Yearly Archives: 2012

Age of Wushu CB Impressions – A Leader Leads by Example, Not by Force

Age of Wushu CB Impressions – A Leader Leads by Example, Not by Force

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

 

 

Late last week the OnRPG team and many lucky players around the net gained access to Age of Wushu the title that has put publisher Snail Game on the map following an epic 7 city tour launch in China. Now the months are counting down to the open beta launch of Age of Wushu in the US and Age of Wulin by gPotato in the EU and everyone is wondering does Wushu really bring the pain to a stagnant MMO market? The answer is no… its intention was never to rework the MMORPG as it currently stands. If you go into this game thinking your past MMO experience is going to make you an expert from the start, you’ll be in for a real eye opener. This game requires a ton of reading and study to fully comprehend as it intends to recreate the entire philosophy of how an MMORPG is made and played!

 

Even while offline your character will remain a persistent part of the world, and earn you benefits upon log-in!

 

Before you can understand Age of Wushu you have to understand a simple design philosophy that, outside of the game mechanics and unique set-up of the game, carries it beyond anything else. That philosophy is that you can gain progression just for playing. So thoughts of how do I min-max my character, what’s the most efficient way to level, and so on are out the window. The storyline quests take you on so many sidetracks that you will eventually realize this and ask yourself do I really need to do this to progress? That is when your mind expands at the freedom Age of Wushu offers and you can set out on your own personal goals, progressing as you do so just as if you had continued going down your main storyline. In the end everyone has a fun time doing what they feel their own definition of fun is and no one suffers for it!

 

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Storyline and Customization

When it comes to customization players are offered a basic and more advanced facial construction program that allows you really set yourself apart with facial hair, hairstyle, hair color, and minor tweaks to your eye placement and so on. Granted you’re still going to look Asian no matter what you do, but considering the world map is roughly a recreation of China, this only makes sense. My apologies to fans of the Man with the Iron Fists. Beyond facial structure the rest of your customization is going to come down to finding outfits or cash shopping them to make yourself stand out. The costumes all seem to fit thematically and really do a great job of helping build a perceived personality of your character with everything from ninja masks to elegant flowing gowns.

 

 

Players also choose from one of four current storylines that impact their starting location, and a cinematic filled quest that all seem united with the goal of vengeance against someone who has wronged you and finding out more about your past. This is a really nice touch for an MMORPG and, with a little more work on the localization front, has the potential to add some replayability to the game.

 

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Schools, Skills, and Cultivation

As important as the philosophy of freedom is towards increasing the fun factor of the game, the eight schools and way you cultivate your skills is the mechanic that really makes this title worth continuing to play. This game lacks levels but don’t be fooled that this means any player can defeat any player. It merely means that there is a disconnect between great gear and great power that normally goes hand in hand in an MMORPG. You see not long after you begin your tutorial section of the main storyline, you will be given the option to join a school. Though if you want to know all the details please check out my E3 recap on the schools and backstories to get an idea of who you should join.

 

 

Once you join you will begin acquiring unique passive and active skills unique to your school only. Now what sets this game so far apart is you will gain a huge list of skills all at once rather than earning them slowly over a grueling period of grind. These skills have synergy as well, with multiple debuffs that add bonus effects to your other skills should you use them in the correct order or in the correct situation. For instance some may require you to successfully parry first. Others may damage the enemy’s internal chi if used following a different skill in your school. Others may have bonus effects if the enemy fails to parry in time, such as knocking them off their feet or disabling their skills temporarily.

 

 

Beyond this there are also counter abilities based on a rock paper scissor system in which overt (rock) attacks break through an opponent’s feint (scissors) attacks. However overt attacks are easily parried by blocking (paper), which tends to reduce any special side effects that the overt attack inflicts. However a one-dimensional opponent that blocks often will be cut to pieces (literally and figuratively) by a series of feint attacks that not only ignore more of the damage reduction of blocking, but also may inflict additional status effects because they blocked. Of course if two well matched players fight on long enough they can also unleash unique rage skills that cost rage points built up from attacking and defending.

 

 

As Sun Tzu famously said, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” In Age of Wushu this can’t be truer as a player familiar with the animations of multiple schools and reaction times to act on that knowledge will have an unfair advantage over those who simply spam skills in hopes of victory.

 

 

Now for the unitiated you might be wondering what I am getting at by mentioning a system that has no levels and yet offers you progression just for playing. This is because rather than leveling your character, you level your skills one at a time. You get to choose which you prefer to become stronger with and as you play you will slowly push a cultivation bar towards upgrading the skill. When it levels you gain a pop-up bar asking if you want to continue cultivating said skill or switch to another. Certain skills such as your school passive will also unlock the ability to gain new skills, causing a split in tactics between mastering your basics or pushing quickly towards gaining new skills while lacking strength in all of your skills overall. There are also skills unrelated to your school such as movement arts like running on water or dashing through the air that really help make the game feel like a true martial arts movie.

 

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Professions and the Community Aspect

Age of Wushu is not a game meant to be played alone. Granted it’s possible but there’s a reason why the old martial arts stories made a huge deal out of someone who could train in isolation and still become a master. You have far more to gain working with others than you have to lose. See in terms of cultivation if you complete quests faster by working with others, you will gain a pool of cultivation points that can be burnt through in a process called Team Cultivation. Up to 10 players can join together in formation to do a keyboard DDR style mini-game to use up your cultivation points to power level a skill of your choice. To further expand on this, there are elemental regions ideal for team training. Each element aligns with an attack style (hard, soft, yin, yang, and eternal) and knowing which type the skill you wish to cultivate is and what element is best suited for it can greatly increase the rate at which you improve this skill.

 

 

However to limit characters from power leveling to godhood too quickly, you have three limitations for this. For one the world map is massive and not easily traversed quickly, so getting 10 players looking to do team cultivation at any given time can be quite a challenge, even with the world shout system that costs 10 liang (currency tradable between players). Beyond this you have a fatigue system that limits how much team training you can do in a given day. Finally building up the cultivation pool itself takes quite a bit of playtime, meaning those seeking to just log in once a day to take advantage of team training will be out of luck and unable to progress quickly without playing the game to its full extent. But those that put in the effort to make sure all 3 are met will gain progression unparalleled and really stand above their peers as Wushu masters!

 

 

Beyond this excellent system that helps bring players together and make friends, they also have a profession system that is incredibly interdependent on working with a community to advance. See the professions are broken up into four tiers. See the professions are broken up into 4 tiers and you will be drained of the same pools for leveling up each profession within one of the tiers. As such it would be incredibly difficult for a single player to master the arts of hunting, fishing, farming, mining, and woodcutting simultaneously. But beyond the variety they also make each profession different to train, from the whack-a-mole style farming to the bejeweled style tailoring. These material gathering crafts are then used to create items for the societal crafts of tailor, poison maker, chef, craftsman, blacksmith, and herbalist. So while you could go about it solo, if you have a friend or two and work together, you can both advance much faster in your chosen crafts and make a pretty penny of profit for your work. For instance my buddy Wodan is learning the ways of a chef as I learn to farm. I provide the wheat needed to make wheat buns and he creates enough food to not only keep our characters’ hunger meter full, but also sell the excess to bring both of us profit!

 

The beautiful NightLawyer was kind enough to show me the basics of farming

 

During my travels I also learned that professions are ranked with amazing titles bestowed upon some of the best

 

Though I haven’t dabbled in them extensively, there are also two more tiers of professions; one focuses on art while the other seems to be more misc (divination for granting a boost in cultivation and begging for improving your ability to sell wares). I can’t emphasize enough that this game has far too many nuances for a simple Royal Guard like myself to learn in a week’s time.

 

Conclusion

While I could go on and on about the advanced completely open world PvP system, guild/school battles, stealing scrolls, and so on, there is simply too much to cover and I am still but a child in a world of mystery and adventure. If you really wish to seek the secrets of Wushu, find a beta key and meet me on the battlefield. OnRPG will offer a full review of this title once it draws closer to launch. Until then, I must return to my never ending quest to seek enlightenment.

Meta’s Verse: CoH Refugees

Meta’s Verse: CoH Refugees

By Meticulous Meta, OnRPG Paragon Reporter

 

 

In less than two week’s time every City of Heroes player is going to be an MMO refugee. Many of us are lucky enough to have fall back MMOs already waiting for us. But many, many more are finding themselves facing the fact that come December 1st they won’t have an MMO to call home anymore. The forums of every AAA MMO have at least one post from a City of Heroes refugee looking for a new home. Some people have already moved on from Paragon City, unable to face the depressing facts. Some, like me, are dedicating every remaining moment until November 30th to City of Heroes. No matter what way you’re approaching November 30th you’re facing some hard goodbyes. But at least you know you aren’t alone, and these City of Heroes refugees are looking for you. So here are just some of the places you can find fellow City of Heroes players.

 

 

Champions Online

As Cryptic were the original City of Heroes makers and Champions Online is the second most popular Super Hero themed MMO Champions seems to be the logical choice for many City of Heroes players. And the forums are crawling with helpful tips, invitations and much more for former, or soon to be former City of Heroes players.

 

 

The Secret World

As one of the few modern day setting MMOs, The Secret World seems to have become the second most popular destination for City of Heroes refugees. An event has even been scheduled for November 30th. It will start in City of Heroes on Virtue for some screenshots and seeing the servers shut down. Then everyone is invited to log into The Secret World on Arcadia for a Survivors Processional through Kingsmouth and another screenshot.

 

 

Guild Wars 2

A few dedicated roleplayers have created a thread on the Guild Wars 2 roleplayers forums looking for former Virtue players. It may not be a very popular choice right now though as a lot of City of Heroes players are feeling burned by NCSoft.

 

Star Trek Online

The Paragon Expedition Fleet has been formed in Star Trek Online as a home for City of Heroes players. There is also a global channel called CoX for players to connect with eachother on.

 

 

City of Steam

On the City of Heroes forums the browser based City of Steam has proved to be quite popular with City of Heroes fans. It helps that one of the developers of the game played City of Heroes at one time. Of course since this game is only in closed beta it may be some time before it can be a permanent home for players.

These are just a few examples. I’ve seen discussions on how sad they are about City of Heroes closing in the chat channels of several MMOs. You can’t go to a AAA MMO without running into someone who is touched by the closure of City of Heroes. I hope you all get to do everything you want to before the end. And come back next week as I take a look at some of the end events planned as well as talk to some of my previous guests.

Absolute Force Online – A Truly Unique FPS

Absolute Force Online – A Truly Unique FPS

By Jordan Hall (ApocaRUFF), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Absolute Force Online is an up-and-coming FPS developed by TQ Digital using the Unreal Engine 3. The game features lots of freedom and options mixed with beautiful graphics. Add that with the intense gameplay, you get a one of a kind experience. Absolute Force Online is surely a harbinger of change for the free-to-play FPS genre.

 

 

Features

Hero Battlefield Mode – Once your character has reached a certain amount of deaths, it will become a Hero with highly increased stats and abilities.

Plenty of Customization – From head-to-toe, you are given an incredible number of options to make your character as unique as you want.

Intense Combat – With all the options available to you, you can play however you like and will be given the ultimate experience in FPS combat.

Lots of Game Modes – There are over seven game modes to play. Ranging from the typical Capture the Flag to Zombie Mode.

 

 

I was impressed with the features I came across in Absolute Force Online. They all lived up to their claims as far as I am aware. What surprised me the most was all the freedom given to players, not in just how they can customize their characters’ looks, but in how they can play the game too. TQ Digital did an outstanding job.

 

 

Make Yourself Unique

Absolute Force Online offers an abundant amount of customization. You start by choosing your faction and gender. You can go with Justice Hand, which are basically the good guys. Or you can go with the Fallen Angels, a group of merciless killers. From there you choose your hair style and color, face type, skin color, facial details – such as tattoos, body tattoos, and at the end you choose your character name.

 

 

The customization does not end with character creation. After you have made your character, you can continue to customize him by buying and wearing from a lot of clothing options. From a hilarious panda suit to your typical soldier uniform. The customization variants are nearly endless.

 

 

A Beautiful Game

The graphics in Absolute Force Online are simply amazing. I was constantly filled with awe at all the detail there was. The lighting and shadow effects were superb. I died a number of times just because I had stopped to admire some part of the map. The user interface was perfect. It did not take up much space on the screen and had a design that was pleasing to the eye. I just cannot get over how incredible the graphics are.

 

 

I really liked how bullets have a real impact thanks to the physics engine. When you kill someone, their body will often fly backwards from the bullet impact. More than once, I have had a laugh at how bodies tend to fall in odd ways. Blood will splatter on the ground and wall behind them, too. This makes for a really satisfying experience.

 

 

Controls

If you have played an FPS before, you will be familiar with most of the controls in Absolute Force Online. WASD for movement, left mouse button for shooting and right mouse button for aiming. Double tap and hold W to sprint, or you can hold alt while holding W – which I thought was an odd hotkey. Ctrl for crouching, which you will want to do a lot. Most of it is nothing new or exciting.

 

 

Besides the usual controls, there are also some interesting things thrown in. One of my favorites was the on-the-fly mouse sensitivity changing, using the page-up and page-down keys. I appreciated the ability to quickly switch between third and person mode while in-game. What really impressed me, though, was the left-handed and right-handed support. With the simple push of a key you can switch between the two. Not many games I have played made support for both left and right hands, let alone making it so easy.

 

 

 

Your Fellow Players

Some of the community is nice and helpful; other parts of it are mean and hateful. So, it is your typical FPS community. Most communication centers around people commenting on kills or deaths. There was not anything that really stood out to me. So I cannot say much in this area. I can say that you need to come in to the game knowing that you will probably be called names, accused of cheating, or some other nonsense. But there are also those that will go out of their way to help you and will compliment you rather than insult you.

 

 

Gameplay

Absolute Force Online offers a bit more in this area than your typical FPS. There are a bunch of game modes to play. Each more unique than the last. The available game modes are: Team Death Match, Bomb, Zombie, Arsenal, Death Match, Capture the flag, and vehicle. My favorites were Team Death Match, Arsenal, and Zombie. Vehicle was decent, but I sucked at controlling the helicopter.

 

 

The most exciting mode I played was Arsenal. This is a free-for-all game mode where each time you kill someone, you get a new weapon. This means things are constantly changing. You have to constantly adapt to using a bunch of different weapons. I felt that this game mode was the most extensive test of skill.

 

 

A close second was Zombie. In this mode it is humans versus zombies. The round ends when all humans are turned to zombies. Zombies get a lot of health and can move quickly. Humans can shoot zombies but it’s near impossible to kill one. Shooting them will push them back a lot, however. And it will make them drop buffs that you can grab for a speed boost and such. It only takes one hit from a zombie to turn you.

 

 

Combat in general was an intense experience. The weapon handling was great. I did notice that there was no weapon shake from breathing. I do not know if this will change in the future or not. This made sniping really easy. Sound plays a massive part in the game. A majority of my kills were achieved because I heard someone running. This means walking and crouching is important to cut down on your noise output. This gives the combat a very tactical spin.

 

 

 

Conclusion

Playing Absolute force Online was a wonderful experience. The gameplay was just so splendid for a room-based FPS. The graphics and numerous customization options added a lot that made for a truly unique game. I honestly did not encounter one negative that was more than a trivial gripe or worth mentioning. I cannot get over how close to perfect this game is. Things look bright for the future and I look forward to seeing how this game develops as time goes on.

 

OnRPG Shotgun News 11/21: TSW, Realms, Age of Wulin, and Much More!

OnRPG Shotgun News 11/21: TSW, Realms, Age of Wulin, and Much More!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

The Secret World New York Raid Goes Live

Fans of Funcom’s The Secret World have reason to rejoice today. The game’s first raid, Big Trouble in The Big Apple has launched. The studio has been hinting and showing off bits of it since before Gamescom in August. The 10 person raid takes place in a New York City that has seen better days and has more Orochi redshirts than you can shake a stick at.

 

 

Guild Wars 2 Wants to Know What You Thought of Lost Shores

ArenaNet has sent out a survey to find out what players thought of last weekend’s Lost Shores event in Guild Wars 2. This comes after many players made a list of complaints ranging from lag to timing and bugs. If you took part in last weekend’s event in Guild Wars 2 and want to leave your thoughts you can do so by going to this link. http://newsletters.ncsoft.com/emp/gw2/announcement/2012-11-21/na.html

 

 

Perfect World Third Quarter Revenue Results Down

Perfect World has released a financial earnings report for the third quarter which ended September 30th 2012. They show total revenue and net income both down from the third quarter of last year. But it isn’t bad news for the publisher. The numbers are actually at the higher end of what Perfect World anticipated. With releases like Dota 2 in China, Cryptic’s Neverwinter, and Swordsman Online the publisher still has quite a lot to look forward to in the near future.

 

 

Realms Online and Regnum Online Becoming Champions of Regnum

GameSamba has announced that quite soon Realms Online and Regnum Online will get an update which will bring them together under one title, Champions of Regnum. The update will bring new PvP and RvR opportunities as it unifies players from around the world under a single brand.

 

 

Age of Wulin Forums Launch With Guild Recruitment Drive

Gala Networks Europe has opened the official Age of Wulin forums in anticipation of beta tests which are set to begin in early 2013. They’re also encouraging guilds to start recruiting now as guilds can have up to 400 people and will be vital in the 1,300 player strong mass pvp.

 

 

Heroes and Generals Releases Eisenhower Videolog

A new developer log has been released for Heroes and Generals’ Eisenhower build of the game. The video shows some of the latest changes which include a new matchmaking service which will make it easier for players to jump straight into combat.

 

 

Elsword Announces New “Way of the Sword” System

Elsword Announces New “Way of the Sword” System

 

Elsword

 

Today Kill3rCombo introduced a brand new gameplay system for the free-to-play manga inspired action MMORPG Elsword. As the primary feature of this update, the titular character Elsword unlocks his true mastery with an innovative system that will bring dramatic new strategies to both co-op and competitive play.

 

 

With Elsword’s new “Way of the Sword” system, all of Elsword’s attacks, including special moves, are now classified as “destruction” or “vitality” attacks. By only using attacks in one category, Elsword can build up the meter to activate the Destruction or Vitality modes. Destruction mode increases Elsword’s damaging force and gives him the ability to enter a super armored state. The Vitality mode makes Elsword a more energetic fighter, boosting his movement and attack speeds and reducing the cost of his special attacks. However, players intending to wield this mighty power must be deliberate and careful in the attacks they use to build up the meter, as attacks of the opposite type will cause the meter to go down.

 

 

On the eve of Thanksgiving, Kill3rCombo will also announce a series of short-term sales on both Black Friday and the Saturday following it. Players hoping to take advantage of some of the best deals of the year should check www.elswordonline.com on Wednesday evening to learn more. Players simply looking to spend the holidays leveling up will also find a variety of Thanksgiving bonus events available for all players.

Tripod Romance of Three Kingdoms

Set in the turbulent Three Kingdoms era of ancient China, Tripod: The Romance of Three Kingdoms puts players in control of a territory they’re in control of developing. Like many MMORTS games, you’re responsible for building a viable infrastructure and an army large enough to defend yourself and invade others. Hire almost 300 officers to lead your forces, equip them with a variety of items, and form squads to boost your army’s strength, all in order to conquer the land.

 

 

Features

City Construction: Develop your land from the ground up. Develop a sound resource gathering, and train troops to join your army. Construct walls and city buildings for additional benefits.

 

Almost 300 Officers: The lands of ancient China had several legendary generals to choose from. Why not hire them to your side? Level them, equip them, and train them to become the most feared general!

 

20 Different Army Types: Form your forces with a variety of units. Each has their own unique strengths and weaknesses, so proper strategy in developing them is key.

 

Arenas and Duels: Pit your best officer against others in a brutal arena. Don’t have a general you’d like to enter? Hedge your bets on other challengers, and claim your wealth if they win!

Warmage Battlegrounds

Warmage Battlegrounds is a tactical MMORPG that focuses on turn based battles. Each battleground has its own obstacles to add to the challenge of competing against others. The game offers a variety of PvE modes, like Defend, Explore, and Survival, and 2 to 4 player PvP battlegrounds. Throughout playing, you will unlock a variety of units, equipment, and spells you can outfit your army with, using their strengths to overcome any weaknesses your units may possess. Various achievements and daily quests can be completed to add depth to the game.

 

 

Features

Turn Based Battles: Warmage Battlegrounds offers players a tactical, turn based style of combat, where your skill and reactionary talents are key!

 

Various Modes of Play: In addition to being turn based, Warmage Battlegrounds provides a variety of PvE and PvP game modes, such as Defend, Explore, and Survival. Ranked and unranked PvP play is also available.

 

Customizable Units: Unlock a variety of battle units, spells, and artifacts. Once unlocked, they are always available to put into a team to take down your foes.

 

Achievements and Prestige: Accomplish a variety of challenges and goals, and earn achievements for bragging rights. Fight against other players to earn prestige and acclaim!

 

Unknown Worlds and Perfect World Sponsor Umloud Gaming Fundraiser

Unknown Worlds and Perfect World Sponsor Umloud Gaming Fundraiser

 

 

Ümloud!, San Francisco’s biggest and most awesome annual non-profit gaming fundraiser for Child’s Play, is pleased to announce that Unknown Worlds and Perfect World Entertainment have, for the first time ever, secured Premiere Co-Sponsorship roles in support of this year’s event. Taking place at DNA Lounge on December 6, this annual evening of jamming and generosity is made possible by the Bay Area’s own Unknown Worlds and Perfect World Entertainment. Thanks to their generous support, every attendee’s donation will go directly to support children’s hospitals around the world through Child’s Play.

Unknown Worlds – creators of Natural Selection 2, which recently launched on Steam – will be joining the throngs of big-hearted gaming fans at this year’s Ümloud!. With a company goal of “uniting the world through play,” their sponsorship of this year’s event helps Ümloud! achieve the goal of uniting gamers for a night of rock to raise money for Child’s Play.

“It’s been such a phenomenal year for all of us at Unknown Worlds,” commented Charlie Cleveland, Co-Founder and CEO of Unknown Worlds Entertainment. “We are immensely proud that our hard work and success with Natural Selection 2 has allowed us the opportunity to give back to the gaming community by supporting the amazing work done by Ümloud!. We can’t wait to celebrate 2012 with everyone on December 6, with a great night for a great cause.”

Perfect World Entertainment, a leading publisher of immersive, free-to-play MMORPGs including Neverwinter, RaiderZ and Star Trek Online, makes the world that much more of a perfect place with their premier sponsorship contribution to the gaming community’s worthiest of causes. 

“We are thrilled to share the stage with Unknown Worlds at this year’s Ümloud!,” said Andrew Brown, General Manager for Perfect World Entertainment. “The gaming community has proven time and time again that it is both passionate and generous – and so we are proud to support Child’s Play in its efforts to improve the quality of life for a younger generation of gamers.”

Benefiting Child’s Play – a gamer-targeted charity that supports children’s hospitals around the world, thanks to the support of these Bay Area gaming greats – Ümloud! returns to San Francisco’s DNA Lounge Thursday, December 6, for an encore engagement of giving and ’tis-the-season celebration. Now in its fourth year, Ümloud! 2012 will feature nearly 30 faux-rock bands performing live on stage playing Rock Band 3.

“The amazing teams at Unknown Worlds and Perfect World Entertainment couldn’t fit the spirit of Ümloud! any better,” said Joe Markert, Chief Operating Officer of Ümloud!. “Their sincerity and interest in uniting people through gaming is a reminder to all of us of what we can achieve by working – and playing – together. With their gracious sponsorship of Ümloud! 2012, the show will most definitely go on!”