Yearly Archives: 2012

OnRPG Shotgun News 11/27: ArcheAge, DCUO, Gaming Sexism, and Much More!

OnRPG Shotgun News 11/27: ArcheAge, DCUO, Gaming Sexism, and Much More!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

ArcheAge Gameplay Video From Tencent Games Festival 2012

Just when you thought it was safe to look away from ArcheAge and the Tencent Games Festival another video showing off 15 minutes worth of gameplay emerges from MMO Culture. The video quality isn’t the best but you can forgive that as it was recorded at one of the demo stations in the convention.

 

 

 

DCUO Adds PvP Map and More in Update 21

Updated 21 has hit DCUO. With it comes a new map called Inner Sanctum in Arena PvP as well as Legends PvP. Auto looting has been introduced. So long as players have inventory space. A ton of other quality of life changes were made with the update. You can see all of that in the official patch notes.

 

 

APB: Reloaded Announces Update 10

In the next few weeks APB: Reloaded fans can be expecting to see update 10. Two new T5 contacts are being introduced and will be available for anyone who has completed the two boss contacts from their faction’s organization. These contacts bring with them all sorts of goodies which can be unlocked by pledging and completing missions with them. Several videos have been released showing off the many features. My personal favorite is car surfing.

 

 

SWTOR Gives Preferred Players More Quickbars

After hearing the cries of players about the number of quickbars being limited because of their free status SWTOR has announced they are giving Preferred Players two additional quickbars. The patch putting this into place will come sometime next week.

 

 

City of Steam Dev Journal Shows off Player Designed In Game Items

Players who have bought the Paragon level of the collaborator packs have had an opportunity to design an in game item with the help of the developers. Though only one of them was actually able to sit down face to face with them several designs have emerged. The item designing will be phased out of the Paragon collaborator level on December 5 so if you’d like to design an item you have few days left to buy the pack.

 

 

Twitter #1ReasonWhy Takes On Game Industry Sexism

Yesterday anyone who knows anyone involved in the gaming industry likely saw the #1ReasonWhy hashtag. It started as a simple question, “why are there so few lady game creators?” Many women in the industry spoke up of experiences getting jobs, attending conventions and even a story on how to avoid unwanted attention from coworkers. Men of course joined the discussion as well some of them even admitting that they are part of the problem. Naturally it wouldn’t be the internet with a few negative comments. I’m sure at least one mentioned sammiches. But good came of the discussion as CEOs and developers invited women to apply to their companies while others started the #1ReasonMentors hashtag to bring people together from all across the industry.

 

 

World Cyber Games 2012 Will Include World of Tanks Grand Finals

Professional gamers around the world have been competing to take part in the World of Tanks grand final being held at World Cyber Games 2012 in Kunshan, China between November 29-December 2. The tournament will begin with two groups of eight and seven teams that will send the top two competitors in each group to advance to the elimination, best of three competition. All stage matches will be broadcast on Twitch.TV.

 

 

Wizardry Online Impressions: Gaming with Consequences

Wizardry Online Impressions: Gaming with Consequences

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

 

Sony Online Entertainment took the wild card bet on an unorthodox MMORPG recently that not only introduces an element of permadeath but seems to scream nostalgia from the rooftops every chance it gets. I’m of course talking about Wizardry Online, an action MMO with gameplay similar to Vindictus and being developed by Gamepot. I have to say this game defies all conventional logic that most investors in the industry have followed that only titles with the convenience and a focus to pander to the many at the cost of the few can succeed these days. Rather they offer a UI that really reminds me of SNES JRPG days and dungeons with minibosses and final bosses that gives a far greater feeling of accomplishment than just about any online title in recent memory. While at times the title drills the whole permadeath thing at you a little too intensely, it’s still a nice reminder to the fact that you’re playing a first class permadeath title released with the technology of 2012. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This game will feel foreign to even veteran MMORPG players so I will break down the intricacies to help paint a fuller picture of why Wizardry has me as giddy as a kid on Christmas morning.

 

 

Races and Classes – Decisions that Matter

When creating your character you have 3 main decisions outside of customization. Choose your race. Choose your alignment. Choose your class. Each will have a serious impact on your game experience beyond just appearance in both the short and long term so you might want to read up before jumping straight in blindly.

 

Humans offer stat diversity that makes them a jack of all trades but master of none. Their decent starting HP and MP make them quite versatile in the early levels and an overall safe pick for someone new to the game.

Elves are exactly what you’d expect elves to be. They sacrifice survivability for unmatchable MP, allowing them to be useful for longer periods of time without resting when tackling long dungeons. However your magical prowess won’t do you any good if you’re dead so you may need to spend a few extra points in the defensive stats like VIT and AGI or you’ll find yourself respawning all too often. If you’re looking for a real challenge, role an elf fighter as everything a fighter needs, elves are sub-par at.

Dwarves are the only class to have a variant between male (dwarf) and female (gnome). Though their stats only vary slightly from each other and both are well suited to be both fighters and priests. If you find yourself dead too often this may be a class to consider rolling as they start with a whopping 80 hp (at the cost of only getting 15 mp).

 

Porkuls are an odd little hobbit-like race. They are almost as squishy as elves but lack the magical power and large MP pool elves bring to the table. In essence they are really only good at landing critical strikes and whatever the LUC stat does (I have a strong feeling it is related to revival chance and opening up traps, but anything beyond would be purely speculation). Still these little critters are quick and a Porkul thief can unleash devastating damage on a slower foe so don’t count them out just because of their base stats.

Following your racial choice you will be given the option of a starting alignment; be it neutral, lawful, or chaotic. This is rather unpredictable for a first time player and I feel they could do a better job of explaining how each will impact your specific class, as some skills you learn will gain bonus effects based on your alignment. But while making your character all you are going to know is that some classes are alignment dependent, such as thieves can’t be lawful and priests can’t be neutral (chaotic allows you to be anything. Screw the rules!).

 

 

Finally you can choose between a class which you may have deduced by now include priest, thief, fighter, and mage. Each class has some simple minimum stat requirements that may force your hand in distributing some of your starting bonus points if you choose a race that isn’t well suited for said class, but overall you probably won’t even notice this limiting factor exists. Honestly the whole role for bonus stats is a waste of RNG that seems to serve no purpose except awarding players with too much time on their hands. Be that as it may, so long as it stays in the game I suggest at least trying to role a 9 or higher as it won’t take you much time to pull off and will ensure you enough points to survive the awkward level 1 stage on any class. Also once in-game if you need a bit more motivation to fight for the next level, be sure to check out the class specialties tab for class-unique bonuses you can unlock as you level up.

 

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Here lies Windrush and StoneArm, two thieves whose greed for gold outweighed the value of their lives

 

Gameplay Impressions

Now that you’ve survived the lengthy research process behind choosing the right character and class for yourself, you will be thrown into town to experience basic tutorials on everything a level 1 needs to know to survive. Long story short, red diamonds cause death, monsters cause more death, quests good, dying bad, and treasure chests may as well have the grim reaper’s insignia on them because they will kill you and anyone else dumb enough to watch in anticipation in close proximity. Also at some point an overly confident npc will make light of your untimely death as a way to teach you the process of revival. This incredibly detailed tutorial doesn’t take nearly as long as it sounds and does a fantastic job of maintaining the dark mood of the game world while still filling your brain full of key facts. After that the fun begins as you’re thrust into the first dungeon with the absolutely impossible task of killing the head of a bandit gang at level 1. Pro-tip: Unless you know powerful friends, this likely will not be happening on your first jaunt into the Caligrase Sewers!

 

 

Something else done very well by Wizardry is the goal driven dungeon layouts that force players to not only display feats of courage and skill, but also test their mental aptitude to solve simple but sometimes not so obvious puzzles to advance. In the first two dungeons alone I witnessed puzzle quests involving switch scavenger hunts, specific monster hunting, trap gauntlets, force feeding plants bugs to make them puke crystals, riddles, and all kinds of combinations of the above that are required to advance further in the dungeon. Each usually culminates with a boss or miniboss battle that, when alone, can be insanely challenging.

 

The x button is for ducking under traps, and can often lead to being accused of looking up skirts

 

Despite the graphics looking slightly dated, the artists seem to have spared no expense to make the monsters in this game intimidating. The first time I stepped inside the sewers on my cute little gnome fighter I thought I could take on the world. I read a random sign that warned of falling rocks and then turned around only to have my heart jump into my throat. Walking Dead level zombies filling a hallway, ambling about with no real purpose other than to scare the living daylights out of noobs like me. Despite the zombies not automatically aggroing players, the sight of them combined with the thought of permadeath drilled into my head was enough to convince me to try my luck with a different route. The fact that I watched a dwarf thief hit 3 zombies and get eaten alive in front of me also didn’t help boost my confidence much.

 

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Controls

The controls in this game are incredibly smooth though very unorthodox and offer a targeting system that any fan of the Legend of Zelda will feel right at home with. By either tab targeting your opponent or right clicking you can lock on, forcing the camera behind you as your entire focus is given to said target. Characters can then utilize their OD bar and MP bar depending on the skill to unleash special attacks. This game doesn’t hold your hand at all though so you will have to judge your range yourself and risk wasting the resources with uncertainty of if it will hit.

 

Your skill at mastering the controls can mean the difference between a slight victory and upsetting defeat in boss battles

 

Also against some of the faster foes you will have to learn to dodge. With your weapon drawn you can back jump as well as strafe jump to try to get behind a foe or quickly get out of the way of power attacks. These maneuvers draw from your OD bar as well so use them sparingly. OD will recover to a certain point while you are not taking damage but can be recovered fully by successfully landing auto attacks.

 

 

If you’re playing with a shield in mind you will also have yet another resource to monitor called GP or guard points. Guard Points essentially act as an HP shield that absorbs all damage you would normally take. Your equipment combined with some correlating skills determine how much successive guard point damage you can take before having your defensive stance broken. GP recovers as you disengage from combat so when tanking tougher foes you will have to learn to mix guarding with dodging to maximize your defensive usefulness. Or you can just stick with what you’ve used in easier MMORPGs and die. It’s always an option.

 

 

An unusual feature not found in just about any other MMORPG I’ve played is the way your control scheme changes when you sheath your weapon. Your speed increases as well as gaining the ability to run (at the cost of OD) and jump forward. However you won’t be able to attack or use any of your skills and there is a delay of about 1.25 seconds to pull your weapon out again, so you should be cautious as to where you put your weapon away at. I had a blast at the challenge offered when monsters and traps are put in close proximity to each other, forcing players to engage in jump quest style action quickly followed by close quarters combat as flames explode on all directions daring you to retreat.

 

 

Hub Town Humdrum

Of course not everything in Wizardry is life and death battles and heart stopping trap gauntlets. You can also find your fair share of useful NPCs in town. Though this aspect of the game is much less developed than most MMORPGs being released so don’t expect to play to become an epic blacksmith or other life profession. Weapons shops sell weapons, armor shops sell armor, magic shops sell stuff my gnome is too stupid to understand, and the blacksmith will hit your gear with a loud hammer until it’s magically returned to its former glory. There is also basic refining at the risk of losing your gear which those that live long enough to care are sure to spend many frustrating dollars working on.

 

On the surface I took this screenshot to show off the town, but it was really just an excuse to include my Gnome’s panties in the article.

 

If you keep a keen eye on your radar you can also find many quest giving NPCs, though I wasn’t a fan of the system in which NPCs would tell me they had problems but follow it up with “But you’re useless and probably couldn’t help me anyway” lines that you have to suffer again and again until you level up a bit. Although I don’t know a lot about it, this game does offer some kind of progressive storyline that should make surviving until your next trip to town a little more rewarding.

 

 

Another big factor in town is the Inn. This wonderful building serves 3 functions:

1. Restore HP and MP (while at the same time being an excellent coin sink to fight inflation)

2. Level your character up once you meet the EXP requirement. Besides the fountain in dungeons, this is the only way to actually level up. While leveling up your stats with randomly go up or down depending entirely on RNG-based on growth rates associated with your class. Your chances of positive outcomes can be impacted by spending more for the fancier hotel rooms.

3. Recover Condition: a stamina-type meter that can positively or negatively impact your stats depending on how rested your character is. It deteriorates faster when your weapon is drawn.

 

 

One final mention to know about town is the class school NPCs that offer the ability to change class and retain 5 class skills you currently know at the cost of being reduced back to level 1. This transition is irreversible once performed so think long and carefully before utilizing it. It can definitely give you the element of surprise in PvP!

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Soul Sharing is Caring

For those fearful that they might lose everything upon permadeath, they can take some comfort in knowing that any major quest you turn in will reward soul points used to rank up your account’s soul. Each of your characters builds towards this soul, which unlocks greater benefits the further you push up the ladder. All characters will also share the first name of your Soul along with buddy list, a small touch that I immediately fell in love with and wish more titles offered. One final benefit of the soul system is when your character eventually passes on, you can transfer a portion of their experience to a new character to start off with a wee bit of a boost.

 

 

Speaking of souls Wizardry makes a big marketing deal about permadeath but the reality is it isn’t as unforgiving as you might imagine in regards to past titles like Diablo II’s hardcore mode. Instead you have two lives to live and when you die you get to wager your items to try to increase your chances of reviving. If you fail you get one more shot and if you fail that time it’s game over. Also while a spirit running to the statue that allows you to make this roll, you may be mangled by grim reapers and other horrifying soul destroying things. Players not wanting to deal with this may warp back to the nearest revive statue, though you will have to wait through a delay before reviving and your gear will take a major hit in durability. Also after soul rank 2 people could loot your body while you’re dead. This game has a way of making all your decisions weigh heavily on you.

 

 

Community and PvP

What happens to your standard PKer when faced with the possibility of losing something? They usually step back and play it safe rather than risk something on their end. Thus far the community in Wizardry seems to follow this logic and PKers are few and far between. However this also breeds a different level of PKer who is willing to risk it all in order to gain notoriety. This distinction creates a higher class level of fighter that will organize in groups, practice their fighting power, and unleash hell on any hapless foes that bring sweet gear out of the safety of the cities for the taking. As such I advise players to take making friends early as a serious tactic because later on when you have trusted allies at your back, it might mean the difference between life and permadeath. As a neat bonus feature I’d just like to mention that you can be PKed in the middle of town if your attacker is willy enough to sneak around the patrolling guards. It can create a tiny bit of paranoia but I love the extreme freedom this game offers.

 

 

Closing Thoughts

Wizardry Online is a refreshing title to test after experiencing the same format MMORPGs for so long. It’s almost as if Gamepot’s devs were locked in a time capsule since the Ultima Online days and emerged to find new powerful programming tools but with the same mentality for making hardcore consequential titles. Of the people I’ve tested it with I’ve really seen there are two types of players when it comes to this game. Many find it too stressful or frustrating and give up. The rest fall head over heels in love with the title for offering that taste of nostalgia from a more hardcore age of gaming. I fortunately find myself addicted to the title even though I never was an online gamer in that lost era and recommend anyone else wishing for a bit more fight in their MMO to seek out a beta key and give it a shot.

 

And you happen to be in luck. We’ve just added 100 keys to our event page! First come first serve so don’t delay!

eSports @OnRPG – IEM Singapore and Dreamhack Winter

eSports @OnRPG – IEM Singapore and Dreamhack Winter

By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor), OnRPG eSports Reporter

 

 

The players must be dead tired by now or extremely jetlagged since past weekend was the third event planned in November for most professional gamers. With two events live at the same time, this was a promising weekend yet again for any eSport fan of both League of Legends and Starcraft 2. With big players and teams going to both of the events, this weekend was chaotic to cover with switching streams and eliminations going on in both tournaments. Hopefully with the new collaboration between the organization in question and MajorLeagueGaming this will be prevented in the future to give the best quality content for everyone.

 

 

First things first, let’s start off with the biggest event of this winter which is the DreamHack Winter tournament. In this big event, everyone from all over the world gathers around in one big hall to compete with each other. Besides this big main hall there is also the big tournament for all the pro players for both Starcraft 2 and League of Legends. Since this is one of Europe’s biggest tournaments, big names for both games ignored their fatigue to compete for the huge prizepot. DreamHack has the knack of having one of the hardest competitions, mainly because the prize money they hand out is not a joke at all, and unlike some lesser tournaments, they have some hefty sponsors that ensure the money is paid out timely. So let’s begin our DreamHack with Starcraft 2!

 

 

Dreamhack – Starcraft 2

With Sweden’s proud players coming home to play in their homecountry, this was a promising match for most Sweden Starcraft 2 fans that want to get close to the professionals. And with other big names coming in from the countries around Europe and even some Koreans, this was in my eyes the most exciting tournament of the two. I am not going into full detail with both these tournament since there is so much to cover, but all the Protoss and Terran fans were in for a treat in both tournaments; despite complaints that both races are underpowered in the current metagame, they achieved respectable results.

 

 

DreamHack started out in the grouping faze where only the top 3 out of six could advance to the bracket stage of the winter tournament. With big names like TheSTC, Stephano, SaSe, DIMAGA, NightEnd, ForGG and Ret falling out of the tournament in only the groupstages, all predictions were off the table as new unfamiliar names rose to their chance to shine in the spotlight. A young Belgium player named Feast was among the notable unexpected players to advance along with Snute and fraer, resulting in a showdown between the old and new generation. NaNiWa drew the crowds after his repeated strong showings this past month.

 

 

TLO came showing great determination as he has grown successively stronger over the past year and now had his chance to prove himself against the big shots including ThorZain, Socke, and Nerchio. This vicious bracket carried the theme that ‘Where heroes fall, new champions will rise’ as one upset followed another.

 

 

Unfortunately for the European fans, the tournament was unkind to their champions, with all but Nerchio and monchi standing tall after the second round of eliminations. Though players of any geographic were able to appreciate the teammate battle between the legends Hero and TaeJa as they faced off in the semi-finals for a best of seven series. Hero has had a slump for the past six months, but this month has experienced a bit of a renaissance in his playstyle, making many question if the godly machine TaeJa could really put a stop to his momentum. Surprisingly Hero not only won but demolished TaeJa in a 4-0 shutout to claim $37,726 in prize money, with his teammate still pocketing a hefty runner-up prize of $15,090.

 

 

Dreamhack – League of Legends

DreamHack also lured League teams from around the world with a grand prize of $18,500. Just like the Starcraft 2 competition, the games started off in the Group Stages where only the top two of each group advanced into the brackets. With $2,200 given to the last place teams, everyone could smile knowing they would walk away with a nice prize. In the first group the big fan favorite CLG EU managed to place first with a relatively unknown team, Sju Sjösjuka Sjömän, taking the second spot.

 

 

No one was really surprised when Fnatic emerged unscathed from the second Group Stage, winning all 3 matches. The CopenHagen Wolves limped into the second position, knowing they had a rough battle ahead if they were going to make a dent in Fnatic’s claim for the grand prize.

 

 

With only four teams left in the brackets, the semi-finals rang in a do or die aura. You could probably guess but both CLG.EU and Fnatic shrugged off the two lesser known teams to meet each other in the finals. In an exciting series Fnatic took the tie breaker match, leaving fan-favorite CLG.EU to go home with only $12,600.

 

 

IEM Singapore – Starcraft 2

Meanwhile in Singapore the Intel Extreme Masters raged all weekend with close plays and tight matches. Europeans and Koreans faced their jetlag with blazing endurance as fans from around the world tuned in at odd hours to catch these epic match-ups. This was yet again a match between the Europeans and Koreans that took a slightly different turn than our tournament in Sweden. With players such as MC, VortiX, HasuObs, YugiOH, StarDust, Sting, Revival, Zenio, Ninja, sLivko, LucifroN and Grubby advancing to the brackets of IEM Singapore, fans and players alike downed their energy drinks to stay tuned for this all-star line-up. The format was akin to Dreamhack so players faced similar challenges. This match-up puts quite a bit of pressure on players as elimination comes early and mercilessly, leaving LucifroN, StarDust, HasuObs, Zenio, MC, Revival and Yugioh out of the running after two short rounds. With three Europeans left in the Semifinals versus the one Korean, I joined my EU buddies in cheering for vengeance after the poor showing in Dreamhack.

 

 

While Sting took the battle against VortiX, and won the series with only a one game difference in an exciting match, Grubby and sLivko fought it out in the other semi-final game with Grubby making a huge comeback, taking the match as the final result. This meant the final match was Sting versus Grubby. Just as in the semi-final game for Grubby, he lost the first games but not without putting out a pro level last stand in each defeat. It looked rather grim for Grubby but he managed to tie the series up as he adapted and evolved to match Sting’s tactics at an amazing pace. Unfortunately the last game the Korean player Sting showed Grubby who the better player was in these series and took home $6,500 leaving Grubby with $3,300 as a second place prize.

 

 

IEM Singapore – League of Legends

It was truly a 24/7 weekend of eSports as IEM Singapore brought in teams from all across the Asian continent and even 2 from Poland. With the same format as in DreamHack, only two teams were able to advance to the brackets and Absolute Legends NA, Kuala Lumpur Hunters, MeetYourMakers and Itadakimasu where the stronger ones to advance. The fan favorite Absolute Legends NA had to face Itadakimasu in the first series of the brackets, and successfully advanced with a 2-0 score. The second fan favorite MeetYourMakers had to battle it out versus Kuala Lumpur Hunters and also advanced with a 2-0 score. In the finals both fan favorites had to clash it out against each other, and in this promising series all the fans were given a great show. In the end the weekend closed out with MeetYourMakers taking out Absolute Legends and bagging $15,500 in prize money, leaving Absolute Legends NA the second prize of $8,500.

Xsyon: Apocalypse has Launched a Kickstarter Fundraiser Project

Xsyon: Apocalypse has Launched a Kickstarter Fundraiser Project

 

Xyson

 

Xsyon is a unique apocalyptic fantasy sandbox MMORPG. Form tribes, shape landscapes, construct towns, create quests, hunt, gather, and develop a New World. Xsyon is an entirely player driven online game with a living and changing environment.

 

 

Xsyon is currently live and in the Prelude phase, which launched in 2011. The Prelude is a simplified version of the game which has been evolving with its community as features were added and the game improved based on player feedback.

 

 

The development of Xsyon has been a long road fraught with many hurdles. With Kickstarter, Notorious Games will expand its development team and bring Xsyon to a full featured release. Xsyon: Apocalypse will be the first full ‘gold’ installment of Xsyon and our Kickstarter goal!

 

 

For full information regarding Xsyon: Apocalypse’s plans, goals and available rewards, visit http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/382040989/xsyon-apocalypse

Xsyon

Xsyon is an apocalyptic MMORPG featuring sandbox elements. Players are encouraged to form tribes to hunt for essentials. Your actions affect the world around you, from mining to hunting, to the construction of villages, towns, and cities. Locations are based off of real life studies, but twisted to fit the fantasy world. Xsyon also gives you the ability to develop your character however you want, through various skills and attributes.

 

 

Features

 

Dynamic World: Your actions have consequence on the world around you. Developing cities and towns require material, and that material has to come from somewhere.

 

Social Interaction: Develop clans, guilds, and entire cities, all based off of players working together. Keep a friend and foe list alike, to ensure you can keep tabs on who’s doing what.


Flexible Characters: Choose your primary stats and level them up by performing actions based on their use. Through this, you can become a mighty warrior, a cunning businessman, or a hardy farmer.

 

Arts and Crafts: Create a variety of items, each that take on the properties of the material used to craft them. As you build new items, you will learn how to make even more advanced items!

OnRPG Shotgun News 11/26: Soul Captor and ArcheAge Beta News

OnRPG Shotgun News 11/26: Soul Captor and ArcheAge Beta News

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Soul Captor Closing Down


Beanfun has announced that it is closing down Soul Captor in early January 2013. Sadly the game couldn’t grow to a size where it could support itself so the hard choice to shut it down was made. Players will be able to continue to access the game until January 9, 2013 when the server will be shut down for good. The in-game item mall will be left available for players until December 12 to allow players time to spend their beanpoints. Customer support will remain through to the end of January just in case.

 

 

ArcheAge Announces China Beta

At Tencent Games Carnival 2012 XLGames announced that ArcheAge would be entering beta in May 2013, in China. A new 2 minute longer teaser was released along with the 13 minute ArcheAge presentation from Tencent Games Carnival. Unfortunately it isn’t in English. But don’t let that stop you from taking a look!

 

 

 

Character Development: City of Heroes

Character Development: City of Heroes

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

As I’m sure many of you know next week will usher in the end of the incredible super hero themed MMO City of Heroes. I say most because from time to time there are still people finding it out for the first time. How this is possible, I don’t know. But that isn’t my focus today. This is Character Development, and that means roleplaying. City of Heroes has always been my favorite and best roleplaying experience. So I will always mention it. In some small way every game I ever play will be compared to it. But this is the last time I’ll be able to write about City of Heroes roleplaying before the end. The last time it will be the focus of a Character Development article. As you can imagine there are going to be a lot of emotions, possibly even some tears.

I’ve roped three of my close friends into helping me out with this article. All of them have played City of Heroes for several years. There is Bard, an Australian ladies man who left City of Heroes some time ago. Baronesa, an avid roleplayer who stayed with City of Heroes until the announcement of the closure. And fellow OnRPG writer Ardua who has played CoH almost it’s entire life and plans to see out the end on Virtue, surrounded by friends. I asked each of them just a couple of questions and basically got the same responses from them all. Though some were more emotional than others.

There is no denying that City of Heroes has always offered a unique haven for roleplayers. Call it the perfect storm if you like. When I asked my friends what made roleplaying in City of Heroes so unique all three said the same things though in very different ways. I could summarize it but I think Ardua said it the best so I’m just going to directly quote him.

“For me …. it was the endless possibilities. Held up and expanded upon by the developers. Other games, I enjoy the lore and the frame work. They tell me “this is how our elves work” and that is how it is. It gives me structure. Other Superhero games, they were based off of existing IPs and as such had the same … “restrictions” Furthermore …. Issue after Issue we were given more. More powers, more costumes, more stories. Not in every issue granted, not always a hit. Gunslinger women for example being technically pantsless and skirtless. But they never restrained, they encouraged. City of Heroes let me be a mutant dog, cyborg battle system that thinks it’s a kids toy, office worker granted immense power over the earth, alien hybrid fighting an aeons long war… and let me be those however I wanted to be. Yes constrained sometimes by the engine, yes sometimes constrained by what was available, but never ever constrained by vision or imagination. Paragon would have happily, gleefully I imagine, helped me realise more and more characters for years to come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. If I could think it up, I could probably make it. If I could make it, it was just as valid, as welcome, as anyone elses wildest heroic and villainous dreams.”


So, endless possibilities thanks to amazing lore which made everything you could imagine valid mixed with wonderful developers who supported our habits through expanding story, outfit options and encouraging the community. I’ve had a lot of friends who refuse to roleplay in other games simply because they say the story is too restrictive. Now, I personally don’t agree with doing things that way. I enjoy a well sculpted story. Take Rift for example, Trion has set out an extensive lore for roleplayers to follow. It was even the subject of an article I wrote some time ago. But there is something to be said about having absolute freedom.

 

 

But the setting can only explain so much. The rest, in my opinion comes down to community. From developer to average casual player everyone was always welcoming, accepting and embraced your ideas. Bard attributed City of Heroes’ success with the roleplaying to this very thing. “The general friendliness of the community (in and out of RP) made it a more welcoming experience than any other MMO I’ve tried” No one ever told me a character concept was dumb. People were always willing to go along with personal plots to help out friends. The community involvement extended beyond the game. If you look at the official forms and go to Virtue’s you’ll see something incredibly unique. A thread with 690 pages, each post dedicated to the trade and exploration of names. If you were ever stuck for a name The Virtue Name Watch was the place for you. I can’t tell you how many amazing names I’ve grabbed from there. In the time the thread has been running nearly 29,000 different names have been passed back and forth. I have never seen that in any other MMO and I would honestly be surprised if I ever did again. Even the Paragon Studios developers would take part in roleplay with people given the opportunity and ability. Outside of roleplay they allowed it to flourish by constantly giving more. With every issue came a new costume set and an advancement in story. It allowed us roleplayers to feel like we were in a real world. Little things like the walk ability improved the quality of life for role players. Super group bases, while never intended to be personal houses often became just that and opened up the possibilities even further.

 

 

And finally, Baronesa touched on something that I hadn’t considered until she mentioned it. Roleplay in City of Heroes was able to thrive because of this simple truth, “because of the lack of hardcore grinding, people were more focused on playing the game and their RP stories, rather than on fighting to get the uber shiny.” City of Heroes is…was a casual sort of game. You never had to grind to get anything. The fights were never so difficult that you couldn’t roleplay while fighting. It was very easy to make the story of your hero or your villain the center of your time and effort in City of Heroes.

November 30th isn’t far off. By the time you read the next installment of Character Development it will be gone. But City of Heroes will always be in the hearts of those who loved it. Especially the roleplayers who would pour all their creative love into making it their virtual home. What City of Heroes gave the roleplaying is something I doubt we will ever see again. It really was a perfect storm. But soon the sky will clear and our storm will be gone. No one game can ever replace City of Heroes. But that doesn’t mean I’ll stop looking for the next storm on the horizon.

AlphaBeta Soup 11/23: Transformers Universe, PlanetSide 2, District 187 and more!

AlphaBeta Soup 11/23

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG News Journalist

 

It’s been a bit of a slow week for our soup this week, but what has happened has been massive! PlanetSide 2, District 187 and RaiderZ have all left the pot and officially launched. The browser based Transformers Online is now accepting beta applications for the upcoming closed beta. As ever any new additions are highlighted below in orange.

OnRPG Giveaways

These are all the beta giveaways currently running on OnRPG. There’s no guarantee that we won’t run out so grab them quick.

 

Absolute Force Online Closed Beta Key Giveaway
City of Steam Closed Beta Giveaway
DK Online Beta Pack Giveaway

Dates Announced:

 

Below are the MMOs who have announced upcoming beta events that haven’t started yet.

 

Hawken: Closed Beta November 20-December 6
WorldAlpha: Closed Beta November 22-25, December 6-9, 20-23
Kartuga: Alpha November 24th (Event is only for 16 people who will be invited to the studio after a competition)
Arctic Combat: Open Beta December 6
Path of Exile: Open Beta December
Age of Wulin: EU Closed Beta 2013

 

Alpha:

 

These games are currently in Alpha. Signups are available via the link.

 

Dragon Nest EU November 23-December 2
Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn
The Repopulation
Xulu

Closed Beta:

 

MMOs which are in closed beta require application and often require approval before access can be gained.

 

Absolute Force Online
Age of Wulin(EU, Asia) EU in Early 2013
Age of Wushu(US) Ends November 25, Round 2 Begins December 20th
Ascension: Arenas of War
Black Prophecy Tactics: Nexus Conflict
Born To Fire
Bounty Hounds Online
Chrono Tales Closed Beta Coming Soon, Registration Going On Now
City of Steam November 30-December 4, December 14-18, December 23-28
DK Online
Dust 514
Hawken November 20-December 6, Open Beta December 12
Firefall
Forge
Grimlands
GUNS and ROBOTS
JollyGrim
Marvel Heroes
Patterns
Pirate101
Salem
SMITE
Strategoria
Transformers Universe Now accepting applications.
UFO Online
The War Z
World of Warplanes

Open Beta:

 

Games in open beta require an application but often it is little more than signing up for an account.

 

Cyber Monster
End of Nations No current beta event ongoing
MechWarrior Online
Oversoul
SmashMuck Champions
Soul Captor
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Online (Russian)
Universal Monsters Online

 

Expansions:

 

These are the beta events for games which are already live. These are for new content which is going to be added to the game at a later date. Access is limited to the current playerbase and often requires special permissions to take part.

 

Lord of the Rings Online Mac

Shotgun News 11/23: AFO, EVE, Runewaker MMO, and much more!

Shotgun News 11/23: AFO, Eve, Runewaker MMO, and much more!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG News Correspondent

Absolute Force Online Now Region Free

After hearing the cries of people unable to play Absolute Force Online NetDragon has removed all IP restrictions on the MMOFPS so that anyone, anywhere can enjoy it. If you’re still looking for a closed beta key you’re in luck. OnRPG has many in the Events section of the site, or you can just click the link.

 

Archblade Starts Kickstarter Campaign

CodeBrush Games has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund extra features in their upcoming MMO Archeblade. The goal is to raise $100,000 before January 4 for new characters, skins, maps and more. Rewards for those who back the campaign run from in game pets to designing a character who will be in the game.

 

Infernum Secures Runewaker MMORPG for Europe

Publisher Infernum Productions has secured the operating and marketing rights in Europe and Turkey for fantasy MMORPG Dragon’s Prophet being developed by Runewaker Entertainment the makers of Runes of Magic. Dragon’s Prophet will be a world filled with dragons to be tamed. A symbiotic link will form with the dragons allowing players to ride them, enter combat with them, and gain special skills only available with the dragons.

 

InnoGames Gets New Head of Development

At the start of the new year Wim ter Schüren will joinInnoGames as the new Head of Development. Previously he was the head of software development at eSailors IT Solutions. He will be joining InnoGames who has two titles in production and one in the planning stages.

 

Aika Online Launches New Update

Aika Online launched a new update yesterday while many of us were enjoying our turkey. A new duel system has been introduced allowing one on one battles. Auto move and auto follow features have been added to make questing easier. You can also now inspect players to find out what players are wearing. And there are new color coordinated quest marker to make it easier to identify what type of quest it is.

EVE Launches Retribution Website

The full EVE Online: Retribution website has launched ahead of the December 4 launch. The 18th expansion focuses on the consequences of personal actions. The interstellar law and punishment system is getting simplified and being called Crimewatch. Several ships are getting rebalanced while new ones are introduced. And the combat UI and NPC AI have been overhauled to make them more intuitive and interesting.

Conquer Online Asks Age Old Question, Who Would Win, Pirates or Ninjas

Conquer Online is introducing a new pvp campaign called The War of Faith. In it players must pick a side in life long debates like, pirates vs ninjas. In fact that is the first campaign. Pick a side, put on your mask so no one knows who you are and seek out the enemy. There’s only one question left to ask. Who would win in a fight between pirates and ninjas?

Video Game Marketing Awards Nominations Announced

Game Connection’s Marketing Awards have announced the nominations for next week’s Video Game Marketing Awards. Amongst the nominations are several MMOs. NCSoft is nominated for two for Guild Wars 2. One for online campaigns and another for European print marketing. Wargaming, for Best PR Campaign for World of Warplanes. The EU and NA launch trailer for APB reloaded is nominated for Best broadcast campaign. The awards will be given out on Wednesday November 28 in Paris. Be sure to come back to OnRPG to find out the results.