Monthly Archives: August 2012

OnRPG Shotgun News 8/6: Vanguard, FireFall, City of Steam, and ChangYou!

OnRPG Shotgun News 8/6: Vanguard, FireFall, City of Steam, and ChangYou!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Vanguard Going Free to Play

 

SOE has announced that Vanguard is going free to play on August 14th. With the new free to play status are coming a few new features which include a new website and marketplace. The starting areas are also getting a revamp and class restrictions based on race have been removed.

 

 

ChangYou Profits Up

Just days after announcing the closure of Zentia the makers ChangYou have announced profits and revenues are up in the second quarter of 2012. The key to ChangYou’s success is the rise in the average revenue per user (ARPU).

 

 

First European Firefall Tournament at Gamescom

 

The first European Firefall Tournament will be held at Gamescom this year in partnership with the Electronic Sports League. The Tournament will be held over three days ending with the finals on Saturday August 18th.

 

 

City of Steam Wraps Up Alpha Weekend 3, Announces 4

After having a very successful third Alpha weekend Mechanist, the makers of City of Steam have announced they would be hosting a fourth weekend starting on August 17th. Those who have already taken part in Alpha weekends will be able to do so again on the next weekend. For those who haven’t taken part yet OnRPG has Alpha codes for you.

Black Phophecy Tactics: Nexus Conflict

Set in the world of Black Prophecy, Black Prophecy Tactics: Nexus Conflict is a browser based strategy game focused on commanding your own armada. After humans discover technology allowing them to travel beyond the speed of light, they discover a place called the Nexus, where universes collide. Begin your path to conquest with a simple, small ship, and rise through the ranks to own the stars with your mighty fleet!

Features

Choose your side: and become part of the war! Fight for control of enemy-controlled or neutral regions! Defend the regions under your control against enemy attacks.

Command individually equipped battleships in tactically challenging real-time battles in space

18 different ship types (from small corvettes to gigantic carriers)

30 regions, of which 22 can be conquered

More than 350 ship modules allow for comprehensive upgrades and individualized equipping of battleships

Skill system

Take on tactical roles in a group: tank, healer, damage dealer

High-quality 3D graphics thanks to the Unity engine

MEAD: Stormy Lore

MEAD: Stormy Lore

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

I was one of those annoying kids that always asked questions. The one I asked more often than not was “Why?” When I became a gamer it was never enough that I was shooting the bad guys. I needed to know why I was doing it. When it wasn’t clear I would make up a story of my own. As the games I enjoyed grew more complex the need for lore grew. These days my favorite games have a rich and unique back story. But they also leave themselves room to evolve and expand on that story as time goes back. RIFT is easily the best at this. Anyone who has played knows they’ve created a world with a long spanning history. And with the upcoming expansion there is a whole lot more history to learn about. This week we learned a little bit more about some of what we have to look forward to in the upcoming expansion, Storm Legion.

 

 

The most iconic image to come from Storm Legion so far features an army with a massive gate floating behind them. This is the Infinity Gate. It was opened long ago by the Brevane, an empire which has long been lost. The gate was meant to allow the people of Brevane to travel the planes to colonize them. Unfortunately it attracted the attention of the Dragons. But while most of them were interested in fighting over the sourcestone scattered through the world there was one who saw the value of the Infinity Gate and the technology used to create it. That was Crucia. She used her forces to overwhelm the Brevanic people, scattering those that survived. Some sought shelter in the Eternal City while others fled to what is now known as Mathosia. And now, Crucia’s Storm Legion has spent ages preparing for the battle to come. It is a force which even Regulos himself fears. From inside her icy prison in Iron Pine Peak, Crucia has been scheming, preparing for a day which comes soon, the day she is free. There is but one flaw in her plan. To use the Infinity Gate, to bring war to Telara and the planes she needs the Nexus Key. Regulos is all too aware of what would happen should she get her claws on that key and so he has sent his minions to retrieve the Nexus Key leaving the Storm Legion and Endless Court locked in neverending battle.

 

 

This has made me even more excited for Storm Legion than I already was. Which is pretty amazing because I honestly cannot wait. And that is why I was so excited to learn that on Friday, August 10th (that is this coming Friday for anyone keeping track), Trion will be revealing one of the four new souls coming in Storm Legion. This week they will be revealing the new Mage soul. Not only is this exciting because Mages are awesome, it has also been promised that in the coming weeks we would see love for Warriors, Clerics, and Rogues as well.

 

 

And if that little bit of lore hasn’t been enough for you, Elrar has invited the community to ask any lore questions there are out there. They will be compiled and answered in a Lore Q&A which will be coming in the near future. Of course I’m not sure if they really thought this through when they opened the invitation. The forum post where questions are to be left is over 50 pages long. I haven’t had the chance to read through it all yet but I hope there are questions in there about the new lore and even more about Storm Legion in general. So far there hasn’t been a date set for when we can expect this Q&A to be released but when it is I will be sure to feature it.

 

 

I cannot wait for the day they announce Storm Legion going on sale. Even more so I am eager for the day I can get my hands on it. Hopefully this ramp up in information and community involvement can be taken as a sign. Or maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part. Either way I will keep my eyes on the forums and social media sites ever hopeful for more from our wonderful family in Trion.

DK Online Sorceress Spotlight

DK Online Sorceress Spotlight

By PM Anex, Aeria Representative

 

 

Hey aspiring knights,

 

We’re really excited that we can give out some concrete details at long last about DK Online! We’re proud to release the full website for the game, which has an avalanche of information about the lore, gameplay, and—what we’re focusing on for the next few weeks—the playable classes.

 

 

Today we’re talking about the Sorceress class, to go along with our first official spotlight video highlighting the master magic users. Sorceresses are elves born with particularly special gifts. Being descendants of the ancient dragons, their power to manipulate the arcane energies of the world comes from the remnants of dragon blood that still flows in their veins. There was once a time that only the dragons themselves could wield such power, but the clever Sorceresses have since learned how to harness it for themselves.

 

 

Sorceresses in general favor elemental magic to devastate foes. Their repertoire of spells relies heavily on staples like Fireball and Ice Lance, but you can also see them controlling the powers of earth and wind with spells such as Quake, Whirlwind, and Lightning Storm. The class video highlights all of these different types of elemental spells and shows the range of destruction that the Sorceress can rain down.

 

A spell in the making

 

It’s not all fire and brimstone, though. While a Sorceress is mostly offensive (as you might expect) she also has many tools for supporting and defending both herself and allies. These include shields such as Water Aegis, Mana Shield, and Frost Shield, as well as buffs like Celerity (which increases MP regeneration) and Zephyr (which increases movement speed).

 

 

Our Favorite: We love the feeling of raw power you get from all of the Sorceress’s spells, but we’re particularly fond of the Firestorm spell. You can think of it as her “big bang”, with a heavy cost that results in incredible amounts of damage. Not only that, it looks pretty damn cool as well, with a swirling tornado of flames engulfing the hapless target.

 

That's gotta burn.

 

We hope you’re excited to try your hand at these graceful spellcasters too! You can find more information on the full website on the Sorceress and the rest of the classes as well. Keep an eye out for other spotlights as they come down the pipeline!

DK Online

Jump into a world filled with tension and racial strife. The legendary dark dragon Kharvag has escaped from his sealed prison and now leads his minions to destroy the scattered and warring races of Latos. Now the lesser races of Latos must put aside their differences and take up arms as a new generation of Dragon Knights to seal Kharvag once and for all!

Features:

Four Unique Races and Classes: Choose from the hardy enterprising humans, magically inclined elves, cunning animalistic Felynx, or ferocious Lycans, each having access to different classes including warrior, sorceress, shadowmage, and paladin.

Shapeshifting: Harness the lost arts to shapeshift into powerful monsters, temporarily gaining you access to unique stats and special abilities to give you an edge in combat.

Castle Siege Warfare: Rise with your guild to conquer the proud castles dotting the landscape of Latos. An attacking team of 25 players are given an hour and thirty minutes to overthrow up to 5 guilds chosen to defend a castle.

Community Focused: Forge a guild, create alliances with other factions, build a team of master craftsmen, and control the world of Latos!