Yearly Archives: 2010

Nadirim Interview: 1001 Gaming Nights

Nadirim Interview: 1001 Gaming Nights
Questions by Jonathan (Ardua) Doyle OnRPG Journalist
Answered by Zoltán Mészáros, Nadirim game designer

 

OnRPG: Hi there. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us about Nadirim. Could you tell me what it is you do with regards to the game?
Hi, my name is Zoltán Mészáros and I’m working as a game designer on the project. I am a member of the story and vision team.

 

OnRPG: I’m sure most of our readers will have heard of Aladdin, if not the Arabian Nights. I always remember how exotic the stories seemed as a child. How much of that had a bearing on choosing such a non-typical fantasy setting?
We were searching for a unique setting that is both rich and exotic, but also broad enough to allow us room to add our own ideas. The Arabian Nights setting instantly came to mind. This world is familiar to many but relatively unused in games, so it was our favorite choice right from the start. The world of Arabian fables offered us exactly what we wanted in our game: adventure, mystery and humour – with an underdog who  becomes a prince and achieves great deeds.

 

OnRPG: So early on I know there are limits to what you can tell us but if I may ask, how is the beta [Apply here: http://nadirim.com/beta] progressing for you?
We have already put tons of work into preparing the beta and we are slowly reaching a point when we feel it is evolved enough to put it out there for the fans. We want to take the time to do this right and release a game that meets both our own high expectations, and those of our fans.

 

Nadirim

 

OnRPG: The Lore trailer recently released does wonders for giving us a sense of the setting. Was it difficult working out what parts of the mythos to use and where to create?
That was something the vision team had to pin down early. We created our own world by selecting the most interesting  and engaging aspects of the Arabian Nights and Arabian mythology. The entire team shared this vision, so picking out the right parts from the mythos came easy for us.

 

OnRPG: The classes mentioned in the game material, Sage, Warrior, Nomad, Ruffian and Caravan Master all sound like great fun and each with depth. Have you had fun fleshing them out and bringing them to life? What was the toughest class to get right?
We had enormous fun, but because of this it wasn’t easy either. Everyone was so engaged that at first we had ideas for at least a dozen classes and we dearly loved all of them. So getting rid of a few and condensing the rest was a bit of a heartbreak. But when our love for the lore met our need for clear game mechanics, everything fell into place. After that, it became quite obvious what roles should each class have. These classes now complement each other so nicely that I couldn’t pick one that was harder to get right than the rest.

 

OnRPG: Free to play and on a browser to boot. Something that is sure to be a hit with OnRPG readers. Will there be an item shop included in the game?
Yes, there will be. We have put great effort into the balancing aspects of it to give a fair chance for non-paying users as well, but also make using the shop really worthwhile.

 

Nadirim

 

OnRPG: What can you tell us regarding the choices made on the games visual style and graphics?
We wanted a style that says exotic and epic fable. So we went for visuals that are colorful, rich in detail and designed for a grown up audience. We decided to avoid cartoony graphics as well as gore and blood. Neither seemed appropriate to the story we wanted to tell.

 

OnRPG: The various classes each have two paths open to them, though I am sure players will soon find their own variations. What can you tell us about the skill tree system for the classes?
The different skill trees and specialization routes for the classes are not just a means of character progression but also a way of customizing your own play style. Depending on how deeply you get involved, your choices can even alter what role your character plays within a group.

 

OnRPG: Will the game be integrated with Facebook or any other social media platforms and if so, will there be advantages to doing so for players?
It was our goal right from start to connect the game to Facebook but at this stage it would be too early to get into details. I can tell you that we intend to make this feature quite worthwhile for the players.

 

Nadirim Skills

 

OnRPG: Exactly how will the turn based combat system play out for people? Was it difficult to balance with multiple players?
The most challenging part was to create appropriate skills for both solo and group fights. I think we have managed to balance that well. When you fight alone, your skillset will provide you with a great fighting experience that requires a bit of tactical thinking. In group combat, you will notice that the same skills open up a new layer of the game. In other words, the interdependency and relationships between the different classes create new possibilities for skills you thought you already had mastered. 

 

OnRPG: Assuming Nadirim will be the hit it is shaping up to be, will this spell more massively multiplayer games from Digital Reality in the future?
Everyone on the team is eager to make further games in this genre. We have ideas for future projects, but for the time being we want to concentrate our efforts on making Nadirim as good as we know it can be.

 

OnRPG:Closed Beta Signups are ongoing for Nadirim and hopefully we’ll be seeing more from the folks at Digital Reality soon and from Nadirim. Is there anything you’d like to add for our readers?
Be patient, Nadirim is coming! Until then, we hope to see you all in our community forum! 

Terra Militaris Closed Beta To Start September 27

Terra Militaris Closed Beta To Start September 27

Gala Networks Europe, the leading free-to-play publisher of online games, is delighted to announce that Terra Militaris, its upcoming browser-based real-time strategy MMO, is about to enter a Closed Beta Test phase. Potential players are now invited to sign up for pre-registrations for access to the latest gPotato.eu title from renowned browser-based MMO developers, Snail Game.

 

The Closed Beta Test will start on September 27th and is scheduled for 10 days in order to test the game and the server capacities. Terra Militaris will combine historical MMORTS gameplay with high-end Flash graphics and will be fully playable on both PC and Mac formats. Ready to set a new standard for browser games, Terra Militaris will bring a new gaming experience to European players without any downloads or a subscription fee.

 

Terra Militaris

 

Hyun Hur, CEO, Gala Networks Europe comments: “Terra Militaris is a hugely exciting game for gPotato.eu and we’re overjoyed to be nearing the Closed Beta Test phase. Browser-based games are rapidly becoming the cutting edge for MMOs and we’re certain that those players lucky enough to participate will be impressed with the sheer quality of Snail Game’s work, which runs in any Flash-supported browser. We’re really looking forward to seeing which empires rise and fall once the Closed Beta Test begins, so any RTS and strategy players that think they’re up to the task should sign up without hesitation!”

 

Terra Militaris will be available by the end of 2010 through the gPotato.eu games portal with no download or subscription fee required. To play the game, users will only have to login to the official website using their favourite PC or Mac web-browser, and jump into the game in seconds. More information about the game will soon be available on http://terra-militaris.gpotato.eu.

EVE Online Announces Next Expansion: Incursion

EVE Online Announces Next Expansion: Incursion


CCP has announced a new expansion for all subscribers and trial users of EVE Online that will be released in November, 2010. EVE Online: Incursion will feature the escalating attacks of the deadly Sansha’s Nation which is bent on instituting itsown utopia and exacting vengeance against the pilots who stand in its way. Pilots can join public fleets and co-operate to destroy the Sansha incursions and return the universe to normal, receiving wealthy bounties, earning loyalty rewards and high commendation.

 

EVE Online: Incursion will also include many improvements as suggested by the Council of Stellar Management, as well as hardware upgrades, software improvements and new cluster components aimed at increasing game and fleet battle performance to even higher levels.

 

EVE Online: Incursion will include many improvements as suggested by the Council of Stellar Management

 

Further improvements include updating the character creator with CCP’s Carbon character technology for fresh pilot portraits, a Sansha Mothership and fighterbomber, the Noctis salvaging vessel, improvements to NPCs and their AI, new coveted loot and rewards, storyline events, amazing new visuals and a more dynamic and simplified system for Planetary Interaction.

 

EVEGate, the web-based social networking platform for pilots, sees improvements and additions such as new forums which underline the importance of organizational and communication tools in the virtual world. The expansion enhances the power of individual choice in the context of meaningful relationships with other players – EVE’s true strength – as highlighted in the “Causality” trailer.

 

“Incursion marks a point where our PVE experience moves towards the co-operative roots of EVE and the largest introduction of our Carbon Technology platform to date. Never before have so many players and developers contributed to EVE’s living universe”, says Sr. Producer Arnar Gylfason.

Lekool launches browser game Dragon’s Call

LeKool Launches Browser Game Dragon’s Call

LeKool Inc., a social and browser game publisher and developer, with the partnership of the developer GameDP, will launch a brand new game: Dragon’s Call.

 

Dragon's Call

 

Dragon’s Call is 2D browser based RPG game with many rich features. Your character will be equipped with a variety of weapons, and you can obtain skills and magical abilities to help you in your journey through quests across the mysterious lands. Dragon’s Call is set in the world called StillLand, a magic world filled with various creatures, including humans, elves, dwarves, giants, orcs, dragons, animals and evil forces with tremendous power. There was a short period of quiet after the worlds came into being, when all forms of life lived in peace and harmony. However, as powers and desires increased. This resultet in many struggles and conflicts. Numerous wars bestowed different destinies upon the races. Only you can bring peace to this cursed land.

 

LeKool works hard to provide a fun environment for its growing community of passionate gamers. They offer many in-game events, such as: the Dragon’s Call Opening Event and the Dragon’s Call Opening Purchase Event, where you can receive double cash for all the gold you buy directly from them. That should be an interesting start of their game! Besides this, LeKool organizes other events, where you can win a lot of prizes. 

 

Clone Wars Adventures

Clone Wars Adventures is an action-packed online game where you can experience the thrills and excitement of Star Wars: The Clone Wars first hand. Battle it out with your friends alongside your favorite Star Wars characters like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Ahsoka Tano.

It’s easy to get started; just launch your web browser, sign up for an account and you’re in within minutes! Play as a Jedi, Padawan or a Clone Trooper.

Speed through space in Starfighter, take out waves of Battle Droids in Republic Defender or test your brain with Droid Programming puzzles.

Pick up your own protocol Droid or show off your style with legendary Star Wars outfits and items. Check up on your friends through their profile page or invite them to your house party. Hang out and chat or just brag about your latest trophies. There’s no place online like Clone Wars Adventures.

Clone Wars Adventures, the Force is in you.

Nadirim Introduces Skill System

Nadirim Introduces Skill System

 

Digital Reality and Twisted Tribe reveal a new gameplay feature: the skill system in Nadirim which works with two specialization skill trees of each character class.

This is what they have told us so far:

 

Skill types


Altogether, there are seven skill categories in the game:

 

Offensive (red skills)
These skills focus on dealing damage to your opponent and lowering his health (HP). Their potential is derived from either your characters’ Damage attributes (these determine your destructive ability) or from the Arcane Talent attributes (these determine your ability with curses or enchantments).

 

Defensive (silver skills)
These skills will enable you to either defend yourself better, or to defend others by drawing attackers to yourself.

 

Buff (blue skills)
Buffs are benevolent charms that can give you or your allies the sometimes dearly-needed advantage for victory.

 

Debuff (orange skills)
These skills weaken your opponents, causing them damage for a given time or possibly even putting them out of battle for a few turns.

 

Tricks (purple skills)
Always expect the unexpected when someone uses a Trick. This may mean that somebody misses a turn, can’t use his skills, or might even act twice in a turn.

 

Healing (green skills)
Heal your allies and yourself. Chant songs that, gradually over time, will heal anyone who hears them.

 

Passive (yellow skills)
These skills will grant you new abilities and various passive bonuses.

 

Skills vary not just in their effect, but also in their cool-downs, available targets and effect durations.

 

Nadirim Introduces Skill System

 

When can I learn skills?


Every time you level up you are awarded skill points you can spend on acquiring new skills or upgrading existing ones.

 

The leftmost part of your screen shows your character. The number under your portrait is your current level, and the number in the blue circle shows how many skill points you have accumulated.

 

You will also see your minions (if you have any) in the left side of the screen. You will be able to acquire new skills for each of them, as well.

 

How do I learn a skill?


To learn a skill, you need to select it from one of three skill trees displayed in the middle of the screen.

 

Every class has two specialization skill trees and a tree for basic skills. There are major differences between them. You don’t need to learn skills from your basic skill tree, as these are awarded automatically as you level up. Your basic skill tree contains skills that are vital for your class, while your two specialization skill trees let you decide how to further develop your character.

 

Each skill has requirements, and you can only learn a it if you meet these and have already learned the skill that precedes it in the skill tree. If the connection between two skills is red it means you cannot advance in the skill tree.

 

The small number on a skill icon represents its level. To learn or upgrade a skill, click on the green arrow beside it.
How do I use skills?

 

You don’t need to do anything with passive skills as they work automatically once you acquire them. However, this is not the case with the other skill types.

 

Active skills are always used in combat, but you cannot take all of your skills with you at once into battle. You only use the skills in your active preset. A skill oreset is basically a bag of skills that will be available for you in combat.

 

Your presets are shown in the lower right-hard corner of your screen. To equip a skill into one of your skill sets just drag it from the skill tree into the presets in the lower right -hand corner of your screen. As your character develops, you will be able to bring more and more skills with you into a fight, giving you more tactical options in combat.

 

To make one of your presets the active preset, just click on the icon in the upper right corner.

 

Reward box

You can acquire new skills from sources other than skill points, for example you can win them as rewards. Such skills are depleted after a fixed amount of uses and appear in the box on the upper right-hand section of your screen.

My Thoughts on Nexon – Cut Them Some slack!

My thoughts on Nexon – Cut them some slack!
By Michael Sagoe (mikedot), OnRPG Journalist

 

Nexon is currently the most popular gaming portal in US/CA regions as well as being very popular in Asian territories. All too often though, I hear comments from the general MMO public about how Nexon are terrible at what they do. While I don’t think they’re perfect, I think they’re definitely above average compared to the majority of publishers out there.

 

Trend setters

Nexon are considered to be pioneers in bringing the whole “free-to-play” business model to the US. They started off with the philosophy that if a free game is enjoyable at its core, people will pay money for extra items, features and services to enhance the experience. Nexon started gaining more and more popularity with this philosophy, and pretty soon, lots of publishers were emulating it. You could say that many gaming portals wouldn’t have existed had it not been for Nexon to show everyone how it’s done.

 

Nexon likes to publish highly polished online games, some of which end up being trend setting titles for the whole industry. Back when Nexon was known as NXGames, they started off with MapleStory, the 2D MMORPG with a 16-bit SNES style. Game developers all over saw MapleStory’s success and wanted to make their own 2D MMORPGs to cash in. Now we have a whole bunch of 2D MMOs just like MapleStory such as Wind Slayer, Wonder King, La Tale and many others.

 

Wonderking
Just one of many 2D MMOs attempting to capture MapleStory’s glory.

 

Choose. Choose wisely.

Do you ever get the feeling that most gaming portals just pick up new titles at random instead of considering what the general public is interested in? Strangely enough, that’s how I feel about them. It’s almost as if other gaming portals simply search for new titles that have one or two special features that the entire game revolves around and then the rest of the game falls back on features that have already been done to death.

 

What Nexon likes to do is hand pick titles that they know will be popular. Titles that they know will succeed. Sure, most of their current titles are pulled from their Korean branches, but these are games that appeal to today’s generation of gamers.

 

I know that not every gaming portal company out there has millions to spend on securing the publishing rights for high quality games, but neither did Nexon US when they started out. Even before they had MapleStory, they started out with games like Dark Ages and Shattered Galaxy. They were pretty unique for their time and the success of those titles gave Nexon a stepping-stone to publish more unique titles.

 

 

 

They also have decent localization teams at Nexon. When they localizes their titles, they take their time in making sure that text and grammar for each game sound right during the translation process, to make players feel as if their games were first developed in English, unlike some publishers that don’t take the time to iron out the text and grammar issues with some of their games, like this:

 

Nexon
Translation FAIL

 

Gee, it’s almost as if they ran the text through Babelfish and called it a day.

 

Ok… Well maybe not every localized game has translation issues as bad as this, but I’m just saying that you’ll never see any of this with Nexon’s games.

 

They really DO care!

Nexon shows a lot of love for their community by adding and changing features to appeal to their audiences. For example: Mabinogi went through a huge change of pace by including free storyline quests, rebirths, and more. This change was due mostly to what the community wanted and what Nexon wanted for the community. In fact: since they made a lot of the features available for free, some of the available cash shop services have been rendered useless.

 

Do you remember the nut-shot feature that was included into Combat Arms? Well it was added back in 2009 and is still apart of the game. It does add a bit of strategy that you wouldn’t find in any other FPS title on whether you should decide to aim high or aim low.

 

Nexon
The almighty nut-shot

 

While it may not be a huge feature, it’s nice to know that they’re always open to ideas to make their games more fun.

 

Fair and balanced? 

This next part is pretty arguable, but I believe that Nexon’s cash shops are all fair and balanced compared to other gaming portals. A lot of free-to-play games tend to push the cash shop on players without them realizing it. Most of Nexon’s titles are action skill based, so a player that is generally good at the game will not need the cash shop toadvance. I should know since playing Dungeon Fighter Online, I played my way up to level 33 with a Blade Master and was able to hold my own pretty well in PvP and I didn’t touch the cash shop until 5 levels later simply because I wanted to make my character look cool. Several DFO players would say that you need advanced avatar items before you should even consider doing PvP, but if free players need them that badly, they can always purchase advanced avatar items from other players using in-game gold. Nexon just recently included the long awaited auction house system so you can get what you want without having to pay an unreasonable amount of gold for them.

 

Nexon also enjoys hosting events for players to earn free NX credits or cash shop items. They also let players earn free NX credits by doing surveys on site (the whole survey thing was done by a lot of other portals before Nexon started this, though.) Nexon makes it apparent that there are always options available for their players if they truly want a free-to-play experience.

 

Nexon’s bad side

Like I mentioned before, Nexon isn’t 100% perfect as they do have some issues with player support and botting control. As popular as their titles are, there are hackers and gold farmers around to ruin things. Nexon’s support towards hackers and gold farmers seems to be very lackluster, as abusive users tend to stick around for days or weeks at a time before Nexon takes action against them. They have been stepping up their efforts as of late, but it could be a whole lot better.

 

Nexon
Botters, hackers and gold farmers still run rampart in Nexon’s games

 

There’s also an issue with slow technical support. The rate at which Nexon responds to player complaints can be painfully slow. For questions with simple answers, they tend to respond quickly, but questions on issues that are more complicated, it can take them weeks or even a whole month before you get a reply.

 

Final thoughts

Those are my general thoughts on Nexon. They’re a great company, but not too great. They have good games, tons of events to earn free stuff and they generally show that they care for their players, a lot more then any other gaming portal I’ve seen, that’s for sure. If their tech support and hacker control was better, I would rank them as the best.

 

I suppose with this with article, you could call me a bit of a Nexon fanboy, but I’m not trying to convince you that Nexon is the superior gaming portal.

 

(Oh, and just so you know, I’d just like to say that Nexon did NOT ask me to write this article.)

Ready to compete for prize in War of 2012

Ready to compete for prize in War of 2012

 

War of 2012 Open Beta officially launched on September 14th! Are you ready for the adventure? No need to download! You can reach War of 2012 with a simple click! This world is the aftershock of cataclysm and through the chaos a new era of opportunity begins! Survive or be destroyed. The fate of the world is in your hands! There is more than just the excitement to be expected for our open beta. Get ready to claim 4 fantastic special offers.

 

Open Beta Daily Pack

During open beta, each player will receive 3000 Coins and max resources daily. Players will ONLY receive this pack from 21:00 – 21:10 server time. This will dramatically speed your Empire development and give you an edge. All we ask in return is for you to report any issues you may find in the game so we may research them. Remember the pack can only be available during the Open Beta.

 

War of 2012

 

Are You Worthy?

The top 50 players will each receive a reward of either an orange equipment set, purple equipment set or blue equipment set to use for Live Server! Top 50 players’ list will be issued according to the rankings established at 21:00 server time at the end of the Open Beta. Rewards will be hand out when the Live Server are launched.

 

Rewards:
Top 1: Randomly get an orange equipment set.
Top 2to 5: Randomly get an orange equipment set.
Top 6to 10: Randomly get a purple equipment set.
Top 11to 20: Randomly get a purple equipment set.
Top 21to 50: Randomly get a blue equipment set.

 

Rules:
1. No application necessary. The winners list will be subject to the Player Rankings at the end of open beta 21:00 server time.
2. The winners list will be published via live news bulletin. Soon after, Open Beta will end.
3. The winners will receive their equipment 3 days after the official server launch.

 

Notes:
1. The equipment sets will be sent to their owners on the Live Server, and the set can not be exchanged.
2. All winners will have to create their accounts within 3 days after server going live. Rewards will be sent to the winner’s account directly. All of the winners account names on the new server should be the same as what you had on the Open Beta or you will forfeit the prize.

 

Open Beta Acceleration

1. Resources consumed for troop recruitment, Building or upgrading speeds and Research will be half the required amount on the live servers during Open Beta.
2. Your Troop marching speed and Resource production will be doubled.
3. Heroes will gain double experience if used in battles against an NPC or other players.

 

Who Can Catch the Most Bugs?

Players can submit any bugs found to a GM via the ticket. Players will receive 1 coupon code if the bug is verified. Each code can be used to claim a reward of 50 Coupons. Players will be able to use them for Beta or when the servers go live.

Rules of the contest:
1. Each bug reported will be checked by the Technical Department and a determination will be made.
2. If the bug you submitted has been confirmed by the Technical Department, You will be notified and the coupon code will be sent.
3. In the event that more than one player submits the same bug, the reward will go to the player who submitted it first.

Submitting Format: 
1. Player user name
2. Have the bug description. How did you experience this bug? Details will help the Technical Department to verify whether the bug exists. Please be specific.
3. Screen shot of the bug (If you have one).

Terra Militaris

Terra Militaris is a browser based historical real-time strategy MMO game. As a leader of a great ancient civilization you can compete or co-operate with thousands of players. Build up your own cities, develop your civilization through multiple eras and expand your realm. Conquer new territories, rule the trading routes, increase your influence, forge alliances, join guilds and participate in epic battles!

Warfare, economics and diplomacy are your strategic tools in the free online game, helping you to achieve your ultimate goal, domination over all the other civilizations.

Terra Militaris is a free to play MMORTS browser game that requires no download and no subscriptions.