Yearly Archives: 2011

EverQuests Age of Rediscovery: Fippy and Vulak

EverQuests Age of Rediscovery: Fippy and Vulak

 

EverQuest, the game everyone has heard of. A lot of people have played for a short period of time at least and it is credited with being one of the first Western Massively Multiplayer games to hit the mainstream all the way back in 1999. Fast forward to the present and over the last decade it has had seventeen expansions, given birth to its sequel, EverQuest II and several PlayStation 2 games. But starting today, one server will be taking a page from Prince, and partying like its 1999. The clocks are being rolled back to when EverQuest was just a baby. Back when I had the pleasure of having my first experience with the game.

 

EverQuest Logo

 

So what is going on with those folks over at EQ? Well it’s a concept they’ve tried before with great success, a progression server. Previous attempts have been such a success they’re doing it again, cleaned up a bit and the rules changed to make it more user friendly. The server, Fippy Darkpaw as it is being called will travel through the history of EverQuest at an accelerated rate so players can experience the game as it was originally. Playing as each expansion comes out in the same order it was previously released, and giving players new and old the chance to rediscover the world of EverQuest.

 

I had to give up playing after the first expansion came out because at that time I was just a child and my computer was made up of hand me down parts from a better, newer computer. When the Ruins of Kunark came out my computer just couldn’t handle it. So I put down the game I loved and haven’t touched it since. Over the years I considered picking it up at least a dozen times. But each time I faced the disappointment that I would be getting all this new content I knew nothing about all at once. I wanted to live out as they released. This server is giving me that chance. It has brought me back to a part of my childhood that has defined who I am. The game that helped me become the gamer I am today. I don’t know exactly what will come as I haven’t kept up to date on the lore and goings on in the EverQuest world but I’m ready to find out.

 

EverQuest Flippy

 

Curious how it will work? Well so was I. So I did a bit of research. After a set amount of time, 90 days for the first release then 60 days for each expansion there will be a voting period where any character over level 30 on Fippy Darkpaw will get to vote if they are ready to advance to the next expansion. Once a certain percentage of the population votes in favour of moving to the next expansion it will be done.

 

The reason you have to be at least level 30 is they want to make sure that only people who are on the server and dedicated to it get a vote. This isn’t the only thing the players will be getting a chance to vote on. But it will certainly be the biggest and most important. Voting will be available for a week, so there is no need to feel pressured into logging in right away. Most importantly though, we will be starting out with only the basic races and classes. Others will be unlocked as the server gets to the appropriate expansion. Zones and content that were released between expansions will be unlocked with the expansion they were closest to released to. A few things couldn’t be changed because they’re hardcoded into the game and changing them for one server would mean changing them for all the servers.

 

We won’t hold this against them though. From all accounts this is the most advanced and best progression server to date. And it is indeed proving so popular that a second progression server with the same rules has been opened. It is being called Vulak’Aerr. In the EverQuest lore Vulak’Aerr is the lord of the temple of Veeshan, a dragon who will summon other dragons during engagements. This brings me to Fippy Darkpaw. When I first read the name that was picked I thought to myself that everyone was insane. It was a name voted for by players but I of course had no idea what, or who Fippy Darkpaw was. He is a monster who spawns in the newbie area of Qeynos, one of the starting cities for Humans. In celebration of the release of the progression servers all EverQuest accounts that have ever been have been reactivated for a short time. As you can imagine though that’s a lot of accounts, but emails are being sent out telling everyone about the reactivation.

 

EverQuest Vulak

 

This ultimately brings me to the end, the end for this week at least. Come back every week to find out more about my adventures on Fippy Darkpaw. Read interviews from players new and old and get my account of how the progression server goes. There will be news updates, alerts for when voting begins and anything else you may need to know if you play on Fippy Darkpaw or Vulak’Aerr. I hope you enjoy this weekly article and come with me as I enter the Age of Rediscovery.

Gamerkraft unveils 3rd game “Aida Arenas”

GAMERKRAFT UNVEILS NEW GAME, “AIDA ARENAS”

 

Free to Play MMORPG Brawler Coming Soon to North America and Europe

 

 

Toronto, CANADA-February 15, 2010-Game Bridger Entertainment, a global publisher of interactive online entertainment media, unveiled today the latest game to come to their free-to-play gaming platform, GamerKraft. Aida Arenas, developed by Korean developer GalaxyGate, is an “MMORPG Brawler” set in the raucous world of Aida – a land where adventuring, treasure-hunting, and good ol’ fashioned rough-housing are the primary pastimes. To learn more about Aida Arenas and watch the exciting debut trailer for the game, visit the official website here

 

 

“We are excited to announce Aida Arenas’ arrival on the GamerKraft platform in the first quarter of 2011,” said Matthew Denomme, Marketing Manager for Game Bridger Entertainment, “the game’s charming cartoon graphics and whimsical game world, plus its accessible controls and gameplay mechanics, are sure to appeal to a wide range of both hardcore and casual gamers.”

 

 

CREATE a hero, EXPLORE dungeons, FIGHT monsters, COMPETE with friends, and DISCOVER hidden treasure in AIDA Arenas, the new MMORPG Brawler from GamerKraft! Combining elements of the classic beat ‘em up arcade genre with the character progression and social features of modern MMORPGs – Aida Arenas offers an action-packed gameplay experience unlike any you’ve seen before!

 

 

 

Aida Arenas

Aida Arenas is the third title by Canadian Publisher Game Bridger Entertainment and its distributed via their Gamerkraft F2P platform. Aida Arenas is an action title from Korea’s GalaxyGate development house, and it combines classic beat-’em-up arcade stylings with the character progression and social features of modern MMORPGs .

Pokemon Trading Card Game Online

The Pokémon Trainer Challenge gives players old a new a chance to create their own cartoon avatar and face-off against fourteen AI opponents on the field of battle.

The game will launch with three preconstructed decks to play with. Players will be able to purchase new preconstructed decks for the Pokémon Black and White expansion pack, which will come with codes to unlock those decks in the online game.

Top 5 Most Memorable NPCs in RPGs

Top 5 Most Memorable NPCs in RPGs

By Michael Sagoe (mikedot), OnRPG Journalist

 

Ah yes… NPCs. Those wonderful CPU controlled characters that exist in just about every video game ever made. We program them to act as our friends and our enemies. Sometimes, they’ll be there to help you or be there to hurt you, and they always have something to say… or nothing to say.

 

There are a lot of memorable NPCs in the realm of RPGs, but which ones do you think are the most memorable? Well here’s a list of NPCs that are considered to be the most memorable in any RPG by me and the fellas at the OnRPG forums.

 

(Please note that this list is not set in any particular order, with an exception)

 

Manjin (Dungeon Fighter Online )

Merchants

 

Part arcade action, part MMORPG, Dungeon Fighter Online paved its way into the western gaming market, but it also introduced us to a strange man named Manjin. Along with his gang of pot wearing merchants: Danjin, Arin, Pokin and Kardin, they can be found across Elvenguard selling pots that contain rare equipment (or at least that’s what they say.)They also give out betting quests to dungeon fighters. Most people recognize Manjin by his trademark line: “You have to spend money to make money!”

 

I mean just think about that for a quick second…  You have to spend money… to make money. It’s so simple, but makes so much sense in these tough economic times! Manjin and his troop give players strong words to live by, so not only is Manjin a memorable NPC, but also great philosophers of our times…

 

 

(…nah, I’m just kidding about the philosopher thing.)

 

Ferghus (Mabinogi)

Ferghus (Mabinogi)

 

It’s the blacksmith that everyone loves to hate! Ferghus, the blacksmith of Tir Chonaill town, does repairs on all weapons, armor and other equipment for players. However, he has a reputation for being the worst blacksmith ever, as he tends to break player equipment on a regular basis. It’s kind of a trolling moment to see the game stating that his repair rate is 90%, but it’s really more like 40-50%.

He even warns players that he pretty much sucks at his job, telling everyone to go get their items blessed before bringing them to him. Unfortunately for first timers, he tells you this AFTER he attempts to repair your equipment. While he may suck at his job, he’s a really nice guy that will always apologize to you after he breaks your stuff.

 

Although I hear tons of stories about how this guy has broken a countless amount of equipment, I’ve had Ferghus repair my equipment all the time, and he has never broken ANY of it. I swear to god, not even once!  All I can really say to that is “Gee, I must be really lucky…” or maybe my high luck stat has something to do with it?… Eh… Probably not.

 

Kafra ladies (Ragnarok Online)

Kafra Ladies

 

What’s this? Cute anime girls wearing maid outfits and offering convenient services? It can only be the unmistakable Karfa ladies of Ragnarok Online. These adorable NPCs offered services all over rune midgard, allowing players to store equipment, save their location or teleport to different areas with a few clicks. The Karfa ladies didn’t many interesting things to say, because for the most part, their dialog would constantly remind you that you’re playing a video game, but their cute faces will really stick in your head.

 

Sylvanas Windrunner (World of Warcraft)

Sylvanas Windrunner

Now here’s an NPC that sure has quite an amazing story behind her

 

She was once a Ranger-General of Silvermoon (a group of blood elf rangers), until she was attacked Arthas the Death Knight.  After her death, she was then re-animated back to life by Arthas as an undead banshee to do his bidding, but Arthas didn’t count on Sylvanas regaining her free will to oppose him. After she got her free will back, she broke away from him and went to rebel against the Lich King and the Scourge. She eventually helps to kill the one who betrayed her and her kind, finds her old body, and helps destroy Arthas. And now she controls the Val’kyr army.

 

Now I’ve never played WoW before in my life, but I’ve never heard such an amazing tale that shows how payback can be a real bitch. If there are tons more stories with characters like this, then I can see why so many people love WoW to death. For that, Sylvanas and her amazing story make her incredibly memorable and deserved a spot on this list.

 

Deckard Cain (Diablo series)

Deckard Cain

 

I saved the best one for last! This NPC is known for his hilarious nature and rambling with overlong stories. Diablo players will visit Cain to learn of new quests, ask for advice, or even just a little gossip. He’s packed with so much dialog that it will take several minutes just to get through just one of his stories and will almost never repeats himself. Whenever Diablo players hear the phrase “Stay awhile and listen!” they’ll instantly think of Deckard Cain.

 

Cain has been poked fun of by both the Blizzard community and by the developers themselves, such as the fact that he was caged and tortured by the demons. This was somewhat of a present for Diablo fans that suffered endlessly clicking through his stories in the first game. Cain has played an important role in both Diablo 1 and 2, so it’s only obvious that he will appear once again in Diablo 3.

 

So which NPCs do you find to be the most memorable of them all? Shout out on the OnRPG forums and tell us what you think!

EVE Online: Incursion 1.2 is Now Live

EVE Online: Incursion 1.2 is Now Live

 

Today EVE Online: Incursion 1.2 was deployed to Tranquility, the EVE Online server, continuing CCP’s new content deployment strategy of smaller, more frequent content patches in order to deliver optimizations and features to players as soon as they are polished. Incursion 1.2 is the thematic successor to Incursion 1.0, which brought a host of changes with the prioritization help of the Council of Stellar Management, a player-elected representative body of EVE’s 350,000 pilots. A team of dedicated EVE Online developers have declared war on hundreds of “quality of life” improvements and are working their way through them throughout the Incursion release cycle. Today’s release addresses often-requested optimizations including enhancements for clones and jump clones, market improvements, the return of character capturing in game and much more. A full list of improvements can be found here.

 

CCP Zulu, EVE Online’s Senior Producer, penned a Producer’s Letter late last week contextualizing the new release paradigm, celebrating the successes of Incursion and hinting at things to come such as the later Incursion releases and the beginnings of the Incarna deployment. His dev blog can be found here.

The Council of Stellar Management (CSM) is now undergoing it’s candidacy application period for the Sixth CSM, which ends just prior to midnight on February 23rd. Then, March 2nd will see the publication of approved candidates. Voting will occur between March 9th and 23rd. The CSM, unique to gaming, is a player-elected council that represents the views of the members of the EVE Online community to CCP.   More information on the CSM and candidacy application can be found here.

 

EVE Fanfest 2011 looms large on the horizon, March 24-27 in Reykjavik, Iceland. Unprecedented access to developers, an event space done in true Gallente style, the the beauty of Iceland itself, a pride-crushing PvP tournament, thoughtful and inspiring round tables, a glimpse into our crazed Viking visions of the future and The Party at the Top of the World with FM Belfast, Booka Shade and RoXoR, the ubertalented CCP dev band….are just a few of the amazing things those attending will experience. Tickets are still available–take that plunge and join us in a unique gaming experience in Iceland. Visit the official Fanfest page for more information.

 

 

Metropolis Now – Final Crisis: The Future of DC Universe Online

Metropolis Now – Final Crisis: The Future of DC Universe Online

By Stephen Boyd, OnRPG Journalist

 

30 days on from the launch of DC Universe Online and things are looking good. Sony Online Entertainment has its fastest selling game of all time and the populations on both PC and PlayStation3 are booming.

DCUO-Review-Group

What has prompted this success and what do SOE need to do to hold on to their playerbase?

 

The success is down to them having delivered a solid, easy to grasp and entertaining product.

 

Is it perfect? By no means, the game has its flaws and I will get into those later on.

 

Does the DC license carry the weight they hoped it would in this game? Yes. DCs rich history is in every nook and cranny of the DCUO game world. From iconographic landmarks like Crime Alley in Gotham and the Daily Planet building in Metropolis, to subtle nods that thrill the comic geek in me like Infantino Drive and Shuster Way (both named after legendary figures in comic history) are everywhere and really serve to enhance the experience of roaming these cities.

 

DCUO Review Batman

A lot has been made on the Forums of not getting to play as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. To me, the thrill of creating a character and rescuing Raven with Nightwing and the Titans, or battling Braniac’s forces alongside Hawkman and Hawkgirl for outweigh any disappointment I feel about not controlling the Big Three. If I want to play as Batman, I’ll wait for Arkham City. If I want to play as Superman or Wonder Woman…..I guess I’ll just wait.

Four Colour Heroes?

Creating a character though, is not all it could be. After the vast diversity of creation options in both Champions Online and City of Heroes/Villains, the character creation options in DCUO feel a little bit stingy.

 

Having only six powers to choose from leads to a lot of lookalike conventions when you are in a group. Having the roles available tied to these powersets is another drawback. If your powers are Fire or Ice, you are a tank. Simple as that. And I think that this has caused a problem for the players new to MMOs that Sony have targeted with this game.

 

I see a lot of chat ingame from people lamenting that they will have to roll another character as they didn’t realise that their powers were locked in to the character. You can respec your abilities, but your powerset and thus role are unchangeable. Coming from games with dozens of classes to a game with essentially six may also have an adverse effect on the ‘Pro’ MMOers out there.

 

The harsher among you out there probably read that last line and Lolled at the Noob, but for a company that is hoping to keep their players online after the free 30 days expire, this may cause problems.

 

The cosmetic side of things could also have been handled better. Once you have chosen the clothing options on your character, you are restricted to a three colour palette that is applied to your gear. While I quite like the classic look this gives the avatars in game, it is quite limiting. While Batman, Superman and the big guns of the DC Universe tend to have limited numbers of colours on their uniforms if I want a black belt on my red, white and blue costume, I can’t have it.

DCUO Review Green

DCUO Review Red

Power effects are also sadly restricted to a default colour. Green flames? No. Black Ice? Fraid not. All sorcery is red and all mental constructs are purple. Giving us an option for our powers effects to change colour would have added a nice touch of individuality to the identikit power users in game.

 

Many may say that the colours are restricted to avoid slowdown. But if games running on ten year old engines can handle it, you know who you are! Then surely this brand new release can handle a little extra colour?

 

You Will Believe A Man Can Fly

Also locked in to your character from creation is your movement style. Having created multiple characters over the course of the last month I have tried all three options. Acrobatics, Super Speed and Flight are the options available and all had their issues at launch.

 

Super speedsters would find themselves running out of existence as the game could not load the environment fast enough.

 

Acrobats would suddenly realise that their characters were not scaling walls like cat-burglars, or another companies famous Wall Crawler, but were instead skating along the surface of buildings as if they were on a streak of cartoon grease.

 

Multiple patches later and all the movement styles now seem to be working as intended.

 

DCUO Raiding

My personal favourite is flight. A tap of the F key sets you in flight and swooping above Arkham Asylum or rocketing to the top of the LexCorp tower in Metropolis never ceases to entertain me. The flight mechanics are one of the best I have seen in any type of game over the years and are literally a joy to use.

 

Other controls however are not so much fun.

 

War of the Controllers

The control system in DC Universe Online takes a little getting used to. As a PC gamer, it is clear that the interface has been designed with one eye always on the DualAxis controller. Switching between roles takes but a tap of the T key, but each of these action bars contains only six abilities, one health potion and a trinket. A total of eight seems surely mapped to the face buttons and a shoulder press and for players used to having ten or twenty abilities available for combat, it seems a little restrictive. All of your abilities use up a finite Power pool and the game does not have a ‘Mana’ Potion. This is sometimes a problem when you are surrounded by Mobs or enemy players.

 

The combat however is surprisingly effective. You have a wide range of weapons to choose from and your Melee and Ranged attacks are mapped to the Left and Right Mouse buttons. The combat feels solid and each blow lands with a satisfying weight on your opponent. Other online games I have played have felt a little ‘floaty’ and blows don’t carry the impact of those dealt in this game.

City of Villains v City of Heroes

One of the things I spoke about in an earlier feature was the PvP element of the game. Players have the choice of always watching their backs on the PvP servers or choosing their moments for player versus player action on the PvE servers.

 

And it is on the PvE servers where you sometimes feel a little lost and alone. DC Universe does not have PvP areas as such.

 

And it is on the PvE servers where you sometimes feel a little lost and alone. DC Universe does not have PvP areas as such.

 

Yes, you have Alerts and Legends PvP that you can queue for. When you queues are working that is. Raids are available also, but the gear requirements are high and unless you are organised, arranging groups for Raids is tricky.

 

DCUO Moon

The open chat will gather a rag tag group together fairly quickly, but is organisation that is the drawback here again.

 

The social features are overly complexly put together and this makes grouping difficult at times.

 

The League system is another feature that needs looking at. Leagues are DCUO guilds and the League setup offers none of the benefits of Guild systems in other established franchises. You do not even have a communal bank for your League ingame. As more and more players hit the Level cap with their characters, grouping becomes more important to achieve the rewards available at end game. Sony need to do everything they can to make the League system an important part of this MMO experience to keep these players subscribing.

 

Also, there is no sense of Realm versus realm in this game. Without a way to track the campaign and compete with your enemies, the ‘bragging rights’ of being hero or villain do not exist. Realistically, it is this element of MMOs that keep players playing. Without it, the long term future of this game may be in jeopardy.

 

Facing the Future

So what does Sony have to do to keep this ball rolling? Several things jump immediately to mind. Firstly, fix the flaws and bugs in the game. There are surprisingly few major issues that trouble DCUO. The queues for instances and other group missions are a big problem. Far too often I have been thrown into a half completed and abandoned instance. This means I end up in there alone, with no option but to quit, which then bans me for a certain period of time from queuing again.

 

The chat interface could be tidied up and the issues with grouping I discussed earlier are both major issues. Although Sony have marketed this as an MMO for those that don’t play MMOs, it is the established MMO players that will be the bread and butter of this game and their wants and expectations must be met, especially with such huge competition sharpening their lightsabers and waiting just down the road a way.

 

What this game does well, it does very well. The solo missions develop a variety as you move through the game and these can be done as groups. You all need to have the quest for objectives to be available and you cannot share quests with groupmates. Again, this seems to be an indicator of the ‘Single Player MMO’ syndrome that affects most of the game.

 

With the announcement last week of the new content update for February, at least some of the issues I have discussed above will be rectified. A Valentine’s Day themed content pack will see a 100 player instance opened up to players. Catwoman will feature in a new mission and will also be made available to play in Legends PvP. Also recently announced is a new mission related to the Braniac invasion storyline that drives the game. This is a welcome addition as the driving force of the game that is Braniac’s attempt to take over the earth is kind of left hanging in the game. Any steps toward a resolution of that one will be welcome additions.

 

Game Director Chris Cao has talked from the launch about huge monthly updates for the game along with special ‘Events’ that have not been discussed in detail, but the Internet is abuzz about a Green Lantern Corps themed event this summer.

 

All this new content will help assuage the worries of players that Level 30 is the end of the game. My advice? Roll an alt with a different mentor. Each of the Big Three is available as a mentor and each carries his or her own quest line. As there is less to do outside of PvP and grouping for Level 30 characters, run your alerts and missions, gather your tokens for your Tier 1 armour, then log in with your little guy and experience the game from a whole different angle.

 

DCUO Review Justice League

 

A Big Squirt from the Joker’s Flower goes to;

– Chat system- Needs work to make grouping easier and Leagues worthwhile
– Character Creation- More Powersets and a wider colour palette please.
– RvR System-Without it, an MMO lacks focus.

 

A Big Hug from Power Girl goes to:

– The Community-I have had nothing but good experiences with the online community. It is nice to play with people that seem to want to play rather than spend their time complaining about the state of the game. Overall attitude of players toward the game is positive.

– Combat-It does take a while to get used to, but once you do it is solid and satisfying.

– Regular Content Updates- Monthly additional missions, items and characters? Yes please!

– Flying – Because it’s great!

 

Conclusion

All in all, DC Universe Online is a game with great potential. Sony are aware of the issues in the game and have been rolling out the fixes from Day One, they need to resolve the outstanding issues in the game and not get distracted by producing too much new content. That said, the monthly ‘Issues’ of missions and gear may just be enough to keep the naysayers quiet and subscribing. Regular content updates should keep players in the game and I really think that the sun could be shining over the glimmering spires of Metropolis for many years to come.

Solstice Reborn

 

Featuring hundreds of gorgeous environments filled with fanciful creatures and a classic feel, Secret of the Solstice is a free massively-multiplayer role-playing game inviting players to create a character and save the world of Xen. Aspiring heroes have access to plenty of in-game quests, unique and colorful items for their characters and an innovative smelting system for enhancing equipment. In dynamic daily in-game events run by Outspark game masters, players can experience Secret of the Solstice in a completely new way…and even contribute to the evolution of the game’s storyline.

“High Five” Update Gives Lineage II Players What They’ve Been Asking For

“High Five” Update Gives Lineage II Players What They’ve Been Asking For

 

NCsoft announced today the release of the latest addition to the Lineage franchise, the High Five update for Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne. Available tomorrow, 15 February, with a slew of new improvements, the High Five update was developed entirely in response to player feedback.

 

The High Five update brings a new array of skills that players have been seeking including a new hunting system with new buffs, visually enhanced mobs and an assortment of new Grand Olympiad enhancements. Additionally, Lineage II players can look forward more accessible Epic bosses and an improved matching system in hopes of encouraging more people to engage in epic raids and battles as a whole. Additional features include:

 

Over 30 new skills
7 new raid bosses
2 revamped hunting zones – one indoor and one outdoor – and a new hunting system
A number of Grand Olympiad enhancements including: o New stadiums and visuals
o New daily quests and rewards
o The number of matches per month are now limited to provide a more fair competition
o Olympiad Tokens can now be used on more items at cheaper prices

 

Starting tomorrow Lineage II will be available for a reduced price of €12.99 in Europe, ensuring that even more players can enjoy the sweeping changes brought with the High Five update.

 

For more information about Lineage II and the High Five update please visit the official website.