Tiara Concerto is an Action MMORPG featuring music and rhythm that combines to produce magic weapons.
Yearly Archives: 2011
Gamania Announces Tiara Concerto, The Musical MMO
Gamania Announces Tiara Concerto, The Musical MMO
Gamania Digital Entertainment today is proud to announce a new musical adventure in the skies, its upcoming MMO game, Tiara Concerto. Information on the game’s storyline and world has been revealed, giving players a sneak peek at the mysterious musical instruments used to ward off enemies and unlock new dimensions. In addition to the game, Tiara Concerto’s RD team has created a new comic series, Tiara Concerto Mini, which will appear in weekly installments on the official Facebook fan page, revealing additional information on the game.
The story of Tiara Concerto transports players 800 years in the past, to the time of the Star Chord Judgment – the result of wasteful Humans exhausting all of earth’s resources. In their final hour, with the world on the verge of self-destruction, the legendary Seven Wise Men managed to unlock a new dimension, saving the Humans from complete annihilation. While their home world was lost forever, the surviving Humans managed to escape judgment by living on floating islands in the sky. As years passed, they developed a mysterious skill called “Tuning,” in which they used instruments to produce resonance with energy from the past, thereby allowing them to slowly reclaim resources from their homeland. Now, the Humans must cooperate with other magical races – the Elves and the Beasts – to take down the Rhythmic Monsters prowling the skies and bring back their lost civilization.
Besides 3 races, the game also boasts 3 classes, the warrior, ranger, and tuner. While the warrior is self explanatory and the ranger fills a sort of dual role between rouge and gunsmith, the tuner is rather unique. By channeling tunes and building into a crescendo, they are able to buff allies while playing as a DOT styled mage that can turn a battle over a long course of time. Interestingly enough, a system seems to be in place in which rhythm and style plays into the combat to reward teams that work together in flawless unison. OnRPG will be keeping a close eye on this one to see if it lives up to its beautiful teaser trailer.
Tiara Concerto
Tiara Concerto takes place in an apocalyptic world. Due to the wasteful extravagance of humans, their original home world was lost in a cataclysmic event 800 years ago. Before all was lost, the Seven Wise Men managed to combine their knowledge of magic to unlock a new dimension in which humans could survive on floating islands above the wasteland and devastation.
As time passed, humans further pushed the limits of this breakthrough, developing “Tuning.” Through Tuning they were capable to resonate with hidden energies from the past. Now they have united with the mythical beast and elf races to attempt to use Tuning to reclaim their lost homeland.
Features
3 Playable Races: Embark on your journey as a human, beast, or elf. Each offering specialization in stats to utilize various classes in new more powerful ways. Humans offer well rounded attributes, making them ideal for balancing the weaknesses of classes to cover more potential roles in a party. Beasts are speed and strength specialists but lose out on mental based abilities. Elves have access to the technology and equipment of the ancients and strong mental prowess, by lack the physical power of the two larger racial options.
3 Classes: Play as the powerful Warrior, Agile Ranger, or Intellectual Tuner.
Unique Combat System: By chaining your skills together in harmony with your allies, you can unlock the secrets of music and the most devastating magic available in the game. Experience a unique action oriented combat that rewards players for style and rhythm above all else.
DOTA 2 Announces $1 Million Tournament at Gamescom 2011
DOTA 2 to Host $1 Million Tournament at Gamescom 2011
DOTA 2, the inevitable successor to the original MOBA that started it all, will be returning once again to revolutionize the genre. Though details are still scarce, the first ever public game access will be witnessed at Germany’s Gamescom 2011, in which a $1,000,000 international tournament is being held!

The EU, China, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Denmark, Ukraine, Russia, Vietnam, and the Phillippines will be sending their finest to battle over the prize money in a in double elimination play-off format. Unable to attend Gamescom? Sadly so am I but DOTA will be broadcasting the tournament live in Chinese, English, German and Russian courtesy of NVIDIA, the event sponsor.
Gamescon begins August 17th so stay tuned for more intense gaming news on not only DOTA 2, but Firefall, Guild Wars 2, and TERA Online!
Realm of the Titans ColbyCheeze Impressions
ColbyCheeze trashes some bots and people in Realm of the Titans while discussing some of the finer details of this MOBA by Aeria Games.
Lord of the Rings Online – You Shall Not Pay!
The Lord of the Rings Online –You Shall Not Pay!
Neil Kewn (Murxidon) – OnRPG Journalist
The Lord of the Rings Online is an interesting game. Unlike many of its peers, it isn’t an MMO that plotted to overthrow the market leader nor was it forgotten about a mere six months after release. LOTRO has always been there, gleefully welcoming new subscribers whilst providing a steady stream of content to those who already inhabit its servers. The game was well-received upon its release way back in 2007, and player numbers have been more or less good – or as good as they can be in the P2P market. Not content with this, Turbine, Inc. announced last year that the game was stepping out of its Shadows of Angmar and going free-to-play. The first major Western MMO to do so, but definitely not the last.
With news that the games profits had more or less tripled, its conversion to the love-it-or-hate-it cash shop model was a resounding success. Not only did it breathe new life into the game, it dawned on many other publishers that free-to-play is a viable option in supporting their increasingly derelict virtual worlds. The Lord of the Rings Online is here to stay, but how does its new funding dynamic affect the most important part of any MMO, the gameplay?
There’s a lot to see and a lot to do in Middle-earth, and any fan of Tolkien’s vast lore will have an absolute hoot roaming the fields of Turbine’s design. Free players are welcomed with open arms, and they get a fair chunk of content without paying a dime. All four races are available (man, dwarf, hobbit and elf) in addition to seven of the nine classes. From there, it’s pretty much up to you. Traditional but refined, the beginning stages of your journey into Middle-earth are story driven introductions that help you get to grips with the game. Any MMO player will feel very comfortable controlling their character and performing abilities, everything is very fluid and very natural.
This high shine has come from its three years as a P2P title, funded by reoccurring subscriptions. It is stable, polished and gracefully aged. LOTRO follows the tried and tested methods of MMO progression and adventure, so there isn’t a lot of innovation to be found. If you aren’t a fan of World of Warcraft or RIFT, Lord of the Rings is unlikely to change your mind.
As it doesn’t attempt to rewrite the formula, gaining experience and levelling is a pretty standard affair. Questing is your first port of call, with numerous NPCs in the many towns, villages and settlements all in need of assistance. The tasks given to you aren’t particularly original or challenging from the outset, with kill-x-of-beast and delivery quests making an appearance, but it’s all tied together within a narrative taken straight from the tales. Whilst there are standard, throwaway quests to spend time on there’s also important, story quests signified by a flaming ring over the quest givers head. These adventures aren’t just an interesting diversion, they aim to tell a story and you will no doubt bump into a few familiar characters on your travels. They’re fun and an excellent way to bring depth to the world.
What LOTRO lacks in originality it makes up for in atmosphere. It’s one of the few MMORPGs that manage to conjure a real sense of fantasy and wonder. Beautiful art direction makes exploring a truly engrossing activity. From quant old English towns to vast snowy mountains, the world of Middle-earth is an attractive and varied landscape. Even today, LOTRO is a great looking game that is kind to lower-end systems.
With reoccurring subscriptions now optional, a cash shop has made its way into Middle-Earth to help support the free side of the game. Using Turbine Points, players can invest in virtual goods that benefit their characters both aesthetically and practically. The LOTRO Store, as it is known, is jam packed with items (including the game’s two critically acclaimed expansion packs). Purchasing any item from the store automatically upgrades your account to Premium status, unlocking an increase in the gold cap and an additional character slot. Players who want to see everything the game has to offer can subscribe to the VIP service, similar to the monthly payments that supported the game previously but with 500 free Turbine points a month.
Those who aim to stick solely on the free side of the fence may become frustrated as they climb through the levels. A lot of quests have been sorted into Quest Packs, reserved for the paying adventurer; meaning freeloaders may struggle (or get bored) of grinding to advance. Luckily free players do get access to two Skirmishes, instanced group encounters, to help spruce things up. One has players defending against waves of enemies, whilst the other tasks you with fronting an assault. It’s a great idea and one that works well. Both are great fun.
Crafting in LOTRO is vast. You can choose to specialize in all manner of different vocations; depending on your playing style and how committed you want to be with creating, using and selling items. Harvesting professions enable you to gather resources from Middle-Earth itself, putting them to good use in other areas of expertise. Choose to become a farmer and your produce will be sought after in the cook profession, or you can be a little more traditional and craft weapons and armour for yourself and other players.
Lord of the Rings Online is still one of the big Western MMORPGs. I wasn’t sure if the free-to-play re-launch would upset the balance of the game, but it’s seemed to have breathed new life into it. Free players get a considerable chunk of content for what was once a premium game, meaning you can have hours of adventuring before the incentive to drop several dollars on extra content becomes warranted. The much-heralded Monster Play PVP may be reserved for paying players (for now), but there’s still a lot to sink your teeth into in this award-winning use of Tolkien’s mystical works.
Graphics – 5
Controls – 4
Features – 4
Customization – 4
Community – 4
Perfect World 2011 Review – Genesis
Perfect World 2011 Review- Genesis
By Bryan King, OnRPG Journalist
Upon release, Perfect World was possibly one of the most anticipated games of 2008. It’s been three years, but Perfect World has not stopped growing. Genesis, Perfect World’s latest expansion, provides a great deal of content for players to enjoy, including a new race, two new classes, new areas, dungeons, and guild bases. Will Perfect World withstand the test of time that usually plagues MMOs? Read below to find out…
Genesis Lore:
“There will be a time when the beautiful world will cease to exist as we know it today.
The land of Perfect World will suffer destruction the likes of which has never been seen. The world will be torn apart, leaving massive crevasses across its surface. The oceans will rage with turmoil and the tides will swallow everything in their path. The races of the world, thrown into chaos, will not understand what is happening to their beautiful world.”
The Time of the Prophecy Has Come.
However, within the depths of the underground, an ancient race of people with arcane powers and innate psychic abilities have foreseen the coming of this post-apocalyptic world. In knowing the future, they have dedicated their lives to prepare for such a day. The time has now come for them to emerge from the underground. They must join the other races of Perfect World and fight alongside them through the coming disaster.
“This thing looks EXACTLY like I do IRL O_o” (Character Customization):
Perfect World’s character creation is definitely one of the most notable features within the game. In terms of a fantasy based free to play MMO, Perfect World probably has one of the most extensive and detailed character creation systems ever created. The amount of detailing players can put into their character is astounding, allowing everything from eye shadow color to hair length, to mouth width. I had no problem recreating many of my favorite fictional characters.

The flawless character customization even allows you to upload a reference image. So, if you want to go ahead and conjure up a spitting image of Justin Bieber, just so you can fly as high as you can into the air and watch him fall endlessly to the ground, you can find an image on Google, download it, and upload it in-game so you have a guide to use without having to alt tab. Other F2P games definitely need to take a page out of Perfect World: Genesis’ book when it comes to character creation. The two most recent expansion races simply add even more content, with the Earthguard and the Tideborn allowing more customization to player taste.
Gameplay:
Perfect World: Genesis expands upon the already established franchise by adding the Earthguard race, which carries with it the Seeker and Mystic classes. These two classes possess many new skills and up the total to 10 classes. Perfect World definitely allows for much variability in terms of gameplay between the ten classes (Archer, Assassin, Barbarian, Blademaster, Cleric, Mystic, Psychic, Seeker, Venomancer, and Wizard), and the five races (Earthguard, Human, Tideborn, Untamed, Winged Elves). The gameplay aspects of the classes, allow various mixtures of combat, ranging from aerial combat, to underwater battles, and last but not least, those on land. Winged Elves are the only class that can fly from level one, as their name implies, they’re given the gift of flight from birth. Other races have to wait until level 30, unless you buy an Aerogear (flying mount) from the Boutique or earn one via one of the games many events. I felt like flying handled well, but was limited in the long run. Many UI bars made me paranoid as I took off flying, since “acceleration” (a sort of “turbo boost” for the Aerogear) is limited to an expendable reservoir of energy that has to be replenished via in-game items.
Perfect World’s combat isn’t much to brag about. There are a lot of classes, sure, but the combat system seems very repetitive and has been done many times before. Targeting a mob, using the keys 1-9 or f1-f9, standard MMO stuff. However, the game features many expansive modes such as a very finely tuned Pet System, Territory Control System, and Crafting System. My favorite out of these three is definitely the Territory Control System because I’m a sucker for open world objective based PvP. The Territory Control System allows various guilds to bid on “states” to own in the game. Guilds can battle over these territories and utilize catapults and different types of towers to attack and defend these, leading to an epic-looking battle royale. The grand prize? All guild members get the ability to teleport to the states you own every hour, as well as providing services such as free healing and item identification, thus adding a benefit to fighting so hard and paying so much for a territory. Perfect World isn’t so unique in terms of combat, but is chocked to the brim with a ton of cool features to overcome this weakness and find a way to enjoy the game.
Graphics:
Perfect World excels in this aspect. With Perfect World: Genesis, many of the game’s textures have been redone, adding even more beauty to the established franchise. Character detailing is crisp, textures look beautiful, and the overall atmosphere of the game has a great feeling to it. You definitely cannot go wrong in terms of the game’s graphics, especially considering the ability of flight allows you to take in the game’s atmosphere even more.
Character design is completely customizable, as covered in the character customization section. The lighting effects within towns makes the game look great and shiny when simply exploring the world. I found myself flying around for almost half an hour just taking a look at the massive environment and my eyes ate it all up.
Conclusion:
Fundamentally, Perfect World is a simple game. The combat isn’t anything special, the setting doesn’t seem shockingly new, and the classes aren’t novel. However, the various bonus features make it great. Players who have never experienced an MMO are lucky to come across this game, as it is a perfect “bread and butter” introduction to all MMOs , whether they areF2P or P2P, because of the great features. Perfect World is a must play for any MMO gamer, as the features it has aren’t common within the industry.
Are We Spoiled As Gamers?
Are we Spoiled as Gamers?
By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor), OnRPG Journalist
Back in the old days we used to play hours or even days with just a simple toy such as a cube. Nowadays we cannot get enough satisfaction out of a game. Why is that? Most of the new released MMORPGs have everything you ever wished for, but it still doesn’t give us enough satisfaction to stick to the game. Are we tired of the cube and do we want to play with a ball? Or are we simply just spoiled and growing up? In this article I will give you a look at the most dependable features developers forget.
The start of the genre ‘Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game’.
Back in the 70’s games focused on gameplay without a worry of any bells and whistles such as graphics and sound. What choice did they have? This was a necessity and not a choice. Games such as Pong and Space Invader are still very popular games created in the 70’s, and the concept is simple but working. No one realized at the time that this was the base for what would become the multi-million dollar industry it is today. Jump forward to the age of the Internet and MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons) had begun to evolve. Though simple like Space Invaders in terms of graphics, these simple creations were the base of something greater.
The Current Success of the MMORPG
There are hundreds of released MMORPGs nowadays, maybe even more than a thousand, but only a few of them are really successful. Why are they successful? What is the big secret of games such as World of Warcraft, Guildwars, Lord of the Rings Online, RIFT, and Everquest?
What makes them so popular? The following factors are in my opinion key to a game’s success:
Story
Most of the stories are plain and require little thought for a gamer to comprehend. There is almost always a division between factions, often based on racial differences at war for global domination or revenge. When its broken down into the obvious components like this is really makes the storyline seem cheesy. But why is a story such an important factor for a game? A lot of MMORPGs lack the depth of a story, it is just poorly made up and has no history or background of what happened earlier at all. Even worse are the games that have deep back stories but merely post them on their websites rather than integrating it into the gameplay itself. In the end most players have a vague knowledge of the surrounding storyline but never feel a vested interest in their character’s role or goals. Sadly Guild Wars was one of the only games to ever really get this right, and for some reason few developers have felt the need to invest time in recapturing the same feel Guild Wars accomplished so long ago.
Gameplay
The gameplay is what truly makes or breaks a game. This is by far in my opinion the most important factor of a game, cause who else wants to play a game with clunky controls, lack of freedom and broken game mechanics? Take for example a game such as Minecraft, this game has just the perfect gameplay in every possible way. Even though the graphics suck by modern standards, the game is widely viewed as a success. Yet Minecraft is a mysterious outlier among a sea of games with amazing graphics and no substance.
Graphics
Honestly I am a graphics whore. I am not saying for example 8bit games are ugly but give me my PS3 sparkles anyday. You might call me spoiled but the first visual impression is what sells me on a game. However for developers, graphics are an extremely costly factor to improve on. It becomes even more hit and miss when dealing with MMOs as the more intense you go on graphics, the more players you are barring from entering the game.
I feel like with technology improving as it is though, this limiting factor will soon be a thing of the past. Greater graphics are being programmed more smoothly to function on lower end machines than ever before! Though I’m sure game companies will continue taking the easy way out and pretending nothing has changed for as long as possible to keep costs down.
Sound
How important is the music in a game? You would say it is just a minor factor that would make the game a success but this plays a vital role in the overall aesthetics of a. Imagine hearing the same song or tune over and over, no matter the area you are walking in. Or imagine if the sound of your fireball exploding and sword hitting a shield is exactly the same. This might scare people off and make them mute the sound. I have a friend who has such a pet peeve over repetitive sounds that he has quit games because of it. OnRPG’s Chief Editor once even face planted his keyboard while playing Maplestory after being lulled to sleep by its repetitive and calming music.
The Lack of Support
Some companies make a game and quit giving support after a short while. This is one of the most comment reasons given as to why people quit. Lack of content, no updates and hackers/botters taking control of the realm combine into an unholy quagmire that no player should have to endure. In the end this results in games shutting down, merging or closing their servers. To companies that don’t prioritize community support, I wish the same fate of their corporation that their doomed games suffer again and again.
Are We Spoiled?
No I think we’re not. I think the problem lies at the companies. The development teams might not get enough time to finish their games. This results in missing content and features on the release date or just simply too many bugs which turn people off.
The root of this issue of course is money hungry companies focused no short term gains. I’m not going to name companies but some of them kill games with their stupid ideas just to get more money. Can you blame them? No not really because everyone wants money but it causes serious long term damage to the game and brand of the company itself.
Just as bad is when these companies undersell the development cost and run out of cash well before the game is through its development cycle. This leads to games released to early with the hope that they can sustain long enough to complete the development cycle post launch. News flash, in today’s competitive industry you won’t survive that long! The conclusion in my eyes is plain and simple. To achieve a goal it requires time, money, dedication, and strong communication between developers, publishers, and their gaming community. Let me know what your take is on this, register on the forum and let me know!
Firefall ChinaJoy 2011 Trailer
Firefall revealed its latest trailer at this year’s ChinaJoy 2011 convention. They offer some teaser clips showing character customizaton and the open world aspects of the game.
Adventure Quest Worlds Showdown with Vordred is Here
Vordred Showdown is Here!
The tenth and final piece of the DoomWood saga, featuring the boss battle with the PaladinSlayer Vordred, will be released tonight in AdventureQuest Worlds!
The Beginning
The story of Doomwood began 10 weeks ago with a massive undead army invasion ordered by Vordred. The undead army had destroyed all but one of the towns in Doomwood and was preparing to attack the last one.
Many brave paladins (whose light-based magic deals devastating amounts of damage against the undead) went to fight Vordred. But none of them came back. Artix, one of the major characters in AdventureQuest Worlds, appeared to be the last remaining paladin. For his own safety, the players locked him up in a jail cell. If they hadn’t, his urge to fight the undead would’ve brought him straight to Vordred and he would’ve suffered the same fate as the other missing paladins.
As it turns out, Vordred is immune to light-based attacks… probably because he is protected by more skulls than any other villain in the history of gaming.

The Revelation
Over the next nine weeks, with Artix in jail, players battled their way through the Chopping Maul (a shopping mall for the undead), infiltrated their way into the Tower of Necromancy, posed as students at the Necromancer U (where else would the evil guys learn how to control the undead?), and freed a dracolich (an undead dragon) in an attempt to discover Vordred’s secret weakness. But instead of Vordred’s secret, the players learned Artix’s.
Artix’s axe, the Blinding Light of Destiny, is not light magic-based and Artix isn’t able to cast light-based spells on his own. The axe’s power comes from spirits of the undead. In his lifetime, Artix has slain many undead. Most of them didn’t choose to be undead and were turned against their will. The undead spirits were grateful for being rescued and chose to stay and help Artix battle against more unwillingly-turned undead.

Vordred’s plan
Vordred teamed up with his master Noxus, the super powerful Lich responsible for creating Vordred himself. Together, they invaded the undead city of Shadowfall and stole the undead army from Gravelyn, the Empress of Shadowfall (evil faction leader of the game). Noxus let his guard down and with Gravelyn’s help the players were able to defeat him.
Then, Vordred took the members of the band ArcAttack hostage and forced them to use their Singing Tesla Coils to charge him up into an even more powerful form. The players joined the band and cranked up the voltage to try to fry Vordred. The plan failed. Instead of getting fried, Vordred got a huge charge… and became even more powerful.

The End
Now, it’s time for the ultimate battle with Vordred. The final boss battle is different from the previous one in the game. It will have five different possible endings, each with its own unique cut-scene and reward. Do you have what it takes to defeat the most powerful undead creature who ever un-lived? Battle Vordred in the epic DoomWood Finale now at www.AQ.com!










