OnRPG Shotgun News 11/14: DK Online, TSW, RIFT, and Much More!
By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist
DK Online Enters Closed Beta
Aeria Games’ highly anticipated free to play fantasy MMORPG has now entered closed beta. There will be events held throughout the closed beta and prizes for players who reach certain level milestones first. Daily events will be held my game masters. For more information on the events and much more players are encouraged to watch the DK Online Facebook page.
New The Secret World Video Shows off Issue 4
A new video has been released by Funcom; narrated by Joel Bylos it goes through some of the features that can be expected with Issue 4 sometime this month. It includes the very first raid, a 10 man excursion into Manhattan that features terrifying gigantic monsters. There are also huge changes to pvp, reticule combat, and the newest auxiliary weapon, the chainsaw. It will be going live tomorrow!
Rift Storm Legion Sales Beyond Expectations
Trion has said that the sales of Rift’s first expansion Storm Legion have been beyond expectations. An original forecast had Trion targeting a 7% adoption rate. The reality as they found out yesterday was that 13% have adopted Storm Legion already with the numbers climbing hourly.
Star Trek Online Season 7 Launches
Star Trek Online Season 7, New Romulus is now live. Executive Producer Daniel Stahl described it as, “the first time Star Trek fans will have a chance to participate in the story of rebuilding the Romulan Empire.” To find out more about Season 7 check out the trailer below.
Darkfall Unholy Wars Delayed
Earlier today it was announced that Darkfall Unholy Wars wouldn’t make the November 20 launch date that was originally scheduled. The release date has now been set to 12/12/12. The current game will still be going offline tomorrow for scheduled maintenance.
Wartune Announces Huge Update Patch 1.4.5
This coming Thanksgiving Wartune will be seeing a huge content update with the release of patch 1.4.5. Included in it will be features like Rested Experience, Guild Chat, Guild Battle and highly anticipated Legendary equipment. All of these and much more will be released in the upcoming patch.
We only have a few short weeks left with City of Heroes. Compared to the player base there used to be there aren’t many of us left. Each time something goes wrong is a time to panic. Last weekend Virtue and several other servers mysteriously went offline. Those of us who call those servers home sat on foreign servers talking to eachother, realizing that there was every possibility that we may never get those servers back. Thankfully our paranoid feelings were wrong and the servers were back up again in just a short time. But it is heart wrenching each and every time. It’s so close to the end now, none of us want to say goodbye. So, instead of focusing on that right now, I want to talk about what City of Heroes has accomplished. Ways it has innovated the MMO industry. In researching this article I actually learned a lot, like the fact that City of Heroes holds four Guinness World Records. Not all of City of Heroes’ innovations have been in the Guinness World Records though. Here are six things that City of Heroes did first, including those four world records.
1. First Super Hero MMORPG
Yes, City of Heroes was the first. It is officially recognized by Guinness World Records. And for years it was the only Super Hero MMORPG out there. It wasn’t until 2009 it started getting competition. But City of Heroes remained the most popular despite the new competition. Even at the time of the closure announcement Paragon Studios billed it as the most popular Super Hero MMORPG.
2. First MMORPG to use Mentoring System
Teaming has come a long way since the early days. I love looking back at old screenshots and remembering how the Mentoring system was. It was one of the things that I found so appealing in City of Heroes to begin with. After all what hero doesn’t have a spunky sidekick? What is a villain without his or her lackey? Of course in 2009 the mentoring system was changed in favor of the new super sidekick system. But City of Heroes was the first to have a mentoring system of any kind. And it was recognized for this by Guinness World Records.
3. First MMORPG to use Adaptive Difficulty
To me this is the really big one. City of Heroes was the first to use adaptive difficulty. What does that mean? Strength and difficulty are adjusted according to the level and number of characters in the area. Until City of Heroes mobs were what mobs were. If you couldn’t fight them alone you got with a group. With City of Heroes came the idea that mob size, and difficulty could change depending on the team. For this City of Heroes was recognized a third time by the Guinness World Records.
4. First Evil MMORPG Expansion
So, not only was it the first Super Hero MMO it was also the first to let you be an evil son of …Arachnos. In 2005 City of Villains was released securing a fourth Guinness World Record for City of Heroes. These days the in thing in MMOs is to let everyone be friends. But not long ago players were making their own archnemeses. I was late to the Villain party, I’m just not a very evil person. But I love my few villains I have.
5. Levelling Pact
Levelling pacts were first introduced in 2008 with Issue 13. At the time I wasn’t sure about them but I quickly changed my mind. Nearly all of my characters are part of a duo. And I was always faced with that annoying problem of one of us getting higher in levels than the other. This completely did away with it until it was shut off last year. According to Paragon Studios themselves City of Heroes was the first MMORPG to introduce this kind of technology. And personally I’m of the opinion that any MMO where level matters (so nearly all of them) this feature is a must. Yet it is nowhere to be found.
6. User Generated Content
Neverwinter is gushing about theirs, STO is quite proud of theirs too but City of Heroes did it first. It was more than a year after Issue 14 gave City of Heroes the Mission Architect system that Star Trek Online released The Foundry. Anyone who played around then may remember that when it came out it nearly broke City of Heroes. But that is all part of the process. When you’re the first to do something you’re going to have a harder time as you blaze a new trail for others to follow.
These six are just the obvious and easy ways you can point out that City of Heroes has been a leader of innovation from the start. It doesn’t include the less obvious things like the amazing, complex character customization that even today few MMOs can match. And of course there are the personal firsts that came, for me it was the first MMO I played with my husband, the first time I got to fly in an MMO, and led to the first time I ever travelled to the Eastern side of the US so I could attend the wedding of two dear friends I met in City of Heroes. I can happily say that City of Heroes changed my life and is something I will always remember and hold dear to my heart. And whenever I see any of these things in an MMO I will always think back to my days in Paragon, The City of Heroes.
Fiesta, one of the first and most beloved free-to-play anime fantasy MMOs, is turning five years old this month. Outspark, its North American publisher, now with over 11 million registered users and nearly one million Facebook fans, practically birthed the industry with the iconic game a half decade ago.
“When we launched Fiesta in North America back in 2007, no one in the West really knew how to do free-to-play while sustaining a vibrant live service. The model was successful in Asia, but here all the focus was subscription-based. Since then, the Fiesta community has grown into a massive gaming population. Players spend hours a day hanging out with friends in the game. They’ve not only formed lasting bonds, but some have even met and married the love of their life, and had amazing adventures across a vast open world together. We’re now at 115 levels, and in all that time, there have been hundreds of millions of hours played, billions of monsters killed, and over three quadrillion EXP points earned. Most impressive!” exclaimed Philip Yun, CEO of Outspark.
Fiesta kicks off its epic Anniversary KO with an action-packed offering of exciting new content, events and giveaways. Drop in the game to enjoy:
Anniversary Gala
Elderine is transformed into a moonlit wonderland with a romantic Anniversary reskin. Flaming candelabras float through a twinkling sky lighting up monuments, fountains, and an electrified disco floor. Go shopping for the season’s chicest fashions as community-designed formal wear make their debut in the premium shop. Then boogie down with dozens of dances while enjoying the GM-led NostalgiaBomb. The event runs November 26 through December 1 at 3pm PT. For more details, click here.
Birthday Grand Prix
Wacky races through the sights and sounds of the sparkling seaport town of Roumen, by foot, by mount, and by high speed chase. The event runs from November 15 through 21 at 2pm PT. For more details, click here.
High Rollers
Set off on a scavenger hunt across the Land of Isya to capture screens of giant rolling dice without getting squashed. Easier said than done! Tiered prizes for newbies, experienced players and the high-level gaming elite. The event runs from November 15 through 20. For more details, click here.
Weapons Enchantment System
Collect up to seven special gems to affix to weapons for magical attacks that include One Hit Kill Gems that obliterate opponents in PvP battles and Knock Back Gems that stop mobs dead in their tracks.
Monster Beats Giveaway
Win a stunning pair of JustBeats Monster Headphones by Dr Dre. Love Justin Bieber or not, these headphones are sleek. To enter, simply click on the WIN BEATS HEADPHONES icon on the Fiesta Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/outsparkfiesta, LIKE the page, and enter your email address and SparkID. For those new to Fiesta, SparkIDs are available by registering at http://www.playfiesta.com.
Today is Storm Legion Day. It should be an International holiday. Ok, maybe not, but I know a lot of Rift fans are taking today off, and possibly some lucky enough to take the next few days off to enjoy the exciting new expansion. I’m so excited about it I’ve made a special edition of MEAD just for the occasion that combines my two favorite things, Rift and Top 10s. These are my Top 10 favorite things coming to Rift today.
10. Mounts
Yes, I know Rift has always had mounts. But it’s the particular mounts I’m interested in. My favorite is Cyclone, the floating mount. Now, yes I’ve heard a lot of complaints about it. People who wish it could fly, people who want to ride it over water…but really it is a beautiful mount from the plane of air. Every Bahmi, or Bahmi lover should have one of these! Another mount you could get from order Storm Legion was Landslide. This massive, horned creature looks like it is built to climb mountains and tear apart enemies. Perfect for the most hardcore Dwarves, if they don’t mind getting a ladder to climb on.
9. Capes
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I haven’t ordered Storm Legion yet. By now I should hopefully be the owner of Storm Legion. But I wanted it from Walmart. Why? I want the awesome looking Forest Warden’s Cape which you could only get from Walmart. There were six capes available which differed depending on who you pre ordered with. But the big thing to take from this is there are capes. All good adventurers need capes. Just watch Lord of the Rings for five minutes and you’ll see what I mean. These capes are using a new technology to make the movement and flow more lifelike than any MMO before.
8. Hunt Rifts
One of the things that makes Rift so unique are the Rifts. They come in just about every variety you could want. And now Trion has added another type of rift to the list. One that is harder than ever. Hunt Rifts are high level, require large groups and the more you do them the harder they become. The highest tiers of these rifts will require assistance from the Torvan Hunters. What makes them so hard? Well, you’re taking on the commanders of forces who are trying to invade before the waves of enemies come through other rifts.
7. Dungeons
I’ve never been shy about my disliking of dungeons, they just aren’t my thing. But as they are the biggest story elements in Rift they can’t and shouldn’t be ignored. There are a total of 7 new dungeons being added with Storm Legion. Anyone who pre ordered Storm Legion has already been able to check out the first of the dungeons, Exodus of the Storm Queen. But that still leaves six more dungeons which we have seen small peeks of during the many live streams Trion has been hosting.
6. New Souls
Four new souls are being introduced today, one for each class. These souls keep with the air/lightening/electricity theme that surrounds Storm Legion while adding all new elements to the classes. Ever wanted a melee mage? Harbinger is here for you. Tacticians are the engineers of Telara with a variety of tools and gadgets to help with everything from taking out groups of enemies to healing allies. The Tempest soul allows Warriors to start the fight from further away than ever before with bolts of lightening. And finally the Defiler acts as a medium for the energies of death allowing them to warp life and offer heals…for a price.
5. Grandmaster Crafting
I love crafting. I’ve spent days doing nothing but crafting, gathering more supplies and then going right back to crafting. But as you can imagine that got me to the crafting cap quite quickly. And so Grandmaster Crafting is introduced. This new ultimate level of crafting is aided by having new materials to harvest, new quests for crafting the new items and of course the two new continents to find all of this. So while we won’t be getting any new trade skills we still have plenty to look forward to.
4. 10 More levels
I’ll admit it, I’m a slow leveller. I only have one 50 and I’ve been playing Rift since beta. I’m a firm believer in the idea that it is the journey, not the destination that is what matters. So when I got my main to 50 she went into semi retirement. But now she’s back! With 10 more levels to explore, not to mention the two new continents life has been returned to my favorite character! But even if you don’t have that problem the 10 new levels are still a great way to get more fantastic story from Telara. Oh and of course there are the new abilities that come with more levels.
3. New Continents
If you haven’t heard Telara is about to get a whole lot bigger. Three times bigger even. On one there is an ancient civilization with amazing technology who have been overrun by the Storm Legion and on the other Regulos’ forces have taken over turning it into a dark haven of death. For the most skilled Ascended these two new massive continents are a dream come true. Well, assuming they enjoy adventuring, danger, and risk. If not…well they aren’t very good Ascended. These huge continents are the home of most of the changes and new additions coming to Rift with Storm Legion, making them an absolute must see.
2. Dynamic Events
One of the first videos we saw from Storm Legion was of this massive colossus with a nasty attitude. It takes a huge group to take one of these out. And it isn’t a quick or easy prospect. You focus your fighting on certain parts of the huge creature, degrading it’s armor which of course only makes it more mad. But then it breaks down a wall allowing access to an area otherwise unreachable. And on the other side of that wall are crafting materials and more. This is just one example of the new dynamic events coming with Storm Legion.
1. Dimensions
From the moment I heard about Dimensions I knew I was doomed. The first time I saw them at Gamescom I knew they were going to consume me. Dimensions aren’t just a generic house with a few items you can put in them to make it your own. Oh no, they give you a plot of land, many of the same items that are available to the developers and you get to go to town. Ships, guild halls, houses…you are only limited by your imagination.
This is by no means a complete list of everything you can find in Storm Legion. But it is what I’ve been looking forward to the most and what I’m going to spend my spare time doing for the foreseeable future.
Shotgun News 11/13: RIFT, GW2, EQ2, and much more!
By Shannon Doyle (Leliah) OnRPG News Journalist
Storm Legion Comes to Rift
Today is the day Rift fans have been waiting for. The first expansion to Trion’s massively popular MMO is live! Storm Legion brings 10 new levels, triples the size of the world, gives players housing and much, much more. Be sure to look out for OnRPG’s Storm Legion coverage.
Guild Wars 2 Introducing New Armor
To help address the issue of players hitting the Legendary wall Guild Wars 2 is introducing a new level of armor called Ascended. It falls between Exotic and Legendary on the rarity scale. With it will also come a new condition for monsters, and upgrades to fight that condition called Infusions. These were all highlighted in a recent reveal on the official GW2 website.
Everquest II Launches Chains of Eternity
There isn’t just one major expansion coming out in the world of MMOs today. Everquest II is releasing it’s ninth expansion, Chains of Eternity. To keep the server hamster’s happy and busy while the servers down a diary of their adventures is being posted on the site. For all the details of Chain’s of Eternity check out Merry’s preview here.
Chrono Tales Closed Beta
Keys for the closed beta of Chrono Tales are now available via application on the official site. Priority for the codes will be given to anyone following the 3D Browser MMO on Twitter or via Facebook.
By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief
After experiencing a wonderful traditional Korean Dinner consisting of raw ginseng, noodle specialties, and a whole fish with head and tail included, as well as witnessing the impact of the rice wine Soju as it pummeled some of the more party prone members of the press, it was off to the second day of GSTAR. Thanks to Neowiz I had access to an exhibitor pass and was dead-set on taking full advantage of raiding the B2B section to see what was going on behind the scenes at GSTAR 2012!
I wasted no time hitting up the Neowiz booth where I was blown away by the secret of the show, the early prototype for EIN – Epicus Incognitus, a game that blurred the realms of console graphics and storytelling with MMORPG team building elements and gameplay. The below trailer says more than words ever could.
Impressed yet? I can say I knew of Neowiz prior to this event. But with these two games looming in the distant future I feel this Korean based dev-publisher combo will soon be a household name among MMORPG enthusiasts from California to the UK.
After the Neowiz presentation ended I went to work collecting notes, business cards, and as much information as possible on every title I could. I felt dizzy as I moved from booth to booth witnessing the early prototypes of titles we likely won’t see in the west for another 2 to 5 years. Thankfully I ran into a AAA title you may be familiar with from our PAX coverage this year, Phantasy Star Online 2! While at PAX I was awed enough to award this title Game of the Show, witnessing the upcoming end-game content post-level 40 immediately made me imagine God of War styled battles transformed into an Anime. Characters flipped through the air, slamming their weapons down against three story tall dragons and huge ogres in what I feel is still the smoothest combat to date in any MMORPG.
Next up I met with Gravity Interactivity who were unfortunately very tight lipped once they realized I was with the western media. See a lot of marketing teams like to keep much of the information on their games under wraps for as long as possible so they can build hype once the game is closer to launch in a respective region. Gravity knows this drill all too well and all I managed to snag was a few tidbits on Ragnarok 2 and the sad fact that there are no current public plans to bring Alicia Online, a horse racing MMO, to the west. My girlfriend, NuttyKitten, is heartbroken at the news.
Across from Nexon I found ChangYou, a company with a similar history to Neowiz in being relatively unknown in the west but with major titles looming on the horizon. Last year my associate Nick brought me a pamphlet showcasing some of the details on their title Duke of Mount Deer, which I can sum up in one sentence as the chibi version of Guild Wars 2. I took comfort knowing that this game was receiving the recognition it deserved, taking home the Popular Asian Developed Award, second on the list of awards to only the President’s Award (won by Icarus Online). For more info I highly suggest taking a look at last year’s article on the game here. After much haggling I managed to get their representative to spill that we may see this unique title in the west as early as Q4 2013. ChangYou lacked a skilled English speaker at their booth but thankfully provided a book filled with information on their upcoming line-up I hadn’t yet heard of.
Heroes of Legend is a 3D real-time turn-based MMORPG, one of the first of its kind to take turn-based gameplay through the Unreal Engine 3. It offers 471 story-driven missions in which players can collect skills, pets, and unlock further classes via their Cloud Class system that allows you to experience every class fully without ever having to reroll. With a graphics style akin to Duke of Mount Deer and a wild range of Wujiang martial arts skills to acquire, this should definitely be on the wishlist of any strategy fans out there.
The next title is currently code named X7 and is built from the Dark Fire engine, an engine designed to push graphical output to the limits while still maintaining 1,000 player battles between 5 factions. If mass scale PvP is your forte, you’ll fall in love with this beautiful title that builds on past customization and development MMORPG styles but on a scale that can’t be described as anything short of extraordinary. I’d say the biggest selling point on this title is the vehicle-based siege warfare combined with massive mechanical birds that enable aerial combat during territory wars. The dynamic engine that allows the game world to change based on player actions is also a plus.
God Slayer was the personal favorite of ChangYou’s representative. Similarly to EIN, it is built off a variation of the CE3 engine and features non-traditional untargeted combat with a strong focus on a five element system that will force you to react to your enemy’s strengths and weaknesses on the fly to do well. The game also supports large scaled open world PvP with air, land, and water mounts/vehicles. You can expect to find all the usual modern physics here as mounts and players react to each blow in realistic fashion. Akin to RaiderZ, you will also have to focus on the weak points of major bosses to take them down tactically (because these bad boys will destroy you in a blow for blow contest). And for the phone junkies out there you will have full access to the auction house, guild functions, and many other basic social aspects via cross-platform apps to keep you in the game even when you’re afk.
While ChangYou had much more to show the rest of their titles either had no clear launch planned in the west or too little information to bother sharing. Still it goes to show just how far detached the western and eastern gaming worlds are from each other and how much this industry is set to change in just the next few years.
Following ChangYou I hit up GalaNet to try out Eternal Blade for the first time since GDC San Francisco. The game is extremely polished and ready for its Korean launch, and we should be seeing it in the west in the very near future as well. If you’re looking for Diablo style gameplay with a more Asian setting and a F2P business model, I doubt you’re going to find anything higher quality than Eternal Blade.
The Taiwanese were out in force at GStar as I got to finally meet some of the marketing team behind XLegend, best known in the states for their partnership with Aeria Games for Grand Fantasia and Eden Eternal. Unfortunately they haven’t revealed any plans past Glory Destiny Online so I don’t have new info to share but I made sure to thank them. After all their title Eden Eternal was the first press event I was invited to which got me noticed by many game publishers to do awesome exclusive reporting including our recent SOE Live and Elder Scrolls Online reveal coverage.
Next up on the Taiwan tour was OMG Entertainment, who you might remember from the other major title I shown the spotlight on during GStar, Bella Legend of Crystal. While most of the details regarding this game haven’t changed from last year’s preview article, they did announce that they will be using a business model in which players can sell in-game items on the auction house for cash shop currency rather than in-game currency. In fact coins aren’t dropped by monsters at all, making the cash shop currency essentially the currency of the entire market. I’m a bit iffy on how this will all work out but one thing is for sure, this game will not suffer the typical inflation that most MMORPGs have trouble dealing with these days.
OMG is also pushing for more social interactivity by allowing players to connect their in-game profile to the profile of their favorite social networks. As a result you will be able to share your pics, interests, and more that you have flagged for approval with in-game friends straight within the game client itself. On the mobile app side you will be able to take care of your in-game pets and acquire exclusive equipment through mini-games only playable on the mobile app. A new trailer also showcases the unique class diversification system.
At Gameforge it’s always Oktoberfest, even in Korea!
The final stop on the Taiwan tour was to meet up with my new pals at Runewaker, the infamous Tang brothers I met a few weeks back at SOE Live. The timing was perfect as a high ranking representative from Gameforge approached the booth, pulling the Tangs into an impromptu meeting likely about publishing Dragon’s Prophet, allowing me to get the unfiltered inside scoop from their sales associate Danielle Yen. I literally have pages upon pages of notes of information not covered in detail at SOE Live so expect a full article on what’s new with Dragon’s Prophet including an in-depth look at the dragon taming system and Frontier system.
With that out of the way I prepared to make my way to back to the B2C section of the hall until a small booth in the corner caught my eye. It was none other than my favorite group of game publishers, En Masse Entertainment. Yet when I asked what about TERA they had come to promote they replied that they were actually in the market to acquire another title. This news was music to my ears as En Masse does a truly fantastic job managing TERA in the west and I feel any title under their care will receive proper treatment. Though when I asked if it was going to be another action heavy Unreal title Knoxxer hinted towards a no. Guess we’ll have to wait and see what they are plotting in their secluded Seattle office.
Finally I ended the day scoping out some of the titles I didn’t have a chance to try on my first day around the booth. Or so I thought before I realized there was an entire array of new showgirls in attendance on day 2!
Spongebob was spotted outside directing traffic to the Tales Runner rappers
The Korean Creativity group was represented by a girl with Minnie Mouse ears. No this doesn’t make any sense. Yes I still love them for it.
Nvidia lured all the Asian press to their booth with a unique draw, they had the only two white showgirls I saw at the entire show! Unfortunately I failed to capture a picture of the other but both were dressed as fairies.
I couldn’t help but feel bad for Mario. Standing directly between the Neowiz super machines and the Nintendo booth must have been scorching hot in that suit.
I don’t know what PStore is but I think I suddenly want to buy what they are selling @_@.
A rather intimidating Blizzard associate in this beautiful Chinese dress kept the rift raft out of the back entrance of the Mists of Pandaria demo.
Meanwhile this unusual group maintained order amongst the chaos outside the Starcraft II demo.
I barely managed to snag this quick shot of the Cyphers girl before I was pulled back into the Starcraft swarm.
Finally after making my rounds I got in line to try Icarus, the only title that had literally no openings for press meetings when I ran into them in the B2B hall. After an hour long wait in the line staring at the sexy showgirls working the booth, I finally got my hands on the game. Much like Dragon’s Prophet though, this title will require its own article to describe so I will leave that tale for another day.
Overall I have to say GSTAR is by far my favorite convention I have yet worked. The PR group at Neowiz was beyond expectations, offering a professional and organized schedule with enough free-time to allow me to explore the entire show rather than only focus on their own titles. Despite the language barrier I learned that MMORPGs are truly a universal language to themselves and anyone with the opportunity to attend would be a fool to miss out on the chance. Save up your money, grab a passport, and meet me at GSTAR next year. It’s an experience you’ll remember for the rest of your life!