Monthly Archives: February 2012

Web Fiesta Revolutionizes Browser Gaming with Full 3D

Web Fiesta Revolutionizes Browser Gaming with Full 3D

 

Web Fiesta

 

Starting today, millions of Fiesta fans will be able to pick up their game wherever there’s a PC without ever leaving the party, as Outspark launches Web Fiesta, the new browser version of Fiesta Online, a wildly popular free-to-play MMORPG. Now on a beach, in a café, on a train, epic battles and romance are just a few clicks away, and in full 3D. That’s not something that’s been done before.

 

 

“This is a huge moment for the free-to-play industry as we bring true 3D to the browser. With Web Fiesta, players can pan 360 degrees around objects, an experience previously limited to the download client. This frees the player to take deep, immersive adventures on the road, and friends they meet along the way can join the fun in just a matter of clicks!” cheered Philip Yun, CEO, Outspark. “It’s been truly fantastic working with our developer OnsOn Soft and partner SpawnApps delivering this seamless play experience to our community. It’s the same game on the same servers, but now players have the choice to play on their download client or log into the web.”

 

 

To celebrate the launch of Web Fiesta, Fiesta’s Game Masters are hosting several exciting in-game events for valuable prizes. The Great Leveling Race is a race to the top for glory and SparkCash, the Fiesta Comic Event is a showcase of community’s clever comic tales, and Fun With Fiesta rewards players for simply exploring the game. In addition, Date-A-GM makes its return as a Valentine’s dating game where players face-off in a test-your-wits challenge to win dream in-game experiences with a Game Master.

 

 

Play Web Fiesta for free and receive a special gift, a goldfish mini-pet, which will give your base stats a nice boost. Redeem your free mini-pet here and enter code GOLDIMONWANTSFIESTA, expires 2.14.12.

Aion Offers Polished Leveling, Better Graphics, and More Challenges

Aion Offers Polished Leveling, Better Graphics, and More Challenges

 

 

Thousands of players have been calling the fantasy world of Atreia their home since 2009 in the online role-playing game, AION. But what has changed since its launch? The wishes of the community have been answered with several updates, and the game has been continually expanded and improved. New features and functions have been added, and some MMO essentials have been adjusted, such as new instances, a better rewards system, more opportunities for leveling up through quests, and innovations such as the mentor system, from which beginners as well as experienced veterans can benefit.

 

 

Below, we go into more detail for each of the most significant changes and expansions:

 

More Quests and Better Rewards (1.9)

There are over 3,900 quests waiting for adventure-seekers, some of which were added by NCsoft in the very first patch. These quests are linked by a storyline and help make leveling up enjoyable. For example it is possible to reach the maximum level by completing quests and other tasks in the current version.

 

More Variety through New Regions & Solo Instances (2.0)

Since many players had already leveled up their characters to the max, the cap was raised to 55 in Version 2.0, and the region of Balaurea was introduced into the game. Further dungeons were added as well as brand-new solo instances for courageous adventurers to test their nerve in. To improve travel between the various lands, wind streams and geysers were also brought into the game.

The Mentor System: Experienced Players Taking Beginners under Their Wing

With “Empyrian Calling”, NCsoft brought new features to Atreia including the innovative Mentor System. This system makes it easier for beginners to get started in the game and rewards higher-level characters for helping out the newcomers. Mentors are awarded medals which they can exchange for useful items. The tutees, on the other hand, receive experience points and a share of the loot collected from their joint adventures.

 

Version 2.5 also saw a graphics update, something fans had been eagerly awaiting, as well as the introduction of further ways of interacting with Miols. These little companion pets do many things including creating additional space for players’ equipment and independently collecting dropped loot.

 

No Guts, No Glory: New PvP Arena and More Instances (2.7)

Avid PvP duelers were well provided for in Version 2.7, the largest update so far, which introduced the Crucible Coliseum arena and the chance for players to get their hands on new upgradeable weapons and armour. Working as a team is the key in Padmarashka’s Cave, where up to 48 courageous heroes can take part in a raid with an epic boss battle. All of this is summed up nicely in a new trailer released today.

 

What happens next?

The developers are working hard on the upcoming Version 3.0, which will bring with it many new features and is being released in Europe in 2012. “Aside from our main focus on moving AION to our free-to-play model, we are also very much looking forward to expanding AION with lots of exciting content”, said Volker Beonigk, Executive Product Director at Gameforge, adding, “Since its release, AION has consistently been enhanced, and this shall continue to be the case. The new and innovative content in Version 3.0, such as the Housing System and weather effects, will help AION keep its place as one of the highest-rated and most popular MMOs worldwide. Beyond these updates, we will continue to do everything we can to ensure players get a challenging and fun experience from AION for years to come”.

SWTOR: Journey of a Sith Episode V

SWTOR: Journey of a Sith Episode 5 – Next stop, Tatooine!

By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

In the previous episode of Journey of the Sith, I managed to get to level 25 and got myself a tricked out ride which revolutionized the speed at which I could quest in Nar Shaddaa. Some of the worlds in SWTOR are mind blowingly large and the thought of continuing any further without a mount was out of the question. After speeding through my final mission there it was time to report to my master…

 

 

When arriving back at Dromund Kaas, and going to the capital city of the Sith to see my master I got some interesting quest line that I had to follow in the city itself. I am not going to spoil much but I must say it was quite fun to follow that quest line involving your master and helping her grow more power among the Sith. When I was done hunting certain people and playing errand boy for my master it was time to fly to my next destination, Tatooine! Star Wars fans that have followed the series or the game will know this planet is one of the popular planets in the Star Wars universe with a rich story involving the local citizens also known as the Jawa’s!

 

 

Hoping that I would see some Jawa’s I set the coordinates in my spaceship and flew into overdrive and arrived on this desert Planet. After I promised to help some of the locals with their personal problems and the ones involving the Sith, I sped into the endless desert. It didn’t take long before I found my first Jawa that tried to sell me crap and I was forced to end its life along with its pathetic clan. After wandering around for a while doing quests I noticed how beautiful the area was even though I was in the middle of a desert with no locals around me. All I could see was sand, rocks and the sky but even in this area BioWare managed to make the environment really amazing.

 

 

The Sand People are also residents of this fine planet, and like some of you may know, they aren’t kind to outsiders. In this point of Star Wars history they have been at war for a long time with the alien settlers residing on the planet gathering resources. After finishing the quests in the first zone I went ahead to the second one where I faced my first random attack by the Sand People. Further into the desert the Sand People will attack everyone that passes them and will randomly pop out in front of you and try to take your life. These little ruffians always attack you in packs so I had to stay vigilant while piloting my speeder. While I was worrying not to get any Sand People on my tail I saw my first ever Jedi walking by as she was doing some quests. As a real evil being I decided to hop off my vehicle and greet her with the edgy point of my lightsaber. When she saw me sprinting to her she was trying to get away but since I was very perceptive and strong in the force I managed to strike her down with a poisonous wound. It didn’t take me long to get my first ever Jedi kill and I felt very happy dealing with this evil threat being in the way of my goals on this planet.

 

 

Unfortunately my second encounter didn’t go as smoothly as my first encounter. When I was doing a quest beneath the surface in a cave I noticed a Jedi Guardian minding his own business but he felt like a threat in my eyes. Even though I have stealth and was able to strike wherever and whenever I wanted, I quickly became afraid at how little damage I inflicted with my opening attack. Unfortunately he was too strong for me so I decided to bail and vanish into the shadows while I licked my wounds. When I regained my health I saw my friend from the Warzones running by. When I spoke to him about the Jedi he agreed it was a 2-man job and we ventured it to overcomet his daunting foe. This time the odds were in our favor and we easily took him down without any trouble, proving the superiority of the Sith once again.

 

 

I also got a new companion that was willing to help me out find my target on Tatooine. He was willing to come along in my journey and I had to tell Khem Val goodbye for a little while. Adronikos Revel was my new companion while I stayed on Tatooine and he immediately drew out a plan to obtain my next Artifact. His plans were spot on and everything was accounted for when we confronted the current owner of the Artifact. A few minutes later we were drinking happily back at the bar, Artifact in hand. After a few drinks I decided to head back to my ship to introduce Adronikos Revel to the rest of the crew and he perfectly fit in.

Lego Universe: Farewell

Lego Universe: Farewell

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

For years now Lego games have been popular, beyond popular even. The revitalization of Lego games started with Lego Star Wars in 2005. Since then they have explored the seas with Pirates of the Caribbean, broken out a famous whip with Indy, Rocked out with Rock Band, entered the magical world of Harry Potter and the dark world that is Batman. But these were all single player games with multiplayer options as well. In 2010 they skipped genres going into the ever popular and profitable MMO world with Lego Universe.

 

 

In the Lego Universe all Minifigs (lego people) are in great danger from the Maelstrom. You must team up with people from all over the world to take on this dark force before it consumes all. From the start it was clear no expense was spared in the development. Commercials were aired on television, something few MMOs do. And perhaps coolest of all they got Patrick Stewart to be narrator. Sadly all good things must end. And on January 30th, 2012 Lego Universe did.

 

 

 

Why did it happen? Ultimately, like with so many things it came down to money. They just weren’t making enough to make it worth keeping the game running. But why weren’t they making the money? I have a couple of theories on this.

 

 

 

Marketed to the wrong people. MMO players tend to be older than any other group. This game wasn’t for them unless they’ve loved Lego their entire lives. They went out of their way to make it kid friendly and safe. I can only imagine kids loved it. The right people, the people they should have gone after are gamers with kids. It was family friendly, a great jumping in point for the children of MMO players. Like training wheels before getting into the “big boy” games. Most importantly it was a game you could play with your kids. But what family would be willing to pay for more than one subscription to a game? That brings me to my second theory.

 

 

 

Should have been Free to Play from the start. Evidence is showing that the free to play model attracts people by the bajillions. Everquest 2 saw a 300% increase in players after going Free to Play. F2P draws more people in, people who may not have originally played. It would have allowed more families to play together. If only the marketing were targeted to the right place.

 

 

So I’ve said it was awesome. And if I didn’t, it was awesome. From the very first moments I was giggling and it never stopped. But what made it so fantastic? From the moment the game started up and you started typing in your password the little minifig host covered his eyes. If you waited on the screen long enough you would see a minifig getting chased by a dragon. The personality the minifigs had were absolutely the number one best thing about Lego Universe. When you got to the character creation screen the minifig who was selected would give you the most adorable grin and start pointing at the button to go into the game. The others who weren’t selected would do their best to grab your attention. Sometimes even crying when they weren’t picked. It broke your heart and made you want to play all of them at once.

 

 

 

The personality didn’t stop there. It continued through the game in emotes and NPCs. Sure, Lego Universe didn’t have crafting like most MMOs. Instead it had something that was really perfect for what it was. Building your own home using lego bricks. Building was easy and fun. You got to use various pieces you found through your travels to build the home of your design. The efforts that they went through to make it safe for kids was honestly, jaw dropping. A scan of your ID was attached to your account, every name had to be approved. If you were an adult playing this game they knew who you were, where you lived and you really got the feeling like if anyone did do something to endanger kids it would be dealt with swiftly. Lego Universe had the amazing graphics you’ve come to expect from Lego games. And they wouldn’t hesitate to show them off. You could view certain areas through binoculars which would take you on a short visual tour of the local area. They also made things more interesting to kids (as if they needed to) by having minigames and leadership boards to create competition.

 

 

There were a few things, other than marketing that weren’t done so well. Well, to be honest it’s only one and a half things. The half is the security. The chat ability only allowed you to use words from a dictionary of words they deemed acceptable. While understandable for the safety of children I could see it being very annoying for adults, especially roleplayers. Despite that though I did find roleplayers on the message boards. The only true negative thing I could really say about Lego Universe was that it felt more like a single player game than an MMO. I never felt any pressing urge to play with other people. I was happy to go through everything on my own. With the exception of some of the minigames which required a bit of coordination with your teammates.

 

 

What can we learn from Lego Universe? After I logged off for the last time I found myself asking this question to my husband who reviewed the game back at the start. We came up with a few things.

 

 

Security can be both a blessing and a curse.

 

Marketing is important to get right.

 

The best games make you feel young, no matter how old you are.

 

And most importantly, make a game that makes people laugh.

 

 

 

Lego Universe is going to be missed by kids young and old. So many things were done right in this game it really is a shame to see it go. I hope that in the future there will be more games like it. Even though I only played it a short time I loved it. I can’t really find the right way to say it, so I will let my minifig say it for me.

 

Forge of Empires: The Importance of Peace in Times of War

Forge of Empires: The Importance of Peace in Times of War

 

Forge of Empires Happiness

 

Today InnoGames released a sneak peek into its upcoming browser game, Forge of Empires, with information regarding gameplay features. Various buildable structures increase citizens’ happiness, which is necessary for city prosperity and productivity. This greatly improves the ability to take over neighboring lands and expand empires.

 

 

As a city’s population grows in the game, the inhabitants develop an increasing demand for leisure activities. Players can choose from a number of buildings to meet that demand such as schools, theaters, public bath houses – and further in the title – embellished cathedrals and castles. Productivity quickly declines with an unhappy population, whereas happiness levels beyond the required amount boost the production of resources. Once this is fullfilled, leaders are prepared to obtain surrounding provinces.

 

Forge of Empires Tower

 

Conquering provinces grants a source for rare goods or other rewards, like city-expansions or treasure. As players advance in the campaign, they unlock PvP-Towers. The towers allow one to compete in the various Ages’ PvP-tournaments, which run over the course of 7 days. In the future, InnoGames plans additional PvP-features as well as a Co-Op Campaign.