Yearly Archives: 2010

Ntreev USA Becomes SG Interactive

Ntreev USA Becomes SG Interactive

Ntreev USA, a publisher of online games, today announced that it has changed its name to SG Interactive. The rebranding reflects the company’s recent acquisition by game developer SmileGate, the creators of record-breaking online FPS Cross Fire. SG Interactive will continue to publish popular Ntreev titles Grand ChasePangya and Trickster Online under the new brand, and will expand to offer an even greater variety of games and services through its new games portal launching in early 2011.

 

“Our primary goal, first as Ntreev USA and now as SG Interactive, has always been providing U.S. players with the best free, high-quality online games and a welcoming virtual community,” said Chris Lee, CEO of SG Interactive. “Working with SmileGate provides us with a terrific opportunity to take greater strides toward making that goal a reality as we work to build the SG Interactive brand.”

 

The new SG Interactive portal will focus on free-to-play online games in a wide variety of genres, providing hardcore and casual players of all ages with the best possible user experience. More details about the portal, including information about the exciting new titles it will feature, will be revealed later this year. SG Interactive will continue to support Grand ChasePangya, and Trickster Online: New Discovery through their current home at as development of the new portal continues. 

Full details about SG Interactive, including a look at their plans for the upcoming portal, will be available on the official company website launching later this year.

Uncharted Waters Online: Seven Seas Adventure of the Future

Uncharted Waters Online: Seven Seas Adventure of the Future
By Vincent Haoson (Vincenthaoson), OnRPG Journalist

Uncharted Waters Online is a MMORPG that puts you in the shoes of a “sailor” during mans time of exploration. You get to own your own ship, travel the seven seas and create your own story within this fictional era where you only get to travel on ships, big wooden ships to add that.

 

Uncharted Waters Online Creation

 

First Impressions

Uncharted Waters Online is not a game you can immediately jump into and just play. Nor would you want to since being a sailor means you need funds which you personally don’t have specially when you start off. Thankfully the game provides a tedious “tutorial” stage that gives you the necessary info and money to make your travels much easier.

 

 

Uncharted Waters Online Yeah School

 

Don’t take the word tedious too lightly with the game’s tutorial, if you opted to go through the academe—in this case it is an actual school. You’ll be lectured in the basic things you need to know to survive this world. It’s basically a go there, talk with NPC get info and go back type of quests which tends to grate on you. However, in as much as I hated the one or so hour I spent on the Academe, it helped me understand the necessary things in the game, which saved me from looking like a buffoon asking the noobish questions.

Classes

The game has only three major classes you can choose. You have the Adventurers, the Merchants and the Maritime (which basically is the soldier class in the game). I don’t think I have to elaborate on the three classes because the titles themselves say what they are.

At first glance the lack of any other classes may seem a downside for the game, however, it is in fact fitting to the game’s overall concept. While the classes seem to be basic, the gameplay provides depth for  each class. In fact, you have tons of jobs you can get into branching off each major class. The fun thing is that you can switch to any job class that you like as long as you meet the requirements. The things you can do in the game are  not restricted to the class you are in. In fact you can still trade even if you’re a maritime type or an adventurer type and you can still fight even if you’re a merchant type. The only thing that’s different is that each class has an exclusive skill set.

 

Uncharted Waters Online World

 

You  can go far in terms of the job class, the game provides a truly customizable character that can definitely give you an enjoyable game experience.

Of course it doesn’t hurt that you can also see the changes in your characters equipment, and you can even create a fat character, which is a rare sight in games dominated by the boy next door look gamers often use.

Seafaring

UWO is of course a seafaring game and half the time you are online you’ll be in your ship travelling the seas for fun and profit. Seafaring is simple enough in UWO however it’s the preparation that will really take up your time especially if you’re unfamiliar with the whole idea of ships or you are still on the ropes because you didn’t go through the Academe.

 

Uncharted Waters Online Seafaring

 

However, once you got the hang of seafaring all these little details of stocking your ship up aren’t  too much of a bother. In fact, it becomes really enjoyable because this provides the authentic feel that you are in fact a Captain of your own ship. I also liked the fact that seafaring gives you more things to think about before you sail out compared to other games of the same genre, such as Pirate King Online, where you only worry  about  the fuel and cargo of your ship.
In UWO, you also have to worry about the crew’s loyalty, morale and fatigue. This provides the feeling that you are indeed the Captain and that your crew’s welfare is part of your concerns.

 

Uncharted Waters Online Ship

 

The game also has a territory system in place where you need a special pass to be able to make port in certain cities. With the game spanning the whole globe, you can actually feel the frustrations sailors experience when you get to ports you are not friendly with.

Battles

UWO prides itself that this is a game that doesn’t require violence to be fun. However, before I go into that, I’d like to talk about UWO’s battle system. First and foremost, all of the battles in UWO occur at sea. Battling against other ships is highly reliant on your ship’s position, much like in actual naval warfare.

 

 

Uncharted Waters Online Fire Fire

 

The game provides you with two options. You can go for the usual canon vs. canon exchange, or you can ram the enemy ship and then board.  Being a fan of naval warfare, I truly enjoyed going against the pirates and having an alternative of taking them down through sheer force of sailors.
The boarding system in battles in fact provides an alternative tactic that makes the battling more enjoyable and exciting. It also provides another way of winning battles even if you’re outgunned.

Conclusion

As a port of an old game, UWO really brought justice in providing an authentic feel in the life of a sailor. Considering that the competitors in this genre took a more comical, perky route (Pirate King Online), UWO provides players with a more serious side to sailing.

 

Uncharted Waters Online Sunk

 

The good thing about UWO is that it presents itself as more of a “simulation” game than just a mere ship vs. ship canon shootout. You can in fact play the game as a merchant and enjoy it immensely. To prove this point, the game even allows you to create your own home and accessorize it with the money you earned either by traveling or trading.

All in all, I must truly say that I enjoyed my UWO experience and I’m looking forward to when the game goes commercial.

 

Final Fantasy XIV Players Get Another Free Month of Playtime

Final Fantasy XIV Players Get Another Free Month of Playtime

 

It’s not often a game extends its free trial by another 30 days to show a sign of good intention to its day one buyers that game improvements are on their way. It’s even rarer that those 30 days are extended by another 30 to make the grand total of 3 months of free game time if you had preordered Final Fantasy XIV.

 

Final Fantasy XIV players get another free month of playtime

 

The Square Enix website explains below:

 

“As always, we would like to express our gratitude to all players enjoying their adventures in Eorzea.

 

Today, we have decided to extend the free trial period an additional 30 days. Please refer to the following for more details.

 

We have also added a Topics post detailing a portion of the content heading your way in the two large-scale version updates slated for late November and mid-December. This month’s version update, tentatively scheduled for November 25, marks the first step in bringing about significant improvement to FINAL FANTASY XIV, guided in large part by the feedback you, the players, have provided. We are adamant that you should be given the opportunity to experience these changes firsthand before deciding to fully commit to the game. We encourage everyone to view today’s post, as well as the previous Topics post from November 11 outlining the development team’s roadmap for the coming months. Further details regarding payment options and future version updates will be posted as they become available.”

 

Massive changes are on the horizon for Final Fantasy XIV, the first of which will be during November and December and following up early in 2011. It’s enough to keep us hoping that Square-Enix get it just right and turn the game into the great title that it originally should have been.

The Returning Light Monk Class Preview Part I

The Returning Light Monk Class Preview For Conquer Online


After several months of waiting, Conquer Online’s new class, the Monk, is finally ready for its international debut! The highly anticipated Kung-fu Monk is scheduled to be unveiled this Christmas season!

 

 

Conquer Online Monk Class Preview

 

 

Stemming from the legends of ancient China, the concept of the Kungfu Monk was first inspired by the legendary Shaolin Monastery, which has always been considered a sacred and powerful order in the oriental world. The high priests of the Shaolin temple researched and devised many unique and powerful martial arts styles, which include boxing, pole arts, spear arts, sword arts, and so on. These ‘fathers of Kung-fu’ were trained in the various styles of martial arts, and deemed as protectors of holiness and the ways of Shaolin.

 

Now the legend continues in the world of Conquer! Striving to be kind and selfless, the Monk order has been engaging in devotional meditation for thousands of years. They always try to maintain separation from the outside world, in order to keep their focus on achieving enlightenment and higher states of being. But now, evil has declared war against the world, and the wave of darkness has reached their very doorstep. It is the time they return to the world they once knew, but left behind so long ago…

 

Conquer Online Monk Class Preview OnRPG

 

Compared with other melee classes, the Monk class in Conquer is a great combination of strong close-hand combat and magical support. They are the masters of ‘Chi’, and different than any other class in the fact that they fight almost barehanded! Clothed in the traditional frock and monk’s cap, prayer beads are their only physical weapon. The abilities that a monk possesses are similar to magic, in the way that they cost a set amount of energy, or ‘Chi’, to use. The Monk’s skills include strikes that cause elemental damage, blessings to cure an ally’s afflictions, and the ability to prevent others from raising fallen soldiers!

 

Conquer Online Monk Class Preview

 

Five Elemental Auras

The Monk fulfills a different role in a party than the other professions, generally being based around healing and enhancing your party’s abilities in combat, as well as removing detrimental conditions and hexes. They can assist you in battle by giving you various extra attributes, while still being able to tough it out on the front lines!

 

A skilled Monk will be a strong back-line supporter, who would greatly enhance your teamwork and make group PKing more challenging and fun! Their magical abilities could even stand up to the powerful Ninja, while not overpowering the other classes.
More details coming soon! Stay tuned!

 

Conquer Online Features
6 Unique Playable Classes
Monk – New!
Ninja
Archer
Trojan
Warrior
Taoist

 

PVP/ PK
Conquer Online boasts a fast-paced and easy to understand PK-centered style of gameplay. The game offers players a broad range of interactive PVP/ PK platforms, including various solo, group, and even inter-server PK events!

 

Rebirth
In the world of Conquer, Rebirth is like a continuation of your life, without the pesky dying part! Your character is born again as a new class and profession, which leaves you free to continue your training to achieve perfection! Reborn characters are much more powerful than newborns, with more Battle Power, more abilities, better skills and a more striking appearance!

 

Shaiya Interview – 3 Years Ain’t Old

Shaiya Interview – 3 Years Ain’t Old
Questions by Chen Fo Po (cinderboy), OnRPG Journalist
Answered by Josh Sell, Senior Producer of Shaiya

 

Shaiya

 

Aeria Games has been hosting the North American server of Shaiya, developed by Korean studio, Sonov, since its introduction in 2007 (which is almost 3 years back). The game has come a long way, but the question is: What major changes has the game gone through? Has it gotten better? How is the game holding up against waves of other new MMO titles? Let’s find out.

 

 

OnRPG: Hello, I am Fo Po (cinderboy), OnRPG’s journalist. Can you please introduce yourself?

My name is Josh Sell and I’m the Sr. Producer for Shaiya.  I joined Aeria Games about 7 months after launching our first game over 3 years ago.  Joining me is Spencer Tucker, Associate Producer for Shaiya.

 

 

OnRPG: Aeria Games has hosted Shaiya since 2007. Your thoughts on this achievement?

With MMOs coming and going seemingly every month, this achievement is amazing.  Of course, one of the largest reasons we are able to keep going is by offering the game as a free to play MMO by allowing anyone to check out the game with no obligation whatsoever.  The fact that we’re able to continue growing even after 3 years is simply amazing.  It surprises even us sometimes and we are immensely proud of what we have been able to accomplish.

 

 

OnRPG: What were some of the difficult challenges the team encountered during the past few years?

Whew – this brings back some good and bad memories.  One difficult challenge that was ‘bad’ includes a virus that hit our servers, bringing them down for 3 days over the Christmas season in 2008.  We were able to reformat the machines, add some extra security measures, and get them back up with bonus events running.  Other challenges are considered ‘good’ – one example being that we have so many people interested in the PvP elements of the game, how do we keep the game interesting.

 

 

OnRPG: What are some of the most significant changes made to the game?

Shaiya has undergone many content updates, gameplay improvements and usability upgrades over time.  We are constantly working with SonoV to improve the user experience and use player feedback to guide us in what changes we feel add the most value to our player base. The addition of a linked PVP server, the auction house system, re-balanced skill system, improved UI and 4 major content expansions are just a few examples of this. We are currently working on our largest content release since launch; this new content will introduce new gameplay elements, such as the invasion system and add more new quests, content, maps and gear than any previous content update.  We feel that with these changes, Shiaya retains attractiveness and adds something new for veterans and new players alike.

 

Shaiya Combat Stance

 

 

OnRPG: How has the number of active players been holding up?

Shaiya is still at its peak in terms of active players and this should continue for quite some time.  The userbase itself is at a very stable state.  Not only that, but we expect the upcoming content release to bring back a lot of old players that may have left at one point or another and mix the old blood with new blood.  It’s going to be interesting seeing how it shakes things up within the community!

 

 

OnRPG: How do you think Shaiya is performing against the waves of various new MMOs?

I get the impression that we are doing extremely well.  Shaiya is Aeria Games’ largest game and we offer it in over 8 languages covering the US, South America, and parts of Europe. 

 

 

OnRPG: In an age where MMO titles come and go at an amazing rate, can Shaiya be considered as an “old” game?

Personally, I wouldn’t consider Shaiya an “old” game at 3 years.  While the graphics aren’t as good as some of the new stuff coming out, they are still considered good.  Where Shaiya really shines though is the gameplay.  The strong PvP and PvE mechanics still give newer games a run for their money and are very unique, which is further supported by the growth we’ve experienced as well as the fact that we still have tens of thousands of players playing each day.  The bottom line is that the game is fun.

 

Shaiya Group

 

OnRPG: Are there any features in Shaiya do you think are still better than the newer games?

Absolutely!  For one, the game has amazingly active RvR and PvP elements.  Players have objectives that truly impact the entire gaming experience for characters of all levels.  When your faction controls a RvR area, the entire faction gains increased upgrade chances, better drops, more stats, and better experience gains.  The result is a non-stop tug-of-war for these benefits.  It’s not set up so that factions have all or nothing – it’s like a rope that inches one way, then the other, and it’s a struggle the whole way.  The second is the structure of our PvE.  There are a variety of quests, old school world bosses, zoned bosses, and more.  The variety and how everything comes together is really what makes the feature shine.

 

 

OnRPG: There are 2 factions players can choose from, The Alliance of Light and Union of Fury. Will Aeria Games do anything to balance the game if either one of the faction is simply too strong during continent wars?

Absolutely, the PVP elements that make Shaiya so appealing as a PVP MMORPG largely depend on a semi-even balance between the two factions.  We have previously made several changes ranging from a faction change process to incentives for new players geared at maintaining a balance between the two.  We will continue to look forward and if we see an imbalance, we are committed to working with the community and our Devs to develop ways to more evenly balance the factions on each server should the need occur.  

 

 

OnRPG: One of the more unique features, even now, is the different difficulty modes players can select. Can you briefly explain to readers who have not tried the game before?

The difficulty modes help bring a different experience to different types of gamers.  There are four difficulty modes:  Easy, Normal, Hard, and Ultimate.  Easy Mode is basically for anyone who has never played an MMO before.  You level very quickly but are limited to level 30 as the maximum.  Normal Mode is where the game really starts and where the majority of players will remain.  This is the baseline for leveling up and the level cap is 60, the maximum.  Hard Mode gets a bit trickier.  You have to unlock Hard Mode by leveling a character to 30 in Normal Mode. 

 

Leveling up is  slower, but as a reward you get extra stat points and can use more equipment.  Ultimate Mode is for the hardcore gamer.  A player must level a Hard Mode character to 30 in order to unlock Ultimate Mode.  Leveling up is a challenge, but the player gets a lot of stat points and can use any item appropriate for their class.  The kicker:  if you die and are not resurrected within 3 minutes, your character gets deleted.

 

Shaiya Impale

 

OnRPG: Why the decision to implement this difficulty system in the game in the first place?

There are two considerations for implementing the difficulty system.  The first is gameplay.  This has to do with the sense of achievement, progression, and overall challenge (especially for Ultimate Mode).  Difficulty Mode is an extra element one must consider in PvP and when dungeon crawling.  The other, quite honestly, is the business model.  Being a free-to-play MMORPG, Shaiya must generate revenues in some way to keep the game running.  A big source of this is from the Ultimate Mode characters that use our resurrection runes to prevent permanent deletion.  This method circumvents the “freemium” model in a way that allows everyone to experience all content within the game on similar terms.

 

OnRPG: How bad is the economy inflation within the game due to the influence of gold traders?

The gold inflation late 2009 and 2010 was a bit out of control.  There were a variety of exploits that gold traders used to wreak havoc in the economy.  Since spring of 2010 however, we have seen the economy stabilize and we are keeping a close eye on items, gold, and exploits to avoid this from happening again.  We’re always working to stamp out gold sellers and buyers we catch and compile regular reports tracking the offenders down.  Thankfully, with the first ever level cap increase releasing in August, the economy will be revitalized and fresh again.

 

Shaiya PvE

 

OnRPG: Any new in-game content players can look forward to in the near future?

Glad you asked! We are on the verge of releasing our largest content update since launch, The Relic of Mystra.  This new content will add for the first time, a new level cap of 70, as well as over 300+ new quests, over 250+ new weapons/armor and 2 new entirely new maps for players to explore.  These new content additions will be accompanied by a new skill system revamp consisting of over 200+ new skill tiers and a brand new game mechanic called the invasion system.  We will continue to work with SonoV to implement future content releases and add even more depth to the Shaiya as time goes on. 

 

 

OnRPG: Shaiya 2 was teased by SonoV a few months back. Any comments on the sequel?

SonoV is still very tight-lipped regarding Shaiya 2.  We’re looking forward to seeing more about Shaiya 2 ourselves.  The success of Shaiya 1 means a lot of potential for Shaiya 2, but even we don’t know anything beyond what was teased.

 

 

OnRPG: Thank you for your time!

World of Tanks Reaches Half Million Active Players

World of Tanks Reaches Half Million Active Players

 

Wargaming.net today announced that the population of its highly anticipated free-to-play MMO action game World of Tanks reached 500,000 active players worldwide. The game was released 3 months ago in Russia and reached 350,000 active players (500,000 registrations). In the USA and Europe, World of Tanks is still in Closed Beta Test having 150,000 active players (200,000 registrations).

 

World of Tanks Reaches Half Million Active Players

 

The number of peak con-current users (PCCU) in Russia exceeded 43,000. In the West PCCU surpassed 10,000 players. On average each active gamer spends 3 hours and 20 minutes playing the game every day. 10 million battles have been fought since September.

 

“It’s just the beginning of a global legend,” said Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming.net. “We see this game running for at least ten years in the West and Asia with tons of new content coming out every month.”

 

Join the beta at the official Wargaming.net sign up page