Yearly Archives: 2011

UFO Online

“We come in peace.” – The red flag should probably go up whenever extraterrestrial visitors use this phrase. In the tactical browser-based game UFO Online humanity has also made the mistake of trusting the aliens. A terrible mistake, as it turns out. The supposedly-peaceful aliens soon turn out to be nasty invaders looking to exploit our planet’s resources. While a majority of the population still believes their lies, three factions of resistance fighters form to take up arms against the aliens.

 

Experience UFO Online’s intense browser based strategy game, including both PvE and PvP Gameplay.

 

Features

 

3D Environment: Experience the above average graphics as you equip and battle with countless weapons and items as your disposal. You might even forget this isn’t client based!

 

3 Faction System: Pick your faction and embark for glory in the game’s PvP System. Win glory for your group and expand your base into a bustling war machine.

 

Diverse Mercenaries for Hire: Equip up multiple types of mercenaries, each featuring unique equips and skill sets to make sure you smash aliens with variety.

 

 

 

 

Meta’s Verse: City of Heroes F2P?!

Meta’s Verse: City of Heroes F2P?!

By Meticulous Meta, OnRPG Journalist

 

 

We interrupt our scheduled completion of Meta’s Top 10 Issues to give you this breaking news.

 

 

City of Heroes is going Free to Play. Yes, I know it’s a big trend right now. And yes, I will be continuing to subscribe to City of Heroes. Not because I want the rewards. But because I am loyal. And you know, when I first read about it I was in a rage. I thought to myself there was no way I could possibly write a straight news piece because I am passionate about the game I have spent so much of my time and money on. But the more I read about the free to play system the more I get the feeling its nothing more than an extended, open trial. When the news broke global channels all over the game were talking about it. Most people logged in saying WTF. And I have to agree with them. I actually checked the date to make sure it wasn’t April Fools day. One of the great things about the City of Heroes community is the loyalty. I’ve only heard of a few people who have said they’ll be leaving. And they already had planned to, this was just an extra nail in the coffin so to speak. Everyone has been saying they plan to continue to pay for the game. So what is it going to entail?

 

Free to play:

 

2 character slots


Limited access to Archetypes, chat, auction house use


Super Groups, in game mail completely unavailable


Mission Architect, Server transfers, new zone missions, purchasable.


Read only forum access

 

 

VIP Access:

 

Normal subscription


Can form Super Groups and chat channels


400 free Paragon Points every month


1 free server transfer a month


Priority Queues


VIP Only Servers


Premium in game customer support

 

Wait, Paragon Points? Yep! They’re going to be opening a store. Gone are the days of Booster Packs and Veteran Rewards. Instead you will be able to purchase such things in the new store. I admit that I love the Veteran Rewards system and will be sad to see it go. But at the same time I’m looking forward to being able to buy those rewards I really never had a hope of getting.

 

The free content releases will still be happening. Issue 21 is due to be released as Freedom as they’re calling it is released. VIP players will also be getting monthly story arcs, and full access to the incarnate trials. Does this mean Free players won’t have access to the incarnate trials at all? It doesn’t really make that clear. I can really say that I wouldn’t mind seeing the entire Incarnate system be VIP only.

 

 

They certainly go out of their way to make sure that people who pay for VIP access get rewarded in a big way. Yes, at first I panicked. I’ve seen other games go free to play and flop, while others have done it with insane success. I only hope that doing this doesn’t drive off the very loyal fanbase that the City of Heroes folks have worked so hard to get. I for one won’t be going anywhere. And now that I’ve calmed down I think I’m ready for the future.

 

But going free to play wasn’t all they announced. With the sudden and unexpected announcement came the announcement of Issue 21: Convergence. I have to say this is something I’m actually excited about. I am now left in a twisted up mess of emotions and I don’t really know what I should be feeling right now. So what is issue 21? I’ll stop teasing you and tell you now.

 

Issue 21 Features

 

First Ward: The first new zone for Praetoria. My inner fan girl just squeed a bit because I love the Praetoria story and finally I have something new to gush over. It is completely unlike the utopia of Praetoria as we know it. Described as one of Emperor Cole’s biggest secrets, First Ward was a failure. Praetorians are lead to believe it was lost to the Devouring Earth but the truth is so much worse.

 

Time Manipulation: A new primary powerset for Defenders, and a secondary set for Controllers, Dominators and Masterminds. Time manipulation is set to alter time in your favor. It will be available free to all VIP players.

 

Seed of Hamidon: The seed of Hamidon was sent into First Ward to pave the way for the Devouring Earth. Your job is to stop it before it can do that. Expect a fantastic new giant monster to take on during a zone event in First Ward.

 

The Underground: A new incarnate trial which once again progresses the story of Praetoria and shows that it really isn’t the utopia they would like you to believe. You’ll have to face off against Cole’s forces and Devouring Earth.

 

Costume Sets: Two new costume sets will be released. Not much else to say about that.

 

 

Galaxy City: Needless to say Galaxy City is going to be seeing some big changes. So if you like the zone as it is, well I suggest you see it now while you can. Because it is not going to be as it is anymore. It will be introduced as a new co-op tutorial where you learn about the ups and downs of villainy and heroics in our ever changing world.

 

I’m looking forward to the new issue and may actually finally give incarnate trials a go. While I’m a little unsure of the free to play model I will keep an open mind. As always I am a loyal soldier in the Paragon Army.

 

As a final note I would like to wish EMpulse farewell. You’ve been with us from the beginning and you will be missed by all. From the fanbase to your blossoming family we say congratulations and goodbye.

Realm of the Titans: HaZ’zard Hero Showcase

Realm of the Titans: HaZ’zard Hero Showcase

 

 

Aeria Games today released details about the hero called HaZ’zard in Realm of the Titans, its latest free-to-play action strategy title. Realm of the Titans is a Defense of the Ancients (DotA) style game and is scheduled to enter Closed Beta this summer.

 

 

HaZ’zard packs a heavy punch for a floating torso of fire. Borne from an ancient lava pool and enchanted with form-capturing spells, HaZ’zard’s favorite pastimes now include hurling rings of fire and spawning waves of fast-moving flames. His soul burns for vengeance (well, mostly it just burns). Use HaZ’zard as a strong ranged hero on the battlefield in Realm of the Titans, where team strategy is key to capturing your enemy’s base first.

 

 

HaZ’zard’s skills are each linked to a keyboard shortcut, shown in parentheses:


Lava Spout – (Q) Places a Lava Spout on the ground. After a short time lava shoots up, stunning and slowing enemies.

 

Emperor’s Power – (W) Stuns and damages enemies facing away from you at a range of 1050.

 

Ring of Fire – (E) Summons a shield to protect you. When destroyed, the shield spews fire damaging nearby enemies.

 

  • ·         Thousand Flames (R) Releases a spreading wave of fire from your location.

 

 

HaZ’zard is the seventh hero released since Closed Beta registration began for Realm of the Titans earlier this year. OnRPG will continue bringing you updates as the game progresses to final release. We love our DotA fans and don’t want you missing out on all the newest and greatest MMO strategy games being released in 2011.

FreeStyle Street Basketball – Simple B-Ball

FreeStyle Street Basketball – A simple game of B-ball

by Michael Sagoe (Mikedot), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Back in 2007, South Korean developer JC Entertainment and US publisher Sierra Entertainment released a new kind of MMO that mixed RPG elements with old school b-ball, and they called it “FreeStyle – Street Basketball” (or FSSB for short.) Despite some strong publishing support back then, the US version of FSSB was shut down with very little signs of a revival.

 

The game was then resurrected for the global market and published directly by JC Entertainment under their GameKiss portal. Since then, the game has been given several updates and additions to keep it afloat. But with such an old game out in today’s market, does FSSB have enough going for you get in the game or should you stay on the sidelines for this one? Let’s find out.

 

Customization

 

First off:  You must pick a general position class for you character. You can play as a Guard, Forward or Center, and each position has different strengths and weaknesses.

 

 

There’s a huge lack of initial character customization options for both male and female appearances, so you will have to look like some average joe for a while before you can look stylish and fly on the court. One aspect that I found interesting regarding initial character creation, however, was that your selected character’s height has an overall effect on your character’s starting stats, so deciding how tall or short your baller is has to go into consideration.

 

Features

 

Hopping straight into the tutorial: The game explains the basics of basketball at a snail’s pace, but if you have ever played a basketball video game before this, you should already know exactly what to do, so you can just skip the tutorial altogether.

 

The amounts of modes available in FSSB are fairly moderate. You can play quick 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 pickup matches, or assemble a full 3-man team with friends and strangers.  If you’re not confident enough to go against players in a live match, FSSB gives you options to hone your skills with practice modes, mission modes, NPC battles and a free court feature that lets up to six players shoot some hoops with no ranks on the line.

 

FSSB also features an open court lobby that lets you walk around in a murky urban town, allowing you to chat with other players, but this town is pretty much empty and holds almost no real purpose since the features available from the lobby can be accessed from the main menu. But hey, there is a few amusing things you get to see around here, like a bunch of crazy disco dancers and a freaky looking dog.

 

 

Hey look is that Spuds Mackenzie?!

 

The overall themes with FSSB are all about urban culture and youth, but it’s a hit-and-miss thanks to the game’s somewhat lackluster presentation.

 

The thing about FSSB’s urban theme is that it feels too forced, too marketed and too tacked on. All of the character voices (especially the in-game announcer) come off as cheesy and may get tiresome after hearing their voices over and over again. FSSB’s visuals are simply dated and have not aged well at all. Even with the game’s nicely cell-shaded character models, textures for the environments are muddy and low-res. Plus: The max resolution available is only a mere 1024×768, which looks awful on newer PC monitors.

 

The only real upside with FSSB’s presentation is that it comes with a really stealer original soundtrack. Well… that is if you’re into Rap, Hip-hop and Jazz like I am.

 

Controls

 

Getting down to the actual meat of game, FSSB plays just like… well… a basketball video game. Controls are handled with the arrow keys for movement and the WSAD keys before both offense and defense. All the general commands that you would expect to find in a basketball video game are here: You can pass, shoot, dunk, screen, steal, etc. All the mechanics here are done pretty well, but not well enough to stand out in comparison to other basketball video games out there.

 

 

After playing several rounds, your character will earn a few levels, RPG style, allowing you to increase your stats and play your role more efficiently. Once you hit LV15, you can advance your character with a sub-class like Shooting Guard or Power Forward, but these sub-classes only increase your stats further and do not involve any changes to core gameplay.

 

 

Using different skills on the court is all a matter of having them unlocked after meeting certain requirements such as having enough points earned from games or achieving a high enough level. These skills are separated as basic skills and freestyle skills. All of the basic skills you can earn are useful, but not so much with the freestyle ones. Freestyle moves are just flashier versions of basic skills that are performed at random. Besides from some crossover moves, there’s very little point to having freestyle moves for anything but showing off.

 

 

Community

 

The community you’ll be playing with here is a mix between sweet and sour. The players here seem to be really serious about their b-ballin’. Once you hit the later levels, everyone expects you to know your role by now, and if you don’t , they WILL nag on you about it… not that there’s anything wrong with that, since it’s a team game and having synergy among your team to make up for weakness is important. When you are doing your part to help out your team, players will mostly be enjoying themselves regardless if it’s a win or lose situation. Just make sure you are aware of everything that’s going on and yell out a few commands here and there by pressing the 1-6 keys.

 

Overall

 

FreeStyle Street Basketball plays a pretty decent game of B-Ball, but it simply doesn’t try to push any envelopes for both basketball video games and with MMOs in general. It may be enjoyable to play every now and then, but if you’re looking for a deeper, richer basketball game experience, you can do far better than FSSB.

 

Pros:

 

*Simple controls

 

*Great OST for Rap, Hip-Hop and Jazz lovers

 

Cons:

 

*Dated visuals

 

*“Marketed” urban style

 

*Gameplay mechanics are basic and uninteresting

Zero Online Andromeda Crisis Expansion Releases Tomorrow

Zero Online’s Andromeda Crisis Expansion Begins Tomorrow

 

 

 

Zero Online’s new expansion, The Andromeda Crisis, will be launched on June 22nd. A unique type of unit has arrived from Andromeda, and we will peek beneath their masks!

 

 

For our readers unfamiliar with the SciFi MMO genre, Zero Online is a 2.5D MMORPG developed by TQ Digital that is set in a science-fiction universe with robot avatars. In the world of Zero, the players no longer play as warriors or mages in a desolate land but as master pilots controlling high-tech weapons and fighting in the immense universe.

 

Unique Gear System

Unlike the units used by the Alliance, the Psyche Units of the Oracles have a unique gear and attribute system. They have 3 new attributes: Psychic Force, Psyche Attack, and Psyche Defense. As technology is exchanged, the Psyche Unit will also have access to A.R.M.s. In the future, the Alliance will be working on these Psyche units to develop new Fusion Units.

 

 

The Psyche Unit is well armored, using a special type of alloy metal with a golden hue. With a bow in hand, these Psyche Units use their impressive psychic powers to foresee the movement of their enemy, making these holy warriors of the Oracles a fearsome ranged foe. It will soon be your duty to pilot your own Psyche Unit to earn honor for your Fleet, and for the Alliance!

Unparalleled Skills

The Psyche Units not only have a beautiful appearance, but also a strong performance. Their psychic bow can unleash various attacks that deliver different kinds of abnormal effects to their enemies! This allows Psyche Units to bring an instant boost to your group’s utility by greatly hindering your enemies. Stun, Frost, Fire Burn…various kinds of debuffs make the Psyche Unit a nightmare to its enemies!

 

Piqued your interest yet? Be sure to check out our Game Profile and learn more about Zero Online.

AQ Worlds: Alina’s Developer’s Blog- DoomWood

AQ Worlds: Alina’s Developer’s Blog- DoomWood

 

Doom, Darkness, and epic battles against the Undead! All are found in DoomWood, the last bastion of Light in a land overrun by skeletons, slimes, and other necrotized nasties. With the introduction of the DoomWood zone to Adventure Quest Worlds, we wanted to take familiar characters and offer a new look at a favorite video-game theme – the clash between Light and Dark, Good and Evil.

 

 

The Art of DoomWood

In the Necropolis, Noxus – a character first introduced in one of our online RPGs, DragonFable – created the ultimate in evil: Vordred, the PaladinSlayer! And to make sure the AQWorlds players knew what they were up against, we asked one of the AQWorlds artists to design an incredibly intimidating armor. Offered a sneak peek on Twitter, the players loved it!

 

But to do the character justice, it had to be the biggest, baddest, boniest monster they’d ever seen! What was needed were MORE SKULLS! (Really, there was no more room, but company philosophy says that anything is possible if we have determination and unlimited quantities of caffeine!) So, mouse in one hand and overly-full coffee cup in the other, Vordred’s artist proceeded to spend hours placing and rearranging skulls onto the armor until a final, epically-skullicious version was agreed upon:

 

A coder passing by got a glimpse of the new art and quipped, “So we heard you like skulls on your skulls…” At once, everyone finished – “And on FIRE!” (At Artix Entertainment, we know our memes! And we haven’t added flames to Vordred’s armor… yet.)


The Story of DoomWood

So far, in the zone’s first week, AQWorlds’ heroes visited LightGuard Keep and the surrounding, undead-filled forest and found out a dark, twisted monster was hunting Paladins.

 

 

One of my favorite parts about LightGuard Keep is that ALL the NPC names – like Lady Speedstyk – are based off of deodorants. Paladins get REALLY smelly in all that heavy armor, so the naming convention makes perfect sense! (You NEVER want to ask a Paladin to raise his hand if he’s sure about something!)


Week two saw the players journeying through the Chopping Maul (where else would a Necromancer find Bloodbath & BodyWorks, GraveStop, or Scarbucks?) to Zorbak’s Hideout.  As the only Necromancer NOT currently trying to slay the hero, he was their best source of advice on how to save DoomWood. Knowing less than he’d ever willingly admit, Zorbak suggested they look in the Necropolis. But to get in, they’d either need to become a Necromancer (we LOVE making the players go undercover!) or present a Necro U Student ID.

 

 

Week three is where the storyline is currently, and what we have in store for them is an undead-doozy! The players will have two choices – they can either accept quests at the Tower of Necromancy to concoct a counterfeit Student ID, or they can play through the Tower of Necromancy itself.

 

The Tower has ten floors of puzzles which get increasingly difficult. IF they make it to the top, they’ll meet the Master of the Necropolis and earn the right to become a full Necromancer! Either way, after this they’re off to the Necropolis, and the Undead DOOOOM that awaits them!

 

DoomWood’s storyline is written – for the most part – but since we look to our players for feedback and ideas after every release, there’s always a chance that the ending could change drastically!

 

The PotionMistress behind the Pen

Who am I kidding, I haven’t willingly used a pen to write something since 1997. I’m Alina, one of the AQWorlds writers and designers. While groan-worthy puns and creative consonance delight me, my character has a passion for potions and poisons and currently serves King Alteon as the Royal PotionMistress. You can always find me or more information on AdventureQuest Worlds at www. AQ.com!

League of Legends Season 1 Final on Now!

League of Legends Season 1 Final on Now!

 

It has come down to Team Against All Authority (France) versus FnaticMSI (EU)! They are tied 1 game to 1 and entering into the final match. The first game was decisive and determined by an aggressive Jungle Jarvin leading team aAa to victory!

 

Fnatic’s Brand (mid) put up a valiant effort, nearly double killing Jarvin and Irelia in a perfectly executed gank. However the overall efficiency and map control of aAa prevailed in the end. Tune in now to catch the final match and learn how the pros really do it!

 

This was Fnatic’s first decisive loss of the tournament. aAa has shown that the unstoppable EU titans have a chink in their armor. Can they make a comeback and bring down the fan favorite of DreamHack? Tune in now and find out for yourself!

 

http://www.own3d.tv/live/8624/Riot_Games_High_Definition_Stream

 

Conclusion

 

Despite a valiant effort, Fnatics overcame aAa in the end, claiming the championship for the EU. Congrats to the winners and runner ups, both of which are walking away with hefty sums of money and memories to last a life time.