Monthly Archives: August 2012

OnRPG Shotgun News 8/7: TERA, Diablo III, Maple Sea, and Plenty More!

OnRPG Shotgun News 8/7: TERA, Diablo III, Maple Sea, and Plenty More!

By Shannon Doylke (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

TERA Warriors and Lancers Get New Skills

In a new teaser video from EnMasse a few new abilities for Warriors and Lancers in TERA have been shown off. Two Lancer and Three Warrior abilities will debut with the next major patch called The Argon Queen. The two Lancer abilities are called Backstep and Wallop. Backstep does exactly what it says on the tin while Wallop hits the ground and knocks your enemy down. The three Warrior abilities are Cross Parry, Smoke Flanker, and Reaping Slash. Cross Parry is a block, Smoke Flanker teleports you behind your enemy and hits them while Reaping Slash is an amazing looking spin attack which knocks down your enemy.

 

 

China Bans MMO TV Series

The Chinese State Authority of Radio, Film and Television have ruled that no television shows may be made from an MMO property. There is currently one show in China that is based on an MMO world.

 

 

MapleSEA Sees Major Overhaul

 

Asiasoft has announced the official launch of MapleSEA’s latest content upate, Return of the Forces. The major focus on this update has been giving several classes major overhauls. The Ellin Forest has also gone through some changes which include adding two new bosses to the map.

 

 

Soul of Guardian Merges Servers

Soul of Guardian is merging three of its servers (1-3) in order to promote a more competitive and balanced environment for PvPing. The merge will take place tomorrow, August 8th. At which time all rankings will be reset but guild information will remain.

 

 

Aion Update 3.0 Comes to Europe

 

The much anticipated 3.0 update is coming to Europe on August 15th. The highlights of the update are two new areas, mounts, a housing system and much more. Sarpan and Tiamaranta offer areas for PvP and PvE players to enjoy. There are single and multiplayer instances, colossal bosses and an increase level cap to 60.

 

 

Diablo III Gets an Armory

New character profiles are coming to Diablo III that are very similar to the Armory datatbase for World of Warcraft. The profiles will allow you to view gear and stats for yourself and others as well as many other things. To see them all you have to do is log in with your Battle.net account.

RF Online Returns to North America Through GamesCampus

RF Online Returns To North America Through GamesCampus

 

RF Online

 

GamesCampus today blows the door open on a mighty secret: the successful return of the PVP centric sci-fi MMORPG, RF Online. A mix of fantasy with a healthy dose of science fiction, Rising Force Online pits players into a massive three-faction nonstop battle that equips them with everything from swords to nuclear weapons to bring the opposing factions to their knees! Players can sign up now for a GamesCampus account at rfonline.gamescampus.com

 

 

“GamesCampus is proud to partner with CCR to bring RF Online to a global audience in English, and completely free to play!” said Hubert Yee, Head of Marketing at GamesCampus. “The two companies have been working closely together for months and we’re very excited to begin service for Rising Force Online in late August.”

 

 

RF Online features three distinct races: Bellato, with pointed ears, use Force (magic) as their primary weapon. They rely on heavy mechs known as MAU’s for a variety of combat situations. Cora are similar to Bellato in appearance, though larger, and prefer to use their Force to call and tame creatures known as Animus to aid in their victories. Accretia are a race of cyborgs, completely mechanical, and unable to use Force. Instead they rely on technological feats including both close range weapons and ranged combat such as rocket launchers.

 

RF Online

 

Prefer to fight with words over weapons? RF Online’s deep political system wants YOU! Each of the three races is led by a political leader, the Archon, who serves a one week term. An Archon may appoint up to eight councillors to aid him or her in decision making. If the politicians cannot woo the vote of the population, the player with the highest PVP ranking will be automatically slotted into the open position, proving might does make right in the world of RF Online.

 

 

RF Online seamlessly fuses together the world of fantasy and technology as never seen before. Whether building a reputation for ruthless player versus player (PVP) action, pursuing a political career and becoming Archon of a faction, or creating an economical stranglehold on the production and consumption of minerals, play RF Online the way you want to. Compete in massive realm versus realm versus realm (RvRvR) as three unique factions vie for control of resources and the Holystone Keeper. Only headquarters and settlement towns are safe from enemy encroachment: watch your back, or someone will be sure to stab it.

RaiderZ Early Access

RaiderZ Early Access

By Michael Sagoe (mikedot), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

MAIET, creators of the stylish third person shooter “GunZ: the Duel”, is back in action with a new MMORPG, and they’re looking to give a few AAA titles a run for their money.

 

 

RaiderZ is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game centered on the theme of hunting. It takes many nods from other action RPGs such as Capcom’s Monster Hunter, and while throwing in several unique features into the mix, all this and more as a F2P title curiosity of Perfect World Entertainment.

 

 

I previously had a chance to try out RaiderZ during its alpha phase a few months back, but I didn’t get very far into it due to some optimization issues and client bugs. Now with closed beta on the horizon, it was time to jump back in and give this game a proper walk through.

 

 

So when I first started up, my account was already pre-loaded with a LV25 Defender. This class focuses on tanking skills while maintaining a moderate amount of DPS.  Although I was more interested in trying out the Berserker class, I took the Defender out for a spin, to see what it was truly capable of.

 

 

When the game loaded up, I instantly noticed a difference in visuals and performance compared to the alpha builds: My FPS was maintaining a respectable 30 to 50 FPS on my 2560×1440 resolution, and the colors were so much brighter and more vibrant than before.

 

 

My Defender character was set up at the same starting point for beginners, so the monsters in the area were going to be pretty easy to take down. Still, I played through the beginner area to get re-acquainted with some of the game’s key elements:

 

 

Crafting

As mentioned before, this game takes several nods from Capcom’s Monster Hunter series in which crafting is a key component to success. Just about every piece of equipment that players obtain in the game MUST be crafted by artisans and blacksmiths, so players can use materials gathered from environments or from fallen monsters to craft amazing gear.

 

 

Get used to seeing this guy’s face a lot. He’s one of the many blacksmith NPCs around that will create your equipment.

 

 

Interactive bosses and environments

Here’s a feature that actually sets itself apart from Monster Hunter: Epic Monsters in the game don’t just attack you. They can also grab, throw and eat you. Yes, that’s right. They can EAT YOU, which made me wonder… What happens if a monster eats you? Do you instantly get killed, or do you just swim around in their stomach for a while before it spits you out? Can you fight your way out of the monster’s stomach, or must your teammates get you out?

 

 

It was such a mystery to me… I actually wanted to go and pick a fight with an epic monster just to try and get it to eat me, and so that’s what I set out to do! Midway in the beginner area, I met face to face with a giant frog-like creature. I was a lot stronger than the monster, so I just poked it a few times to get the thing nice and pissed off.  Sadly, it was more intent on killing me rather than eating me. I guess my character didn’t look appetizing enough.

 

 

So I said “Oh well!” and kicked the frog monster’s ass into oblivion. The combat in RaiderZ plays very similar to another certain action MMO on the market, and I would have to say that it feels a bit sluggish in comparison, but it just takes a bit of getting used to. Once you get adjusted, you’ll be able to tackle epic monsters just fine.

 

 

Another fun feature is being able to grab usable items from the environment and from enemies. For instance, I went off to infiltrate a secret pirate grotto, and the hideout had tons of cannons all over the place. I walked up to one of the cannons and thought “Hmm, OK. I’ll fire off a cannon from here and take out some enemies from a safe distance.” But instead, my character ripped the cannon straight off from the stand and starting walking around with it. Not only that, but my character was able to bash enemies with it and fire a cannonball shot right in his hands! I’m not sure HOW my character is able to do that, but I’m just going to assume he’s taking some serious steroids or something.

 

 

After completing a few story quests, I entered into the second town of Ingen. I took a peek at the items in my inventory and noticed some kind of food items sitting in there. I decided to select one of them, and then all of a sudden I started preparing a delicious meal. RaiderZ has this cooking system where players can become a chef and cook up different kinds of food, on and off the battlefield.

 

 

Prepared meals can be served to any players and can be eaten to earn passive and active buffs. Not only that, but players can use their prepared meals as weapons!

 

 

As if that wasn’t enough side content, they’re also planning a musical performance system. Checking back into my inventory, there’s a bunch of different guitars available to pick up and play around with, but it seems like you can play one note at a time, so you can’t really bust a Jimmy Hendrix and start rocking the crowds just yet. This system is still in development and all that jazz, but if it turns out to be anything like the MML music system in Mabinogi, it could be one excellent side activity for RaiderZ players to partake in.

 

I WANNA ROCK!!!

 

After fooling around with the feast items and the guitars, I kind of lost track of the quests I was doing. I was still very over leveled in that zone, so I decided to go out and look for some trouble instead.

 

 

I went past the valley, through the woods and wound up at snowy Mt. Eda. Along the way, a pack of angry raptors were swarming all over me, but I managed to take them out without too much of a problem, but then I saw this: a huge ghost wolf was blocking my path.

 

 

I took the fight to it head on. The wolf had many different lunges and sweeping attacks that kept me on my toes. My weapon wasn’t doing a lot of damage to it, but I was fighting it very cautiously, so I knew I would take it down eventually. That is, until it decided to summon a second identical ghost wolf to stop me.

 

 

Yep, I went looking for trouble and I sure got it. (Spoilers: I died)

 

 

My time spent playing RaiderZ has shown me that MAIET sure has come a long way. With all the great combat and extra features that RaiderZ provides as a F2P title, it could easily become stiff competition in this ever expanding MMO market.

 

 

For more information on RaiderZ, check out our profile page here at OnRPG.com. Also be sure to grab one of our premium beta keys from the giveaway section if you want a one-up on your fellow players with a few key items in CB.

Faithless is He: Investigating Solomon

Faithless Is He: Investigating Solomon

By Jonathan Doyle (Ardua), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

First and foremost, a warning for everyone. There may be spoilers contained herein.

 

 

You have been warned.

 

 

In The Secret World there are a number of types of missions.

 

 

You have your standard PvP missions given out in Fusang Projects. Specifically, kill 10 players, capture an anima well or capture a facility. You have the zone story missions that tell the story… of the zone. What, there’s only so many ways to explain that one.

 

 

There are action missions. As you can gather from the name, doing is the name of the game there. You may be sent to kill zombies, you might have to fetch supplies for beleaguered people fighting against the dark. Whatever the request, you are certain to be doing.

 

 

There’s sabotage missions, like Action missions but more concerned with skulking. The final three types are your standard “go do this dungeon”, side missions and my absolute favourite.

 

 

Investigations.

 

 

Who What When Where Why?

The only types of missions that cannot be repeated in The Secret World are the zone story missions and the investigation missions. Marked by a little green laptop icon, investigations are, as the icon implies, more concerned with computers and searching than they are with killing or sneaking.

 

 

The fact that you cannot replay them to me is a nice decision because well… once you’ve solved a puzzle, it just doesn’t hold the same attraction any more. It also stands as a little indication of the sort of effort you’re looking at. I’m not implying that you have to be a genius to solve any of the investigations but you certainly cannot bull through them like anything else. Brain power is the name of this game, unless you cheat and go look up a guide.

 

 

The investigations help flesh out the world you are experiencing and for that, I beg you, try avoid guides where you can. Put yourself in the shoes of the character who honestly knows nothing more than you and try to work out exactly where you have to go or what you have to do.

 

 

Mission sequences like the Kingsmouth Code or the new Issue 1 Hell and Bach help expand the lore around the game. Have you ever wondered why there is so much darkness in Solomon Island? Cracking codes and following trails will tell you.

 

The Tools Of The Trade

There are two major things that everyone needs to keep in mind when handling an investigation. Firstly, tools aren’t cheating.  You are expected to put your mind and your resources to the test and that can mean anything from a Bible in a drawer to an app for your smartphone. Secondly, come up for air. Specifically try to come up from the habit of thinking purely in terms of in game interactions and in game tools.

 

 

Funcom is trying to blur the lines between the real and the game and in that they succeed.

 

 

Let’s take the example I have mentioned here and in previous articles, and for anyone reading, this is a spoiler.

 

 

In the Kingsmouth Code, you will come across a keypad to somewhere you need to go. The code is a three digit number found in the book of Kings in the Bible. Chapter 10, verse 10. I’ll let you go look it up, and in doing so make my point. When first tackling the code, I asked my wife to check for a bible in the church, which naturally would probably open (much like the phonebook) to the specific relevant page and hand me the answer. That’s not how it’s done for investigations though, there’s nothing given to you on a platter.

 

 

Similarly in Hell and Bach, you need to have explored a little. Given three photos and told to go to the first one? I can tell you, it is nowhere near the Overlook Motel. It also wasn’t where I first thought. How often does a game that you play give you a grainy black and white photo of an anonymous location and dare you to find it?

 

 

There are no easy answers to be had here unless you use a guide. Even then, why deprive yourself of that fun and frustration? Twice now I’ve had to decode morse code. Twice now I’ve had to slip out of my body and check into the netherworld to progress. Several times I’ve simply sat here and stared at my computer trying to work out what logical leap I am not yet making.

 

 

Knowing Why

You don’t have to do the investigations to progress your character. God, Funcom and I know there is plenty to do, plenty that can be redone and plenty to come. Issue 1 Unleashed is under our belts and Ragnar and Co have more in store for us. Not just the monthly updates either.

 

 

An example on how profitable redoing content can be: this weekend in a bid to take part in the free weekend celebrations, I redid the majority of Kingsmouth and walked away with 50 AP (quite a lot and coincidentally exactly how much I needed for an ability) for doing what I had before.

 

 

You don’t have to run the investigations for the story, the story quest tends to that. You don’t have to run them for the rewards, you can get rewarded elsewhere if you prefer.

 

 

However, between us, I think you’re missing out if you don’t. You may need to check spoilers, you may need hints. I have it easier in that I have a constant group and well, many hands make light work. Though actually cracking the codes, working out the answers and following the breadcrumbs? If nothing else, it’s worth it just to be able to say that you did.

 

 

To say that you have seen what lies beneath and to say that you have out thought Funcom.

 

 

Until the next update and the next puzzle.

Riot Games Shares its Vision for the Future of eSports

Riot Games Shares Its Vision for the Future of eSports

 

League of Legends Championship Series

 

Riot Games, the company behind the most-played PC game in the world, League of Legends, today shared its vision for the future of eSports. Beginning in early 2013, the best players on the planet will compete in the League of Legends Championship Series – a new professional gaming league with teams from North America, Europe and Asia, multiple regular season matches each week, and HD streaming broadcasts available globally for free.

 

 

“Talking to players around the world, they repeatedly asked if we could kick League of Legends eSports into higher gear,” said Brandon Beck, co-founder and CEO of Riot Games. “The new League of Legends Championship Series is our answer. Millions of fans tune in every time we support a major League of Legends tournament, so we’re broadening that support in an unprecedented way.”

 

 

League of Legends Championship Series key facts:

 

Global Operations: The top eight teams from both North America and Europe, plus top teams from Asia, will compete for regional and global dominance.

Millions of Dollars on the Line: Salaries, prize pools and other compensation for Championship Series teams will ensure League of Legends is a sustainable career choice for professional players.

Regular Season and Playoffs: eSports fans will get to see teams battling in the traditional format of organized sports – a regular season with several matches per week, culminating in regional playoffs and a World Championship, which will crown the world’s best League of Legends team.

Free, HD broadcast events: League of Legends fans will watch Championship Series matches live online with HD broadcast streaming that is always 100% free.

 

League of Legends Gameplay

 

The upcoming Season Two North American and European Regional competitions have momentous consequences for next season’s Championship Series: the top three teams from each region will pre-qualify for the league. The Regionals are:

 

European Season Two Regionals @ Gamescom in Cologne, Germany – Aug. 16 through Aug. 19


North American Season Two Regionals @ PAX Prime in Seattle, Washing – Aug. 30 through Sep. 2

 

 

While the Championship Series will represent the absolute highest level of competitive play in League of Legends Season 3, the competition will also be fierce in the Challenger Circuit, which consists of events hosted by Intel Extreme Masters, Major League Gaming, and the IGN Pro League. “IEM, MLG and IPL are invaluable partners, and we’ll continue to work closely with each of them in Season 3 as they foster the next generation of League of Legends competitors,” said Dustin Beck, vice president of eSports at Riot Games.

Black Prophecy Tactics: Nexus Conflict Proxzor Impressions

Black Prophecy Tactics: Nexus Conflict Proxzor Impressions

By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Have you ever wanted to fly a spaceship? Well, what kind of question is that actually, of course you do! Who doesn’t want to fly their own ship in space and fight pirates and other criminal scum that roam the dark reaches of space? It’s all possible in Black Prophecy Tactics: Nexus Conflict, a Sci-Fi title that takes place in the world of Black Prophecy, a space flight sim that was launched by gamigo in mid-2011. Now is your chance to become part of the war, fight for control of enemy controlled and neutral regions and defend them when needed. Since I played its predecessor I couldn’t wait to see what they learned from their previous success.

 

The Features

Even though the game is still in Closed Beta and subject to changes, the community seems to expect major improvements from its predecessor. Now don’t take me wrong, Black Prophecy is a brilliant game with top notch production value for free-to-play MMO. But it also had some mistakes and just lacked enough features and content to entertain me longer than a month. As soon as I glanced at the features list on the site I knew this would not be an issue the second time. There will be 18 different ship types ranging from small corvettes to gigantic carriers. Black Prophecy offered decent customization but 18 entirely unique ship types if a whole new level. There will also be 30 regions in Black Prophecy Tactics: Nexus Conflict and 22 of those can be conquered.  PVP is also given a much heavier focus this time around.

 

 

Now before jumping into the game, I was skeptical about this new PvP focused direction. To succeed in this mission they would need a world that was enjoyable to fight over, as well as rpg elements that would keep players coming back for more. 30 regions initially didn’t seem like a lot of room to play with in an MMO but perhaps they were large regions? BP Tactics also promises 350 ship modules to allow comprehensive upgrades and individualized equipping of battleships. This sounded like a strong start to me as that many variations would hopefully prevent cookie cutter builds from dominating in PvP. There will also be some sort of skill system to increase the number of tactics at a player’s disposal in combat. And last but not least there will be tactical roles in a group. Now you might be thinking huh tactical roles, this isn’t World of Warcraft? Nope it’s not and that’s why I am really curious to see how this will work out. It’s hard to imagine rolling as a tank, healer, or damage dealer in space.

 

 

 

 

First Impressions

So let’s roll into the game, first off I got the choice between two Factions. The Geniden and the Tyi, The Geniden are the first of the new human species. They were bred on Sabiador and hardly require any sleep and also heal from wounds fairly quickly. They are also able to communicate telepathically, and most of them are resistant to plagues and diseases. They think quickly and are able to observe ultrasonic and infrasonic sound and have a long life expectancy.

 

 

The Tyi is the other human species, their genetic alteration also originated on the planed of Sabiador but since they had reached a population of millions, the final frontier became their new home. The Tyi are striving for self-determination and traveled to the stars to found the new mighty colonies of Atebathos, Muma and Irata IV.

 

 

I chose to go with the Geniden because I felt going the route of a suicide bomber as a species with an incredibly long life expectancy was completely boss. All I lacked was a suitable name to match this philosophy. I finally settled on Bob123 and was ready to board my first vessel! Oh wow these buttons, these graphics… This style of interface seemed quite familiar. Oh that’s right, well I’m not going to name it but they certainly have had a good look over at another game that’s for sure. Even the controls, the name, the way your ship moves and flies and turns its… I have definitely seen this before. However despite enjoying the UI immensely, I was deeply disappointed in the look of my miserable startership. I seriously hoped at the time that the rest of the ships will look a ton better because well…  a 3 year old with Legos could make something better looking than my flying scrap metal.

 

 

Now when I first tried the original Black Prophecy, I was excited as the game was actually refreshing and new. By playing Black Prophecy you knew it was trying to muscle in on the audience EVE had built in the SciFi space flight genre, but in a way that was far separated from the foundations EVE was established on. Unfortunately I can’t say the same about Black Prophecy Tactics: Nexus Conflict. Sure I mean this game is still in Closed Beta but I seriously have the feeling now that I am playing Eve Online from a much earlier build. I still play EVE Online regularly and as a Black Prophecy fan this really hurts to see.

 

 

Now I will admit not everything is just recycled features from EVE. The mini cam for instance allows you to see useful statistics while fighting off an enemy. You will see when his shields go down, when it’s low on health and when it’s exploding. But besides that the sounds, graphics, and overall interface just lacked the visceral power that a space flight title needs. When shooting my laser for the first time it felt like I was scanning my enemy instead of actually trying to hurt it.

 

 

Graphics

As stated above the graphics department is lacking compared to some competitors in this genre. I feel the excellent ship customization options are just lacking when the graphical representation is done so poorly.

 

 

Conclusion

Despite bearing the Black Prophecy name, I found this title to be nothing like its successor. While the successor breaks the mold in production value, story, and overall responsiveness of flight in an MMO, BP Tactics simply copies tried and true formulas but falls flat on the overall execution. The heavier focus on PvP content seems to be the strongest point of this title, and one they will have to rely heavily on to compete in this market. I look forward to seeing this title after its full launch to see if they can put together the rest of the pieces to make a complete and enjoyable title.