Monthly Archives: July 2012

OnRPG Shotgun News 7/11: Planetside 2, LOTRO, Star Trek, and More!

OnRPG Shotgun News 7/11: Planetside 2, LOTRO, Star Trek, and More!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

PlanetSide 2 Beta

During the first episode of PlanetSide Command Center, the new dev diary series for PlanetSide 2 Executive Producer Josh Hackney announced that beta would begin for PlanetSide 2 sometime this month. He went on to reassure veteran players of PlanetSide that they would get high priority first access when the beta starts.

 

 

 

PEGI Becomes UK’s Sole Game Rating System

Starting July 30th the European game classification system PEGI will become the UK’s sole rating system. It will take over from the long running BBFC system after seeing large success in several Western European countries.

 

 

Warbands Coming to LOTRO

 

Warbands are coming with the new Riders of Rohan expansion which is due in September. These elite groups of mounted enemies are some of the deadliest riders found on the plains. New open tapping combat rules will ensure that multiple players can get credit and experience for defeating mount enemies even while ungrouped.

 

 

SWTOR Locks Servers Before Merge

As of today several of the SWTOR servers which will be merging have been locked. Locked servers can still be played on and players with characters already there will be able to create new ones. However, no new players or players who never previously played on those servers will be able to create new characters on the locked servers.

 

 

Crystal Saga Getting a New Server

A new pvp server is coming to Crystal Saga called Tidal Rush. To celebrate the opening of it’s 8th server several new activities will happen throughout July. The activities include killing dungeon bosses to collect items to receive a gift pack.

 

 

Champions Online and Star Trek Online Change Currency

 

As part of the process of combining Champions Online and Star Trek Online with their other games Perfect World has announced they are ending the use of Cryptic Points in favor of their own currency, ZEN. The conversion rate will be based on dollar value for the two currencies. This process is taking place during a scheduled maintenance on Thursday July 12th.

 

 

Power Cost Cut in Einherjar

From July 11th to July 18th players will see a reduction in the cost of power to perform activities such as hunting, mining, training, and construction. During this time power costs are reduced by 50% to help players develop their territory.

 

 

Sneak Peek at July Events in Soul of Guardian

 

Soul of Guardian is going through some changes in July, seeing some things added and others disappearing. There will be the addition of cross server pvping, a pvp arena new dungeons and events. While some of the old servers will be merged to create a more competitive environment at the request of the players.

 

 

Grepolis Toolbox for Andriod Released

Players can download the Grepolis Toolbox for free in the Android market. The app features, amongst other things notification alerts of incoming attacks, trade options and expansion options. Hendrik Klindworth, InnoGames co-founder and managing director has called it the “next step in this greater mobile campaign.”

New Gameplay Features Emerge for Upcoming FPS, Born to Fire

New Gameplay Features Emerge For Upcoming MMOFPS Born To Fire

 

Born To Fire

 

Like a hail of bullets, a bevy of new information has been released for the new  MMOFPS, Born to Fire. Aeria Games, a leading global publisher of free-to-play online games, today announced the full site launch for the team-based shooter, detailing its many customization options, modes, maps, and gameplay features. Born to Fire is currently in development and accepting closed beta sign-ups.

 

 

Born to Fire offers a robust, class-based system with meticulously balanced FPS gameplay. Each of the five unique classes in the game, from the deadly Dual Gunner to the shotgun and riot-shield wielding Point Man, have unique strengths and weaknesses that players must exploit in combat. Each class can synergize with certain others, ensuring that victory is a team effort.

 

Born To Fire

 

There will be three game modes to choose from—Deathmatch, Bomb Defusal, and Siege—each offering a different style of play. Born to Fire is planned to launch with 12 maps over which teams can battle, each one finely tuned to the same high level of balance present throughout the whole game, with a plethora of additional maps and modes on the way.

 

 

The game is also packed with features appealing to the competitive gamer. In-game observer functionality and a windowed mode optimized for streaming allow for anyone to easily view a competitive match. These features are complemented by the versatile replay function—replays can be viewed from the perspective of any participating player, or even from a free floating camera. Players will also have the unique option of saving a replay as a simple .AVI file so that even friends without the game client will be able to view it.

 

 

Like all Aeria Games titles, Born to Fire will be free to download and play.

Flyff Gold Takes Flight

Flyff Gold Takes Flight

 

 

That first feeling of flight – when the whole world spreads out below you, everything else drops away, and wide blue horizons beckon you to new adventures. Discover that moment and create thousands more with Flyff Gold, the grand evolution of the flying MMORPG beloved by millions of players. See the changes come to life with the game’s brand new trailer!

Feel the difference from your first step into a vibrant new Flaris with new textures, new character portraits, new music, and a new bell tower forming the natural hub of the game’s warm and welcoming community. Meet the new NPC vendors of the Consignment Marketplace, an automated trade system, and manage all your item trades through one simple, searchable interface. Once you get that Cylos Sword you always loved, take it to the Weapon Transformation System and combine it with an ultimate weapon to get the stats you need on the weapon you like most.

Flyff Gold’s signature interface makes the game more dynamic and accessible. Place up to six actions in the Revolver Action Slot and perform or switch them out on the fly to form your battle plan, then take down monsters like the towering Kraken or legendary Clockworks. Slide the dynamic info bars back to see more of the fight or extend them so you can manage everything at once with the new customizable interface that lets you put as much or as little information as you want on screen.

 

The Flyff Gold system synchs with the game’s brand new website to display all of your character information, from class type to hit points. Flip easily between characters to find out how many levels your new Blade has to go before the third job change and how much Penya you have saved up for that Ultimate Vampire Axe. This system also displays achievements so that any “Seafood Pizza Addict” can review their accomplishments, which automatically grant rewards that can be redeemed for in-game items!

The new systems and services have one major focus: to make Flyff Gold a better experience for the players that love it. Flyff Gold breathes new life into the hours of engaging content that enrich the game’s 150 levels, giving veterans and new players alike a chance to rediscover how wonderful it is to fly for fun. There are many more updates to come, so go gold and start flying today!

The Secret World Reveals Monthly Update Plans and Content Goals

The Secret World Reveals Monthly Update Plans and Content Goals

 

 

Funcom is thrilled to announce an ambitious monthly update plan for its recently released modern-day massively multiplayer online game ‘The Secret World’. Every month going forward Funcom will be releasing comprehensive game updates filled to the brim with exciting new content such as storylines, missions, seasonal events, gameplay enhancements and even entire world regions. These updates will serve players new and exciting experiences every month, ensuring there is always something new to discover in ‘The Secret World’.

 

 

“The team is excited to be working on expanding The Secret World,” says Senior Producer and Creative Director Ragnar Tørnquist. “We are committing to a very ambitious update schedule, but our goal is, and has always been, to provide our subscribers with new, high-quality content every month.”

 

 

‘The Secret World’ launched to great critical acclaim on July 3rd and is the highest rated current PC game on MetaCritic by user score. The number of players is growing quickly and to cope with the increasing traffic, Funcom today had to add a new dimension to the game. One dimension can hold tens of thousands of gamers playing at the same time, and due to the game’s unique single-server technology players can move seamlessly from one dimension to another to play with their friends anywhere and at anytime no matter what dimension they call home.

 

 

The first update will be released July 31st and details on what is included in the update will be made available later this week. In his first State of the Game to the community published today, Mr. Tørnquist also revealed a high-level overview of what players can expect further down the line, including:

* Monthly mission packs, including a slew of new investigation missions

* New weapons (including a big one that will cause even bigger explosions!)

* Raids (clue for the first one: The Big Apple will never be the same)

* Expanded character customization, including plastic surgery

* A player vs. player dungeon set in an entirely new geographical area

* Dungeon finder tool to make grouping for dungeons much easier

* Seasonal events such as Halloween and Winter Solstice

* Two large adventure areas including new characters, missions, monsters, lore and more

* More social gameplay will be added to the London hub

* Combat will be enhanced significantly both visually and mechanically

* And much, much more!

 

 

‘The Secret World’ has been recognized widely for its new take on the MMO formula. Not only is it set in a unique modern-day setting, the game completely does away with confinements such as classes and levels. Storytelling is also taken to a whole new level and the game introduces engaging missions unlike anything seen before in MMOs. Public interest in the game has been formidable with 1.5 million gamers all over the world registered to beta test‘The Secret World’, breaking all previous Funcom records.

Divina Online Review: The Story of Yggdrasil Unfolds

Divina Online Review: The Story of Yggdrasil Unfolds

By Jerrico Tan (JetSet), OnRPG Journalist

 

 



Taiwanese publisher Beanfun! is prepping up for the official launch of Gamania’s Divina Online. This highly stylish MMORPG boasts tons of customization options and an interesting storyline based on Nordic Mythology.

 

 

The game is already in open beta and a handful of events have already been held. And as if its hype in the gaming world isn’t bold enough, OnRPG.com got an exclusive invite for a press tour (see Mikedot’s article). In Mike’s very own tour, Gamania mentioned that Divina Online has been one of their most successful titles in Asian regions courtesy of their two very strong selling points: the game’s Nordic mythology inspired storyline and the voice acting done by Japanese celebrities for most of the NPCs and characters.

 


Divina’s storyline follows the introductory story of Yggrasil, where all the characters awaken from their slumber and into a world that is in the brink of destruction. Together with the main NPC named Clarisse, players must prevent the days of Ragnarok from happening.

 

 

Game Mechanics and Customization

Divina’s gameplay mechanics make use of a simple and straightforward stat and skill system. Players gain stat points that they can distribute as they level up and combining Gem Pieces in the Divine Wheel maximizes these stats. Placing a uniform set of gems ultimately gives significant offensive and defensive bonuses to your character.

 

 

Another thing that got my interest is Divina’s high regard for customization. The equipments that you can acquire have absolutely no bonuses but are instead treated as costumes for styling purposes. Thus, two players with the same class might have the same stats and skills while looking totally different from each other. Additionally, you can also change the color of your equipment by using dyes sold in shops.

 

 

Character Classes and Class Shifting



There are currently five character classes to choose from: The Knight, The Sorcerer, The Cleric, The Assassin and The Machinist. Like the usual MMORPGs, the Knight is the designated tanker, Assassins have low HP yet they deliver massive blows, Clerics are supporting magic casters, Sorcerers get to inflict heavy magic damage and Machinists are mine laying long range tacticians. These classes could seem like yet another MMORPG cliché but fret not because Divina lets you choose a subclass that you can switch to at any time.

 

 

Further into the game, players get a chance to choose another class aside from their main one. With sufficient Exchange Points (the three hearts on the character’s HP/MP), players can switch to their other hero at anytime. Switching characters are most effective during PvP where you can be an annoying mine laying machinist at the beginning of combat then switch to an impregnable knight when a melee attacker gets near you or be a knight upfront then suddenly switch to a sorcerer to quickly finish off your foe. Depending on your combat play style, the choices for switching classes are endless.

 

 

Combat and Controls



The game’s combat effects are dazzling. Damage dealt and hits and misses are shown in a comical anime-ish fashion.  Likewise, all of the skill effects look awesome (the Cel-shaded skills might look cuddly cute but they’ll still surely make you feel that you’ve dealt quite a blow!) and combat is as smooth as silk, thanks to the fast, fluid and easy controls. Both WASD keys and mouse can be used for movement and items/skills can be set through the three hotkey bars (0-9, alt 0-9, Shift 0-9). However, in a fast paced combat system, the hotkeys still sometimes undergo episodic delays and bashing the hotkeys unwittingly won’t do any good. But with a bit of practice, pressing the right timing for skills would improve your combat effectiveness.

 


Creature Tomes and Sidekicks

Another interesting feature of Divina Online is its Creature Tome. This tome is similar to a Pokedex of monsters that you have successfully hunted in the fields of Divina and killing the eligible monsters in a certain quantity gives you information and concept arts. A transformation feature lets you morph into the creature that you’ve collected and during PvP, you can blast off your enemy with that monster’s unique skills. Additionally, grinding has a greater purpose in Divina as players are granted important crafting rewards upon the completion of the three reward rows in a tome page.

 



Aside from transforming into different forms, you can also summon a cutesy sidekick to assist you at any time. You can use them to harvest crafting materials and have them assist you in battle (they even throw offensive and supportive spells in your favor). Likewise, to match your playing style, your sidekick’s stat progression is highly customizable. And like any normal pet, they have feelings too so you must talk to them, specifically about their interests, in order to gain favor points from them. Racking up your favor points would increase their responsiveness in the field and efficiency when harvesting.

 

 

Questing and Guild Systems



Divina focuses on its story more than most MMORPGs of late. Leveling up is faster when you complete quests, which are inclined to hunting and NPC talk in nature. Completing quests also progresses you through the game’s storyline and thankfully, by adding tons of instance quests and exclusive co-op guild quests, Gamania didn’t turn grinding into an end-game task.

 

 

The guild system is an essential community feature and all members gain benefits once part of a well-managed guild. Aside from having reliable comrades during combat, you can also have passive stat bonuses in a certain field by using the Guild system’s Hinterlands, which is the most essential reason to sign up for a guild as it unlocks several “guild-only quests” where you can hone your combat skills.

 


Graphics

Divina’s graphics engine may look quite a few years old but it surely doesn’t hinder its cute and mellow thematic presentation. The game’s anime-themed graphics also greatly contributes to that certain eye-catching first impression that’ll make gamers want to play and stay logged-in for hours. Gamania already did a good job with all the equipment, monsters and world-layouts but adding a dash of charming and bedazzling designs just made the entirety of Divina nip out into cuddly perfection.

 


Conclusion: Great!

Although the game might not have an edge against MMORPGs with advanced graphics of today, Divina could still stand on its own feet thanks to its beautiful, fun and appealing presentation. And speaking of appeal, I believe Divina has already charmed a lot of gamers as its community is growing really fast, thus making the game a perfect place to be staying-in for hours (especially when you want to show off your unique gear set). My thumbs are way up for this game, since I had nothing but pure fun. Seriously everyone reading this, download Divina now!

 



The Good:

-Awesome Anime Themed Presentation (plus the softness effect made it look even more awesome).

-Vast Customization Options

-Dynamic Class Switching and mimicry

-Lots of beneficial features

 

The Bad:

-Butt sores can develop from not standing up, due to excessive fun and enjoyment.

 

 

Graphics 4/5

Controls 4/5

Features 4/5

Customization 4/5

Community 4/5

League of Legends Announces Long Awaited Stealth Rework

League of Legends Announces Long Awaited Stealth Rework For Eve and Twitch

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

 

 

It’s hard to say you are a part of Riot Games’ League of Legends community if you aren’t familiar with the infamous “Stealth Rework.” In one of the early steps to promoting less passive gameplay, League of Legends nerfed Evelynn and Twitch into the point of being nearly unusable (more so Eve than Twitch, but both have been untouched and in a bad way for over a year now). But after more than a year of failed attempts by Riot to rework these champions into a viable state that didn’t punish aggressive gameplay, the community was beginning to think that these champions had been abandoned and overlooked by the company.

 

 

Or so we thought.

 

 

Today Morello, Lead Champion Designer for Riot Games, along with Associate Game Designers Classick and Statikk, announced that the stealth rework will be going onto the public test servers before the next content update! Both champions will be undergoing some heavy reworks which I will now summarize for you.

 

 

Eve

The core design change for Eve from before is that she will now be about permanent stealth and rapid chasing and harassing of foes, rather than instagib stun and gank from stealth like she originally played. The primary reason for this is abandoning her previous useless passive that merely reduced damage done by minions (something that was round-about nerfed when they nerfed minion damage into the ground) to one that makes her permanently stealthed from level 1, but visible once she enters a certain radius of enemy vision.

 

 

Now instead of her punishing stun, she is gaining a stacking movement speed buff that grants her increased movement speed on spell hits, as well as an active sprint for a short distance. Her hate spikes remain but now have longer range and can hit more targets. Her ultimate has also been replaced completely. Now she uses a ranged AoE skill that grants her increased durability depending on how effectively you land it.

 

 

Overall the changes are set to reward smart and calculated gameplay. Eve will still play very similar, except now placement and timing will be everything as your enemies might catch a glimpse of you moving too close by. Skilled Eve players however will be able to counter jungle like bosses while keeping just enough fear in the enemy team to keep them on their toes, but without forcing them to tower hug or buy expensive vision wards to counter you.

 

 

Twitch

The goal of reworking Twitch was to create a character that was viable as a hybrid AD Ranged carry. However long duration stealth hindered this goal greatly because he had to be weakened below his fellow AD Ranged champions due to this hefty initiation advantage. The solution to this was to buff his harass, particularly the use of his stacking poison and expunge skill, in exchange for greatly shortening his stealth into tactical bursts.

 

 

Expunge (a skill that explodes opponents at range poisoned by Twitch’s strikes) will now deal additional damage and scale into late game on AD bonuses. Spray and Pray, Twitch’s barrage fire artillery ulti, now is more about strategically marking opponents for assassination rather than attempting to wipe entire parties with random AoE attacks. Although little information is released yet, Debilitating Poison is being replaced by a skill called Venom Cask that is planned to contribute more to a poison stacking style of gameplay. In addition Twitch is receiving plenty of base stat buffs, something this definition of a glass cannon could surely use.

 

 

Keep an eye out as we’ll be sending our League of Legends writer Hhean to give both champions in their reworked form full reviews in the coming months!

OnRPG Shotgun News 7/10: Anarchy Online, SWTOR, Sevencore, and More!

OnRPG Shotgun News 7/10: Anarchy Online, SWTOR, Sevencore, and More!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Anarchy Online Gets Major Updates

 

While Anarchy Online celebrates 11 years of being online some big changes have been underway. In the Monthly Development Update some of those changes have been laid out for players. They include a new engine, a new player experience, changes to professions, the market and even server mitigation. There will also be changes to how PvP flagging works.

 

 

Collectable Card Game Legacy of Heroes Launches

A comic book inspired collectable card game has been launched by 5th Planet Games today. Legacy of Heroes will be available only on Kongregate.com and will soon have digital and print comic books with the same name. Legacy of Heroes was written by Brian David-Marshall who has previously worked for Marvel, DC and several other companies in the comic book industry.

 

 

Tribal Wars Raises Flags

 

InnoGames announces the release of version 8.5 which introduces village flags. Flags are found and earned by defeating enemy troops and give upgrades to stats. These flags can be traded between members of the same tribe and also combined to make more powerful ones. This feature is currently being rolled out on English language worlds with more languages being introduced in coming days.

 

 

SEVENCORE Localized Closed Beta

Last week’s announcement that SEVENCORE would be going into closed beta now has a date! That date is today, for the French and German audiences. Closed beta will start this afternoon for anyone who has been selected to participate.

 

 

Endless Empires Open Beta

 

Rusty Axe Games announces that it’s free to play browser based strategy game Endless Empires has entered open beta. Endless Empires is compared to Risk, Lux, and Conquer Club.

 

 

The Secret World Opens New RP Dimension

To accommodate the ever increasing player base Funcom has opened an additional dimension. This one is called Leviathan and will be flagged as a role play dimension.

 

 

SWTOR Free Trial Begins

Today is the start of the SWTOR’s new free trial program. Players will be able to try out the game up to level 15, try out pvp and join friends in a Flashpoint without ever having to pay. Players who have previously taken part in weekend pass or the Friends of SWTOR are eligible to take part, however those who have previously had a STWOR account are not.

 

 

Farm Kingdom Gets Summer Update

Mail.Ru Games has introduced the latest update to Farm Kingdom. It features new territories, new items to collect and new quests. Players are also able to expand their estates and add a fishing shore to farms.

Brawl Busters gets Zombiefied with “Brawl of the Dead” Update

Brawl Busters Gets Zombified With “Brawl Of The Dead” Update

 

Brawl Busters

 

Rock Hippo Productions announced today it has launched the “Brawl of the Dead” update for its popular multiplayer action-combat game, Brawl Busters.

 

 

Prepare for Zombie Infection! In this new mode, Demon Rock — the main zombie — has been resurrected into one of the Busters and will stop at nothing to turn Mega City’s population into Little Leaguers and Skulls. It’s up to the Busters to stop this evil plan and prevail as they face a showdown like no other!

 

 

“Brawl of the Dead” will also feature Lethal Weapons Part Two, a collection of three new deadly arms for the remaining characters. The new combat tools are: Black Imp for Rocker, Tin Stovepipe for Slugger and Manometer for Blitzer! Check out the new trailer to see them in action!

 

 

A free wallpaper has been released to celebrate Zombie Infection mode. Make sure to grab it now since it will be available for a limited-time only. Be on the lookout for more free Brawl Busters wallpapers to be released in the coming weeks.