Yearly Archives: 2011

Caesary Online Impressions – MORE “MY LORDS”

Caesary Online Impressions – MORE “MY LORDS”

By Kei Beneza (dividelife), OnRPG Journalist

Caesary Online is a browser based MMO strategy game set in a Roman-themed fantasy world. Here, players must expand their small towns, eventually creating an empire with an army fit for world domination. Once again, the innovative world of browser gaming came up with another well endowed female delicacy who will call you “My Lord” as you exercise your Lordship. Much like other browser based strategy games, players will go through a series of building and waiting. This mundane experience however will be much toleraterd since this browser game is well animated. This means that you’ll see your workers constantly walking around your town, building and upgrading structures.

 

Fun And Easy To Learn

To be honest, Caesary isn’t that different from games like Evony and World of Lordcraft. The tutorials are also quite newbie-friendly, meaning those who are new to the world of browser based strategy games are most likely to learn effectively. The game also rewards players for finishing the beginner quests, so it would probably be wise for you to finish these tasks regardless of whether you’re new to the game or not. Aside from the traditional campaign questing, Caesary also has a series of daily quests which allows players to gain some extra gold while doing their mundane tasks.

 

Caesary Impressions

Combat is also another thing that I found enjoyable in Caesary, as it not only lets you wreak havoc on other players’ towns; you can also aid other towns not only in decimating other empires but protecting their own as well. It would will be wise to learn everything before the seven-day grace period ends, as you will be vulnerable to enemy attacks once it does.

 

Do You Like The Interface My Lord?

Absolutely! Aside from having an accessible ingame menu, the visuals in this game are heavily animated. I believe that eye candy serves as a high factor for modern browser games, as static pages are starting to get old. It wouldn’t hurt to see windows zoom in and out whenever you click on them, as almost every browser game out there tend to look to have buildings that randomly appear after a series of building pictures. It’s been a long time since Command & Conquer: Red Alert was released, and with all the new browser games lurking around, it feels kind of refreshing to see at least one that actually has a building animation, instead of a large progress bar. At least everything is moving here. I also like the way the interface updates itself regularly without having the player click refresh just to see how much money he or she has earned from that long downtime.

 

Caesary Impressions

Subscription Whoring

Much like its browserbased kin, Caesary also has a premium subscription. While players can still enjoy playing the game for free, the premium option erases most of the waiting part in the game, which means that your neighboring town may kick your Caesarian arse to Jupiter’s kingdom after your grace period ends. This makes the game extremely imbalanced, as premium subscribers can not only build faster than most people, they earn more through gold transactions as well. With that said, it’s still a game worth playing, just make sure someone has your back when those power hungry subscribers decide to pay your little town a visit.

 

Caesary Impressions

Pros

-Really easy to learn
-Excellent tutorials
-Good animations
-Leagues and PVP

Cons

-Not much different the rest (right my lord?)
-gets old after a few days
-Premium imbalance

APB: Reloaded Closed Beta Key Contest!

APB: RELOADED CLOSED BETA KEY CONTEST!

 

UPDATE: Contest is now closed, PMs to the winners have been sent! Congratulations to all participants and enjoy the early access, be sure to tell us about it here on the forums!!

If you’re a lucky winner here is how to redeem your key:

1. Go to https://www.gamersfirst.com/register/index.php and create or log in to your existing GamersFirst account.
2. Visit https://www.gamersfirst.com/apb-beta-application/ and input your Beta key and follow the directions.
3. From there, you should be good to go.

Note that you won’t be given instant access to the beta but that the key will ensure that you get invited in the next wave of invites!


Original Message:

 

We met up with the GamersFirst team responsible for the relaunch of APB: Reloaded at GDC last week and successfully snuck out a couple of Beta Keys to share with you guys!

Since we only have a handful of them we want to make sure that they go to people that will use their precious time to really test the game and give the developers lots of feedback!

We’ve come up with a couple of ways to put your dedication to the test:

1. Twitter

Follow OnRPG on Twitter and @message us the tag-line/slogan you believe GamersFirst should use for APB: Reloaded. Make sure you use the #apbonrpg hashtag so we know you’re trying to get a key and not just sending us random messages. The best taglines will be rewarded with a beta invite! If you win you’ll receive the details via DM on Twitter (so make sure you follow us).

2. Facebook

Like OnRPG on Facebook and tell us the name of your Criminal Gang or Enforcer Vigilante Team as a response to the Beta Key Contest Wall post. The most hilarious ones will be rewarded with a beta invite! If you win you’ll receive the details via message on Facebook.

3. OnRPG Forum

You can prove you are a worthy Beta tester for APB:Reloaded on the OnRPG forum as well! To make sure you have what it takes to give proper feedback to the dev team post an answer to this thread answering the following questions:

– What feature from the original APB did you like and do you think should remain in the game, explain why!
– What feature do you believe needed a complete overhaul, again, explain why!

the best answers will be rewarded with a beta invite! If you win you’ll receive the details via PM on the forum.

Note: The keys will not give you instant access to the beta but they will ensure that you get invited in the next wave of invites!

On Monday all of your entries will be judged… may the best criminals and enforcers win!

Tale of Pirates II: Get Some New Dream City Gear

Tale of Pirates II: Get Some New Dream City Gear

Tales of Pirates II is making waves with the Dream City expansion. Player pirates have been sinking their hooks into all the swashbuckling new content, including PvP-enabled isles and thrilling quests. Helping out the wacky and hilarious islanders by completing their quests is a great way to score awesome new gear, such as bracelets, handguards and belts. Those brave buccaneers sporting these pieces have noticed many envious glances from their fellow peg-legs. If you’ve been hoping for an X to mark the spot where you can find the new gear, we’ve got a simple and concise guide to the quests that yield these fantastic rewards. Check it out and then hurry over to Dream City to grab some for yourself!

 

Bracelets and Handguards

Bracelets and handguards can be obtained by completing quests for the islanders. Speak to the relevant NPCs for the quests and complete them to earn the cool equipment rewards!

 

Level 55 Bracelets Quest
Quest Name: Bar Owner’s Reward
NPC: Hotel Owner – Dust
Location: Dream City (437, 658)
Prerequisites: 2nd Advanced Class; Level 48 & above

 

Level 55 Handguards Quest
Quest Name: Red-Bearded Grandpa’s Entrustment
NPC: Resident – Red-bearded Grandpa
Location: Dream City (390, 652)
Prerequisites: 2nd Advanced Class; Level 48 & above

Belt

The belt reward provides even more powerful stat boosts than the bracelets and handguards, but to earn it pirates must come face-to-face with Dream City’s resident terror, Wang Xiao Hu. He appears on the outskirts of the city at 7:30 PM, and when night falls the terror begins! Since he is both the most feared and most hated bandit on the island, he doesn’t stick around long and is usually gone by 10:30 PM. Remember to speak to Jingle (379, 599) to get the quest first, or Wang Xiao Hu will not drop any treasure even if you defeat him.

Once he is defeated, Wang Xiao Hu will drop his treasure chest, which may contain the coveted belt! If you’ve bested Wang Xiao Hu several times already and grabbed all the treasure you need from him, you can turn in unopened chests for an awesome reward of 100K Gold and 100K EXP from Jingle!

 

A First Impression of Batheo

A First Impression of Batheo

By Kei Beneza (dividelife), OnRPG Journalist

 

Batheo is a flash based browser strategy game set in Ancient Greece, which is rather questionable as some of the heroes provided are not greek at all (Robin Hood in Greece?). Here, players must build cities, and train soldiers in order to decimate their opponents. Upon starting the game, players will be prompted to choose their champion/hero, each with their own army that will aid you in your quest to be the best. Batheo feels and plays a lot like Evony and other browser based strategy games, but don’t think that it’s nothing but another cheap clone. Batheo also has a couple of features that separate it from its browser based brethren.

 

It’s All About How You Rule

Much like other browser games, everything depends on how you rule. Whether you lift taxes to gain gold quickly or be a hero and not do it often, it’s all up to you— though being a total tyrant has its advantages when it comes to gold lol. You can also upgrade your troops’ arsenal as well as your hero’s to make your army unstoppable. The game also has an impressive line up of quests that autocompletes provided that you’ve finished the task even before taking the quest. It’s probably a good thing since backtracking is a pain on most occasions. It’s a lot of work, but the game is quite easy to play, especially since the game does a good job of explaining the basics.

 

Batheo

 

COMBAT!

Unlike most browser games, Batheo emphasizes on combat, and even has its own combat screen complete with moving sprites in order to depict battles effectively. The fact that it is flash based also complements the game’s combat capabilities due to the animated interface and moving sprites.

 

Batheo

A Different Take On The Waiting Game

Although the game shares a lot of the traditional browser based mechanics, it still implements the system a bit differently. A good example would have to be their take on the waiting game. Instead of giving players a building timer, the game grants players a cooldown timer. This means that once you click on an upgrade or building, it will instantly become available on your HUD; however, you will have to wait for the cooldown to end before you can upgrade or build again. One thing that makes this game’s waiting game unbearable though is that almost every action in the game always has a cooldown timer— INCLUDING COMBAT. That’s right, you can only fight once every 10 minutes.

 

Batheo

Verdict

While Batheo tries to make the browser based experience somewhat new, I would say that it changed a lot of things that didn’t need changing. It’s still enoyable though, and I would still recommend this game to anyone who wants a ‘flashier’ version of browser based goodness.

 

Pros

-Tons of Heroes
-Great Visuals
-Combat heavy
-Great tutorials
-Easy to pick up

 

Cons

-Heroes/Champions don’t match with the setting
-Combat waiting time
-less interaction with other players

Riot Unleashes Smarter Bots To Battle In League of Legends

Riot Unleashes Smarter Bots To Battle In League of Legends

Riot Games today announced the launch of the much-anticipated ‘Co-op vs. AI’ game mode for its acclaimed multiplayer online battle arena title, League of Legends. Announced in January, ‘Co-op vs. AI’ includes a brand new lineup of more intelligent bots for summoners to face on the Field of Justice.

The new bots feature completely rebuilt artificial intelligence that will prove a challenge to more experienced summoners. The new assortment of smarter Champions – including Renekton, Ashe, Miss Fortune, Soraka, Cho’Gath and many more – can now be challenged by a team of players looking to hone their skills or practice with new Champions. Available now with two levels of difficulty, the new AI will surprise summoners with coordinated teamwork and advanced tactics.

 

“The original League of Legends bots provided a basic level of challenge for brand new players who were just learning the ropes – but the newly overhauled AI opponents open up a whole new level of competition for players looking to hone their skills,” said Travis George, gameplay producer at Riot Games. “The new Co-op vs. AI mode gives players the opportunity to battle against opponents who will put up a fight, so they can improve their team strategies and practice with new Champions – all while earning XP and IP.”

League of Legends: Hail to the Prince, Baby!

League of Legends: Hail to the Prince, Baby!

By Jason (Hhean) Harper, OnRPG Journalist

 

Patch v1.0.0.112, Jarvan IV, Stronger minions, Better towers, Faster respawns, not enough Daft Punk.

 

Greetings fellow summoners! This is the patch v1.0.0.112 article for League of Legends, the game in which even the lowliest of minion can get a Rocky training montage. This patch includes some significant changes to the overall pacing of Summoner’s Rift, some PvP.net reworks, and Jarvan IV, the Exemplar of Damacia.

 

League of Legends Jarvan

Jarvan IV is a tough as nails melee carry, capable of taking a heavy beating while he wades into the enemy team, cracking skulls as he goes. Gameplay wise, he fits in nicely as a half-way house between his fellow Demacians, Garen and Xin Zhou. He makes a great initiator when making use of his leaping abilities, and has good synergy with ranged and area of effect characters.

 

A listing of Jarvan IV’s stats and abilities can be found in detail here. For an introduction to the character and how he plays, I would recommend checking out the Champion Spotlight.

 

Jarvan IV’s main mechanic is placing a Demacian Standard [E] just behind an enemy, then using quick cast to perform a Dragon Strike [Q] towards it, knocking everything in his path airborne. This is usually finished up with his Golden Aegis [W] to protect himself while also slowing the enemy as they desperately try to get away from him. A variation on this is using his ultimate, Cataclysm [R], to close distance before using Golden Aegis to stop the incoming onslaught.

 

Jarvan Splash

It’s worth noting that this allows Jarvan to double jump, a feat only able to be performed by a few other characters in the game. He can hop to one place using the Standard+Strike combo, then lock a champion (usually a mage or ranged carry) down with his ultimate as he jumps past his previous target into them. Wail on them for a bit, then to plough into someone else or make an escape using his Standard+Strike combo once again. Given the Standard grants vision around its location, you can use it to jump through walls to safety, or catch people in surprise ganks as he ploughs through walls towards them.

 

Jarvan has to be conservative with how he uses his abilities though, as his mana bar can go from full to empty in the time it takes for Evelyn to gank a Teemo. In order to be fully effective, he needs to make use of all three of his standard abilities in a short space of time, so he needs to pick and choose when he’s going to let off this burst. Harassing with his Dragon Strike (AKA Extendo Lance) during laning is fine, but afterwards he needs to keep his mana high (at over 205) just to land his standard combo in the late game. This is even more so if you want to actually use his ultimate with the combo (355 mana) or, you know, actually use this combo more than once in a prolonged fight. This is why using his Demacian Standard, while great for scouting, shouldn’t be used too often for that purpose, since it puts him in danger of not being able to use the combo at a critical time.

 

League of Legends Jarvan

If he’s sitting in a lane, solo or duo, he’s best levelling his Dragon Strike first, due to it being an incredible harass during the laning phase, dishing out both a good measure of damage, and reducing the armor of anyone caught in it. Take a rank in Demacian Standard at level 1, Dragon Strike at 2, and Golden Aegis at 4. Your priority order should be Cataclysm > Strike > Aegis > Standard.

 

When jungling, and he’s a fairly good jungler, Demacian Standard is a better choice to max first due to it aiding his attack speed while taking on spawn camps. So, while the levels where you pick up the skills remains the same, changing the priority order to Cataclysm > Standard > Aegis > Strike works better for faster jungling. That said, once you’ve picked up both of his buffs, it’s not worth him keeping to the jungle. You should go to a lane and try to kill someone rather than continuing to farm spawn camps.

 

League of Legends Jarvan

 

Start out with cloth armour and health potions, regardless of if you’re heading into the jungle or sticking to a lane. The armour will give him some protection, and will build into some useful items, while the potions will help with sustainability. Don’t bother touching a single Doran’s item these days (unless you’re stacking Blades on a ranged carry, which Jarvan isn’t).

 

Build a Heart of Gold and level 1 boots on your first trip back to the shop if you’re laning. If you’re jungling, turn the cloth armour into a Mandred’s Razors, to be upgraded into a Wriggle’s Lantern later. His core items are Randuin’s Omen, Youmou’s Ghostblade and Banshee’s Veil. The previously mentioned Wriggle’s Lantern is a good early item if you’re jungling or your team has poor map control. Late pick, or situational, items on him include Infinity Edge, Force of Nature, Guardian Angel, Frozen Mallet and Hexdrinker.

 

I have been playing around between a 0/21/9 build on Jarvan and a 0/9/21. The former gives him a lot more tankiness, but the latter gives him more mobility and increased mana sustainability, while also helping him to keep hold of his jungle buffs for longer. Both seem viable, the former leading to more conservative play, the latter allowing a bit more of an aggressive playstyle.

 

Overall, Jarvan won’t make a significant impact on a match, one way or another. He is very much a jack of all trades, but a master of none when it comes to fighting, his damage of okay, but not great, and he can take more of a beating than others, but a lot less than some. His Standard + Strike combo can be a bit fiddly at times, and botching it in the heat of the moment will almost always lead to either him dying, or a target escaping. His ultimate is as much a blessing as a curse. When it goes well, it goes very well, but if you misjudge the radius on it, you can accidentally lock allies down, and actually assist the enemy in ganks. It should be used with a good deal of caution. Overall, he’s good at what he does, but what he does isn’t very flashy, and often requires a large amount of caution.

 

For runes, you need to juggle survivability and damage, while also picking up some mana regeneration on the side. I personally use flat health Quints, armour penetration Marks, and then vary my last two dependant on if I’m jungling or not. When jungling, you will absolutely need armour runes, so use them in your Seals, and put mana regeneration per level in Glyphs. For laning, you’re more likely to be hit by magical damage harassing you, so grab mana regeneration per level in Seals, and magic resist in Glyphs. The mana regeneration is very important, since it means you won’t have to invest any gold in buying items that will detract from Jarvan’s main build focus of survivability and damage.

 

The minion, respawn and tower changes are undoubtedly going to shift the game back into a pushing and backdooring metagame. Long skirmishing periods leading into team fights aren’t viable when minion waves can bring down a tower in seconds, and the lanes can shift back and forth with a great degree of speed. Harassing and poking to gain an edge on levelling during the laning phase (usually leading to early ganks) isn’t as effective now too, due to the reduced early game respawn timers. Alistar is going to become more common, as his ability to enhance large packs of minions that are already good at quickly bringing down towers is going to be very effective.

 

From personal experience, the game now becomes a lot shorter due to pushes being much more effective or far, far longer as both teams spend their time just trying to fend off minion waves. The middle ground seems to have been almost erased, and teams without a least a single decent pusher will find themselves severely handicapped after this patch.

 

League of Legends Jarvan

 

To discuss some of the changes yourselves, visit the League of Legends section of our forums, or post in the massive League of Legends thread in the free to play MMOs section. If you haven’t tried League of Legends yet.  Now is the perfect time.

New Images Released for Grand Mer – World’s First Free-to-Play Online Fishing Game

New Images Released for Grand Mer – World’s First Free-to-Play Online Fishing Game

Redbana and T3 Entertainment today released a series of new images offering a closer look at the playable characters, boats and fishing gear that players will use when they get a chance to enter the world of Grand Mer later this year. Currently available in Korea and coming soon to North America, Grand Mer is the world’s first free-to-play online fishing game set in an open and persistent ocean world.

 

Characters

 

New assets released today offer a glimpse of the variety of playable characters that players will be able to choose from. Each character in the game has their own unique strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the sport of saltwater trolling. In a world where climate change and flooding have caused the oceans to rise, fishing has become the most important activity for the survival of the human race and these brave anglers are the best. With the help of human and animal NPCs, players will compete to catch more than 120 different species of fish.

 

Fishing Rod Images

Also released today is a look at the variety of fishing boats and gear that players will be able to unlock and choose from. Each fishing boat has a unique look that can be customized and upgraded to improve turning , acceleration and speed. Players will also be able to upgrade their fishing gear with new rods, reels and lures that attract different types and sizes of fish.

 

Grand Mer Boat

Lost Saga Comes to Europe

Lost Saga Comes to Europe

 

OGPlanet announced today that the acclaimed action game Lost Saga will soon be operating across Europe in English language, with dedicated service and support staff for European players. With a rich variety of powerful heroes and super-fast player-vs-player battles, Lost Saga has a lot to offer action fans, who will shortly be able to enjo the fast-paced combat – which was showcased at the World Cyber Games 2010 – for free on a brand-new European service.

Following the successful launch of Lost Saga in South Korea and North America, OGPlanet is now preparing the European release of the game, and aims to provide the best possible gaming experience to European players with local servers and a dedicated team to communicate with and support players across Europe. “We specialize in online action games at OGPlanet, and we recognize that action gamers need a high level of service, as well as optimal game performance, to maximize their competitiveness,” said Sangchul Park, CEO of OGPlanet. “We intend to bring the best of action gaming to European players in a complete package: a great game with a quality of service that exceeds their expectations.”

The European Open Beta of Lost Saga will be starting on the 24th of March, and registration is now open on the game’s official European website. Players who participate in the European beta will receive exclusive bonuses and items, so don’t delay — register now to secure your head start! You can also find the premier video trailer for Lost Saga on the official site, along with recent screenshots, artwork, and breaking news about the game.

 

Grand Mer

GRAND MER is the world’s first online Saltwater Fishing game that invites players to experience
the excitement of struggling with and catching enormous fish, some of which can reach over 26 feet in length!

 

In Grand Mer, you will be able to:

– Select from several unique characters, customize them and further develop their fishing skills
– Travel the world by selecting from several exciting maps, ranging from icy cold waters to tropical paradises
– Fish at your leisure, compete individually or in a team (customizing the rules for that match), play a Tour and complete
mission objectives or enter a Championship and test your skills against the very best!
– Experience dynamic fishing with shoals of fish reacting to weather, location, time and more
– Customize your gear such as fishing rods, lures and your own custom made boat!
– Keep track of your favorite fish in your own aquarium and earn special rewards for catching specific fish
(will you catch the elusive and dangerous great white shark?)

WarFlow Has Its 9th Server Released In 2 Months

WarFlow Has Its 9th Server Released In 2 Months

 

WarFlow had its ninth server “Luisdgar“ released on March. 7th, which was eight weeks right after the game had been announced by the DOVOGAME Team to be coming out in early January.

The ninth server came with the well-received “First Three Killers” and “Top Three RP Rankers” events. Players to the new server are able to win a maximum of 4,100 Gold from these two events. Additionally, 500 free Gold and 6 Treasure Boxes (for players to hunt for various in-game items) are given away to everyone.

WarFlow, succeeding to DOVOGAME’s first world-known business strategy game Business Tycoon Online, was produced based on the company’s 10 years’ experience with game development. Its unorthodox game system has been praised by all war game fanatics.

In WarFlow, gamers can straight up attack enemies at the right beginning without waiting for anything to be prepared beforehand. As all the WarFlow features are aimed at military victories, WarFlow gamers are more than happy to do anything needful, which of course can be finished very fast, unlike the other war strategy games that require a long, frustrating, teeth-pulling process of building construction and soldier production.

WarFlow offers plenty of chances for gamers to utilize their wisdom and tactics in military formations, Heros, troops, attacking, defense and medication, so that gamers can focus on military actions instead of being distracted and frustrated by any pointless features.