide range of feedback so far, and fortunately the majority has been quite positive. Overall players enjoyed the concept of the updates and are looking forward to the second half of the major Chapter 3 update in a few weeks. But, naturally, they have expressed their individual concerns and personal opinions about the direction the updates are going in regards to their own favorite aspects of the game.

 

Asda Story Fight

 

As can be expected there’s still a lot we want to do and will be doing to get as many of their requests and suggestions added as possible. We’ve been pretty busy ironing out any issues people might be having with some of the changes and making alterations and improvements to the second half of the Chapter 3 update based on their feedback.

 

OnRPG: Among the game changes included in Demon’s Shadow, which do you think is the most applauded by the gamers?
Definitely the most popular thing that we’ve done so far is the additional high level content. Rather than any single new thing, I think our players are just happy to have more content available when they reach the current level cap’s end-game. For a while now we’ve been seeing the feedback come in about people not enjoying the grinding that had to be done when they got closer to the level cap. We’ve definitely realized the need for us to get out more quests, bosses, items, titles for our fame system, etc. specifically for our high level players as soon as we were able to get them ready.

 

OnRPG: Do you consider Demon’s Shadow a game changer for ASDA Story?
As far as the new town occupation tax/bonus system for PvP goes, it’s a pretty big game changer. Previously, PvP only affected those who participated. Now, the taxes and bonuses are something that affect all players. It changes the game’s economy pretty drastically. The faction that owns the town gets to decide the price adjustment to almost all things that cost in-game gold. This encourages people to participate to get the benefits if their side wins, and hopefully form more of a community bond between Faction members that are working together.

 

Fourth job and the skill changes that came with it were also pretty big. Previously, all skill points were available to be used in any 1st through 3rd Job skill if the requirements were met. Now, only 110 skill points can be used in those skills, while the rest are to be spent solely on 4th job skills. This really causes players to have to think and be careful where they place their skill points. It adds further distinction between the different classes and the skill tree builds that can be made with them, rather than having all characters of the same class choosing the same hybrid builds. It’s definitely increased the strategy in building your character, and added a great deal of variety to the specializations we’ve been seeing people make.

 

OnRPG: According to GM Aris in the feedback post at the ASDA Story forums, you guys are going to drive the developers to fix the game bugs of Demon’s Shadow. How has the bug fixing gone so far?
We’ve gotten a few major issues patched up, but it’s been pretty tough overall due to scheduling. The first half of the Chapter 3 update was implemented on 8/17, and since then many things have happened. One of our GMs left to go back to school, and at the same time I left for a week on personal leave. This left our new GM all alone (poor guy!). We’re getting caught back up though, and we recently opened up a better bug tracking system which should help our efficiency in all our bug-blasting. It’s going to be a long battle, but slow and steady wins the race!

 

Asda Story Beast

 

OnRPG: Does this mean that the developer’s left a lot of bugs in chapter 3 that were “overlooked” before implementation?
A lot of things can be overlooked with any significant content update. While not necessarily always technical problems, with an update this large there are wide ranging effects across all of the game’s systems that can have unintended results. Updating a new skill could unintentionally become unbalanced in combination with other skills to the point of needing to be revised once the issues have been identified. Other changes could alter how level progression, farming, and the in-game economy function in certain ways that were not intended and therefore have to be addressed. One issue with bug-checking new content is that you’re a small team doing things in a test environment on a tight schedule. To be able to fully identify and resolve some of those problems sometimes requires hundreds of people using those functions in their real situations on the live server before they are even seen to be properly documented and fixed.

 

With the help of our players we’re getting through them with a lot of improvements and revisions continually being made. We’ll be ready with more of a clean slate to monitor the effects of the second half of the Chapter 3 update in a few weeks. Because it is more focused on PvP, balancing issues are likely to continue to surface and be worked on. We really appreciate the patience the community has shown while we continue to focus on it. The feedback they’ve been giving us has been incredibly useful.

 

OnRPG: Speaking of player feedback, will you be addressing the requests of the players to change the taxation system that was included in the update? Would you leave it be or would you remove or change it?
From a personal standpoint, I feel the tax system does bring something interesting to the game. But, I do agree with players who feel it’s unfair to have a system which is purely based on PvP that negatively affects players who don’t want to participate in the Faction Wars. That being said, we’re definitely considering changing how it works. We’re currently trying to compromise with our development and game design teams to see if there’s a better way to continue giving perks to the winning factions, but also removing the negative effects, at least for players who choose not to belong to a Faction. This way players that enjoy PvE exclusively by their own preference won’t be forced to participate in something they simply don’t find fun.

 

OnRPG: The game’s faction war system seems to be getting a lot of flak from players in the forums feedback aside from the tax system. How are you guys handling this and will you be changing the current faction war system?
We’ll continue to modify the details and requirements of the system. For example, adjusting the number of players that can enter a war at one time so that larger teams don’t have an overwhelming advantage. With tweaks we want to make to the town occupation system and a “Mining War” system coming in a few weeks, PvP should become even more fun and focused on rewarding participants, rather than punishing individuals for being on the losing Faction or not participating.

 

Besides working to address issues with Faction balancing and feedback we’ve been getting from players about the new tax system, there are still a number of individual bugs with the system that we intend to get fixed before the second part of the Chapter 3 update. Those things are a bit easier to fix than the balance, but we understand that they’re equally important and we’re taking the opinions of both avid and non-PvP’ers to heart with the improvements we want to make to it.

 

OnRPG: What made you guys push with the changes that were included in Demon’s Shadow?
The main changes we pushed for with the first part of the Chapter 3 update were the high level content additions, such as getting more quests, the 4th job and skills update, adding more rewarding and challenging bosses, etc. Before I was hired and began working on Asda Story, I had actually been a high level player of the game myself which is what interested me in getting onto the team. I had gotten to a point where there was not much left to do for me in-game at the time, so I know what the players were going through. Reaching that point in a game is frustrating for players, and not everyone likes PvP, so we’re always pushing for the next step in content to keep players seeing and experiencing new things and enjoying the game.

 

The second part of the Chapter 3 update is intended to revise the PvP end-game content and make adjustments to the feedback we’ve gotten, and it’s what we’re focusing on most in the next few weeks until the second half of the Chapter 3 update is implemented and polished.

 

OnRPG: Has the update achieved the goal in terms of adding “a whole new dimension to the gameplay experience?”
Apart from the gameplay changes previously discussed such as the additional jobs and skills, I wouldn’t say this half of the two part Chapter 3 update necessarily achieved that goal on its own. The first half was intended to extend and fill the later stages of gameplay for our high level players alongside some system revisions that affected general gameplay overall. The second half of the Chapter 3 update, which is targeted to arrive towards the end of October, is what we feel will bring that “new dimension” to the table with a fairly in-depth new type of resource-controlling warfare and deeper Faction-oriented conflict systems. After we’ve implemented them we’ll be working on something new for our non-PvP lovers of all levels.

 

OnRPG: With the changes made in ASDA Story care of Demon’s Shadow, how do you think ASDA story will hold up against other MMOs out right now?
Comparing Asda with other MMORPGs is always difficult for me, and I tend to never compare P2P with F2P games. Don’t get me wrong, I do look to some great P2P games for ideas for new systems, but their budgets and manpower make them a world of their own. It prompts us to focus more on our ability to interact with our community in a more direct and meaningful way than they can just based on size differences.

 

 

 

Asda Story has been steadily improving in its available content and systems for some time now, and I’m still confident it has a lot of room to grow. It’s very hard to beat Asda’s visual charm and community, and we definitely intend to work more towards bringing out its unique features and a style that is entirely its own.

 

OnRPG: Aside from the gameplay changes in Demon’s Shadow, did you guys include any story-related changes in Demon’s Shadow?
We’re working towards implementing new storyline quests, especially to flesh out the “Elite Field” maps and encourage parties to form together to go through them. The game has a lot of background story, but we’d like to make it come across in the gameplay a lot more than it currently does. The newest update related to the backstory is the high level map Inferion, ruled over by the high level boss, the Grim Reaper.

 

OnRPG: Why did you name the update as Demon’s Shadow?
Inferion is our latest map, and the back story for Chapter 3 revolves around it and its boss monster, the Grim Reaper (a.k.a. the demon). The story is that Inferion was ruined during an ancient war, and warriors who pass through today would feel its presence nearby like the shadow of the demon was looming over them. The “demon’s shadow” has been implemented visually in the game pretty well. When walking up to the summon location for the Grim Reaper, he will appear for you to catch a menacing glimpse, and then vanish into the darkness of the map until he is summoned to fight. It may seem small, but it’s one of the more interesting things that has been done visually in the game. The design and development has really improved over the original concepts we saw in earlier builds.

 

OnRPG: For the last question, what’s in store for ASDA Story players in the upcoming months?
As previously noted, the Chapter 3 main updates are in two parts. Our players are currently anticipating a new type of faction war called the “Mining War”. We haven’t released many details about it yet, but basically the factions will fight to take control of resource-rich mining grounds, where they can drill up special items to create powerful equipment. It will be very different from the current type of faction war, as the three teams will be battling over a single area, perpetually and en masse, instead of running around capturing bases during limited individual wars. The second and final part of the Chapter 3 update is scheduled for release at the end of October 2010 alongside a huge number of in-game Halloween events we have in store.

 

Other than that, the game is to the point where we feel we’ve at least covered the basics of the game systems we want implemented, and would like to continue work improving and enhancing the depth of the currently existing systems and functions. We feel there’s a lot we can do with polishing and extending the content we have, and that it will profoundly improve the quality of Asda Story. We’re currently working on everything from updating our original translations and storylines, working on proposals to change the game’s balance and pacing, the reward systems, functions, UI, etc. It’s a long road ahead, but we’re excited to continue improving things and look forward to our players’ reactions when we unveil the changes in the months ahead.

 

OnRPG: Thank you for your time!
Thanks! It’s been a pleasure! 

Remember, remember the 5th of November in TLBB

Remember, remember the 5th of November in TLBB


ChangYou.com has announced the celebratory Fireworks display taking place on Friday 5th of November, 2010 at 15:00 GMT on the TLBB EU Dragon server.

 

To mark the infamous Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and the origins of these vivid pyrotechnics that date as far back as 7th century China TLBB is offering players the chance to spark up some of the most dazzling firework items available from the token shop.

 

TLBB is offering players the chance to spark up some of the most dazzling firework items available from the token shop.

 

The game’s Emperor is also taking this opportunity to ward off any evil spirits by lighting up the skies of the ‘Dragon’ server during this one off TLBB Connect event.

 

“The latest expansion – ‘The Shadow Curse’ (v0.85) – has seen players battle it out against the deadly Jiang Shi and fight off the devious Shadow Master Ting who is said to still be lingering” said European Community Manager Michael D. ‘Sanzaburo’. “We’ll be helping out the Emperor on this special mission to see off any unwelcome spirits, whilst having plenty of fun with the range of fireworks available to players. Many of our European players might not know the story of Guy Fawkes but hopefully TLBB Connect this Friday should help shed some light on it. Literally. It will also be a chance for them to take part in our ghostly events, so there will plenty of evil spirits to get rid of”


TLBB’s Halloween events are currently underway with a number of unique pets available for capture including a Jiang Shi and Tutankhamun. Details of which can be found on the official TLBB website.

 

To join the TLBB Fireworks Show and details of how to redeem your firework items, visit http://tlbb.eu.changyou.com/news/join-tlbb-fireworks-show.shtml

 

Next Runes of Magic content update introduces desert zone

Next Runes of Magic content update introduces desert zone

 

Runes of Magic publisher Frogster has announced today that the forthcoming content update, patch 3.0.6, will include the new Limo Desert zone as well as a range of other features. The desert zone contains a total of nine sub-regions, one instance, as well as seven oasis settlements, which act as supply stations for players.

 

Runes of Magic at OnRPG.com

 

The Limo Desert is a long, parched grassland, once inhabited by different tribes including the so-called Canine people. These doglike bipeds are divided into two clans, which once fought side-by-side against their common oppressor. However, present day conflict, which threatens to escalate into a full-blown war, has divided the noble Iron Teeth and the rapacious Rotteneyes tribes.

 

In one of the regions, the Kingdom of Limon, lie the mortal remains of one of the Canine tribe’s most decorated war heroes. Players must reach the pyramid-shaped burial chamber buried deep in the desert zone instance, which offers both tactical challenges and plenty of surprises.

 

For more information on the new zone and Runes of Magic, visit the official website. 

 

 

Soul Order Online Events Experiences

Soul Order Online Events Experiences


Soul Order Online has started its Open Beta Test for nearly two weeks. There are three types of events: “GM Event”, “Calendar Event” and “Community Event”. Every day, kinds of varied events will be hold in these three types. Let’s review some screenshots of PK type events at first:

 

“GM Protection” Event:
GMs from Glory Land and Dark Land will go out for an important mission, but they have a risk to be attacked by their opponent realm. Players from corresponding realms come to protect their GM! If Glory Land GM has been killed, all the players of Dark Land will get rewards, vice versa. The rewards will be: Loudspeaker x 5 (used to speak in world chat channel), Miracle Potion and Stand-in Baby (used to revival without any punishment).

 

Soul Order Online @ OnRPG.com

Provider: Keiko
Comment: Get together to prepare for the “GM Protection” event!

 

Soul Order Online @ OnRPG.com

Provider: MeCrazy
Comment: GM Protection in Glory Land – look at the fierce brother battle tigers!


“PK BOSS” Event:
BOSS launch attack and they appear near the Main City! Heroes get together to wipe them out and get the loots!

 

Soul Order Online @ OnRPG.com

Provider: LilyFlower
Comment: BOSS appear in Dark Land!

 

Soul Order Online @ OnRPG.com

Provider: RenaBard
Comment: PK Junior Space Track BOSS in Glory Land!

 

Soul Order Online @ OnRPG.com

Provider: LilyFlower
Comment: A skill casts out a fire ball!

 

“Gift Give Out” Events:
“GM Free Gifts” is an event that GM chooses a player randomly and gives him/her an item as present. The gifts include Iron Horseshoe (used in mount enhancement), Original Guardian Stone (level 1-30), Original Earth Stone (used in equipment enhancement), Stand-in Baby (revival without any punishment), Blue Identify Gem and Miracle Potion. These gifts are all good in use! If you haven’t got one during this event, another event “GM Stall” will offer you more chances to get the attractive items with low price!

 

“S-Point Auction” Event:
GM will put 50 S-Points in Auction with low price at one time. GM will hold 20 times auction like this within 30 minutes. This event is a popular event, and sometimes the bid price will increase from 1 silver to several gold.

 

Soul Order Online @ OnRPG.com

“Question & Answer”
During this concentrative time period, GMs will answer players’ questions online.

 

The above events are all “GM Event”, if you missed them, there are also “Community Events” and “Calendar Events” for you to participate! On November 3rd, a one-week long event “Character Levelup Race” came to an end, and there are six “1st Prize” winners, seven “2nd Prize” winners and sixteen “Outstanding Prize” winners.

 

They have got the following prize:

 

1st Prize Rewards

Ice Elephant (X 1, bound) + Golden Horseshoe (X 2, bound) + 800 S-Points

2nd Prize Rewards
Blaze Kitty (X 1, bound) + Pet Food (X30, bound) + 500 S-Points
Outstanding Prize Rewards
A weapon of Blue quality (level 45, bound) according to winners’ class

 

“Calendar Events”
The following Calendar Events almost be hold every day:
“Mystic Principle”, “Sky Treasure”, “Evildom Exploration”, “Mystic Altar Order” and “Massacre”.
Check the events’ schedule in game!

 

Recommend you two new events:
“Double Drop Rate for Weekend”
Drop Rate boosts by two times during weekend. In this weekend, this event will be hold for the first time, and players will enjoy a particular long drop rate bonus: 20:00(Nov. 5th) ~ 2:00(Nov. 8th) PST, equal to 4:00(Nov. 6th) ~ 10:00(Nov. 8th) GMT.

 

“Recommendation System”
Inviting your friend to play Soul Order Online together, and both you and your friend will get reward! The Inviter’s reward will be FREE SP (Use it to buy items in in-game shop), and the invitee’s will get: Advanced Blessing Pill (Use it to get extra 50% experience, lasts 1 hour) when he/she reaches level 20.

Details:www.soulorderonline.com/invite.jsp