Yearly Archives: 2010

RoM: New Features Announced

RoM: New Features Announced


Things are moving in Taborea, the online world of Runes of Magic. With the forthcoming Patch 3.0.6., Frogster is throwing new challenges at gamers. The new instance, Kawak’s Tomb, offers an amazing series of booby-traps and puzzles before players reach the last five guardians lurking in the tomb. Needless to say,, bringing down these five tough new opponents will require new strategies and tactics.

 

Be it flipping the right switch in one room, dodging spikes in another, or defeating opponents in the correct order, the new instance will put the heat on even the most experienced and best equipped players. As soon as the coast appears to be clear, the next guardian emerges , itching for a fight. This is assuming that players are able to find and open the half concealed passages that lead to the bosses. A stronger opponent waits behind every door – a legendary general, a mutant beetle and three Rune Guardians possessing magical powers stand in the way to the golden sarcophagus of Kawak Angerfang.

 

A small scarab, invisible at first, also plays an important role, waiting for players in the passages of the tomb. There is much more to this tiny beetle than first meets the eye. Adventurers that rashly go after every glittering treasure chest will endanger their entire party whereas gamers looking to discover the secrets of the legendary general, Kawak Angerfang, must prepare for a fight.

 

Runes of Magic new features

S4 League Review – Does this Shooter Still Have Style?

S4 League Review – Does this Shooter Still Have Style?
By Michael Sagoe (mikedot), OnRPG journalist

 

Back in 2008, Alaplaya graced Europe territories with a futuristic third person shooter that featured stylish team based gameplay and an even more stylish cyber world atmosphere, and it was called S4 League. Created by Pentavision, this third person shooter title was teeming with moderately fast action, style, twists on classic gameplay modes, style, ridiculous fashion and even more style. S4 has seen a lot of changes since its debut and now in 2010, Alaplaya opened its doors for US players to jump in.

 

But with more shooters titles appearing on the MMO market, is S4 League still in style, or out?

 

Starting out (with style)

 

Creating your first character in S4 League will sadly be devoid of any style as there are very slim pickings available for character’s top, bottoms, hairstyle, etc.

 

S4 League’s tutorial explains the basics of gameplay simple enough and will only take you around five to ten minutes to get through. It explains movement, some weapon usage and how some gameplay modes work out.

 

Afterwards, you’ll be given a vibrant new sub machine gun, semi-rifle and plasma sword to get you started.

 

Stylish presentation

 

S4 is oozing with style from its visuals to its music. The game world of S4 is completely artificial. The arena environments you play on are all digitally rendered and destroying enemies in battle will make bits of binary data flow from their bodies. Basically, the world of S4 is one giant virtual arena, sort of like the arena thing that TRON had going for it but with tons more style thrown in.

 

S4 League Stylish Battlegrounds!

Stylish battlegrounds!

 

All the characters designs in S4 will make your character look like some kind of assassin’s guild reject from No More Heroes. The outfits are generally covered with enough belts and zippers that they would make a J-RPG fan squeal.  Still, there are plenty of outfits to choose from and you’ll most likely find a look that suits your style.

 

 

S4 League Stylish Fashion

Stylish fashion!

 

The creators of S4 are also the same fellows behind the DJMax series, and they’ve manage to pour a whole lot of its flavor into S4. The music filled with tons of techno, hip-hop and electronica, most of which were pulled directly from recent DJMax games (Fun Fact: “SuperSonic” that plays on Neden-1 was pulled from DJMax Portable Black Square OS.) S4’s stylish music either relaxes you or hypes you up for battle, and it’s all accompanied by the most outrageous battle announcer ever that will make even the tiniest moments exciting. Seriously: I’ll never get tired of hearing the announcer yell “WHO DAT MAN?!” when someone scores a touchdown.

 

Stylish gameplay

 

S4’s gameplay is all about gating with style. The control scheme is about as average as they come for shooting games, but what makes it so stylish are the amount of weapons and skills available.

 

S4 League Run and Gun

Stylish action!

 

You have access to submachine guns, rail guns, sentries, rifles, shotguns, handguns and everything in between. And then you got your skills like being use a skateboard as a grappling anchor, being able to turn invisible, summoning bricks to block off paths or even grow a pair of robotic wings to fly around with.

 

Mixing and matching between your weapons and skills allow you to create stylish play style combos. Example: Using Mind Shock + Detect skill makes you into a legit wall hacker and using Handgun + Invisibility makes you a spy that can cover ground into enemy spots very quickly.

 

Game modes in S4 are stylish twists on classic shooter game modes and sports. While Team Deathmatch is basic and straightforward, game modes like Touchdown and Chaser are futuristic versions of Rugby and Tag, respectively.

 

Stylish comments

 

One feature that I still enjoy about S4 is its semi-destructible environments. Some objects on maps like boxes, bridges and rooftops can be destroyed. When these objects are destroyed, you can see an outline of that object from where it was originally placed and it will respawn back onto the map in a set amount of time. Destroying objects to alter the battle environment adds a small but stylish layer of strategy, and it’s always a joy to destroy a rooftop with enemies on top.

 

S4 League started out as a team based shooter, but now it’s starting to lean towards solo performance with Chaser mode and the inclusion of Battle Royal, which I can dig. It’s just sad that during these modes, there is no half-time show, so no adorable alien robot can come in and start dancing for you.

 

S4 League Halftime

Stylish chibi-robot dancing!

 

One thing about S4 that disappoints me is that it adopted my biggest pet peeve with MMO shooters: Rent only items! Several patches ago they removed permanent items for everything except from capsules, and speaking of which: Capsules are basically another one of those gachapon systems that are used in some MMOs, except with somewhat outrageous prices.

 

G-capsules are only available for AP users (paying players) and they have a chance of giving very powerful permanent weapons that are overpowered compared to normal weapons (and in the case of the bunny capsule, skills and accessories). Note: it’s only a chance that you can get permanent weapons/skills, though, because unless you’re insanely lucky, you might end up spending fifty bucks before you get a permanent item from them. For a game that’s loaded with style from head to toe, using a gloried gachapon system that favors paying players is so out of style.

 

S4 League Shop

Not so stylish gachapon!

 

But wait! There is an alternative to G-capsules, because for the low price of EXPENSIVE, you can buy an I-capsule using PEN (S4 League’s in-game currency.) On the upside: Timed weapons and skills don’t start counting down until you use them in battle and prices on most other items are fairly cheap enough for gamers of any preference, but the lack of permanent anything is just so very… un-stylish.

 

Oh, and there’s also hackers. Hacking players still seem to be around in S4, but they only to show up once in awhile, so you won’t have to worry about them too much.

 

Stylish finish

 

Despite some poor changes, S4 League still manages to be a stylish and enjoyable experience with overall fun and exciting gameplay. Alaplaya has been doing a decent job of hosting S4 so far, and they seem to be improving their efforts as of late. Most G-capsules will soon be available to PEN users as I-capsules, so cash shop balance may be improved by this in the future.

 

My verdict: S4 is still in style.

 

Pros:

Fantastic gunplay

Team and solo based gameplay

Ridiculously outrageous outfits

Futuristic and digital battle arenas

Colorful visuals

Dancing robots

 

Cons:

Lack of permanent items

Somewhat overpowered gachapon system

Hackers

 

 

WEBZEN presents ‘C9’ and ‘BATTERY’ at G-STAR

WEBZEN presents ‘C9’ and ‘BATTERY’ at G-STAR

 

WEBZEN invited OnRPG and other major publishers and journalists to the “WEBZEN & Friends brunch time” at G Star 2010 on Nov 19th and introduced its new titles ‘C9’ and ‘BATTERY‘.

 

Invitees included 40 publishers and gamers from WEBZEN’s global games portal were highly impressed with the excellent quality of the new games.

 

The producers of ‘C9’ and ‘BATTERY’ attended to present their games and to lead a Q&A session after the presentation.

 

Upcoming WEBZEN titles:

 

‘C9’, a MORPG which won 5 awards including top honor “Grand Award” from “Korea Game Awards” received lots of attention from the audience. ‘C9’ features stunning customization options as well as vivid game actions. Over 420,000 users joined the game in Korea on the first day of service opening.

 

‘BATTERY’ is a military FPS game, a genre that has been gaining popularity in Asia. Since OBT in Korea on November 11th, more than 100,000 game clients were downloaded.

 

WEBZEN invited OnRPG and other major publishers and journalists to the "WEBZEN & Friends brunch time" at G Star 2010 on Nov 19th

 

CEOs of WEBZEN, Chang Keun Kim and Byung Gwan Kim, were present at the game show and thanked the invitees. “WEBZEN’s success as a leading Korean games company wouldn’t have been possible without the gamers’ enthusiasm and the partner companies’ cooperation.” and added that “We hope that, through this occasion, it will not only bring spotlights to our games titles but also to our global games portal ‘WEBZEN.com'”

Razer Announces New Razer Nostromo Gaming Keypad

Razer Announces New Razer Nostromo Gaming Keypad!

 

Razer announced the Razer Nostromo gaming keypad, co-developed with Belkin and designed to give gamers the upper hand with cutting-edge ergonomics, tournament-grade controls, extreme customizability, and maximum comfort.

 

Razer announced the Razer Nostromo gaming keypad, co-developed with Belkin and designed to give gamers the upper hand with cutting-edge ergonomics

 

“A few years ago we had the privilege of working with Belkin to co-develop the highly successful Belkin n52te Speedpad.” said Robert “RazerGuy” Krakoff, President, Razer. “The Razer Nostromo is an update to this illustrious gaming keypad to meet today’s competitive gaming demands. Building on the Speedpad’s proven ergonomic design, the Razer Nostromo incorporates the latest gaming technologies that Razer has developed over the past few years, including a new chipset and software drivers that allow all levels of gamers to program sophisticated command strings to help decimate their opponents.”


The Razer Nostromo features a 16-button keypad layout and form factor that is optimally designed for greater intuitive access to critical gaming commands across all game genres. For marathon gaming sessions, a soft-touch rubberized wrist pad cradles the palm and significantly reduces hand fatigue and wrist strain.

 

The Razer Nostromo gives players amazing key activation accuracy with its 16 fully-programmable Hyperesponse gaming buttons and eight-way directional thumb pad, engineered for rapid key actuation and crisp response. The programmable directional thumb pad can be used either for movement or as modifier keys to access auxiliary commands. In addition, the Razer Nostromo boasts several enhancements over its predecessor including the ability to switch instantly between eight keymaps (up from three), and the flexibility of storing up to twenty gaming profiles from the previous limit of ten.

 

Gamers can now also take advantage of the new onboard chipset and software driver that puts aside all previous programming limitations, as the new Razer Nostromo enables gamers to effortlessly program sophisticated macros of unlimited length. This all-new configurator software for the Razer Nostromo comes with an improved user-friendly interface that belies its advanced macro programming capabilities, allowing gamers to conveniently customize all the buttons with any game command to open up a massive repertoire of commands and combinations right under their fingertips.

Pet Forest Announces Tome of Pets Expansion!

Pet Forest Announces Tome of Pets Expansion!


Pet Forest has announced its new expansion: Tome of Pets. It features a new system for players to extract pet cards from their pets and exchange for exclusive items.

Players will be able to collect pet card sets and register them into the Tome of Pets. Each card set contains a brief story about the monster living in the land of Pet Forest. This brand new feature brings more fun to the game, extending the categories of items that players can trade in the market. As players complete the collection of pet card sets, there is a variety of rewards available for redemption, including new seasonal pets and enhanced gears.

 

Pet Forest has announced its new expansion: Tome of Pets.

 

The most recent Halloween event just ended with great success. Players now start a new competition for collecting bunny items as the topic of November. Moreover, Pet Forest’s Facebook fans have reached over 80,000. Now it’s time for celebrating this milestone. Each fan will receive a special bunny-ears headband as Facebook fan’s reward, so visit the fan page and grab one for your hero!

Angels Online Gryphon Mounts Arrive!

Angels Online Gryphon Mounts Arrive!

 

There are some who have yet to hear of the Gryphon, which is revered by the Aurora Faction both as a guardian and as a symbol of speed and power in Angels Online. Over the years, many have come to believe that the Gryphon is a steed belonging to the God of the Wind and Seas that guide the maritime trade and fishing industry in Aurora City.

 

Angels Online Gryphon Mounts Arrive!

 

The newer generation has always doubted stories of the Gryphon, dismissing it as mere legend or superstition, but none have ever doubted what the Gryphon is capable of doing. Long talon’s and a razor edged beek made for good stories to scare children, but was it real? No one was sure…until now.

 

The Aurora Faction has seen troubled times, but during the pirate siege of Aurora City, it was with the help of their Patron Beast, the fabled Gryphon, that the pirates were finally routed and driven back to the sea. While the Pirates continue to terrorize the high seas, preying on shipping, including the fishing ships that are the lifeblood of Aurora City, the Gryphon has arrived to answer their desperate calls for help.

 

Though its rippling muscles and taut limbs make the Gryphon seem bulky, its powerful wings allow it to move with astonishing speed. Distinguishable by its white feathers and brown body, it takes the perfect grace of a bird of prey and adds the lethality of a jungle predator into one lethal package. This translates to a large jump in movement speed and a big boost to player attributes.

 

With the threat of the Evil Lyceum looming and an uncertain future ahead for the Aurora region, the Gryphon has answered the call to action. Revealing itself once more to the Angels of the land, it will only add to the legends that have always surrounded it, and prove that it’s no fairy tale once and for all.

Legend of Martial Arts Interview, Closed BETA Tomorrow!

Legend of Martial Arts Interview, Closed BETA Tomorrow!
Questions by Vincent Haoson (Vincenthaoson), OnRPG Journalist
Answered by to Jonathan Belliss, Director of Marketing at Perfect World Entertainment.

Legend of Martial Arts is an up and coming MMORPG that’s currently starting its Closed Beta Stage. The game’s a revamp of the martial-arts themed MMO, Kung Foo. So before we get to see what th changes are we knocked on their doors and asked around on what’s new with Legend of Martial Arts and if how much did they listen to you guys.

 

OnRPG: Hello and thank you for giving us the opportunity to talk with you guys! We know that your Closed Beta Test is nearing and we were just wondering how are the preparations for Legend of Martial Arts going?

Hi, it’s a pleasure to speak with you about Legend of Martial Arts. We’ve definitely been very busy preparing for the Closed Beta launch, which is just around the corner on Wednesday, November 24, and things have been going well. We look forward to hearing player’s feedback once Closed Beta begins and you can keep an eye out for feature spotlights on Legend of Martial Arts that are released each week on the official Perfect World blog.

 

LOMA Castle

 

OnRPG: So to clear things up first, we’re correct in thinking that LOMA is in fact a redo of your old title, Kung Foo? Why did you guys decide to change direction with that title?

That is correct. With the renaming to Legend of Martial Arts, we wanted to highlight the game’s content, in-depth mechanics and how players could become a martial arts legend themselves.

One of the reasons we decided to hold off on launching Kung Foo! in open beta was to incorporate player feedback. During that process, we improved the overall quality of the game and gave the game a complete makeover by updating the graphics, adding new content and localizing the humor to be more westernized.

 


OnRPG: Did you guys work on what Kung Foo already established and remade it for LOMA or did you guys build LOMA from scratch?

The fundamental elements and mechanics such as combat and basics of the storyline were kept in Legend of Martial Arts. What we focused on was building additional content and adding a layer of polish around the existing game.

 
OnRPG: What were the changes you guys made from Kung Foo that stands out with LOMA?

As mentioned earlier, the most obvious change is seen in the graphics of Legend of Martial Arts as well as the new content we’ve added. Just to name a few changes:

– New demonic, non-human race, the Reavers, with two new classes:
        > The Berserker class can transform into a cat or wolf for greatly enhanced physical abilities.
        > The Oracle class has the ability to summon gods from the underworld to activate special powers and magic spells.
– Dungeon Matchmaking/Queue System allows players to more easily group in-game and run raids together.
– PvP Dungeons will challenge hardcore players to fight each other for the right to defeat powerful monsters and bosses.

LOMA Moon

OnRPG: Were these changes made from your own observations or were they mostly from players who gave their feedback during the Kung Foo Closed Beta?

It’s a combination of both. The feedback we received challenged us to take a closer look at Kung Foo! For instance, we’ve updated the graphics to give Legend of Martial Arts a whole new look and feel while still maintaining the game’s unique cartoon style. We’ve also added new content and mechanics giving the game more depth for both casual and hardcore players alike.  We spent a lot of time not only listening to player feedback, but also analyzing player behavior in the game in order to determine what features people enjoyed, then building from there.


OnRPG: So what is the standing LOMA storyline? What is the world LOMA set on and how are players part of it?

Legend of Martial Arts is the basic find the princess story, but with a twist. Players will find themselves forming alliances with each other to fight against a common enemy to rescue the princess and there’s also a case of mistaken identity.  The story as a whole is basically a fresh new comedic twist on the whole “princess is in another castle” narrative.

 


OnRPG: Aside from the Reavers race you posted in your site can you tell us the other races that are included in LOMA?

Definitely, there are currently two races and besides the Reavers race, players can create a human character, which has a unique class progression where there are a multitude of classes to choose from.

 
OnRPG: What are the jobs that are available for players? Will they be race exclusive or the job classes open to all races?

Jobs or crafting are open to all races and players can specialize in one or a few or master them all and include your typical crafts that will allow players to trade their wares with each other.

 

LOMA Staff


OnRPG: How huge is the world in LOMA? Will players get to explore a lot of places in the game?

Most definitely, the world in Legend of Martial Arts has breathtaking landscapes, cliffs that seem infinite and expansive zones. In addition to treacherous dungeons, we’ve added new starting zones for the Reavers race. Players will also get to encounter unique creatures from a one-winged demon to small, friendly-looking animals.

OnRPG: Can you mention the list of features LOMA has that will drive the interest of players?

The Transformation System is one of the most unique things in Legend of Martial Arts which includes over 100 different transformation items that will boost character skills and are open to all players. The Legendary Weapon System is another unique feature that will grant the most elite players on a server with ultra rare and unique weapons for the ultimate server bragging rights. As previously mentioned, the PvP dungeons and Dungeon Matchmaking/Queue System, also makes Legend of Martial Arts stand out from the crowd.

 

LOMA Trees


OnRPG: What separates LOMA from the other martial arts themed MMOs? Why do you think so?

In addition to the Transformation System, the weapons in Legend of Martial Arts really stand out. You might not think that a frying pan or guitar might do a lot of damage, but imagine getting hit by one!

On that note, looks can be deceiving and while Legend of Martial Arts may look like a light and fluffy game, there’s enough content and features that make the game challenging enough for even the most hardcore players.

Legend of Martial Arts is a game that artistically is very dynamic and casual, but in terms of gameplay is extremely in-depth and contains many hardcore elements.

 


OnRPG: What will be open to players during the game’s Closed Beta Test? Are all features available for players during this time?

Most of the content will be available to players during Closed Beta testing, including the new Reavers race, starting areas and dungeons.  We will be restricting the level cap to 60 so that we can focus on not only the revamp to the original game, but also the starting experiences for the new race.

OnRPG: How long will the Closed Beta Test last? What are the things you will be looking for during its duration?

We currently plan to roll out Closed Beta for Legend of Martial Arts for approximately a month; however things can always change depending on the progress and feedback we receive during Closed Beta.  The main thing we’ll be looking for is user response to the changes we’ve made, and what direction to take with the game moving forward based on that feedback.

 
OnRPG: What’s in store for LOMA after Closed Beta Test and the months ahead?

Players can look forward to a swift Open Beta launch after Closed Beta testing, so that they can start building their permanent characters. We already have a full development plan layed out for 2011 including regular content updates, an expansion, and much more.  As with all our games, we are always open to player feedback as a way to expand our games and keep things exciting for our players.

Azeroth Will Be Shattering This Week in World of Warcraft

It’s the final moments of old Azeroth in World of Wacraft as MMO-Champion eariler today announced that the shattering will be taking place this week. This means that there isn’t much time left to take your last screenshot memories of the old world.

 

“Let’s confirm this, yes, Patch 4.0.3a will be deployed on live servers this week and will change the world of Azeroth forever. You only have a few hours left to say good bye to the old world (and farm try to get that stupid mount in Zul’gurub) before Deathwing decides that it needs a new look. All the information and the official patch notes are available below.

 

Cataclysm World of Warcraft

Get ready for the biggest change you ever witnessed in World of Warcraft, and enjoy!

What’s in Patch 4.0.3a
Sammew posted an interesting list of the features you should and should not expect in Patch 4.0.3a on the official forums. Zarhym also jumped in, and announced a 20% reduction to the XP required to gain levels from 71 to 80.

What is not in:
– Creating worgen/goblin characters
– Worgen/Goblin start zones
– Archeology
– Professions past 450 (Illustrious Grand Master)
– Guild leveling
– Guild achievements
– Eastern Kingdoms/Kalimdor flight
– New Zones (80+)

What is in:
– Portals in Dalaran/Shattrath Removed
– Class trainers in Dalaran where portals once were
– New race-class combinations (excluding worgen/goblin)
– New Gnome/Troll starting areas
– Changes to existing zones
– New cata load screens
– New cata intro cinematic
– New cata login screen
– New music
– City Quartermasters, with rep tabards
– Bug fixes
– Class balancing
– Druids, paladins, priests, and shaman will have their talent trees reset
– Experience required to gain levels 71 through 80 is being reduced by 20%-New tamable hunter pets (Monkey, fox, dog, and beetle, as well as new skins for existing pet classes.)”

 

See MMO-Champion for the full details of this game changing patch!

 

 

Design Star Trek Onlines Next Enterprise

Design Star Trek Onlines Next Enterprise

 

On television, they are the voyages of the USS Enterprise, as imagined by writers and artists throughout the years. In Star Trek Online, they are the voyages of whatever you have cared to name your ship. Now though, CBS and Cryptics Star Trek Online are offering you the chance to design the next USS Enterprise and have it included in STO.

 

Star Trek Online, Design the next Enterprise

 

“We’re working with our friends at CBS and Intel to turn the design of the next Enterprise over to you, Star Trek’s most dedicated fans. We’ll convert the best design into a ship in Star Trek Online, but that’s not where it stops. Here’s what contestants can win:

 

– Grand Prize: Custom, STO-painted Alienware M11x laptop; STO Collector’s Edition; STO Lifetime Membership; inclusion of design in STO; and a 3-D model of the winning design.

– Second Prize: Alienware laptop (no custom paint job), STO Collector’s Edition and an STO Lifetime Membership.

– Third Prize: STO Collector’s Edition, STO Lifetime Membership and an Intel Core i7-875k processor.

– Fourth Prize: STO Collector’s Edition and an STO Lifetime Membership.

– Twenty-one Honorable Mentions: Standard-edition copy of STO and a Star Trek Online poster.”

 

There’s plenty of inspiration to draw on. From Earths first Warp 5 NX-01 Enterprise to the briefly glimpsed Enterprise-J.

 

The competition opens on December 9th.