Monthly Archives: November 2010

New Dark Age of Camelot patch goes live

New Dark Age of Camelot patch goes live

 

Dark Age of Camelot was a first love for many of us here at OnRPG, so a great sense of nostalgia strikes as we see another update in the games long life of Realm vs. Realm combat.

 

Dark Age of Camelot @ OnRPG.com

 

Version 1.107 brings some noteworthy changes to the field. Primarily allowing Savages to obtain the Realm Ability Charge. BioWare Mythic have also lessened the previously high penalties for not paying your player housing rent on time. Previously all items inside would be destroyed, now they will be repossessed and you may purchase them back. Finally the realm timer has been turned back on and it will now take five minutes to swap realms on the same cluster.

 

Check the Mythic Website for the full patch notes!

FireFall

Earth will never be the same. After the Crystite Wars, humanity inadvertently invited the worst enemy ever conceived THE MELDING. It surrounds us. It forces us to live in pockets of land protected only by the accidental discovery of repulsor technology. We continue to fight for land. For technology. For power. For our very survival. JOIN THE FIGHT.

FIREFALL is a open-world MMO shooter with skill-based gameplay. Join your friends in an epic online campaign across a vast open world with dynamically generated content to stop the Melding and fight for the survival of humanity against the army of the Chosen. Advance your army and character through technological upgrades. Level up and customize your battleframes. Push back the Melding. SAVE EARTH!

DDTank

DDTank is a cute MMO browser game with no need to download. With simple keyboard operations, you can interact with or fight against your friends, and experience more fun during the fight. A great number of costumes in shops enables you to customize your character with various cool outfits.

Overall DDTank is a good alternative for a turn-based shooter. However the issues may become an irritating problem specially in the endgame stages. The game doesn’t provide you with enough to make you want to come back. even the Marriage system on the game feels like it was just forced into it so that DDTank can say that it has a marriage system.

If you are looking for a turn-based shooter that’s very easy to play then DDTank is a good suggestion however, if you’re looking for a more “smoother” gameplay I’d say go elsewhere.

Rise Of The Free-To-Play Era: Good or Bad?

Rise Of The Free-To-Play Era: Good or Bad? 
By Kei Beneza (dividelife) & Vincent Haoson, OnRPG Journalists

After seeing big titles like Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO), Star Trek Online (STO), and Lord of The Rings Online (LOTRO) drop their fees, I couldn’t help but feel the sudden change of pace regarding MMO subscriptions. Is it just me, or are MMOs going free-to-play? Though premium games like World of Warcraft and WarHammer have tons of subscribers, it still doesn’t change the fact that 14 bucks a month after buying the client and expansions isn’t that cheap of a deal. While some people see free-to-play gaming as a way for dying MMOs to “survive”, others see it an ingenious method for good MMOs to increase their popularity. Of course, dismissing F2P players isn’t charming. Let’s face it! Nothing beats seeing the big “FREE TO PLAY” sign next to a game’s title.

 

The Price for a “Decent” Crowd (?)

After seeing the latest news about World of Warcraft potentially going F2P, I couldn’t help but jump for joy as I MAY soon be able to play one of my favorite MMOs without worrying about monthly fees. Anyway, although this news served as a blessing for some, there are other players who still don’t agree with this sudden change of pace, deeming the removal of subscription fees as irrelevant and stupid. To find truth on this matter, I interviewed a fellow player regarding Blizzard’s potential decision. According to her, the 14-buck rate is more than reasonable, as you are not only given a good experience of premium gameplay, but a decent crowd as well. Although I may strongly disagree with her claims regarding F2P players being scrubs and kill-stealers, I couldn’t help but listen, as she seemed utterly convinced regarding the matter.

 

Intro

 

The reaction is just a manifestation of the already mounting disdain of P2P players to their F2P counterparts. While I agree that there are a lot of free to play players who are scrubs and kill-stealers, that doesn’t change the fact that there are scrubs and kill-stealers in all MMOs, even in the P2P side. In fact, considering the difference between F2P and P2P scrubs and kills-stealers, the P2P players are the more irritating of the bunch because they’re wasting your valuable time for their entertainment and they’re also wasting your money for the subscription time that’s lost while they gank your ass. However, considering that F2Ps are well, free, the only thing you’d complain when these people start their fun is the time lost.

 

Need To Go To This Dungeon *Flashes Wallet

Another gripe on F2P gameplay is the presence of FEES in features such as character customization and dungeon keys. Free to play games also rely on micro transactions to earn money. For Mabinogi, it’s the cards for rebirth and customization; for Pox Nora, extra cards and avatars. Who knows? Maybe we’ll even get charged to use cool races like Undead, Dranei, and Bloodelves soon. Yes, players also fear this type of treatment, especially since now you’re forced to pay for something you’ve used for the last (I don’t know) eight years?

 

To be honest, playing a game for free can only get you so far. Soon, you will have to resort to micro transactions to further optimize your character. The best example would have to be Mabinogi’s rebirth system, which is essential for your character to progress further. You can always play and enjoy Mabinogi for free, trust me when I say that you WILL have to pay to play competitively.

 

Need Dungeon

 

The other thing I find hard to swallow in this scenario is that there’s a higher possibility that you’d have to pay more to maintain you character. Let’s say if the certain race or job class you’ve been using prior the F2P change falls into the “premium” category of the game. The usual scenario here is that you’d have to pay a fee to “unlock” the race or class and under the P2P umbrella, this would’ve been covered by the monthly subscription for the game. However, companies could ask for a bigger fee for “unlocking” said game feature. And if worse comes to worst, they’d even ask for a monthly fee to keep the game feature “unlocked”. Now if you add it all up it may turn out that you’ve paid more in the F2P system compared to the P2P system.

 

However, I’m just presenting the worst scenario possible. I don’t think companies would go this far just to earn a buck. They’d be killing the game if that happens and I don’t think any company wants that, or not yet anyway.

 

Pushing Companies to be more creative

The one good thing that may come out with the F2P and P2P switch is that it pushes companies to be creative in the updates for their game. With the content that can be used as possible “money earners” if the game was released as F2P in the first place already out, they’d have to think of new things or game features that would grab the players attention.

 

This battle of creativity would also mean that established F2P games or even those who are just joining the MMO arena would really need to push their games to new heights. With exceptional P2P games coming into the F2P arena, it ups the ante for F2Ps to provide top notch quality in their games. The threat of losing their player base is all too real for F2P games to ignore, and however you look at it, it’s us players who will win in the end with companies finally releasing F2P games that have something more than the usual MMO rehash we often get these days.

 

Free To Play Means More People

Let’s face it, it IS called MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER, and subscription fees only limit the games’ population. This is perhaps the best part about free to play games. No matter how old or passé a game is, you will always have people to play with. Some even beat the number of some premium games’ most populated servers. MMOs are a genre based on player-to-player interaction, and the free to play concept exercises this form of interactivity well. It gets kind of sad when you’re leveling by yourself.

 

The only setback having more players inside a game is the quality of the players you meet. You have to admit that not everyone on the net, especially in MMOs are sensible or even know netiquette. I’ve personally played a game that was forced to IP block a country on one of their servers just because majority of the players from that country were unruly and rude. So if you really look into it, it all boils down to statistics.

 

More Good Than Bad

 

Also, there’s a possibility that open hostilities may crop out between ex-P2P players and those who entered the game after F2P was enacted. You can’t really rule out that there’s an air of superiority for those who actually paid for their game time and those who just started playing for free. It’s just human nature really and it will run its course whether we ignore it or not. 

 

“It’s Not Over YET!” Says the P2P Player

According to some, subscriptions are also similar to a fraternal hazing. It wouldn’t be easy for you to leave your group if you know you worked hard for your position (in this case, you paid for it). Some guilds think that it will be hard to get decent and devoted guildies once a game goes free to play. Maybe it’s because they are not pressured to get their money’s worth, but if the game is THAT GOOD, then I don’t see why they should worry about it. There are tons of free to play MMOs out there with healthy and reputable guilds. I honestly believe that the whole non-devoted-free-to-play guildie is just stereotypical nonsense.

 

I have to agree that there’s no real difference between a P2P or F2P guildie in terms of loyalty. I’ve had the opportunity to be with F2P players who are more devoted to their guilds than to their real life families while I’ve been with P2P players (in WoW actually) who don’t really care much about their guilds. It all boils down to luck really, and the guild leader’s capability of filtering who joins in the guild or not.

 

The Fear of Trying

Now let’s focus on the other side of the spectrum, namely the ones on the trial end. As you may know, F2P games get a lot of exposure because they are able to let gamers experience the good points of the game without having to worry about trial periods or spending for something they potentially won’t like. Yes… it makes a big difference when you’re FREE to linger around, make parties and experience the game without being limited to a 10 or 30-day trial. Somehow it pays to not rush consumers into buying your product. Let them build and establish their love for the game before prompting them to pay for it.

 

While this may hurt a lot of gamers out there, let’s accept the fact that there are a lot of cheapskates out there compared to those who are willing to spend for their games. Blame it on the ugly global economic situation or whatever, but looking at the company’s side, it’d be better for them to let players play the game for free. If a game is good enough, it’s highly possible that the game goes viral which can really save the company from paying more in their marketing. When this happens, the game would earn a certain amount of respect (if it didn’t already prior F2P, in reference for games who jumped into the F2P wagon) within the gamer community that they’re bound to provide the best quality of service for players to enjoy. So in the end players still get to win significantly.

 

More Good Than Bad F2P

 

Will It Do More Good Than Bad?

Absolutely! As both P2P and F2P user, I would say that they weren’t wrong when they went F2P. Not only does it let the game get more exposure, it also allows newbie players to partly experience the game without hassle. On the business side, going free to play could also mean acquiring new players. And these new players? Well, they just might be those who are potentially prone to splurging $15 to as much as $150 on permanent items or added services in free to play games once they have grown to love the game. The best thing about it is that game had the chance to sell itself as a good game without having the newbie player cough up $40 for installer packages, then additional 14 bucks a month for the subscription. Subscription is better off optional than mandatory, as not all gamers are able to use the full extent of the game’s features in free to play.

 

It would do well for a lot of P2P games to jump into F2P. There are a lot of decent P2P games who don’t get to enjoy having a lot of players because players would need pay first before entering. To loyalists, this may seem to be an act of selling out for profit but that’s the bitter pill they have to swallow considering the other alternative, the death of the MMO they learned to love. Business is business after all, and MMOs are businesses, for a business to survive there are times when they have to compromise a principle or two for it to live. 

 

The Free To Play Era

Actually I was quite surprised after seeing a lot of P2P games go free to play. Now gamers are able to play their favorite games while paying ONLY for the features they think are essential. Isn’t it a lot more fun this way? Looking at the consumers’ side, now you can PLAY games instead of simply trying them. Mandatory subscription hinders a lot of things. Since not everyone can afford the monthly rates, players are forced to join private servers. I’m sure the whole private server gig won’t make sense after the actual game goes free to play. For those game developers out there… you want to know what MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER is? F2P is the way to go.

LOTRO Announces No Support For F2P Players

[Updated] LOTRO Announces No Support For F2P Players

 

Codemasters have shown exactly how “new” they are to the Free to Play market by announcing on their Lord of the Rings Online FAQ page that they will not be offering Customer Support to the Free to Play players.

 

Codemasters opts to not offer Customer Support to Free to Play players

 

We can’t help but think that this is a poor choice. Any true F2P players know that the players that don’t spend a dime in a game make up a very important and large part of the community. Treating them as second rate citizens is a sure-fire way to make them pack their bags really fast.

 

Here’s hoping Codemasters will wisen up any time soon!

 

Update: Bevan Davies, Community Manager at Codemasters Online, has contacted us with the following message:

“Hi, appreciate the coverage however there are some exceptions on the support, like Account and Technical issues.”


So there you go, it’s good to hear that people who have technical issues will be helped by the Codemaster Support team.

 

[Source: Codemasters FAQ Page (check the very last question)]

Everything is about to change in MapleStory with one Big Bang!

Everything is about to change in MapleStory with one Big Bang!

 

Nexon America has released a new trailer for MapleStory‘s upcoming update, Big Bang, set to roll out starting this December. Big Bang is completely updating the MapleStory that players know and love, giving it an updated user interface, higher resolution, better graphics, new character classes, a higher EXP curve, and updated maps, among other exciting additions.

 

Everything is about to change in MapleStory with one Big Bang!

 

The Big Bang update is set to roll out in three phases, introducing new and different aspects to the game, giving players a chance to explore and thoroughly experience the completely re-done game.

 

If your interests are peaked then you should check out the trailer for the Big Bang, which you can see right here!

 

To learn more about Big Bang and the changes to come, visit the Maple Story Website 

Block Harbors in Voyage Century Online

Block Harbors in Voyage Century Online

 

Voyage Century Online has plenty of new content on the way. The new Harbor Blockade update features mysterious high seas instances, cool apparel shapeshifts, a new ship restructuring system and lots more. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the most anticipated additions in Harbor Blockade.

 

The Blockade
The update introduces a new gameplay element, the Harbor Blockade. Based on the naval war waged in the English Channel between England and Spain, it includes many memorable historical events. Players take on the role of the English forces and must repel attacks from the Spanish fleet. Success hinges upon blocking the Spanish fleet and preventing it from crossing the English Channel. Players will need cunning tactics to achieve victory.

 

The Voyage Century Online update introduces a new gameplay element, the Harbor Blockade.

 

Brand New Ships
With more brand new vessels like the Apollo Warship, the Aries Warship and many cool NPC ships, the Harbor Blockade update has something for everyone. The Apollo Warship has fierce cannons and strong armor to help you intimidate enemies and protect your trade goods. The Aries Warship is a devastating attack ship. This corsair shines when engaged in large-scale ocean combat. It has high-caliber cannons as main weapons, strong armor and plenty of attack power to sink your enemies. When battle rages, you’ll also see plenty of new NPC ships, such as the Fiery Dragon Warship, Twin Warship, Fog Warship, Scout Ship, Medical Ship and Commanding Warships. With so many ships and tactical options, large battles will be an even greater challenge. A commander’s leadership, strategy and sailor arrangement are all important when adjusting to changing battle conditions on the fly.

 

Other additions include brand new pirate and captain apparel sets, ship figureheads, and weapons like the Fiery Dragon Projectile, Smog Bombs and other new bombs. These can drastically increase a ship’s attributes, and give players more options for customization.

 

Server Events and Gifts Galore
To celebrate the launch of a new server and the content-rich update, the Voyage Century team has prepared many cool events and gifts for both new and veteran players. Stay online for 4 hours to claim incredible in-game rewards, or join Voyage Century’s new server and receive a valuable newbie bag for free. A new world and a new start await, so bring your friends and set sail for adventure!