Yearly Archives: 2012

Trickster Online: Solve the Riddle of the Tapasco Theme Spa

Trickster Online: Solve the Riddle of the Tapasco Theme Spa

 

Trickster Online

 

SG Interactive today unleashed the Tapasco Theme Spa, a new four-level dungeon for Trickster Online. Starting today high-level players can journey to this new and mysterious bath house located on top of Tapasco Volcano, battle the crazed staff and patrons, complete challenging mental puzzles, and discover what lies beneath this luxurious day spa.

 

 

An all new dungeon open to players level 230 and up, the Tapasco Theme Spa features four levels that become progressively harder as ambitious adventurers quest to discover the meaning to the spa’s sudden appearance, and what it has in store for Cabella Island.

 

Trickster Online

 

“The Tapasco Theme Spa is targeted for our long-time high-level players, expanding the world of Trickster Online and giving newer players something to work towards,” said Claire Lee, casual team manager and producer of Trickster Online for SG Interactive. “But players should take care, as this new dungeon has the strongest and most challenging mini and end-bosses ever released in the game.”

 

 

As gamers dive deeper into Tapasco Theme Spa and the active volcano beneath it, they’ll need to defeat the more than 10 new monster types running amuck, multiple puzzle types that bar passage, as well as several powerful mini-bosses guarding the final level. Rumor is the powerful Spice Dragon waits for tenacious gamers, offering the most powerful items the game has ever seen should they defeat it.

OnRPG Shotgun News 9/27: WoT, Dragon Nest EU, LoL, and More!

OnRPG Shotgun News 9/27: WoT, Dragon Nest EU, LoL, and More!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

World of Tanks Introduces New Physics And More

Update 8.0 will go live today in Europe and went live yesterday in North America. It is bringing all new, realistic tank physics with new behaviors and tactics. The UI has also been given a bit of a touch up giving an optimized experience. In addition to all of this the USSR tech tree has been expanded with four new tank destroyers while the British are getting their first premium machine, the Matilda Black Prince.

 

 

NCSoft and Nexon Reportedly in Talks to Buy Valve

One of the top newspapers in South Korea is reporting that Nexon and NCSoft met with Valve to discuss a deal worth $893 million. NCSoft is saying that the rumors are untrue. And in the past Valve has turned down offers of over $1 Billion.

 

 

City of Heroes Announces Sunset Events

City of Heroes’ Assistant Community Manager Jessie “Hit Streak” Lawrence has announced a series of weekend events leading up to the closure on November 30th. The events are favorites from through the years which include a double xp weekend, Halloween, winter event and ending with a Rikti invasion the last weekend. The exact details of the live server shutdown aren’t quite clear yet as it has been posted as November 30th at 12AM PDT. Jessie said he would clear up the confusion today. Here is the entire list of events:

 

Summer Blockbuster – October 5 – October 8

Double XP – October 18 – October 22

Halloween Event – October 26 – October 29

Winter Event – November 9 – November 12

Rikti Invasion – November 23 – November 30

 

 

League of Legends Hit By DDoS Attacks

League of Legends developers Riot Games have revealed that they recently faced a group of players who have been attacking the live service to kill games that were in progress through DDoS. Those who were taking part have been identified and removed permanently while legal actions are being pursued.

 

 

Silkroad Hosts Avatar Design Event

Silkroad is hosting a new avatar designing event called Project SilkroadWay. Players are invited to design the ultimate Silkroad avatar using their own original clothing designs. Designs are being collected on Facebook until October 4th when Joymax will pick five entries for players to vote on. The winner will be incorporated into the game.

 

 

ArenaNet Now Accepting 2013 Internship Applications

The 2013 ArenaNet Internship class is now taking applications. They’re looking for artists, animators and programmers who are willing to live in the greater Seattle area for a year. Successful applicants will receive a $14 an hour stipend and work with ArenaNet for a year. Interns will also be invited to take part in ArenaNet University program which is a series of classes and workshops presented by studio experts and guests. They cannot guarantee any jobs at the end of the program, just lots of experience and a portfolio of work. To find out more check out the blog entry.

 

 

Dragon Nest EU On Schedule To Open This Year

eFusion has confirmed that Dragon Nest EU is still on schedule to open at the end of the year. The localization for Europe is in its final stages and the official website is under construction to prepare for the first closed beta which is expected in late October.

Team Fortress 2: Mann vs. Machine!

Team Fortress 2: Mann vs. Machine!

By Jerrico Tan (JetSet), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

Any gamer with a Steam Account surely must have played Vavle’s Team Fortress 2 and anyone who has ever played it will agree if I say that it’s one of the top free-to-play multiplayer FPS games on the market right now. A few of the obvious reasons that will affirm the previous statement includes: clean, smooth cartoon-y graphics, fast-paced combat, serious options in class selection, and a whole array of weapon choices earned through achievements or bought from the shops. But we all know that and that’s typical. What we need to take a closer look at is the “secret spice”, the “x-factor” or in other words, that element which separates this remarkable game from the rest.

 



Gameplay and Classes

Nine character classes of various abilities, strategic modes of operation and weapon choices are laid out for players to choose from. And with these nine classes comes a wide selection of maps, game modes, items and servers thanks to the Steam Workshop where any gamer can act as game master. Enter any active server and you’ll be welcomed by a chaotic rumble of explosions pinched with a comical touch. If your expertise lies in the offensive side, there’s the Scout, Soldier and Heavy to push back the enemy team. If your task is to defend a Control Point, the Demoman, Sniper or Pyro will do the tricks for you. Medics, Engineers and Spies may be the so-called supporting classes but they’re as effective as any damage-dealer on the battlefield if a player knows how to use them efficiently (most especially the Spies).

 



Sprinkle all nine classes into any of the game modes of up to 20 players a team and you’re in for a pyrodynamic party.

 

 

Below are the default game modes playable on multiplayer:

 

Payload – RED team must stop BLU team from pushing the cart

King of the Hill – Team that controls the point till time runs out wins

Attack/Defense – BLU must control all points and RED must stop them

Payload Race – first cart to reach the finish line wins

Control Points – capture all points to win

Capture the Flag – self-explanatory

Special Delivery – deliver the suitcase for deployment

Arena – team death match style

Medieval – an all-melee mode (complete with medieval music and Early Modern English chat texts)

 


Just captured the base with this frying pan!


Once inside the battlefield, players can switch teams and classes anytime. Notable are the unique level and character designs with humorous actions and voice acting. Weapons and items are hilarious too; throwing a bottle of milk as a Scout or hitting your enemy with a frying pan are just some of TF2s genius ideas of weaponry. And did I mention how simple yet spectacular and clean the graphics are?

 

 

Mann Co. Store



Occasionally during combat, or after unlocking an achievement, players obtain items that can be equipped through editing class loadouts and accessed through the basic 50-slot backpack. Unfortunately, not all items are usable without purchasing other items in the Mann Co. store. To open locked crates for example, players must buy keys that cost a little over a dollar. A horde of flashy items and weapons are also up for sale and any player would be ever-so-tempted to buy at least a few of them. But thankfully for free players, cash players are the least of their concerns because free players can still pull off some Rambo action moves even with default weaponry. Should you buy from the Mann Co. store, you will receive an upgrade of up to 300 slots for your backpack and unlock rare items upon your first purchase. Other interesting items on sale include: Maps, Bundles, Taunts and even a hundred dollar ring for whatever purpose.

 

 

Mann vs. Machine Coop

After over a hundred in-game hours of shooting and whacking and sniping and building sentries to blow up an opposing team through various game modes, Valve has released some new content: a co-op mode against robot machines of the same character classes. Freshly out of the oven and released just last month, players must now set aside all differences to destroy wave after wave of the enemy robot invasion.

 


Eight waves of various robot classes (sometimes with tanks) are sent for you to defeat


In the new Mann vs. Machine, a team of up to 6 players can join together and choose from 3 different maps. Prior to every successful wave, players may choose to upgrade their weapons and stats in the Upgrade Station in exchange for cash drops obtained in the battlefield. The Boot Camp mode is always ready for free players but if you want to get the best results from MvM, a Mann Up mode is playable for the price of a few dollars. Purchase a Ticket Voucher from the shop and you get to play in the Mann Co. server where every victory gives you a higher chance of receiving rare item drops.

 



Because Mann vs. Machine is still a young kiddo, game modes and maps are still limited. Teams of friends would also inconveniently need to queue up for a server every time, which could occasionally take a while (or maybe I’m always just too excited). Regardless, blowing up enemy robots with your friends is always worth the wait.

 



The new Mann vs. Machine feature brought out an entirely new element from this already-perfect FPS. In fact, MvM could be treated as an entirely separate game, what with all the intelligently developed and balanced character classes battling out against the game’s AI metal men. Players just got a tasty treat from Valve and with this new content, expect more players to party with.

 

 

All I can say is: Valve never disappoints. Their content releases might be slow but every time they come up with an idea, they make sure their players never leave their computer screens. Team Fortress 2’s Mann vs. Machine proved to be an exciting game mode, especially when playing with friends. If you think it being a co-op mode automatically means it’s easy mode, be ready to eat your words as my friends found our teamwork to put the test trying to keep those robots from deploying their silly little bomb. And if you’re still wondering what that “secret spice” or “x-factor” is that I’m talking about, it’s the element that is Valve. That’s all it is.

 

Controls – 5/5

Customization – 4/5

Gameplay – 5/5

Graphics & Presentation – 5/5

Community – 4/5

Overall – 4.5/5

City of Heroes Dev Dinner Made Reality

City of Heroes Dev Dinner Made Reality

 

 

The players of City of Heroes got together to buy the former Paragon Studios staff dinner. In less than 3 hours they raised $1,000 which was the goal set by the leaders of the Save City of Heroes campaign. As word spread about the event one thing became clear, the fans had to be invited. So they were. And last night at an Italian Restaurant in Palo Alto, California City of Heroes fans and former Paragon Studios sat down together one last time. It has been estimated that about 70 people were in attendance. I can only imagine that it was filled with laughter and remembering the best times. Photos of the event were posted on Facebook and Twitter throughout the night by the community managers and others. And someone even brought a cake. Here are just a few photos from the night that were posted.

 

 

LOTRO Celebrates Harvestmath Festival

LOTRO Celebrates Harvestmath Festival

 

 

Brave the depths beneath the Party Tree and explore the Haunted Burrow in Lord of the Rings Online. The Hobbits of the Shire dug a little too deep beneath Bag End while trying to add another oven to the Party Tree’s kitchen. Every Hobbit in Hobbiton is talking about what may lurk in the dark and twisty tunnels that run beneath Bag End. Did crazy old Bilbo hide his treasures there? Did Gandalf the Grey really leave a curse upon the place to keep nosey hobbits at bay? Muster your courage and discover for yourself – but beware, in the Haunted Burrow, things do go bump in the night!

 

•      Complete daily quests, uncover traps, and solve riddles inside a haunted Hobbit fun-house!

•      Explore every wing of the Haunted Burrow for a truly frightful time!

•      Earn festival tokens and turn them in for special rewards including cloaks, maps, masks and the new Harvest-brew Steed!

 

 

THE HARVESTMATH FESTIVAL

From now until the 14th of October players are also invited to participate in the Harvestmath Festival including:

•      Test your skill at daily Harvestmath games including Scroll-grabbing, Geode-hunting, Pumpkin Picking, and Apple Bobbing!

•      Troves & Trickery Returns – Play tricks on citizens of Thorin’s Hall, Duillond, Hobbiton, and Bree!

•      Join the Harvestmath Horse Races at the Shire or Bree-land festival grounds!

•      Decorate your house with festive Harvestmath items including the Haunted Tree!

•      Raise a pint with the Ale Association or Inn League!

 

 

And just in case you were wondering how Riders of Rohan is coming, Turbine has prepared a new dev diary detailing their focus on the lore and bringing elements of the book to life in the most magical ways possible.

MetaÂ’s Verse: CoH Community Sites

Meta’s Verse: CoH Community Sites

By Meticulous Meta, OnRPG Paragon Reporter

 

 

 

Today I’m celebrating an OnRPG first. This is the 50th Meta’s Verse article, making this column the longest running series in the website history! We’ve come a long way since our start. And no matter what happens we will be here through to the end. I’m not going to take any time to reflect on the past though. Instead today we’re having a look at the websites that support City of Heroes. From Samuraiko who makes unofficial videos to the amazing Titan Network who have brought together several different sites to help strengthen the City of Heroes community. Without the sites and the people running them I don’t think City of Heroes would be quite as super.

 

 

 

The Cape Radio

Though there is at least one radio station for every server in City of Heroes, The Cape has always stood out above the rest. The Cape is nearly as old as City of Heroes itself, and takes pride at DJing every major party held on the Virtue server (but no worries, they don’t neglect the smaller ones too). Back when I first started playing CoH I held an in-character birthday party for my main character. It was her 30th birthday and I was temporarily leaving the game. And I was fortunate enough to have The Cape there represented by DJ Angel who happened to be part of the Shield of Paragon. She was also the DJ at the only wedding I’ve ever attended in-game which was between my friend’s character Breyla and Peoples’ Paladin.

 

 

But DJ Angel isn’t the only DJ they have. Just head over to Pocket D on a normal night and you’ll see a swarm of people in the middle dancing their hearts off. Each DJ has their own little following. And whenever there is a major event whether it be The SaveCoH Rally or the final days of Galaxy City, The Cape is always there. I was lucky enough to talk to DJ Pheonyx earlier this year about what it was like being a Cape DJ and about how The Cape runs behind the scenes. If you want to read that article have a look here. And as they have always said and I can’t agree with it more, “you aren’t super until you put on The Cape.”

 

 

Samuraiko

Ok, so this one isn’t really a site, but a person. But Samuraiko is so widely loved in the City of Heroes community this list would be incomplete without her. All her videos can be found on her user page on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/samuraiko. She has been making amazing/funny/fantastic videos for City of Heroes for years now. And earlier this year I got to interview her about every aspect of the video editing world. Recently she’s been doing her part in the campaign to save City of Heroes. During the huge rally she went around to all instances of Atlas Park to get video of the more than 6,000 people who turned up.

 

 

Badge Hunter aka Vidiotmaps

One of my top three tools for City of Heroes is Badge Hunter. As a complete badge whore this tool has been vital to keeping track of what badges I do and don’t have. And when you have over 40 alts like I do it gets to be quite a lot to keep track of. Badge Hunter is a well laid out, easy to use website that I’m using as part of my cataloging project. But it isn’t just a website to keep track of badges. Vidiotmaps is another part of the website dedicated to the maps of the City of Heroes universe. Specifically there are maps highlighting where to get exploration badges and the locations of plaques for history badges. These maps are fully interactive and an awesome tool, even for long time veterans like myself. They also have an in-game overlay for the maps making it so you don’t have to go to the website to find out where to go to get that badge you really want. I never used the overlay myself simply because I’m not really the sort to change games. But I know people who have sworn by it for years. And that makes it one of the most important tools for a City of Heroes player to have.

 

 

Real World Hero

Gamers are a charitable sort, there is no denying it. But I think the City of Heroes community goes a step above. The Wentworths as they’re known in City of Heroes started the Real World Hero charity drive. It’s run for three years in a row and raised nearly $30,000 for four charities. In that time it has established itself as one of the stars of City of Heroes. Last year Real World Hero was even seen spreading outside of CoH and into other MMOs like Champions Online and Star Trek Online. I don’t know what the future will hold for Real World Hero but I hope it will remain a lasting legacy of how awesome the City of Heroes community is. If you want to read my article on Real World Hero from 2010, (my second article ever!) then have a read here.

 

 

VirtueVerse/UnionVerse

When it comes to keeping track of your characters, if you play on Virtue or Union then the verse websites are a must. These two websites are amazing user made wikis of characters, supergroups, villain groups and stories from the City of Heroes roleplay world. With the closure of City of Heroes one of the site admins, Ransim, has announced that the site would be opened up to all City of Heroes players and kept open for as long as possible. I love this website. There have been times when I’ve gone to the site and just hit the random button to read all the wonderful pages that have been created. And I imagine this will become a popular activity once City of Heroes is gone for those who are missing the game and the community. I’ve even made a few pages myself, though admittedly they are very much works in progress.

 

 

And all of this leads me to my number one site, which is actually a group of several sites…

 

 

The Titan Network

The Titan Network is a collection of six websites who together make up an amazing tool for City of Heroes. The most widely known is ParagonWiki, a wiki of all things in the City of Heroes universe. I can’t remember a time I haven’t used ParagonWiki, and I end up using the website nearly every time I log into City of Heroes. But, even though ParagonWiki is a fantastic tool there is one in the network which is even more important. The Mids’ Hero Designer. It is an insanely valuable tool that allows players to plan and save builds for their heroes and villains. It wasn’t until later in my City of Heroes career that I became obsessed with Mids. It is the most valuable tool if only because there was always some community pulling between which of the two wikis to use. Though easily ParagonWiki has always been the biggest and best. There are several other websites in the Titan Network. The other big one is CoH Faces, basically a Facebook for City of Heroes. In more recent times the Titan Network has played a vital role in the SaveCoH campaign. Our editor DizzyPW got to interview the head of Titan Network TonyV just last week about the campaign.

 

 

All of these tools are going to keep being important to the community well after City of Heroes is gone. Most of these sites will survive in one way or another. They may be taking our game away but our spirit and our community will live on with the help of the websites and people behind them. Come back next week when I take a look at the Issues we will never see, powersets that weren’t announced, and anything else about the future that may never come.

WoW Wednesday – Mists of Pandaria Live First Impressions

WoW Wednesday – Mists of Pandaria Live First Impressions

By Meredith Watson, OnRPG WoW Reporter

 

 

Normally before an expansion launch there is a good deal of hype and events. The launch for Mists of Pandaria didn’t see much in the way of Blizzard introduced events but that doesn’t mean the players themselves didn’t throw a party the night of launch.

 

 

The launch was going to happen at 11pm BST so I logged in at about ten figuring I would hang out in Stormwind with everyone else.  I couldn’t decide between my pilgrim outfit and my matador/mariachi outfit but in the end I went with the Spanish flair. It just felt more festive.  Pilgrims weren’t really known for their partying.  I found my guild already in the Dwarven District dancing around the guild standard with a disco ball, barbeques, kegs and a lot of AoE. The more sparkly the better.  It wasn’t long before there were other guilds doing the same.  There were loads of players all over Stormwind but it didn’t seem near as many as previous expansions and no doubt that was due to the late hour.

 

 

Lag was always going to be an issue. It always is with major launches and players have come to expect it and know little tricks to deal with the large quantity of players.  When 11pm rolled around a quest popped up to report to the keep to start the mission that would eventually take us to Pandaria.  The lag aboard the ship became unplayable for a lot of people. I have a well-known brand gaming rig so it wasn’t a huge issue for me. What was a huge issue was that it was late and I didn’t have the patience at that time to deal with players tapping multiple targets, standing on quest givers and just the general asshattery that goes along with these launches.

 

 

Tuesday was spent questing and getting my priest to 86, which took me about 6 hours. At about the 11 hour mark from the launch start our server saw its first level 90 and within the next few hours more realm firsts were achieved by various classes getting to 90.  I don’t quite understand how they got to 90 in 12 hours when it took me half of that time to gain one level of steady questing. To each their own though.  The levelling curve is rather steep from 85 to 86, which was quite a refreshing change given how quick levelling is now in WoW pre 85.

 

 

There are a lot of quests in MoP with no shortage of things to do.  While most players seem to be just steadily levelling through and enjoying the content, others have chosen to spend their time with the pet battle system, farming or the professions.   One of the best things about questing in MoP (at least before 87 which is my highest level currently) is that questing doesn’t seem to be as linear as it was in Cataclysm, which is another welcome change. I have always been a zone hopper while levelling and it’s nice to have that option again.  The quests and zones are diverse and interesting and not just because they are new. Taking alts through the new content should be good for a couple goes at least.

 

 

All in all it has been a success. Blizzard are the masters of making players want to play. They can do that intangible thing better than any other game out there.  I found myself at one point desperately needing a cup of coffee but couldn’t tear myself away long enough to get it.  I just wanted to finish the quest I was on which then led to another quest I wanted to do because there was an upgrade as a reward.  And if anyone understands this drive to keep going it is a WoW player. There was a time when it was jokingly called the World of Warcrack and for good reason. With Mists of Pandaria Blizzard is certainly supplying us with our drug of choice. Now, if you will excuse me, I’ve a priest to get to level 88 today. Onwards and upwards!

 

OnRPG Shotgun News 9/26: The Secret World, Runescape, and RIFT

OnRPG Shotgun News 9/26: The Secret World, Runescape, and RIFT

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

The Secret World Issue 3 Released

Just a week after the release of Issue 2 The Secret World has released Issue 3: The Cat God. With it are two new missions, new Lair missions, and the first seasonal event for Halloween which will be released later on in the month. Along with the new content comes a list of quality of life changes and new store items which include a pet wearing a jet pack.

 

 

Runescape Kills Boting and Cheaters

New software has been introduced to Runescape that finds botters and anyone cheating. The new system is called Botany Bay and will give players caught cheating two warnings and if they are caught a third time they will be sent to Botany Bay where players will be able to vote on how the guilty character will be destroyed which includes being stomped on by a dragon. Players who take part in the trial and sentencing will be given an in game cosmetic item.

 

 

RIFT Supports Pandas

This week for every purchase of RIFT Storm Legion made on the Storm Legion website Trion will donate $1 to Pandas International, an organization dedicated to helping giant pandas. This time around the small text is well worth reading, for a bit of a giggle. http://www.riftgame.com/en/news/articles/09242012_save_a_panda.php