DizzyPW was lucky enough to snag an interview with 2k Games’ Civilization 5 Producer, Dennis Shirk.
Monthly Archives: April 2012
Civilization 5: Brave New World
Civilization V is a simulation game where players struggle to rule the world. You start at the dawn of man, developing your civilization through diplomacy, technology, and military strength. Each civilization has different strengths and weaknesses. Compete against famous rulers across history, such as George Washington, Otto von Bismarck, Catherine the Great, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
Features
18+ Civilizations: Choose your favorite, based on how you want to play the game. Each civilization has various units and buildings that set them apart. Wise use of all of them will be the key to success. With constant DLC and new civs being released constantly, each game feels unique from the previous.
Engaging Combat: Battles are much more exciting than previous Civilization games. Ranged weapons are used to support infantry units, and bombardments can also be used from the skies. Clever use of tactics will help players win.
Believable World: Randomly generated worlds are perfectly reasonable and understandable, with mountains, rivers, oceans and deserts. Diversity will be the key to a successful civilization.
Guidance: Advisers will help new players get a feel for the game, while helping veterans to the series ensure their decisions are sound. Each will give tips and hints on how to create a successful, thriving city, and beyond.
Multiplayer: Team up with your friends to take on the world, whether it be AI opponents or otherwise.
DDO: Menace of the Underdark PAX East Recap
Check out a quick recap of everything covered at PAX East for DDO‘s next big update 6!
Firefall PAX East Interview w/ Matt Dewald
The OnRPG/MMOHuts team kicks off our PAX East coverage with Spunkify’s Firefall interview!
Rohan: Blood Feud Begins April Extravaganza
Rohan: Blood Feud Begins April Extravaganza
Online PC game publisher YNK Interactive revealed today the April Extravaganza events for the popular free MMORPG, R.O.H.A.N.: Blood Feud.
“Players will have a blast with all of the new items and features we’ve recently added,” said Rafael Cho, Lead Project Manager of YNK Interactive. “And just in case players haven’t had enough surprises, we’re giving everyone a free Hunter Kit, to help them hunt and rage in R.O.H.A.N. Now what company has ever done that before?”
April Extravaganza begins today and ends May 8th. It consists of special Spring quests, release of the Chimera weapon, addition of the Hunter Kit feature, the reveal of the highly anticipated mystery box in the new Premium Mall, and a weekend boost on all rates.
As part of the celebration, all characters, current and new, will receive the Hunter Kit for free. This unique feature aids players in hunting for 15 days. During the weekends, there will be a 25% increase on all forging, refining, and reinforcement rates. In conjunction, all players will be able to get the Chimera weapon through drops from monsters throughout the ROHAN world, which are suitable for mid-level characters. The best deal is that players who reinforce their Chimera weapon to +6 by May 8th, will be able to keep it permanently. A mystery box that contains premium items will also be available to purchase in the Premium Mall. Talisman prizes will also be awarded to all players who finish the Spring quest.
Meta’s Verse: CoH Anniversary Interviews Pt 1
Meta’s Verse: CoH Anniversary Interview -Dechs
Questions by: Meticulous Meta, OnRPG Paragon Reporter
Answers by: Dechs Kaison, Resident Superhero
We’re coming up to the 8th anniversary of the launch of City of Heroes. And to celebrate this awesome monument OnRPG is talking to you! Well, maybe not you but people like you. The fans of the game. Leading up to the anniversary I will be interviewing people from all around the City of Heroes community. Finding out more about them, what it is they love and what they want to see. My first interview was with Dechs Kaison who has been around a while and made quite the name. Dechs is active on the official City of Heroes forums as well as makes guides for the community. His name just seems to pop up all the time! So I personally was looking forward to sitting down for a few minutes to find out more about the person behind the mask.
What is your name, age and location in the world?
My name is Dechs, and online I prefer to use the fictitious last name Kaison. I’m 26 and live in Pittsburgh, PA.
What MMO experience do you have?
I’ve played Star Wars Galaxies, Lineage II, Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, and League of Legends.
When did you start playing CoH?
I played for about a year when the game first came out in 2004, but didn’t start playing again until after I had finished college in late 2009 and have been playing non-stop ever since.
What was it that made you want to try CoH?
Initially, I was a kid who wanted to wear tights and beat up bad guys. The second time I got into it was pretty much the same reason. I remembered having fun beating up the bad guys, but I found a ton of new things to enjoy that I didn’t really appreciate before. Those things are roleplaying, the community itself, and learning how to apply my math and maximize the potential of my characters.
What server(s) do you play on?
I started on Pinnacle. The return trip to the game has me on Virtue mostly, but I occasionally meet some friends on Freedom.
Which AT is your favorite?
Hands down, it’s the Warshade. This AT is far and away the most enjoyable thing I have ever played across other games even. The breadth of ability and the unique style of play of the AT are the main selling points, but I also find the art of the effects to be beautiful. The Warshade can tank, can control, and can deal a ton of damage.
What/Who is your main?
As much as I enjoy playing my warshade, my main character is still Dechs Kaison, a Bots/Traps Mastermind. This is more due to how the character acts than he plays. He has the most connections with other characters and he runs his own company within the game, a hospital of sorts.
What is your playstyle?
I prefer to play characters that can handle themselves in just about any situation. That way, when I’m leading a team, I can invite whoever I want to the team and we all beat up the bad guys. I won’t have to worry whether we can accomplish the task because I could probably do it myself given enough time. If nothing else, I can at least be the tank that doesn’t die while my friends beat up the bad guys safely.
What feature in the game is your favorite?
The fact that your appearance is not tied to your performance. I can make a character look as badass and unique as I want without tying that look to how he plays.
What is your favorite TF/Trial?
The Barracuda Strike Force, and all for the very final fight. If you’re not familiar with it, the game presents your team with a giant bag of hitpoints for a boss and what would seem to be endless ambushes. Wave after wave of Nazi forces throw themselves at you while you get to tear them to shreds. That kind of chaos is just the kind of fun I play this game for. I get to feel like that one superhero standing against an entire army.
Are you in a SG? What kind of group are they?
I’m in a few. Most of them are roleplaying groups, heroes/villains with a common cause or at least a common club. My characters on freedom are in theme SGs. One is all kheldians (Peacebringers and Warshades) and the other is all Masterminds.
What is your favorite thing that has come out on the market?
Honestly, it’s something that I don’t use at all, but the enhancements. I like that the store has started selling the IOs that are out of reach for the more casual players. I want everyone to be able to enjoy their characters the way I do, and if selling IOs puts more people in range of that, then I’m all for it. This is not a competitive game, so better players just means I get better teammates.
A close second favorite would be how the costume pieces have been broken out and sold separate from the bundles. There are many costume pieces I like, but I didn’t find worth buying the super pack or the bundle for because most of the stuff I wouldn’t have used.
What would you like to see CoH come out with?
I’d like to see even less segregation between heroes and villains, particularly a way for heroes to visit villain bases. I’d also like to see the two versions of Ouroboros merged somehow.
Outside of that, I always want to see more powersets and costumes to allow for a greater breadth of concepts.
Do you have a favorite dev? Why are they your favorite?
Arbiter Hawk, for the recent part he played communicating with the kheldian players. Peacebringers had some very big shortfalls that we worked to expose and suggest fixes for. He listened and did an excellent job addressing the issues.
Do you use any of the community run resources?
All the bloody time. I can’t imagine spending all the time it would take to do pen and paper math to get my characters where I want them without MIDS hero designer. Paragonwiki is another excellent resource I turn to every time I need to remember where to get badges. Vidiotmaps is another resource I constantly turn to for information.
I also try to be one of those community run resources. I do a much smaller part, of course, providing guides to particular powersets and ATs.
What is your favorite location in CoH? Why?
This feels like dodging the question, but I’d have to say “Supergroup bases.” It’s about the customization again. I’ve been to Egypt, I’ve been underwater, in a space station, a club, a fortress, a crowded street, a toy store and a hospital.
What has kept you interested in CoH for all this time?
The community is number one. These are my friends that I play with. Nothing about not seeing their real faces makes them any less real to me.
Number two would be that I simply enjoy bringing a world of hurt to a ton of bad guys. The game may be pretty simple, but that’s half the beauty of it. You can make a character that is just about anything you want, with any sort of powers, and fight endless hordes of things that make you feel awesome.
Number three is that they keep adding new ways to beat those bad guys up and new bad guys to beat up.
Where do you see CoH going in the future?
I see it continuing to do what it does best, which is broaden what it allows players to do with their characters. They’re adding more endgame trials and new powers, but at the end of the day, I believe the goal is to allow even more customization of our characters. Allowing us to bring to light more detailed and more specific character concepts.
I would like to say a big thank you to Dechs for being my first victim…I mean interviewee. Come back next week when I interview a player who has been around since before the game even went live!
Webzen Korean HQ Bonus: Tour Images!
Webzen Korean HQ Bonus: Tour Images!
By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief
Though not really gaming related, one of our forum goers requested pictures of the Webzen tour. Since I was only selected to go with the generous support of you guys, I went ahead and compiled the images from around Korea and put them together for your viewing pleasure below! Just know I’m no photographer and took most of these on a cell phone. Descriptions of each are available if you scroll over the image.
DDO: Menace of the Underdark PAX Coverage
DDO: Menace of the Underdark PAX Coverage
By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief
The Turbine booth is always a fun trip at any convention. It’s rare to find a development team in the online industry as dedicated to their lore and storytelling to the point that DDO and LOTRO’s team are. Unfortunately I wasn’t a major table top gaming enthusiast growing up so at times I stand in confused awe as they ramble off the amazing twists and turns occurring in the DDO universe, but I’m here to do my best to describe just how epic their latest content update, Menace of the Underdark, is going to be.
Lolth looms over the D&D Board Game Booth
The Forgotten Realms and Lolth
Hands down what impressed me the most with this update is the Forgotten Realms controlled by Lolth, a gigantic Drow Goddess that can only be described as half dark elf, half spider lady. Players will have to battle against her numerous Drow and Spider minions in an epic new raid to preserve the sanctity of their world. Unfortunately your world is not the first to be targeted by the Forgotten Realms, and you’ll have to face off against the numerous corruptions of lost worlds as you battle your way through an “elephant graveyard” of destruction and demonic forces.
A pretty slick piece of this raid is the fact that the various land masses are connected by ethereal looking spider webs known as the Demon Web. No worries as the webbing is more than strong enough to carry you safely from place to place but it really adds an eerie feeling walking across see-through web with a bottomless purple abyss swirling below you. Beyond epic storytelling, man does their art department know how to create a mood for the setting.
Evening Star and King’s Forest
Unfortunately I don’t have any screenshots of the magical Demon Web. I do however have quite a bit of Evening Star, the newest quest hub for this continuation of the DDO story. Evening Star is a quiet little farming town with dark secrets and a population plagued metaphysically by a group of Hags creating a base in the King’s Forest. This dark and twisted tale all begins with players seeking out the hags and discovering their dark connections with the Drow as they attempt to acquire the Thread of the Weave belonging to a missing amiable goddess. I can’t say exactly what Loloth’s plans for the Thread of the Weave are, but let’s just say combined with the Demon Web, things are going to get real bad real fast.
One of the elements of the King’s Forest that Turbine is most proud of is the random encounter system. Each time you travel through the forest, different challenges may be awaiting you. For instance on one trip you may come across a lost girl looking for an escort back to town. Successfully protecting her from monsters and getting her back to town will earn you a hefty reward. However on your next trip through you may come across another lost girl asking for an escort back to town. Unfortunately no good deed goes unpunished and she ends up being a Hag that leads you into an ambush. Keep your eyes open travelers as the dark and twisted King’s Forest is full of surprises.
Out of all the surprises though, one of the worst may be coming across the Drow’s Darkening ritual. In an attempt to devour Evening Star in eternal blackness, they are drawing the Forgotten Realms closer than ever before to reality, resulting in a pitch black fog that gives Drow’s a supreme advantage inside as their Dark Vision allows them to see their surroundings bright as day. Luckily players can also acquire this ability to take the fight to them on their home turf.
Those feeling adventurous can head to the Deep Forest in which your surroundings seem to constantly change and only the most alert players will be able to find their way around. It is in these reaches that players may stumble upon dragons the likes of which you have never seen before in the world of DDO. These dragons are massive in scale, come in poison and fire varieties, and will pose an awesome challenge to anyone trying to prove their worth.
During the demo I was able to see the green poison dragon in action. Their DPS was huge (the invincible GM was quickly in the -6k hp region) and consisted of a combination of knockdown attacks, poison aoe breath, tail whips, and 360 degree spin attacks. To take one down you’ll need plenty of poison resistance and good positioning/timing. Of course it wouldn’t hurt to team up with the newest class as they seem ideal for taking on such creatures.
The Druid
Many MMOs try and fail to create that one ‘jack of all trades’ type class but DDO seems to have the formula sorted out perfectly with their Druid class! The basic principle behind the druid is that they command animals while shape shifting into various forms to augment their already powerful magic abilities. For instance if you’re looking for a more melee heavy DPS build, you can transform into the wolf or snow wolf. If your group is lacking in tankiness then the bear and dire bear transformations will suit your needs. Those looking to unleash the ultimate forms of Druid magic can experiment with its elemental avatar forms including water, fire, and air depending on what the situation calls for. Just be careful with the more advanced forms as while they provide stronger powers, they also limit some of your abilities to maintain game balance. The one example I saw in action was that the snow wolf was unable to use the sun shield ability that the Druid normally possessed. The art team is really on their game for this update as the production value in the Druid’s animations is spot on. Watching his wolf form doggy paddle down a river looks exactly like seeing a Labrador swimming through the pool to catch their favorite toy.
In terms of standard Druid power sets, they run the gamut from elemental damage spells to aoe suppression to party support. Healing and resurrection will definitely make Druid’s wanted members for raid groups. They also have some really sweet nature based abilities such as the insect swarm that creates an angry swarm around yourself that attacks any enemies foolish enough to approach you automatically.
If this still isn’t enough to sell you on the Druid class, then pets just might be the tipping point. The Druid pet is not some half thought out idea but rather an extension of the progress made with last update’s launch of the Artificer followers. You can choose from a wolf pup, spider, or panther and train them up in level along with your main character. Pets can learn skills, wear gear, and receive enchantments.
Well that’s all I have to say on DDO’s Menace of the Underdark for now. OnRPG will be getting a press account in the coming weeks to check out the new content at our own pace in the near future so stay tuned for a more indepth look of how this new raid feels. And no worries as unlike most titles that seem so far off in the future, Menace of the Underdark will be going into beta testing in May!
Guild Wars 2 Pre-Order Trailer
Guild Wars 2 is now accepting Pre-orders. If you don’t know why that’s a big deal, this trailer will sort you out.
Guild Wars 2 Pre-Purchase Now Live
Guild Wars 2 Pre-Purchase Now Live
NCsoft today launches the Pre-Purchase program for Guild Wars 2, the most anticipated game launching this year. Players who pre-purchase the Guild Wars 2 Collector’s, Digital Deluxe or Standard/Digital Editions will receive guaranteed entry into beta weekend events and a three-day headstart prior to launch. As a bonus, players who pre-purchase any edition will also receive an exclusive Hero’s Band, providing their Guild Wars 2 characters with a broad range of power boosts.
The three versions of Guild Wars 2 available for pre-purchase are:
The Standard/Digital Edition:
Guild Wars 2 serial code (to activate the game at launch)
Guaranteed access to Guild Wars 2 beta events
Three day ‘headstart’ access to Guild Wars 2 at launch
Exclusive ‘Hero’s Band’ in-game item
The Digital Deluxe Edition:
The Digital Deluxe Edition includes the digital features of the Standard/Digital Edition (as above) plus five in-game items, including a Mistfire Wolf that will fight alongside players and a miniature Rytlock who will accompany them on their travels through Tyria.
The Collector’s Edition:
For the complete Guild Wars 2 experience, the Collector’s Edition includes all of the contents found within the Standard Edition and Digital Deluxe editions, plus:
A 10-inch hand-painted Rytlock Brimstone statue wielding a flaming sword
112 page Making of Guild Wars 2 hardback book
Best of Guild Wars 2 Soundtrack CD
A custom art frame complete with portfolio and five Guild Wars 2 art prints
Collectible Metal Box
The Guild Wars 2 Collector’s Edition retails at $149.99 MSRP, the Digital Deluxe at $79.99 MSRP and the Standard/Digital Edition at $59.99 MSRP. To take advantage of these special Pre-Purchase promotions and to secure a copy of Guild Wars 2, players may visit http://buy.guildwars2.com or one of several participating retailers.
Players may also pre-order Guild Wars 2 at select retailers, allowing them to reserve their copy of the game at launch. Players who pre-order Guild Wars 2 will receive a one-day headstart prior to launch. Pre-purchase differs from pre-order as players buy the game outright before release and gain fantastic benefits through the Pre-Purchase program.


























































