Yearly Archives: 2012

OnRPG Shotgun News 10/23: Age of Wulin, FireFall, Oversoul, and Darkfall

OnRPG Shotgun News 10/23: Age of Wulin, FireFall, Oversoul, and Darkfall

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

Age of Wulin EU Closed Beta Announced

 

Age of Wulin will be entering closed beta in 2013 according to a press release from Gala Networks Europe. Beta keys will be distributed through various channels. In addition the forums will be opening up soon so fans will be able to start communicating and getting ready for the upcoming beta.

 

Oversoul Public Beta Announced

Artix Entertainment has announced that beta for PvP MMORPG Oversoul will begin at the end of October and will be open to all. Combat is turn based and done through a unique battlecard system. More information about the game and it’s beta will be released on the official website.

 

 

Firefall Fest Commences

 

The first Firefall fest has kicked off today starting with a livestream featuring Athene & Reese of internet fame. Every day will feature two geek celebrities, one in the morning and one later in the day. This evening will kick off with Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day at 3pm PST.

 

Extra Life 2012 Finishes

For the fifth year in a row gamers around the world gathered in front of monitors and tv screens to play games for twenty four hours straight. More than 15,000 people took part and raised 1.8 million dollars for children’s hospitals around the world.

 

 

Darkfall: Unholy Wars Releases First Gameplay Video

The first Darkfall: Unholy Wars gameplay video has been released. It features the role system for the upcoming game. Have a look at the minute long video below.

 

 

 

PAX Australia 2013 Announced

PAX Australia 2013 will take place in Melbourne over July 19-21. It will be held in the same location for 2014. It is being held in conjunction with ReedPOP and is expected to have a huge draw as the first PAX held outside the US.

Meta’s Verse: Extra Life, Extra Edition

Meta’s Verse: Extra Life, Extra Edition

Hello! You may have noticed there wasn’t any Meta’s Verse this week. Well that was so we could bring you a special edition today live from inside City of Heroes. I, Meticulous Meta am going to be in City of Heroes for 24 hours straight. Insane you may say, perhaps it is. But people do crazy things for charity. Yes! I’m talking about Extra Life. The 24 hour gaming marathon being done by nearly 15,000 gamers around the world. The real winners of the marathon are the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Every participant picks which hospital they would like to do the event for, and in this way it makes it more personal. I’ll be updating this article every hour from City of Heroes as we work our way through a very exciting day.

Team City of Heroes has 45 members from all over the world. We’ve had 227 donations which currently total $7,236.33. Because of all of that Team City of Heroes ranks 21/2322. If you’re interested in joining us it isn’t too late! Head over to the Extra Life team and join us.

Don’t forget to check back here every hour while I tell the stories of those 45 team members, share my experiences and any thoughts I have during what will be a very long day.

If you’re reading this for the first time I would highly recommend at this point you go the end of the article and work your way back up. That way it is in chronological order.

Hour 24 THE END!

Oh sleep, glorious sleep. In all honesty though I have had a fantastic time. Teamed up with some amazing people that I’d never met before and a few I’d known for a while. Team City of Heroes has raised $8,419 so far. And it isn’t over yet for the team. There are still people who have many hours left. And though I won’t be around you’ll be in my thoughts. Thank you all for taking this amazing journey with me. I’ve had a fantastic time. Never did get in those last Yins though. Everyone was just too tired. Not that I can blame them at all. Naturally I’ve got a bit of a second (more like 50th) wind right now. I will see you all again on Wednesday  for my regular Meta’s Verse. Until then enjoy one last screenshot from today. It was the Liberty TF.

Hour 23

Well, I’ve gone back to Praetoria. I have one character I want to get one level on then I’m thinking about using the rest of the time to do some more Yin TFs. They are the weekly. And they’re nice and fast. So a couple of those and I’ll be done. So long as I hold my eyes open really wide I don’t feel tired. I’m going to get back to it, I’m wasting time on my XP Booster!

Hour 22

Woo! Getting so close. I haven’t teamed for a few hours now. I think I just reached that point where I could TF no more. Oh how good that bed is looking. So close to being done though. Quite a lot of Team CoH has already finished. Each time someone finishes I am so jealous. But soon my time will come. I’ve turned the news on and I have it a bit loud. From time to time someone talks a bit loud and it gives me a little jolt. North America is going to start waking up soon.

Hour 21 Robin Harvey

I nearly forgot about writing until there was mention of time remaining in whole hours. And it is time for my final look at a CoH team member! This year Robin is playing for Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, Connecticut. She’s playing for a very special young lady in her life who was diagnosed with type one diabetes several years ago and thanks to the people at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center has risen above the challenges in her life to be a wonderful young woman and a true hero.

Hour 20!

Wow! So close now. I almost, ALMOST joined the ITF from hell. They just announced the team filled again. I feel sorry for the two poor souls they picked up. Two of them couldn’t get into Cimerora, one of them couldn’t find the mansion in Night Ward to get Midnighter access.  Then with only one 50 on the team, the rest of us  being a bit low on the ITF scale they decided to make the 50 the leader. Anyway, Ardua and I decided to get out of that team before we even started. It was just going to be pain and agony. Especially at 8 in the morning. Which, now that I mention it, the time is 8am. That means daylight! Every one of these little victories is keeping me awake for just a little longer. Only a few more hours then I can sleep! I hope you’re all doing well out there!

Hour 19

5 more to go! In the home stretch. Also, having some bacon and bagels. It is 7 in the morning after all. Time for breakfast. We stopped doing things in Praetoria and got ourselves on another Yin! This time though I’m playing my character who I think has the best name ever, Sunday Morning. She’s a Street Justice/Willpower scrapper who is sort of the idealized bond girl who actually is a spy and good at it.  Here is a pretty picture. This is Sunday Morning and An Innocent Man beating up Freaks in Yin!

Hour 18

And still at it! Praetoria that is. Time is passing quickly thankfully. So quickly in fact that I still don’t have a picture. Plus it is still only the two of us. Not that I mind. I’m having a great time. I can feel the cranky level of tired coming on. I promise not to post while I’m cranky though.

Hour 17

Oh god are we done yet!? The sun is going to start coming up soon. People have stopped chatting as they all grow tired and I’m still in Praetoria. Not much going on with the team either. Even twitter has started going a bit silent. Though as I type that the neighbors upstairs start walking around. I keep wanting to rest my eyes for just a second every time I have a loading time. That isn’t a good sign. 😛

Hour 16 Jonathan Doyle

Jonathan is playing for Our Lady’s Chidren’s Hospital, Crumlin in Dublin, Ireland. Like Danielle many hours ago his hospital of choice was picked because of his little brother. Growing up Jonathan’s brother had everything minor a kid could have. As well as a nasty case of Meningitis which could have left Jonathan an only child. But the folks at Crumlin took good care of his little brother and now he is a perfectly healthy, though strange young man. For anyone who is a regular of OnRPG you would better know Jonathan as the writer of The Secret World article and war correspondent, Ardua. And also the husband of Leliah who does the daily news, Alpha and Beta weekly updates and the weekly article on Rift.

I know! Still no picture. But we aren’t all that interesting. It’s just two of us. Going to pop an XP booster though and get things running a bit faster. It’s 4 am right now. Getting pretty tired. I might take a break here for a few minutes. Step outside into the cool air. At least, even though I’m tired time still seems to be passing pretty quickly.

Hour 15

I’m starting to feel the second stage of tired. Pretty impressive I’d say. I don’t think I was doing nearly this well at 3 am last year. Extra Life has announced that we are nearing the $1 million raised mark. Fantastic! I’m so proud of the 15,500 plus of us doing this. I imagine when I read back over all of this after I get some sleep I’m going to kick myself for saying a lot of the same things over and over.  But oh well! Still working away in Praetoria just the two of us. I’ll post another screenshot with hour 16 I think. We need something to break up all this text.

Hour 14

Really starting to feel the tired setting in. Finished the Moonfire easily enough and we just got a Praetorian pair to 20. So they’re ready to escape whenever we feel like roleplaying it out. @DrewBlue is just an hour behind me and been leveling his Peacebringer today. While @Kalikamata has only just started into the caffinated drinks. Her character, November 30th has gone from level 1 to 32 so far today. @BLU Patriot has been broadcasting on AFK radio and will be the rest of the night. So there is a quick update at hour 14. I’m off to level some more Praetorians!

Hour 13!

Lucky number 13! I’m smack in the middle of doing a Moonfire so I’m going to keep it a bit brief. I’m back on Rayne again. Still enjoying the hell out of her. I will most likely go back to my Praetorians after this unless something else interesting forms. Have a mentioned yet that it is 1 in the morning? Its going to start getting tough. Ardua and I are already thinking about plans for next year. Of course we sadly won’t have City of Heroes anymore. But there are plenty of other games to play. We have 49 team members now! I’d love it if we could get one more and make it a clean 50. Keep up the great work!

Hour 12! Half Way!!

So! Here we are at the half way mark! At least for a few of us. We just finished taking down Hamidon. It went fantastic as always thanks to Exxcaliber’s leadership and Zombeh’s nachos. City of Heroes has raised over 8,000 dollars! I am so proud of the team. All of this has my blood pumping! I am feeling fantastic. Thank you to everyone who has been reading so far! If you haven’t already please retweet this article to your friends. Here is a picture of Virtue trying to find the rear end of the giant jello so they can kick it!

Hour 11

It’s Hami time! Seems pretty slow to gather so I’m not too worried about taking some time to write. I’ll post screenies when we’re done. I have some lovely pie to keep me awake. Oh and quite a few of us at Hami are Extra Lifers. Team CoH is quickly coming up on the $8,000 mark! Not much else to say right now. Nearly at the big half way point! Woo!

Hour 10

Double digits! Woo! I’m starting to get tired again so I’m going to put some food in me and get some fresh air. Team CoH is soooo close to $8,000! I’m still in Praetoria with Ardy. Only Koi has rejoined us! He’s the big guy a couple of pictures down. He isn’t doing Extra Life, but he’s still awesome anyway. You know, I was worried that finding a team would be difficult today. But it seems like it has been going great for everyone. Sure, when we moved to Praetoria there was no one else to be found. And no one wanted to join us. But these days that is really to be expected. Hami raid is coming up in about an hour. So I may be a little late/early on my update depending on the time it goes. But I promise an awesome screenshot!

Hour 9 Danielle Hall

 

Time for another City of Heroes Team feature! This time it is my friend, fellow Brickhouser, Danielle. Duke Children’s Hospital in Durham, North Carolina is the hospital of choice for Danielle. Duke is very special to Danielle as this is where her little brother spent some time as a baby. He was born with a condition that caused the area around his stomach and umbilical cord not to form correctly. Thanks to Duke Hospital he has been able to have a completely normal life. The hospital was the hero of her brother’s story, and now she is playing the role of hero for the hospital that means so much to her and her family.

During my Ms Liberty TF I dinged 50! Woo! So did Ardua, who is my partner in crime(fighting). Sadly we didn’t get screenshots of our plumes of awesome. So have a screenshot of us kicking Recluses’ face in instead. Oh and now Ardua and I are running around Praetoria trying to get our Officers out.

Hour 8

The Liberty TF is going quite well so far. It made me realize that I’ve never done the villain respec, or treespec if you will. I may have to change that before the day is over. I’m starting to feel the first bits of tiredness. So to wake myself up I ate a banana. Team CoH has raised $7,808.33! And Extra Life has said that #Extra Life is trending. OnRPG’s very own Ardua has said that his 8 hours have been going very well, but earlier he bit his tongue. The poor baby. @Knightward is feeling blurry eyed but happy to help a good cause. We’re right there with you my friend!

 

Hour 7

We’re just about to finish up our second Yin TF of the day. We decided to run one while we waited for the person who wanted to run Liberty to come back from a lunch break. I’m going to have to restart my computer because all this alt tabbing and having so much running is killing me! Not literally. Team CoH is doing an amazing job. More donations are coming in all the time. There are a couple of people live streaming Extra Life from City of Heroes, and AFK radio is broadcasting as well. Oh and we’re at $7,776.33! Someone donate a dollar!

 

Hour 6

Wow! We finished that Kahn just in time for me to do my hour 6 update! Team City of Heroes is plugging along nicely. @resolute is working on 15 hours now! Way to go! Now we’re considering doing the Liberty TF, though the person who wanted to do it isn’t here yet. I’m looking at you Baronesa! I think that was the best run of that TF I’ve ever done. And I was on a tank! It was amazing. Going to keep it short and sweet this time. Come back again for Hour 7.

Hour 5

So, I’m posting this one a tiny bit early as we are about to start a Kahn TF. I alted to Nydia Caito, a level 46 Elec/War mace tank. She’s really my only tank. And I have plans to play her again later on for a Statesman…sorry, I mean Liberty TF. Which is where I hope to get 50 on her. She’s the head of the super group Statesman’s Watch on Virtue. And as you can imagine she took the death of Statesman quite poorly. I haven’t done anything else with this hour because I needed fuel. Made myself a sandwich with what I swear is the softest bread I have ever had. I know, not very exciting. I’ll get another picture of Extra Life adventurers in a little bit when I get another break from saving the city. Until then heroes!

 

Hour 4: Monique Boulanger

So, throughout the remaining 20 hours I have left today I’m going to be featuring fellow team members who have reached out to me and told me their personal stories. The first who did was Monique Boulanger. Monique is playing for IWK Grace Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This hospital holds a special place in her heart as her family and friends have had to use it a some point in their lives. Some were battling pediatric cancer, others were nursing injuries. And as a mother of two she recognizes that someday she may need to use the services at IWK for her own kids. This is her first time taking part in Extra Life.

As for what I’ve been doing this hour, I’m on a Penny Yin. I didn’t like Yin when it first came out but I can’t deny that it is fantastic for XP. Though we’re about to finish. Afterwards I might pause for a few minutes for some food. Team City of Heroes is quickly approaching the $7,500 mark!

Hour 3

 

Hello again! Three hours down. I have to say time is flying! We’re on the last mission of Posi 2, not sure what I’ll be doing next. I’ve been playing my character Rayne Forrest, a Nature Affinity/Water Blast Defender. This is my first time having played either powerset on a character and I have to say they are epic. I wish I had started playing them sooner. Our team seems to be doing really well this time around. Oh and I have I mentioned the XP? It in rolling in! I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve leveled during the two task forces. See you all again in an hour!

Hour 2

 

So, we had a bit of difficulty finishing up the Posi 1. Confuse is a pain. Only had a couple of team wipes. We’re about to start Posi 2. Just finding a new team member as one of them left. Been having a lot of fun so far. But I have to admit, I’ve been seeing a lot of things that sparkle and it makes me want to loot them. I’ve been playing other games. Cheating on CoH! I know. I’ve been playing with the sound on and will continue to do so for a few more hours at least. If only because this is going to be the longest and most I will see of the game before it is all over. Thinking about that casts a shadow over the whole event. But I won’t let it get me down. This is a time for celebration and fun! I’m going to take a few seconds before we start our task force to pimp myself. I’m playing for Crumlin Hospital, Dublin.

 

Hour 1

Well, Here we are! The first hour is complete. I’m running on a Positron 1 team with a few fellow Extra Lifers and thanks to it being Double XP weekend I’ve managed to get about five levels. We will be finishing up Positron 1 and moving on to 2 in just a few minutes. I was surprised to see so many people have already started their 24 hours. I thought I was going to be one of the first. By the way, I am playing Extra Life today for Crumlin Hospital in Dublin, Ireland. I’ll tell you a little bit more about that later on. Other than that though the last hour has been about settling in for the long run. It’s going to be a long day. But totally worth it.

 

 

Wizardry Online SOE Live Early Access Part 2

Wizardry Online SOE Live Early Access Part 2

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

 

 

 

Hello and welcome to part 2 of our Early Look at Wizardry Online! For those that missed it be sure to check out Part 1 HERE!

 

 

Now while RNG holds strong sway over much of the game, the combat is where this title shines brightly and skill dominates. First to get into combat you will need to talk to an NPC to fast travel to your location akin to Vindictus’ set-up. As soon as I engaged with my first monster I was in awe at how far they have departed from the normal whack-a-mole. For starters your control scheme completely changes between when your weapon is sheathed or out. While sheathed you can run faster, crouch and move around while crouched (yes this is useful, no not just for roleplayers), and jump over traps. With your weapon unleashed, you can do swift back-jumps (think TERA dodge), block, and access your varied attacks – each with unique strategic bonuses such as slows, enemy power debuffs, and so on along with the chance for your attack to miss if you misaim or your opponent gets out of the way in time. As masochistic as the devs are, they even decided to put in some platforming elements using this advanced movement system to test your ability to gauge distances. Welcome to Mario Hell Online! A small side note about the combat: This game has as many status types as a hardcore console JRPG. Petrify, disarm, and fear are just some of the unusual effects not often seen in the online realm. And trust me when a cockatrice petrifies you for 10 seconds in a game with permadeath, they are the longest 10 seconds of your MMO life.

 

 

To say monsters in this game are vicious is a gross understatement. They are crafty, reactive, and will do whatever it takes to see your character buried once and for all. In my first encounter with an imp I got smacked around pretty harshly until I finally learned how to block. As soon as the imp smacked my shield he immediately ceased his assault and ran to flank around to my side to bypass my defense. Jumping, blocking, and effective use of skills is not just recommended, it’s imperative to continuing your story. To up the skill curve a little beyond, you also have a resource system called OD that is used whenever you execute any physical abilities or defensive maneuvers. This can only be earned back by landing melee attacks, ensuring that no one can just sit there blocking throughout a fight as their friends deal damage. I highly suggest if you meet an enemy you are unfamiliar with to throw the annoying guy that always takes the guild’s loot into the fray first to test the waters. After all trial and error methods of figuring out dungeons no longer apply in this realm.

 

 

Now if you think that’s tough enough, let me throw this phrase at you. Non-instanced full PvP dungeons. This isn’t a unique challenge my friends. This is how you describe all dungeons in this game. And don’t think a GM is going to save the loner player just because a group of four bandits roll through a dungeon and destroy him either. This game is designed for playing in groups so don’t get caught with your pants down just because you’re a loaner.

 

 

The third element to these dungeons that make them so fascinating and dangerous is the puzzles and story quests. The first time you enter a dungeon you will often be faced with a system that integrates the lore with puzzles inside the dungeon, forcing you to take notes and think to find a way to the end. You may find the knowledge provided at the start of the dungeon is required to disarm a trap or unlock a door blocking the final room of the dungeon. But not only that, there are plenty of lesser traps throughout such as poison arrows, pillars of flame, and just about anything you could imagine from the world of Skyrim brought back to life in the online world. Yet another reason to travel in pairs as characters don’t automatically regenerate health or mana.

 

 

The final piece of this elaborate puzzle I’m going to touch on is PKing and consequences. This is what I’m sure most potential players, both PvErs and Griefers alike, will be watching closely. If you kill a player you gain infamy that builds up over the life of your character. There was no mention of ways to remove the infamy once you have it so I’m assuming your personality grows more infamous the longer you stay alive. For the griefers the benefits are of course the full loot system they gain from their prey, unique titles that unlock labeling them for who they are, and, most obviously, the ability to attack other players anywhere you like. Yes if you’re incredibly sneaky about it you can even pick someone off in town, though you’ll have to contend with some seriously mean guards so it’s not advised.

 

 

For the PvE focused players, you’ll be glad to know that players that overly engage in griefing will eventually be blacklisted by the guards. This means they won’t be able to visit the ‘rich’ part of town where the high-end hotels and shops are. Instead they will slink into the darkside of town, surrounded by other rapscallions and murderers to fair for themselves among their own kind. This in turn will eventually hinder their power if they live long enough to level multiple times as the hotels in that part of town offer lower chances to gain beneficial stats on level up.

 

 

However if your foe is the head of a local mafia and holds power and prestige you could never hope to exact revenge against, you can place a bounty on them. And your friend can place a bounty on them. And eventually that guy you know down the street will also place a bounty on them. Eventually enough bounties are going to get the attention of a true bounty hunter who will set up to seek revenge on your behalf. Just be sure you watch your back as these bounties will be public knowledge and you can’t pay your bounty if you wind up dead before they do.

 

 

That’s about all I have to say on Wizardly Online at this time. The game enters into limited closed beta testing on the 29th and will slowly begin to allow more players in as time progresses. Think you have what it takes to survive? Think you can kill me? Laughable. But I’ll tell you what. If you’ve read this far you are probably interested in doing just that. So head over to MMOFlag and click the MMOFlag like button on this article and we’ll enter you in a drawing to win priority access to the game. 7 Lucky winners will be announced on Tuesday of next week. I look forward to crossing blades with you soon. Oh and be sure to check out this gameplay trailers! Huzzah!

 

Wizardry Online SOE Live Early Access Part 1

Wizardry Online SOE Live Early Access Part 1

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

 

Full loot Perma Death PvP. Ask any seasoned (read disillusioned) Mmorpg veteran and they’ll tell you games like this are a relic of the past. Yet SOE stands as a publisher that has stood the test of time since that bygone era. So who else would have the machismo to pull off a modern AAA MMO? Next month the beta begins for what may be the last chance for this genre to survive in the western world in true form. I’m of course talking about Wizardry Online, and the time to stop wasting time on forums complaining and start sinking your time into the PvP title of your dreams is at hand!

 

 

Let’s begin with the basics. The warrior, thief, priest and mage are your four classes to choose from the start. This may seem like an unoriginal and small pool to select from but it gets better.. if you can live long enough that is.

 

 

As you advance your character you will gain the ability to go down one or multiple class trees. The warrior had two classes on display while the thief held three. But in a system akin to the original Guild Wars you are able to pull up to five abilities from any of the other classes to add unexpected trump cards to your character.

 

 

Past this you can also select from multiple races, each with unique benefits that allow them to be strong in their respective fields. The races you will recognize are humans, elves, and dwarves (male only). The two that are distinctly Japanese and need a bit of further explanation are the Gnome (female only) and Porkul. Gnomes are mid-sized creatures that look similar to the elves (fair skin, austere) except they have distinct large ram horns. The Porkul are similar to the halflings and are best summed up as an unholy hybrid of Elins and Asura. While on the concept of races I’ll go ahead and mention that graphics and combat look very similar to Vindictus. Though granted this title looks slightly better. A natural benefit of progressing technology. The musical score on the other hand has a distinct Japanese flair and nicely ramps up for big boss fights to get your adrenaline pumping.

 

Once you have your character made you will fast be introduced to your new overlord, the RNG. Just about everything in this game relies on RNG, including your beginning stats that feel like a more advanced version of creating a Maplestory character. As you progress through the game and gain experience, RNG will strike again in the leveling up process. Once you hit the threshold you can choose to stay at a hotel to gain your stat bonuses. But just like with real life hotels, you get what you pay for and better hotels not only restore more HP and MP, but also improve your chances with the RNG level up system. And trust me you’ll want to get the best possible results as this game has a steep leveling curve, and it’s possible to have your stats decrease on level up. I’ll touch on more of this later in the article as it ties closely to the outlaw system, but not in the obvious way you might expect.

 

 

Now that the basics of character progression are out of the way, let’s address the elephant in the room: Permadeath. Wizardry Online takes a unique approach to this system by offering Permadeath with strategic and luck based ways of avoiding your inevitable demise in an MMORPG. Upon death you will become a ghost that can run to a system the devs addressed as scales. These scales will seek the great RNG god to decide who lives and who dies, but like any good gamble you can adjust your odds with proper bribery. By offering your items, equips, and other rares you will increase the odds that you can return to your body. However the more advanced your character, the harsher the RNG roll will be on you, and the more likely you will never return to your body again. Tactics and statistics come into play as you are offered a grand total of 2 chances before you’re gone for good. So don’t be a cheapskate as your gear won’t matter if you’re dead and looted. Pay up fool! And do it quickly because once you go down, even your so called best buddy is free to take the same loot you need to revive yourself. Let the survival paranoia begin!

 

 

Oh Lady Luck didn’t smile upon you? Time to rage quit and start a new game right? I’m sure there are plenty of online titles out there happy to take your money for the next two years, only to shut down prematurely forever erasing your character with a small recompense. Now if you’re tired of this slow pathetic death and want to live for the moment I suggest you get back on the horse and use the transfer system provided by Wizardry Online. For every level you gain and every quest you complete you will gain potential power for your next character. Also anything you’ve stored in your bank (storage space limited by your Soul Rank) can be used by any of your characters. So as long as you weren’t holding all of your items when you died, your newbie will be able to pick up their goods and not be a broke noob.

 

 

Soul Rank is the wonderful system designed to cater to the ever present need of MMORPG progression. As you level any of your characters you gain Soul Rank that unlocks multiple effects such as the increased storage space. Each level offers new and more powerful benefits, though they shut me down before I could get a good grasp of them. “We can’t show you everything before launch,” they claimed. Sadness…

 

 

Be sure to check out part 2 of our Early Access coverage HERE!

Wizardry Online

Wizardry Online brings back the old art of permadeath MMORPGs with fantastic modern Japanese style graphics, intense action combat that rewards proper play and harshly punishes mistakes, and an expansive system allowing massive character development and customization.

Features:

Five Races: Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, and Porkul join Humans in the world, and each have their own unique stat bonuses for the perfect min/maxing.

Permadeath: Prepare for each battle and think before you act – permadeath lurks as a threat to all.

PvP With Consequences: Open world PvP – even in towns – means danger may wear a friendly face. But don’t plan on killing without consequences.

Soul Ranks: A secondary progression system that levels your account and marks its progress independently of your characters, allowing you to grow even more powerful.

Shotgun News 10/19: PlanetSide 2, DCUO, RaiderZ, and much more

Shotgun News 10/19: Planetside 2, DCUO, RaiderZ, and much more!

 

Planetside 2 Launch Date Announced

As I mentioned yesterday the launch date of Planetside 2 was announced during the Keynote speech at SOE last night. Well now we are pleased to say that the date you’re looking for is November 20, 2012. It will be free to play with the option of paying for a premium account as well as an in game market. More information from SOE Live can be found lower down in the article, or for more a more in depth look check out DizzyPW’s article from live on location.

38 Studios Auction Raises $180k

The first of several auctions to sell off assets from the failed 38 Studios has raised $180,000. Two more auctions are set to take place but it is unlikely they will be able to raise the 150.7 million dollars the studio has in debt. The next auction takes place on Tuesday and will be focused on selling off the equipment from the studio’s headquarters in Rhode Island. The final auction will involve the intellectual properties that 38 Studios once owned.

DCUO Announces Player Housing

Player housing, lairs, maybe even a dungeon or two are coming to DCUO in the biggest DLC release to date. Home Turf will allow players to create their own homes and even fight in them. Along with the new houses several iconic locations will be put in place for new missions that will help out with the creation of the new player houses. The DLC will be free for Legendary members and premium/free players will be able to buy it.

Zynga Settles Lawsuit Over Name

Zynga and French gaming company Kobojo have settled the lawsuit about using “ville” in the name of Kobojo’s game PyramidVille. The game’s name has been changed to PyramindValley and though Zynga was originally asking for damages that were no less than three times the profit the game had made the studio so far no money was exchanged.

Assassins and More Coming to SEVENCORE in November

Assassins are leaping into SEVENCORE at the start of November. Along with the new class come a new race called Aimons. In addition the level cap is being raised to 95. Aimons will be able to play any class and are said to have a few surprises for players.

Extra Life Charity Gaming Marathon Taking Place This Weekend

This weekend more than 14,000 gamers all around the world are going to do what they do best, play games. But this isn’t any average gaming weekend. This weekend those 14,000 plus will be playing for 24 hours straight, raising money for local children’s hospitals all around the world. Our very own writers Meticulous Meta and Ardua will be playing City of Heroes as they take part in the event. Check back at OnRPG all through Saturday to see hourly updates from Meta on how she’s doing, what she’s doing and much more.

RaiderZ Holds Pre Open Beta Stress Test

RaiderZ servers will be turned on Monday for a stress test before the official beta begins just two days later. As a thank you for taking part Gameforge has said they will not wipe the servers before open beta starts, so if you take part you’ll have a headstart on everyone else.