TERA Online has released one of its first trailers hinting at the beginning storyline of TERA and showcasing some of the early bosses and classes in action.
Yearly Archives: 2011
Uncharted Waters Online: Arrgh Mateys
Revisiting Uncharted Waters Online: ARRGH MATEYS The Full Review!
By Vincent Haoson, OnRPG Journalist
With Uncharted Waters Online finally being officially released, I return to Koei’s seven seas F2P MMORPG hoping to see the changes made upon the game’s release. Unsurprisingly nothing really has changed with an addition of a few add-ons to the game to which I will elaborate later on.
However, before I get ahead of myself (plus I don’t want to assume everyone has read my preview) I’ll go through the explanation of what the game is about for the benefit of those who stumbled into this review.
Uncharted Waters Online is a sea-faring F2P MMORPG from Koei, yes, the company who brought us the Dynasty Warriors series is now venturing into the online market as well (they also brought said franchise to the online market too). The game puts you in the shoes of a either a seafaring merchant, maritime or adventurer in about 16-18th century Europe. Uncharted Waters Online is actually an online spin-off of an old NES and SNES game of the same title.
Going through the Seven Seas
Uncharted Water Online gives you three paths to adventure in-game. You either be the free-spirited travel and discovery centric adventurers, or be the money-centric merchants or the swashbuckler of the seas, maritime.
The job classes are easy and self-explanatory enough for anyone who has played any MMORPG. As for those who would be experiencing their first ever MMO in UWO need not fret because the game provides you with a “training course” to help you understand the game’s controls and gameplay.
Long Winded “Tutorial”
The training course in UWO is pretty long-winded and tedious. In fact you can’t even skip it so expect the game to treat you like a 10-year-old. The training course is disguised as an “academy course” where you are trained to be an effective sea farer. While other MMOs give you the option to skip it, in UWO it’s a prerequisite.
Actually, if you’re the impatient type (like me) your patience will be tested right then and there. Of course the training awards you with easy fame and experience points, both of which are pretty important in the game.
Fame IS important
When you mention fame in MMOs you’d expect the usual cosmetic add-ons you’d get in the form of titles or what not. However, in UWO fame is as important as your level. In fact, if you want to get to places in UWO you’d have to be “famous” or you won’t be able to dock or even explore other areas.
The way you look is ALSO important
There’s also another feature in UWO that you’d normally expect as something “cosmetic” or rather something inconsequential for gameplay. And that’s the emphasis on your character’s looks and disguise.
In terms of your character’s “looks” this is translated into Formality Points. The idea behind the formality point system is that better looking characters have a higher sway in the social aspects of the game. To be honest, it’s a nice game concept really, but you won’t really get to feel the full effects of it till you start fiddling with the investing system. Of course its common sense that investors would want to talk to a spiffy seafarer rather than a dirty pirate, and the NPCs in this game are no different.
On the other hand you need to also “disguise” yourself if you plan to visit ports and countries controlled by the moors. Being a “Christian” in the game would mean you are only limited to visit “Christianized” areas and you’d need to “disguise” yourself if you ever want to visit other areas.
Gameplay
UWO’s gameplay is pretty simple, you dock on ports, explore cities, trade, handle pirates, players or even sea creatures and that’s that. The game uses a skill system where every level up would allow you to use more skills in whatever tree you choose. You can start out as an adventurer but have skills from the maritime or merchant tree or vice versa.
Also, the game really feels like you are a seafarer with all the emphasis on ports, travelling on ships and even cargo carrying for trade. The game really tries hard to make the game feel authentic and they don’t disappoint there.
From ship maintenance to hiring your crew and even more in travelling on the sea, you will get your wits tested from allocating resources, stocking up on supplies and having to think tactically on how your ships are fitted.
If you want an online game that’d deliver the sea faring experience of the age of discovery, then this is your game.
Battles
In the spirit of making things authentic, the battles in UWO are tailored similar to actual naval battles of old. There are no instant WIN buttons here but instead you have to angle your ship to be able to fire (if you have only side cannons). You can also “ram” enemy ships if you have the proper equipment or board the other ship if you have enough crewmates to take over.
Balance
With the release of the game the inclusion of an item store is expected, and the good thing about the premium store of UWO is that the things players can purchase aren’t game breaking. In fact most of the bonuses you can purchase in the game are mostly related to ship travel, exp gain or even cosmetic add-ons and that’s that.
Conclusion
Overall, UWO in its released form still retains a lot of the things that I enjoyed from my first impression preview. The game is still a skill grindfest and the long winded tutorial still got on my nerves. My fear of any balance breaking addition to the game was unfounded with the premium store only providing convenience rather than boosting player’s capabilities to get an upper hand.
I also like how the game tries hard to be as authentic as it can be. With everything down to the ship maintenance, add-ons and little nuances that really create an ambiance matching the great age of discovery.
Of course the only problem is that your characters look more Asian than European, but really that’s just nitpicking.
Graphics – 3/5
Controls – 4/5
Features – 4/5
Customization – 2.5/ 5
Community – 3/5
Guild Wars 2 Gamescom Trailer
Guild Wars 2 released yet another trailer showcasing their art style and a few of their new boss monsters at this year’s Gamescom convention.
LOTRO Rise of Isengard Announced for September
The Lord of the Rings Online: Rise of Isengard to Launch September 27th
Turbine today revealed that Lord of the Rings Online’s upcoming expansion, Rise of Isengard, is set to go live September 27th! This will include new areas to explore, new levels to climb to, and a dungeon raid beyond anything seen in Middle Earth.
Explore Three New Regions!
The time has come for you to turn eastward, toward the vale of Isengard. Where ancient forests once flourished, a corrupted waste of metal and wheels suffers under the thrall of the traitorous wizard Saruman. Here, in the shadows of the tower of Orthanc, gathers an army of Orcs and Uruk-hai, toiling to make ready for war. Forge ahead into these devastated lands and uncover new quests, skills, and traits as you strive to thwart Saruman’s ambition.
Dunland – Adventure amidst the bright forests in the foothills of the southern Misty Mountains. Beware the Dunland Clans, rugged warriors tempted by the dark promise of power.
Gap of Rohan – Battle over the legendary pass between Eriador and the plane of Rohan. This key strategic point must be defended against the ambitions of Sauron.
Isengard – Explore Orthanc, one of the iconic Two Towers as it rises over the once beautiful Isengard valley. The once beautiful vale now desecrated beyond imagination by the Wizard Saruman the betrayer.
Advance to Level 75! – Face new challenges and continue to forge your own legend in Middle-earth with all-new epic quests, skills, and deeds as you fight new enemies on your journey to level 75!
Master the Legendary New 24-Player Raid!
Face the ancient evil of Draigoch, one of the most powerful creatures in Middle-earth! Prepare for the ultimate challenge where nothing less than the strength of an entire force of 24 heroes stands the chance of victory.
Black Prophecy: The Sky Is No Longer The Limit
Black Prophecy: The Sky Is No Longer The Limit
By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor), OnRPG Journalist
Black Prophecy is developed by gamigo a studio that is based in Germany, and it is the first Sci-Fi Space MMOG. This game provides a lot of action-oriented gameplay which can be played from a third-person and first person perspective.
Story
In the 26th century, mankind has expanded across the galaxy, yet only a few of its colonies are controlled by Humans. The true rulers are the cybernetically enhanced Tyi and the biogenetically perfected Genides. Their striving for total control over all human species drives them into the territory of an ancient alien race that does not tolerate other cosmic civilizations: the “Restorers”.
There are currently three factions in this game. The Sapiens, Genides and the Tyi are human races with different technologies and the last two are known as superhuman species. The sapiens however are biologically and cybernetically unaltered human beings. Sapiens have been classified as second class citizens by most intergalactic colonies. The Spire exists as the only space station still under Sapien control, which is where the player’s journey first begins. Later in the game the player gets to choose the faction he wants to join, whether it be Genides or Tyi.
Character Creation
The character creation in Black Prophecy gives you a lot of options to pick from. You can change everything! There are some presets you can choose from and you can chance the Ethnology of the character you are creating. You have 3 sliders that will help you create the desired race you want. Then there is the Age, Weight and the hilarious Gravity option. You can also decide to create your character from scratch if you head over to the Expanded tab. In the expanded tab you have much more ways to make your face more detailed and to customize the desired look of your character. In the special tab you can pick tattoos and gadgets such as piercings.
Tutorial
Black Prophecy probably has the most detailed an adrenaline filled tutorial in MMO history. Between various pilots (all voice-acted) yelling at you, explosions going off, missiles flying left and right, and you being thrown right into the middle of it, you can expect to leave this tutorial feeling rattled and ready for more.
The space ship I was on was being attacked by a fleet of space shuttles. I was ordered to arm the turret on the space ship and destroy any enemy space shuttle that I encountered. As I was destroying these space ships like flies I got a warning on the radio that torpedos got launched and were heading for the ship. As I was trying to destroy these fast speeding torpedos a huge Battle Ship confronted the space ship I was stationed on. My order was to destroy every weak spot on this ship such as turrets, radars and scanners. When I destroyed the last weak spot the Battle Ship turned into a huge fireball and exploded. After we fended off the first wave of enemy shuttles, I could take off the first ride in my own fighter craft! After a brief moment to accustom myself to the controls of the fighter, a second wave of terrorists struck the space station and the action continued!
Graphics
The graphics of Black Prophecy rival any F2P MMO ever produced hands down. There are plenty of options to change the quality to make the game playable for everyone. I couldn’t run the game on the highest graphics unfortunately even though I have a monster computer.
Gameplay
To control your ship you can use the WASD keys along with the Q and E buttons to make a barrel roll. Aiming and shooting is done by using your mouse. However there is a travel time for your weapons and you have to aim in front of the target in order to land a shot. In order to click on items in space or go to your menu bar you can press Space to open up your user interface.
It is also possible to upgrade your ship with all sorts of upgrades, like a cockpit, wings and an engine. There is also room for 4 turrets. There are all sorts of weapons which can be built into your ship such as cannons, lasers, guns, energy beams, flamethrowers and missiles. Some of these weapons require multiple slots or are specialized in taking different mechanics down, so you have to build your fighter wisely with a goal in mind. This frees the game up drastically from class stereotypes as you can be any variation of artillery, tank, close range dps, and support given enough time to gather the necessary parts for these roles.
There is a skill tab in Black Prophecy that lets you put skill points in several options. These options determine what your character does and what level modules your ship can equip.
If you are sick of doing quests or ran out of them there is an option to do Missions as well. You are able to do these missions alone, with a party or even with your clan. Inside of every station, there is an option on the right side of your screen called Mission Terminal. In this terminal you can filter missions based on PvE or PvP and difficulty level with 5 degrees of difficulty.
PvP missions are only available in the hub sectors after the prologue. These missions consist of you and another member of your faction going head to head against 2 members of the opposing faction.
You can also play a Quickplay match. A Quickplay is an arena-style matchmaking feature in Black Prophecy to allow people to queue up for a quick skirmish. This is much more common due to how convenient and casual it is.
Clans
In Black Prophecy it is possible to form or join a clan. To form a clan you would have to be level 14 or higher and have a purse of 20,000 corons. There is a possibility in the game to get your own clan sector. The requirements for this clan sector are to have at least 10 members in your clan and have 200,000 corons in your clan account. As a commander of a clan you can build a station in your clan sector with different features such as a dealer, a hanger, a mission terminal and a constructor.
Crafting
Crafting requires blueprints which you are able to get through missions. These blueprints tell you which crafting material is required to make the desired object. Once you have gathered all the materials you can head over to the constructor tab in a station and start the crafting. Crafting actually takes real time to make and depends on the item level.
Cash Shop
In Black Prophecy there is a cash shop. In this cash shop you can buy items such as Paint, Ship upgrades and different sorts of packages. There are different packages such as Experience Bonuses, crafting packages and a combat package. It is also possible to buy a skill point reset and item upgrade via the cash shop. The real money currency in Black Prophecy is called KKS also known as KK dollar.
Conclusion
I didn’t want to compare this game to Eve but it’s rather inevitable. I have played EVE Online off and on but didn’t feel like I was a strong enough person to have some impact in the game. Black Prophecy however is more casual and doesn’t take ages to actually achieve something. Eve Online is not alone anymore, Black Prophecy is a really well polished game that has a lot of features to offer. However Black Prophecy is still a newly minted game lacking in end game content and some ship customization options. But this will surely change in time and Black Prophecy is a must try for every sci-fi fan that likes to fly his own space shuttle.
Wakfu Deploys Woodz N the Hoodz
Wakfu Deploys Patch 0.307: Woodz N the Hoodz
The new and long awaited Wakfu update, Woodz N the Hoodz went live this morning. This patch includes the release of the Wakfu and Stasis Islands, the mysterious Hoodlums, and so many more surprises that it’s hard to list them all! Wakfu’s producers were kind enough to release this teaser description of the Sadida Forest as well:
At the very edge of Bonta, you will find the Sadida Kingdom, firmly ruled by the gorgeous Queen Sheran Sharm. Follow the trail of the formidable (yet adorable) Boowolves or improve your Lumberjack technique by cutting down some Ancestral Pines! But beware, the forest isn’t as quiet as it seems, and tension is growing among the Sadida people…
A good group of class modifications were also included for the Cra, Ecaflip, Eniripsa, Iop, Xelor, and Eunutrof classes. These changes have been long overdue and many in the community seem to be taking well to them.
The political system received some great additions, including 4 new laws available to regional governors. A lot of other changes have been made to the governor’s abilities to prevent various abuses and mismatched elections.
This would be enough to call it a day under most development studios, but Wakfu tends to push the boundaries of what’s possible. They also included tons of bug fixes to the interface, battle systems, audio, and animations! All in all Wakfu is a whole new beast starting today and now is definitely a great time to check it out!
Dragon Nest Launch Trailer
As Dragon Nest’s open beta draws to a close, they have prepared this epic launch trailer showcasing the story thus far and some great ingame footage.
Elsword Aug 17 Content Preview
Tomorrow ElSword will be releasing a new content update. This video gives us a preview of what we can expect.
Jade Dynasty Path of Glory Trailer
Jade Dynasty is preparing for a major expansion release in September of this year. Known as the Path of Glory, it will include a rework of the main storyline quests, new gem embedding features, and more.
Warhammer Wrath of Heroes Trailer
Warhammer Wrath of Heroes is a fast paced 6v6v6 Arena Fighter game based on the popular Warhammer franchise.















