TERA: For the Federation 4 – Outlaw or Hero?

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief

 

 

 

The day following the tree incident was rather uneventful. After the surprise betrayal of Fadora er.. High Priestess Akia, Platy and I were shaken and knew not to trust what we had seen to anyone. Anyone except Leander, who was noticeably missing from Tribune Adria’s tent. We kept our mouths shut and our head low, and got through the day relatively uneventfully except for some busy work dispatching a tree known as Vekas the Wicked, who had been corrupted by Lok’s magic and grown an unusual taste for pigling.

 

 

The next day we were startled awake by Leander, who handed me a sealed envelope. His urgency was contagious and we soon found our bags packed and a one way ticket to Velika resting in both our hands. He assured us to leave before morning patrol and speak to no one on the way to the pegasus platform. Should we be questioned, tell them we are on official business to gather supplies for Leander’s research. He would fly ahead and make preparations with the Allemantheia Embassy to provide an escort to the HQ from the pegasus port.

 

 

The letter was addressed to Seir, Commander of the United Federation Forces. My eyes grew wide at the thought of meeting him in HQ on a mission from Leander. My Popori curiosity was so strong I thought my hand would burn straight through the envelope and force me to read it, but before I could act on my whim Leander warned that we wouldn’t live to see sunrise if the contents of that letter reached anyone but Seir first.

 

 

Without a moment to lose, we hastily snuck through camp, using the full focus of our soothing presence to not draw attention from the sergeant on watch. Upon reaching the pegasus platform, the girl on duty looked questioningly at us. Before she could ask what was really going on, I flashed my badge showing I was a member of Pora Elinu’s court and stared intently at her. Platy and our drowsy eyed pegasus manager were both caught off guard by this revelation, and within moments two pegasus were saddled and set to fly. She had pulled the Officer Class Pegasus to ensure we arrived asap. I couldn’t help but grin at the thought.

 

 

Seconds later my stomach disagreed with my previous enthusiasm. Our surroundings blurred by as my eyes watered trying to make put the growing outline of Velika’s cityscape. The thought of those metallic walls in no way helped calm my stomach. One wrong step and I might never see the sun again once landing within those walls. As we entered the approach the normetal forged walls rose around me on both sides, and that unnerving unnatural shade darkened the fur of Platy and I.

 

 

Upon landing three guards wearing armor unlike anything I had seen outside of books knew exactly who we were. The Allemantheia Embassy would not have sent humans to escort us; that much was clear to me. Fight or flight instinct raced through my mind, but I knew I was on their home turf and my lance had been destroyed. A third option, obedience, suddenly seemed like the best option of the three. Platy eyed me and we made an unspoken agreement. We were in this together and, as so many Popori before us, refused to give up without a prank and a fight.

 

 

The citizens going about their business shopping and chatting with friends immediately cleared the path as we approached. I knew from their reactions that this was no simple escort we were dealing with. I gazed up into the eyes of the soldier to my right but saw nothing except a hallow shell of a human male.

 

 

The guards formed a triangle around us as we pushed through the doors into Valkyon HQ. We passed through double doors, followed by a personal mail room, and finally through larger ground doors into the planning chambers. I should have known. There was Samael looking even more glum and uncaring than at the “welcoming” ceremony.

 

 

“So, Dizzy the Queen’s little bunny,” he uninterestedly glowered in my direction. I half expected him to spit. “Everyone is asking me about what you did on the Island of Dawn. Well I assure you I have little patience for glory hounds like you. And what have we here?”

 

 

Samael lifted Platy’s face to meet his own. I gazed at the stand-off and saw not one, but two total strangers. Unlike me, Platy didn’t shy his eyes away from Samael’s. He glared straight back as if it was Platy who had come to interrogate him.

 

 

“A raccoon with blood in his eyes. A murderer, thief, and traitor to the city of Velika. Or is that not so, Private Wodin?”

 

 

Just then the doors broke open, with Leander waving his arms and yelling in protest as Seir and three Elven warriors shadowed close behind. I couldn’t follow the conversation but it seemed Samael had been completely out of line detaining me in this manner. Leander explained that we may have abandoned our post that night on the island, but we were integral in the process which prevented a conspiracy by the Scions of Lok’s that would have led to a repeat of the Dawn Massacre, as well as finding proof that Elleon is alive and on the run from the Scions of Lok.

 

 

“What is this nonsense about abandoned posts? I’ve detained these two for far more serious crimes. Dizzy is wanted for forging papers to serve in the Vaklyon Federation Forces as well as directly contradicting the Queen of Pora Elinu. Wodan is wanted for murdering his superior officer and abandoning his squadron in Val Kaeli! They should both-”

 

 

Platy refused to stand idly by and let Samael finish his sentence. He took a swing at him but was restrained by the hollow eyed guards before he could reach him.

 

 

“It was a death sentence and you knew it Samael! We were outnumbered by Argon corrupted Basilisks 5 to 1 and you wanted us to march on their encampment? I killed your petty officer because if I hadn’t he would have killed any of our Popori regiment’s members that were smart enough to make a run for it and save themselves. I took one life that day to save 4. I stole only from the supplies my regiment had gathered so that we could make it back to Kaiator without stopping. From the stories I heard the three closest front-line camps were wiped out completely the following day, and without those supplies we would have been damned right along with them. I refused to return to HQ to report because I knew you would be too pig headed to listen to reason!”

 

 

“Silence this pigling whelp! Throw him into 100 years of hard labor… no possibility of parole.”

 

 

Platy struggled but was no match for the overbearing strength of the two humans detaining him. I could tell the Elven warriors were eying Leander closely for a queue of how to act. Leander and Seir looked at each other for a sign of what to do. Leander’s pleading eyes were met with a smug slow shake from Seir indicating that this was the law of the Federation. I thought through the chapters of books on law I had read as page 12, chapter 18 of The Early Federation returned to me.

 

 

“I invoke Queen’s Law!” I shouted as I blocked the door the guards were dragging Platy towards. Seir’s eyes lit up in amusement as Samael’s burned with fire. I knew I had them.

 

 

“That’s an outdated code meant for easier times rabbit. Queen’s Law has no place on the Argon Front!”

 

 

“Queen’s Law,” Leader spoke up, “was the law that bound Kaiator and Pora Elinu to Velika in the early days of the Argon invasion. It is the law that if a member of a race is accused of wronging a member of another race, a higher ranking officer may vouch for their innocence in exchange for putting their reputation and freedom on the line should the offending soldier be caught breaking Federation law a second time. If Dizzy wishes to risk everything for Platy’s freedom, you have no right to stop him. Unless of course you believe Platy’s punishment is more valuable than Pora Elinu’s support in this war.”

 

 

Samael looked to speak, but stopped himself short. He knew he was stepping out of line and motioned for his guards to leave with him. Seir grabbed his shoulder as he exited and forcefully told him he would be overseeing Platy and my promotion ceremony that evening as a sign of good faith to Pora Elinu. He would also assign the Amani to prepare officer standard armor and weaponry for the two in honor of their new position among Leander’s Elleon investigation team. Samael’s lips curled into a snarl and he assured Seir they would speak more of this later as he slammed the double doors open with ease.

 

 

11 hours later I found myself before a military procession, with Platy just behind me. This new armor and weapon was nothing like I had ever felt before. The Amani truly are impressive metalsmiths. As the ceremony came to a close, Samael revealed two black amulets that he placed around each of our necks. The amulets swirled a dark purple and grey and were said to be able to unleash the true potential of a soldier. He assured us we would need it for our first assignment. Effective immediately, we were to fly to Val Aureum where the leader of the Scions of Lok was said to be pinned down in an abandoned mine.

 

 

“Their leader is a dangerous and unstable elf that has mastered the art of the twin blades. He will say any lie to get you to drop your guard. He will kill his own men to escape alive. Bring me back his head or you had better take a lesson out of Wodan’s book and not return at all.”

 

 

Dismissed soldiers.

 

Diablo III Review: Evil is Back

By Meredith Watson, OnRPG Journalist

 

 

It has been eleven years in the making. Evil is back.

 

 

Blizzard’s Diablo III was released on May 15, 2012 after being first announced in 2008. Diablo III was the most pre-ordered PC game of all time on Amazon.com and it is predicted to sell up to five million copies. However, what should have been a brilliant launch for Blizzard turned into a bit of a disaster. The plan to make the game online only, even for single player mode, has always been controversial, and with untold numbers trying to log in on the release date it turned into a very frustrating experience for most players. Twitter and the Diablo III forums were all abuzz with various complaints and insults being hurled in Blizzard’s direction. These ranged from the humorous “You are not prepared” to the more sarcastic “Come on guys, cut Blizzard some slack. They’ve never released a big game before”

 

 

In true Blizzard fashion, they were quick to fix their issues and all was mostly forgiven by the player base. Diablo III is shaping up to be the biggest PC title of the year and for good reason.

 

 

Customization

8/10

 

Character customization as far as appearance goes is next to minimal. The player can choose male or female of each class, which does seem to be a step up compared to most action RPGs. That in and of itself is enough for this type of game but Blizzard goes one further and adds purchasable dyes to change armour colour. There are 15 colours to choose from as well as the vanishing dye and the All Soaps Miraculous dye remover. With the collector’s edition there are two reusable dyes as well.

 

 

When the player first logs in, he will notice a banner on the character selection screen. That banner is completely customisable. The player unlocks patterns, sigils and decorations for her banner by gaining achievements. The banner is deployable in the game world for show as well as being functional in town as a way to teleport a player to their teammate whose banner he clicked on.

 

 

Customisation isn’t all about appearances of course. There are other ways a player can customise his or her character in Diablo III. One of those ways is gems. While gems have nothing to do with appearance they have everything to do with killing and survival. Gems can add stats, life regen, and/or damage to a socketable item depending on the gem’s colour and condition. Along with gems there are runes to enhance the spells of the player. Each spell has several runes to choose from which are gained as the character levels. With the number of spells, gems and runes there are enough options for the player to create the character they enjoy playing.

 

 

Features

8/10

 

There are five playable classes in Diablo III: Witchdoctor, Demon Hunter, Wizard, Barbarian, and Monk. Each carries their own unique play styles and unique abilities. The player can, through a quest, open up the blacksmith where he or she can learn to forge armour, weapons and salvage. The jeweller is also available through completing a quest. Once completed, the player can learn to combine gems to make more powerful ones. There is also the option to remove the gems from the player’s gear. The gems are not destroyed in the process. It should be noted once a player has a character that has learned blacksmithing and/or jewelcrafting it is shared amongst all the player’s characters.

 

 

Also through questing the player will open up the three followers: the Templar, Enchantress and Scoundrel. Only one follower is available in single player mode but can be accessed in all difficulties. Followers are not available in co-op play and are not shared amongst the player’s characters.

 

 

Multiplayer games are available using Blizzard’s Battle.net service. Players can pop in and out of public games or join up with their friends. One particularly welcome feature of co-op play is loot drops are only seen by the player they are intended for. Another nice addition is that gold is auto-looted.

 

 

Health globes, which are a new feature, are a nifty way to regen health in battle especially for melee characters. When the player runs through the globe it heals the entire party. Having health globes does add to playing strategically rather than just popping health potions one after the other, which can’t be done in Diablo III due to cooldowns.

 

 

There are two auction houses in Diablo III. One of these is the standard type of auction house which requires in-game money for virtual items. The other auction house is virtual items being sold for real world money. The real world money auction house is currently not in game.

 

 

At this time, there isn’t PvP in the game; however, there are plans for PvP at a later date.

 

 

Combat

9/10

 

Combat is fast and furious with many monsters to kill of varying difficulties. Random events and dungeons are par for the course, making the game feel alive. With four difficulty levels available (normal, nightmare, hell, and inferno), there is plenty of room for re-playability. There is a real sense of urgency especially in the later acts fuelled by an aggressive soundtrack and waves upon waves of monsters. The physics of the game are brilliant. Is there anything more satisfying than seeing a monster’s head go flying down the corridor? A lot of things in the world can be destroyed such as barrels, vases, light posts, or tables to name a few. Some of these items will drop gold or experience in the form of a lore book.

 

 

Blizzard rules apply. Don’t stand in stuff. You will die.

 

 

Graphics

9/10

 

Every map in Diablo III is different ranging from dark, dank and creepy, to Moroccan styled bazaars to fiery pits and everything in between with the required ominous settings for particularly dangerous zones. It is a beautiful game full of atmosphere enhanced only by an excellent soundtrack.

 

 

Recommended graphics hardware:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 896 MB or

ATi Radeon HD 4870 512 MB

 

 

Diablo III will definitely be among the top selling games of 2012, and may even be in the running to take the title for itself. There is plenty to love about this game with exciting combat, a beautiful game world and many clever features.  Weapons glow, things explode, and body parts go flying. What’s not to love?

 

 

Overall score:

8.5/10

MEAD: RIFT 1.8 – War of the Wanton Maw Event

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

We have all been expecting the 1.8 War of the Wanton Maw world event to end for some time. I’m not complaining mind you, I was feeling a bit of world event burn out after the huge event that was the Carnival of the Ascended. As a result I didn’t even look at the event until last week. That was when I discovered the epic quest line. It hasn’t been easy, one quest in the story took me three days to finish! So now I’m grateful for all the time I can get. Yes, it was announced not long after I started the quests that they would be made into a permanent storyline, but first they would be taken down. Which to me is completely intolerable, must finish! There has been more than just the epic quest though. There are daily quests, regular quests, a new currency, and even a new zone event that is quite unique and fun.

 

 

All Things Money

The currency this time around are called molten gold ingots and look like a pile of liquid gold on fire. Now, for me this is a bit troubling. I don’t know about anyone else but my coin purse isn’t designed to be carrying molten gold. And I don’t even want to ask how you’re supposed to measure how many you have. As is tradition there are merchants in the major cities who sell mostly planar essences. The first fishing lure buyable from a world event is also being sold. It is called Greedy Lure and keeps you from catching grey items while fishing. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve found that those grey items really tend to add up while fishing and they get me some pretty decent money. The merchants also sell the traditional items which make you and you weapons glow the color of the plane that is the focus of the event. This time around fire is the theme. Which I have to say I’m quite excited for because I have a lovely little Kelari who is obsessed with all things fire. She spent a little too much time around Mount Carcera as a child. And finally, the two mounts that were available during the Carnival of the Ascended are back. Nebula and Tindrel are still only purchasable with special quest rewards, this time called Crystalline Rage.

 

 

Quests

The first quest I got as I was making my way around to all the event questgivers was the quest to give over 500 molten gold ingots. At first I thought this was completely insane and decided that I refused to do it. That was before I discovered how easy it was to get 500. It took me only a few hours of doing zone events. And the reward for it was wonderful! 100,000 Planar Attunement experience! Best of all it is repeatable and that planar attunement xp remains the reward. In addition there are the traditional daily events. This time though you get two of them randomly every day. They can range from something as simple as summoning a rescue medic to the more lengthy defeating rifts. The rewards are small, but to be honest the quests are too. Which leads me to the big quests….

 

Epic Wanton Maw Quests

I mentioned the epic quests at the start of the article. They are huge, take big groups to finish and a whole lot of time. I haven’t finished yet, so I’m not even sure how it ends. It begins with an investigation. You’re sent out to collect invasion orders off the dead soldiers from major earth and fire rifts. This is no small task, and requires several people to complete. Once you finish that you’re sent to defeat these huge, angry brass creatures. This isn’t a difficult task, though my little cleric did get her face kicked in when she went up against one of them alone. But two of us went back and forth between two spawn points and were able to defeat 20 of them in maybe an hours time. Then came the beast. We were sent to take down this giant, epic level monster. When we got there though it was just the two of us. We asked around and managed to get 4 of us total. We tried it and were defeated, brutally. We tried a few more times before giving up for the night. The next day we went back, got ourselves into a group of 6 and it was still a fight but we did it!

 

 

After that we were sent to defeat the Captains of the attack forces; it was easy and fast with our two full groups backing us. That was when we got the dreaded parcels quest. We had heard people saying it took them a week to finish it! We didn’t have that kind of time so we got to it. Taking part in earth and fire zone events we slowly gathered everything we needed to get. Which has brought us to where we are now, defeating the Generals.

 

What comes beyond that? I’m not sure yet. Did I mention that for every stage of this questline the reward is a full planar attunement level? Well for defeating the Generals, in addition to that awesome full level we get gloves. These aren’t just any gloves though, they’re raid level and part of a set. Will we get the rest of the set as we finish the story? I hope so.

 

 

Zone Event

Zone events are always a bit part of world events. Each world event brings about a new zone event. In the past these zone events have been incredibly rare and as a result I missed them. Others have happened quite regularly; that is where this one falls. Unlikely Alliances only occurs in Shimmersand and Stillmoor and if you aren’t quick you’ll miss it. But it is a lot of fun, feels completely disorganized, and is over before it really should be. In two parts of the zone you defeat Monstrous Motes with the aid of giant heroes from both factions. Springing from the motes are a huge fire or earth creature. Once they’re both defeated the event is over. I am completely in love with the huge Defiant mechs which debuted during the Carnival of the Ascended.

 

So that is my wrap up on the 1.8 world event. It is a lot of fun and a lot of work. It has been getting us ready to take on a new raid which came out in 1.8 and I think I really am ready. Nevermind that I’m not geared and have almost no experience raiding. I hope we see more zone events like Unlikely Alliances in the future.

 

 

Before I let you go there is a bit of news that seems to be fairly unknown right now that needs to get around to everyone. With 1.9 (we don’t know when) some of the event currencies of the past will be phased out as will the items you can buy with them. From the start of 1.9 the following currencies will be gone: Otherworldly Sourcestone, Ancient Golden Dragon Egg Shell, and Rune King’s Seals. After 1.9 Dragon Tears and Magma Opals will be made obsolete as well. Three currencies are annual and will remain in the game, they are: Unique Snowflakes, Glass Beads and Carnival Prize Tickets. Basically what I’m saying is spend your old currency now before it is completely useless.

Overpowered: Funcom, the Elephant in the Room

By Jonathan Doyle (Ardua), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

I have a question for our readers.

 

 

As you may have seen recently, I have started talking a bit about The Secret World. I can’t help it after all. I am as excited for the game as I have been for any other that I can remember. More so, it has been years in the making and for me the expectation is high.

 

 

However I have a question. I figure we should address the elephant in the room.

 

 

What has Funcom ever done to you?

 

 

Now I know some people are going to take the easy Internet argument and dismiss me as a fanboy. “Jonathan” they will say if they are polite, “You are just a rabid fanboy”. After that, comments will go quickly downhill.

 

 

However, I do honestly want to know. No company that I can think of in the massively multiplayer genre engenders as much ire, bile and dismissal as Funcom. And I don’t know why that is in particular. Oh I have theories and I hope to expand on them, but the fact of the matter is, I really don’t understand why people are so down on a company trying its best to try new things for us.

 

Some of you will very rightly point towards the, by all accounts, disastrous launch of Anarchy Online. Be fair though, that was early days and it seems that people are quick to forget the tough queue times of just launched World of Warcraft and the myriad of issues and hiccups other games have had when they took their first steps into the limelight.

 

 

Others will point to various mistakes and faults with Age of Conan. I am not going to excuse those faults. How could I? More to the point, why would I? I know they made mistakes with Age of Conan, but thankfully they do too. Some of them were boneheaded in the extreme; I’m looking at you female avatar strength issues.

 

 

The thing is, that happens. People are human, mistakes are our bag. I’ve seen tough launches of games and mistakes a plenty.

 

 

Electronic Arts sits on a fence between loved and loathed by gamers. They’ve cancelled their fair share of online games, but are also the ones running The Old Republic and bringing The Secret World to our computers. Blizzard is generally considered incapable of doing no wrong on the whole, but does itself irritate gamers on a regular basis. Cryptic creates games that have magnificent character creators and then run off into their own heavily instanced ideas of “multiplayer”. Sony Online Entertainment… For every Everquest and Planetside, there is a Matrix Online dying early and a Star Wars Galaxies suffering unusual patches. NCSoft… Well their whole business is Massively Multiplayer games and so they’ve closed plenty.

 

 

However, EA isn’t feared by gamers. NCSoft isn’t assumed to be on the brink of closing every game it has all the time. Sony isn’t assumed to be staffed by malicious people.

 

 

Why then is the name Funcom such a poison for some?

 

 

In the end, I think it is because people need someone to look down on. They need a whipping boy to point at and make an example of.  It really does all come down to human nature rather than the mistakes of the creators. We, as a genre of connoisseurs are convinced that we know best, that we know what is and is not worthy in our eyes.

 

 

What needs to happen then is those same connoisseurs need to open their eyes and minds. Funcom has made mistakes, but everyone has. Third time may indeed be the charm. If they fail again, they will be raked over the coals and deserve that. To be forewarned after all is to be forearmed.

 

 

Ultimately though, if it all goes well, perhaps the connoisseurs will wake up to a new realization. Funcom, if nothing else, with this new game is firmly in the vintage of “Interesting Worlds”.

 

 

I can think of worse labels, can’t you?