Yearly Archives: 2010

Grand Fantasia Interview: Evolutions and Revolutions in a Fantasy World

Grand Fantasia Interview: Evolutions and Revolutions in a Fantasy World
Questions by: Mohammed Afzal (MageMoa), OnRPG Journalist
Answered by Fenryr, Product Manager for Grand Fantasia

 

They always say that a publisher cannot control the success of a game. Aeria is an exception. The company is known for the quick updates and its fantastic events. Grand Fantasia, one of their most successful titles, is a wonderful example. New features are being released very often and amazing events are not uncommon. Moreover, the release of a Portugese version of Grand Fantasia on August 11 will become a new milestone for the game. The constant updates made us wondering if anything big was going to be released soon. Aeria revealed some interesting facts and information about some new features. Find out more by reading our interview with Fenryr, the Product Manager of Grand Fantasia.

 

Grand Fantasia

 

OnRPG: Hello! My name is Mohammed Afzal and I am an OnRPG journalist. Could you introduce yourself, please?
Everyone in the Aeria community knows me as Fenryr.  I am the Product Manager for the North American version of Grand Fantasia.

 

OnRPG: It has come to our attention that the level cap in Grand Fantasia will be raised again soon. Will it be raised to 80, 90 or 100? Is there anything else that you could tell us regarding the new level cap and the Localizations which have been added lately?
Since the launch of Grand Fantasia, the game’s level cap has increased every few months.  This is done to keep the game fresh and allow players to continue progressing through the game.  We currently have plans through Level 80 but it would come as no surprise if the developers continued increasing the level cap with new content updates.

 

Grand Fantasia Sprite System 

 

Most recently our level cap has been increased to Level 75.  This update opened two new zones for our players and unlocked a new Sprite Evolution.

 

OnRPG: The patch which took place on July 12 finally enabled new sprite evolutions. Could you inform our readers a bit more about these new sprites and could you send us some pictures of the new evolutions?
Sprite Evolution is similar to increasing the level cap for the Sprites.  Each evolution increases the cap for Skills and determines which items the Sprite can craft.  With this most recent evolution, the Sprites are able to craft the armor and weapons that correspond to the level cap increase.  This evolution is the smallest physical change.  After the evolution, the Sprites will emit a magical aura.

 

Grand Fantasia Sprite Grand Fantasia Sprite 2

 

OnRPG: The two new areas, Winterflake Forest and Forgotten Frontier, seem to be quite impressive. What new, challenging opponents can players find in these areas and are there any other surprises?
Winterflake Forest and Forgotten Frontier expand the northern area of Saphael known as Elsaland.  Similar to the previous update (which introduced Knight’s Valley and Eternal Mountains) these two new zones allow players to trek through the snowy lands of Elsaland as they fight stronger versions of familiar enemies like Yetis, Werewolves and Dragons.

 

Continuing the trend seen in Knight’s Valley and Eternal Mountains, the two new zones are quite large.  Progressing through the higher levels is a slower process than through lower levels, so these larger zones provide players with enough variety to keep the content from getting stale as the player gets to Level 75.

 

OnRPG: The Sprite Alchemy system seems to be the newest trend in Grand Fantasia. Could you explain the system to our readers, please?
The Sprite Alchemy system is a gambling system in Grand Fantasia.  Using Alchemy Clay, a player’s Sprite can transform that clay into one of eight items listed in a reward table.  At that point the player has the choice to keep the item, or destroy it for a chance to progress to the next round.  There are a total of five rounds and it is more difficult to succeed as you progress from round to round. This system allows players the chance to acquire some of the most popular items in the game which includes various costumes and mounts.

 

Alchemy System Rewards
Alchemy Rewards

 

OnRPG: Grand Fantasia players have been waiting for configurable hotkeys, is there any plan to introduce these?
Configurable hotkeys was an important feature we wanted to add to Grand Fantasia.  Although it has taken a while to implement, it is currently planned to be released in the August content patch.

 

OnRPG: There have been quite some exciting patches lately. What kind of updates can Grand Fantasia players expect in the near future? Could you reveal some of these fascinating updates?
Grand Fantasia has a lot of exciting new features on the horizon including new dungeons, configurable hotkeys, additional Archive space, level cap increases, tougher World Bosses and additional upgrade systems.  The developers have done a great job ensuring that our community has new content to look forward to every month and this won’t be changing anytime soon.

 

OnRPG: Can they expect new PvP features, such as castle sieges, to expand the PVP experience, in the future?
One PvP feature that has not been released yet is an open PvP Channel.  This Channel would allow players to kill each other and gain reputation for a specific Player Killer faction.  The developers are currently modifying this feature and once testing is complete we should expect to see it in the US version.

 

OnRPG: It seems as if the item mall is getting cheaper by every patch. Is there a certain reason for this?
While it’s not quite as often as every patch, Grand Fantasia’s Item Mall has been re-priced a few times.  We do this to make sure that items are always appealing to our community.  If we find that an item is not selling (or is no longer selling) we look into reasons why and sometimes a price reduction is in order.

 

 Grand Fantasia Elf Mount
Elf on mount

 

OnRPG: Aeriagames is known for its wonderful events to keep players occupied. Could you mention some of your latest and upcoming Grand Fantasia events?
Recently we’ve started running our daily events more often throughout the day so that more players can participate.  This can be anything from Trivia to a Monster Spawn Event.

 

On top of those daily events we’ve started running week long events such as our Xmas in July event that ran the last week of July.  This event allowed players to acquire holiday items (which are usually only available in December) but also gave the daily events a common theme.  Players have responded very well to these week long events so we are looking to create more of them in the future.

 

OnRPG: Another thing which has surprised me is the fact that your account has to be 72 hours old in order to buy AP. What were your reasons for this?
The 72 hour rule was something that was Aeria-wide, not specific to Grand Fantasia.  The good news is that rule has recently been modified so that an account only needs to be 24 hours old before it can purchase AP.

 

Grand Fantasia 

 

OnRPG: The patch that was released on July 6 has given the GMs of Grand Fantasia the ability to remove gold from the players if necessary. Does this have anything to do with the huge inflation?
The GMs of Grand Fantasia were given the ability to remove gold from players as a correction tool.  Buying Gold (or anything else) from a third party website is against the game’s Terms of Service.  We use the gold removal ability to remove Gold from players that have been caught purchasing Gold.  Previously we had to resort to other ways of disciplining players who had purchased Gold from these websites.

 

OnRPG: Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview?
I think that pretty much covers everything.  Thanks!

 

OnRPG: Thank you for your time!

Fantasy Earth Zero Review – PvP Fanatics Apply Here

Fantasy Earth Zero Review – PvP Fanatics Apply Here
By Michael Sagoe (mikedot), OnRPG journalist

 

Let me start off by saying that I am not much of a fan when it comes to “Player vs. Player” in most of today’s MMORPGs. PvP in most MMOs is typically reliant on gear/equipment, stat/hotkey management and sometimes dumb luck. I’m the kind of person that prefers when players have full and complete control of attacking, defending and dodging enemies, much like an action game. So here’s Fantasy Earth Zero (FEZ), a free-to-play online MMORPG that claims to be filled with skill based action. But is it really skill based or just a clever ruse?

 

Starting Out

When creating your character, you’ll be able to pick your gender of either male or female and three different classes (and only three.) You can choose warriors, which are pretty straight forward attackers for close range fighting, scouts, whichcan use bows and daggers for a balance of weak close and long ranged attacks, and sorcerers,whichcan cast magic and status effects on enemies with moderate attack range. There are also five body types, seven face and hair styles with five color variations.

 

After you create your character, you must pick between one of five kings to pledge your allegianceto. While each king/country has a different background and story to tell, this doesn’t pose a major differences between each during combat, so it doesn’t matter too much which king you roll with. After your character is created, you’ll go through a tutorial that will take you around 10 to 20 minutes to complete. It does a decent job of getting you familiar with the controls and all aspects of the game play.

 

The game world is not like your typical MMORPG with multiple maps that are connected to each other. Instead, the game world is heavily instanced and broken up into relativity small areas that players travel to by simply selecting the area they wish to visit via the world map. Other than in the the town areas, only 100 players will be allowed ineach map.

 

Fantasy Earth Zero Map
The world of Fantasy Earth Zero; available in bite sized pieces

 

Presentation

Even if you have the visuals set to maximum, FEZ’s graphics will look awfully dated. The textures on just about everything look very bland and lifeless. Faces on character models aren’t animated, so they have nothing but lifeless stares. Besides theplayer models, nothing in the game world seems to cast a proper shadow despite the fact that there are day and night cycles . Additionally, the animations for attacking do not flow naturally and look rather robotic.

 

Fantasy Earth Zero Environment
FEZ’s visuals manage to make a lifeless desert look even more lifeless

 

The audio used in FEZ is hit and miss. From time to time, the kings and other important characters of your nation will speak to you and other players with words of wisdom, typically during combat. The voiceovers from these characters are nicely done and well pitched. The voiceovers for everyone else, however, not sogreat. Instead, what you’ll be hearing from your character and others is the excessive sounds of grunting and death cries.

 

FEZ’s musical score feels nice and original. FEZ’s soundtrack was composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, same audio composer for such Square-Enix titles as Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII. With that, I feel as if music in FEZ was not created for FEZ. Rather, I feel as if the music was created for another Final Fantasy game. While FEZ’s presentation may be a bit off, it shouldn’t matter if it doesn’t have the looks as long as it has the moves, right?

 

Gameplay

FEZ’s game play certainly does make some moves, but stumbles a bit here and there. The controls for FEZ are your typical combination of keyboard and mouse. You move around using the WASD keys while looking/aiming with the mouse. You can also jump with spacebar and sidestep with Q and E. You’re completely invincible to physical attack while jumping and sidestepping, but you can’t attack during those actions, so only use it when the situation calls for it. Performing attacks and skills takes a bit of getting used to. Typically with MMORPGs, skills are performed by pressing hotkeys (F1-12,) but in FEZ, attacks and skills are selected using your mouse’s scroll wheel and performed with your left mouse button.

 

On maps that are controlled by your nation, you can battle some monsters here and there for gold, items and EXP. It’s nice that there is some basic Player vs. Environment content available, but doing only PvE in FEZ won’t get you anywhere. FEZ is all about the hectic Player vs. Player battles for up to 100 players on teams of two.

 

On the battlefield, there’s lots of mayhem going on, so strategy is key. Running in and trying to rambo your way through enemy lines is an easy way to get yourself killed, so you’ll have to stick with your teammates and plan ahead. Every class in FEZ has their role to play: Scouts can perform status effect attacks like disarming, move in and out of enemy lines undetected and pin enemies down with their bows. Sorcerers can also use status effect magic while attacking large groups of enemies for crowd control. And warriors serve as both tankers and brute force while crippling enemy morale.

 

Fighting enemies isn’t the only aspect of battle. Both teams have bases that must be protected. There’s also building creation and unit summoning, giving FEZ a light RTS (Real-Time Strategy) element. You and your fellow teammates will have to collect crystal resources from giant crystals that are scattered all over the map. Using those crystals will let you build things such as guard towers and summon creatures like dragons that you control. There’s no limit to how many resources you can collect from crystals, but there will be lots of action going on, so sticking around too long is not recommended.

 

Fantasy Earth Zero Picnic
Never a good idea to have a picnic around these things

 

My thoughts

The one thing about FEZ that disappointed me a bit was the combat. You see, when it comes to playing action games, I prefer the action to be as twitch based as possible (IE: gameplay similar to titles such as Devil May Cry, God of War, Ninja Gaiden, etc.) FEZ’s gameplay feels way too shallow for me as most attacks and skills cannot be performed unless you target enemies that are in range. It’s like the developers of FEZ could not decide wether to make the combat action based or pseudo turn based, and the results that come out of this aren’t too good.

 

The pacing of FEZ is permanently set on one speed: Slow. Moving around the battlefield can take what seems like for forever if you’re not using a summon like a knight or dragon. Thankfully, FEZ lets you auto walk using the R key, so if your character is going to be walking a straight path for awhile, you can go ahead and leave the game to go grab a soda or something.

 

The whole concept of FEZ is excellent, though. The battles can get exciting when you participate in struggles for crystal resources, mow down herds of soldiers with your teammates, and destroy enemy bases to achieve victory.

 

Fantasy Earth Zero Victory

 

Conclusion

Fantasy Earth Zero was certainly not my cup of tea, but it can certainly be yours if you have the right mindset. The execution of skill based action and visuals were off, but everything else about FEZ is fairly decent. For any MMORPG gamer that’s a PvP nut looking for a little change of pace, you may want to give Fantasy Earth Zero some consideration.

 

Pros:
– Hectic 50 vs. 50 player battles
– Mix of action based combat and RTS elements
– Good original soundtrack

 

Cons:
– Poor visuals & animations
– Shallow combat
– Slow paced

Cronous Event Server Opens!

Cronous Event Server Opens!

 

Sunken Dungeon to be premiered in Event Server

 

Cronous is opening an event server. The event will last for 3 months. During the event, exp rate and cro and item drop rate will be drastically increased. All characters and items will remain for 3 months. After 3 months, they will be erased. If you wondered how it would be like to be one of the high levelers, here is your chance.

 

Cronous 

 

The idea originated from the test servers for developers which is a server meant for developers to help testers level faster through a much increased exp rate and item and cro drop rate environment. The server will now be temporarily opened for normal users.

 

Sunken Dungeon will also premier in this event server for testing purposes. Players can actively participate in the creation of this new map by reporting bugs and suggestions. More information can be found here.

Urban Galaxy Online

Urban Galaxy is browser-based 3D realtime MMORPG, set in a futuristic metropolis. The player chooses the career of the mercenary, the transporter or the smuggler and starts the adventure within his ship. Character building is performed by completing quests, joining corporations, making alliances and upgrading the ship. All the classic MMORPG gameplay is here, such as PvP, PvE, crafting, raids and grouping.

The game features high quality visuals and is served directly through the web browser, with zero installation time, supporting all major platforms using Java.

Allods Online Europe Review: Never Thought P2P Gaming Can Be Free

Allods Online Europe Review: Never Thought P2P Gaming Can Be Free
By Vincent Haoson, OnRPG Journalist

 

Allods Online is the latest in the Gpotato Europe lineup that has received critical acclaim, and is considered to be one of the must play MMORPGs for 2010. The game uses a lot of familiar game features and interfaces from famous MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft but also introduces a lot of game elements that are exclusive to Allods.

 

Starting Off

Once you have gotten started with your Allods adventure you have two ways of being introduced into the world. The introduction you’ll have is dependent on the faction you choose. Choosing League means that you will be starting off with a bang, literally and if you decide to go with Empire you will be shot at during your first few minutes of the game.

 

Allods Hero
Character in Allods 

 

The semi-theatrical beginning of the game is a refreshing take on how you start your Allods experience. In fact, it was fun seeing how in-game structures get blown up and it is a good way of immersing you into the game.

 

Races

Allods Online uses the usual set of races such as humans (Kanians & Xadaganians), elves and orcs. However the game has two unique races, which are exclusive to Allods, they are namely the Arisen and the Gibberlings.

 

The Arisen, at first glance, look like the usual undead race you can find in other MMORPGs however they are not. The Arisen, according to Allods lore, were part of the earliest human kingdoms in Sarnaut, the world of Allods, they are the race archetype on the Empire side and are the strongest magic users.

 

Allods Ranger
Gibberlings archer class

 

Meanwhile, the Gibberlings are a race of their own. They’re like the three chipmunks in the old show, Alvin and the Chipmunks and you control all three of them either as a group or individually. The Gibberlings are the most unique job class in Allods. Controlling them is kind of similar to how you handle a family in Granado Espada. Each Gibberling is unique on its own and what I like about them is that they actually work as a team when they attack. For scouts, when you use a bow one holds on to the bow while the other Gibberling draws the arrow while the third aims.

 

The Gibberlings reminds me of the Pom race in Neosteam. Gibberlings look waaay cuter than the Poms and in fact it’s more fun to see the Gibberlings in action compared to Poms.

 

Gibberlings

 

Gameplay

Allods Onlne’s gameplay is a solid mixture of a lot of familiar game systems that you can find in other MMORPGs. However the character interface does look like that of World of Warcraft, however don’t let it fool you. The character stats screen in Allods provides more customization choices compared to WoW’s. Allods uses a mix of stat point allocation and equipment bonuses for your characters. Each level up gives you a stat point to spend as well as the regular the stat point increase you get per level and the modifiers from the weapons and armor your character has equipped.

 

I like the addition of the stat point setup in Allods because it provides one thing that WoW doesn’t which is, character build customization. However you won’t enjoy the benefits of the stat increments from the allocated points till later in the game, however seeing how things went with my character it was well worth it.

 

Other Main Features

Aside from the above mentioned game features, Allods Online has a lot more key features that you might want to experience. One such example is the Astral ships. As the name suggests, Astral ships are literally ships in Allods that you can travel from one Astral to another. Astrals in Allods are the chunks of land that are littered throughout Sarnaut, which is home to a lot of the cities and areas you get to travel to.

 

Allod Combat 

 

What makes these Astral Ships so epic is that you need more than just one man to “pilot” these ships. In fact you need several people to man the different stations within the ship. There are eight stations that need to be manned if you want to set sail and travel from one Astral to another. Also once you set sail in an Astral Ship you can act like pirates and invade other ships or go head to head with them in epic ship battles.

 

I believe that the Astral Ships are the game’s main selling point. It’s rare for a game to use a ship system like this.

 

Grinding

The biggest problem I encountered in Allods Online is that the game is one big grind fest. It’s really hard to level in the game without relying on the numerous quests that you will encounter in the game. I think they made it like this to emphasize that Allods Online is not just merely a MMORPG but rather more of a story-driven online game. Though I don’t know how they’ll pull this off because the players who log in want to level and be strong rather than read the game’s lore and slowly unfolding story.

 

Conclusion

Allods Online is a game that will eventually be labeled as “another WoW killer” with a lot of game elements seemingly similar to Blizzard’s MMO masterpiece. However, I personally don’t think the game will go as far as rivaling WoW. The most praise I can give the game is it has the potential of becoming a sleeper hit just as long as they do things right and not commit the same mistakes other game distributor’s have done with their own games.

 

I like how Allods Online is being handled and hopefully they keep this up for a long time. F2Ps have the tendency to be mishandled by game distributors after a certain period of time and hopefully the game doesn’t follow this trend. For the meantime I’d highly recommend someone who wants to experience a P2P game for free because that’s what Allods Online is currently delivering.

 

Pros:
Astral Ships
– Addition of the stat-point system in character growth
– It’s P2P goodness in an F2P MMORPG/

 

Cons:
– Grind Fest
– The interface looks similar to a lot of other MMORPGs
– The human character’s body shape seems disproportionate.

Special Force Officially Launches in Singapore

Special Force Officially Launches in Singapore

 

Online Military First Person Shooter (FPS) sensation Special Force, published by local operator DF Interactive, a subsidiary of Korean game developer Dragonfly, has been officially launched today after monetary micro transactions for in-game items commenced.

 

Special Force Chopper 

 

“We are ecstatic to release Special Force commercially and gamers can look forward to the slew of exciting new cash items”, said Mr. Cho Chang Hee, President and CEO of DF Interactive. “New cash items would be continuously added during the service to keep gamers interested and enhance their playing experience.”

 

Gamers can now obtain cash items by purchasing in-game currency D-Coins via prepaid cards from Cherry Credits and Money Online (MOL). Cash items will range from weapons and equipment to characters and bonuses, adding variety and a gaming edge for the players.

 

Special Force Sniping

 

To commemorate the official launch and celebrate Singapore’s National Day, Special Force will also feature two in-game events. The White Tiger Giveaway allows players to earn a limited edition White Tiger-themed set of equipment upon the achievement of a certain rank; and the Special Force Lucky Draw where players who purchase D-Coins get chances to win cash items.

 

Dragonfly and WGC INC. (World Cyber Games) has also recently established a strategic alliance to globalize e-Sports for the next 3 years with Special Force confirmed as an official game title for future World Cyber Games. Special Force will be the first and only free-to-play online FPS of the World Cyber Games.

 

With the official launch, DF Interactive will begin building a competitive scene for Special Force with the view to send teams from Singapore and neighboring countries for such major international events.

 

Special Force Ambulance

Tales Runner Introduces New Character: Kai, The Demon Child!

Tales Runner Introduces New Character: Kai, The Demon Child!

 

Tales Runner, the popular MMO racing game from Gala-Net, is proud to announce the arrival of its newest playable character, Kai!  The demon child, known as Kai, is an integral character in the latest chapter of the Tales saga, Chapter 5: Chaos Genesis.

 

Tales Runner Kai Devil

 

Kai was mysteriously born from the darkness of Tales Land and adopted by Dr. Hell as a baby.  Burdened by his dark side, Kai has decided to try and escape his fate by becoming one of the noble tales runners.  Chapter 5: Chaos Genesis focuses on creating a balance between the Angels and Devils, and it is Kai’s decision between light and dark that will fuel the emotional battle between the two factions.

 

To welcome its newest and most complex playable character, Tales Runner is hosting a special “Buy a Bundle, Win a Bunch” event, where anyone who buys a Kai bundle between August 4th to August 13th is eligible to win $30 worth of items of their choice!

 

Tales Runner Dark Side

 

The full story about Kai and Tale Runner’s newest chapter can be found on the official website, http://talesrunner.gpotato.com/.

Faction and Class Distinction and Customization in Soul Master

Faction and Class Distinction and Customization in Soul Master

 

One of the things that has interested me most while working on Soul Master is getting a chance to see how the emerging MMORTS genre is progressing in the industry, and how the variation and customization available to character classes, buildings and units, and stat modification choices for each of the factions affects the depth of overall strategy, and subsequently game play balance.

 

As in many classic Real Time Strategy games there are 3 factions, or “races”, in Soul Master that determine the basic types of units and buildings you have available to create and control. As there are currently two character classes per faction, with additional factions and classes to come, this means that there are very distinct ways to play with each of the “races” that completely alters the strategy involved in a normal Player versus Player match depending on which of the various classes for each faction you’re playing with or against.

 

Soul Master Raid Entrance

 

More so than the “Hero” or “General” units found in a number of RTS games, the player’s main character in Soul Master, a “Soul Linker”, is directly controlled like the character avatar in an action RPG. Instead of being simply ordered around the field as the most powerful unit under your command, you’re manually directing the character’s every movement via WASD, using class skills or abilities via non-targeted directional attacks, and all while at the same time controlling your RTS units and creating production or defensive structures around the map. Despite drawing from the same pool of available units and structures, the two different classes within the same faction have wildly different play styles that can be further adjusted by adding various stat modifications that can affect not only your character and their abilities, but also those of their units and buildings as well.

 

Soul Master Bearcat 
Soul Master Bearcat

 

Each faction’s structures and units are balanced against one another in the tried and true “Rock-Paper-Scissors” fashion, with specific units being more effective against certain targets. Take for example the Holy Empire faction in Soul Master, where their long range siege unit known as the Odin is far more capable of destroying a defensive tower than say the same Holy Empire’s crowd control, melee fighting unit known as the Medusa; which is better served in anti-character combat.

 

While both units are able to be created by either of the classes that currently make up the Holy Empire faction, the Chrisnian and the Priest, each class is more inclined to use the selection of units available to them with a far different emphasis to shore up their own character’s weaknesses and focus on their strengths.

 

Soul Master Priest Units
Soul Master priest with units

 

The Priest is a long ranged casting class with little defense, and therefore may be more inclined to choose to focus on the powerful but slow siege units; keeping her opponents at range and able to bombard them from afar. The Chrisnian however, as a faster melee fighter, may prefer to have offensive units like the Medusa that can keep up with his character in order to take advantage of the class’ greater mobility around the battlefield. The different methods in which the various character classes of each faction change their tactical strategies while using the same units is compounded by the diverse stat bonuses that can be added to suit a player’s style.

 

That same Chrisnian could increase his character speed even further by upgrading his armor with a specific bonus, as well as the speed of his units with an additional armor upgrade. At that point player’s Holy Empire army no longer behaves anything like the aforementioned Priest’s; who may have chosen to increase the damage of her own abilities and skills, or the range that her units could fire even further with separate stat bonuses upgraded onto her own armor.

 

Soul Master Knight
Soul Master Knight

 

The most exciting part about seeing a more comprehensive degree of customization for both characters and factions in the MMORTS genre recently is that the standardized units or classes shared across a large number of players then evolves into a far more personalized experience, where each individual is able to mold the feel of the characters and units under their control to suit their own playing style as closely as possible. The intention being of course to allow character progression and unit customization to the point where each players’ personal characters and armies are completely unlike any other, and operate in an entirely different fashion than someone that might have chose to play the exact same class or faction to start with.

 

I feel that the next step in the RTS genre will be towards a more RPG-like experience, where players are able to learn and progress alongside their characters and units with a feeling of having earned them. Which in my opinion is a step in the right direction towards providing players with a uniquely personalized, individual experience both in our games and the genre itself in the years to come.

How To Make MMOs Scary

How To Make MMOs Scary
By Kei Beneza (dividelife), OnRPG Journalist

 

We’ve discussed why MMOs can’t be scary, now it’s time to see how they can be. As much as most titles tried their best to project the Silent Hill experience, MMOs lack the ability to be scary. One cause would be the persistent plane where players can freely interact with each other. There’s also the lack of ambiance, which greatly affects the experience as it takes away the horrific expectations players have when facing a blind corner.

 

Although horror-themed MMOs like Requiem: The Bloodymare are extremely fun to play, it doesn’t take away the fact that they have failed to deliver the “horror” part, resulting to nothing but a gore fest MMO. We’re no longer living in the 17th century where people are still afraid of the dark. Blood and darkness =/= scary. Just hope the developers know this, but what could possibly pull players in and force them to cower?

 

SCary MMO Lone Time

 

Removing the Hindrance

I’m just not aiming for a Resident Evil experience, for I want sheer gut-wrenching terror. Technically, what hinders these games from becoming absolutely terrifying is the meta of progress. MMOs need players to kill monsters, and by that I mean a lot of them. Removing this feature may make the game not so MMO-ish, but if they can make dance games and Worms Armageddon rip-offs, then a no grinding system can probably be implemented. Players fear what they don’t see (regularly), and getting used to the same combat-oriented background will only make them more RAMBO-ish. Give them more time to anticipate what pops out next. Keep them on the edge of their seats with nothing to look forward to but dead silence.

 

Alone Time – Hello…? Anyone there?

MMO Persistence… awesome feature overall, but loads of crap when implemented in a horror game. The game should always be instanced for the horror factor to happen. If you’ve played genres mixed with horror like F.E.A.R, you’ll notice that the fear vanishes once the place fills up with soldiers. This also works the same way with anything that uses the horror theme as true horror can only be attained through solitude. Give players more time to build their paranoia.

 

Keep It Real!

Survival horror games are one of the few genres that demand a more realistic feel. Maybe it’s because encountering a ghost in a dungeon is much different from seeing them on familiar terrain. Horror does not work well with the fantasy background, meaning games like Warhammer and World of Warcraft. Anime characters and cell-shaded elements don’t do much for this aspect either, as horror is better presented through the shade of realism.

 

Fan Service – OMG! Her Boobies Jiggle When She Shoots!

Believe it or not (and I doubt you won’t believe it), fan service eliminates fear. The simplest booby character can remove the overall ambiance of the game. Horror games need to be implemented seriously, and just like horror movies, it must never be mixed with anything else to avoid ruining the experience.

 

Scary MMO Fanservice

 

Comedy – You Were Almost A Jill Sandwich (Jill Sandwich– Jill Sandwich)

Comedy can be implemented in various ways, with some originating from the developers’ errors. This can either be from ugly scenes that look dull and empty and absurd voice acting that sounds like 10 year old kids reading “Bear in a Chair”. Such things can be compared to Capcom’s first Resident Evil game, which is infamous for its crappy voice acting. Dialogue should always be flawless, and text errors that often lead to subliminal messages are a huge no no. For more information take a look here

 

Visuals

Darkness isn’t really the key, but rather the composition of the background itself. I’m not sure, but the wall textures are always different in horror games. They always seem to be a bit rusty, or damp like a swamp. It doesn’t necessarily have to be all dark, but a few well placed shadows should do the trick. Cell-shading is a huge no-no due to its blockiness and lack of shadows. Of course the characters should also blend with their surroundings. We can’t really say that MMOs can’t handle that kind of rendering as we have seen a lot of survival horrors during the PS1 days. It’s all about composition.

 

Scary MMO Prepared

 

What Defies The Visuals – They Are Prepared!!!

MMO characters are well prepared for everything. They can put up a fight even if monsters are a few levels above them. This is perhaps one of the things that hinder the scary feeling. Let’s visit the late Hellgate London which did the background blending well. If you remember, the tunnel areas are way dark, boosting the element of surprise; however, due to the player’s toughness, monsters were barely able to do any threatening poses O_o. The player’s mortality rate also matters a lot in this, especially since there’s no use being afraid of what cannot kill you to begin with.

 

Music & Sounds

Music is the invisible pillar that holds the entire thing together. Simply getting a slow eerie piece won’t suffice. Music is an art that can work its magic by blending into the ambiance provided. A fine example would be: The red room in Resident Evil & Room of Angel in Silent Hill 4, where perfect sound execution is added to compliment this invisible field of horror. You don’t have to see anything to be scared; in fact, the sound of hammering can be scary when blended with the proper background.

 

Scary MMO Visuals 

 

Potential?

As far as today’s games go, I would say that the current meta cannot be associated with the horror field. In order to make it work, the mortality rate must be toned down first. Some games had potential but often lack the necessary features required to compliment its scare tactics. Don’t you just wish there was a game that could make you look back when playing into the dark corners of your room? A lot of games have tried, but eventually its MMO traits completely ruin the experience. Yes, MMOs have the capability to be horror games; however, the genre must undergo an extreme makeover to cater a well-composed scare.