Yearly Archives: 2012

Meta’s Verse: Beginning the End

Meta’s Verse: Beginning the End

By Meticulous Meta, OnRPG Paragon Reporter

 

 

For anyone who does play, used to play, or worked on City of Heroes, this weekend was an emotional train wreck. For anyone who missed the news and is wondering why you’re seeing a Meta’s Verse on the the wrong day I have some sad news for you. Paragon Studios has been shut down. All production, everything we have been looking forward to in the future is dead. You can play it on the beta server if you really want to know. More importantly though, City of Heroes is closing. Other websites are reporting a closure date of November 30th, I haven’t been able to confirm this yet with any of Paragon Studios’ former staff. It looks like more information will be coming on Tuesday, hopefully. I was fortunate enough to log in just before news hit. So I got to see the community react in real time. Shell shock is the only way to describe it. I’ve only played for 6 years, but I know there are many people out there who have been with City of Heroes from the start. For a lot of people City of Heroes is a home away from reality, myself included. The community is crushed. It has been said by the fans for a long time and I have to agree, City of Heroes has…had the best community and dev team in the industry.

 

 

Speaking of the dev team, Paragon Studios is gone. As I understand it yesterday was the last day of Paragon Studios. All of those wonderful people lost their jobs yesterday. Right before Labor Day weekend. I know there isn’t any good time for bad news, but there are bad times and this was one of them. I attempted to get in touch with my contact at Paragon Studios, a contact I had just made before Gamescom and I had so much planned. But it seems that they no longer have access to their email. So the answers I had hoped to get won’t come. I know though, that I speak for the entire community when I say that we’re sorry we have to say goodbye to you all. We love you and will miss you. Our hearts especially go out to Melissa “War Witch” Bianco and Matt “Positron” Miller who have been with City of Heroes longer than anyone else. I have no doubts that they will be able to find jobs elsewhere in the industry. But I also know that for them, and all of the development team, City of Heroes is and always will be more than just a job. We’re a family.

 

So, what about the future of Meta’s Verse? Well, I’m going to keep cranking out articles for as long as I can. There is still a lot to talk about. I will still be playing City of Heroes up until they turn off the lights. And whatever it is that the community has planned on Virtue I will be there. Taking screenshots, trying my best not to cry and saying a final goodbye to the game I love so much with the community I love.

 

 

As for the future of City of Heroes, a few of our favorite red names have spoken up. Positron, Matt Miller has said that next week assuming they still have access to the forums he will be hosting an ask me anything about the lore. They will answer absolutely any questions people have about lore. If they don’t have answers they will create answers. I really, really hope this happens. There is just so much we don’t know. Zwillinger, aka Andy Belford has said he would try to get the ski slopes opened up for us next week for a final goodbye to a part of the game that has always been so popular with everyone. Several red names have expressed a desire for the players to get answers. Hopefully, whoever is left behind to watch over the game will be able to give us a few answers. We may never learn the why though. This is a fact I’ve come to terms with and I think everyone else needs to as well. This isn’t the time for anger, this is the time to tell all of your friends. Get everyone to come back. I want to see City of Heroes go out with a bang.

 

 

For anyone who doesn’t see the point in continuing in City of Heroes, the point is the memories. For anyone who complained about having just subbed up, I’m sorry you’re out your money but for so many of us this is an emotional time. The next couple of months will be depressing to say the least. I have a very big project ahead of me, something I know many people also have. I plan to get screenshots, videos, and write full biographies of all 60 characters I have ever kept. As well I plan to get screenshots of my favorite places in City of Heroes, greet all the old friends who are coming back to say goodbye while trying to get my one and only Tank to 50.

 

 

If anyone plays on Virtue and wants to team up, or even just say hello send me a message, @Maressa is my global name. Keep an eye out for Meta’s Verse every Wednesday until the end. I’ll be talking about all things City of Heroes, doing a few interviews and well, if I have any time left after that I’ll start making stuff up.

PAX Prime 2012 League of Legends Cosplay

PAX Prime 2012 League of Legends Cosplay

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

Pictures by Bowen Li, Site Engineer

 

 

Hey guys! We just got back to LA from PAX Prime and are exhausted from 3 days of constant awesome meetings with some of the top game designers as well as a few obscure titles you might not see on the major websites. Unfortunately JamesBl0nde’s is passed out on my couch (it’s 4am in his time zone) so our day 3 recap will have to wait until later this morning. Instead I thought I’d share a little sidequest we went on to catalog our favorite League of Legends cosplayers at the convention. I now present the OnRPG/MMOHuts PAX 2012 LoL Cosplay Gallery!

 

This Katarina was snagging almost as many glances from the fan boys at the convention as her slithering sister, which is quite the accomplishment considering she did it without a 3 foot tail.

 

We had hardly stepped through the front doors on day 1 only to see the odd couple of Amumu and Bunny Girl Riven posing in front of a huge crowd by the glowing Ryze Statue.

 

Speaking of Ryze, we found the elusive Uncle Ryze making it rain in the table top gaming shopping area.

 

Mordekaiser rocked our world just as we were sitting down to lunch at Cheesecake Factory. Luckily Bowen dashed out the door to snag this shot before he disappeared into the PAX jungle.

 

Our award for cutest couple definitely goes to this Ahri Wukong combo.

 

Though I am a bit biased since she let me play with her tails.

 

Not to be outdone, this sexy Morgana dared us to walk by without snapping a shot to include her in our top cosplayer list. Also if you look closely in the background you will catch a glimpse of Bittersweet Lulu!

 

Our award for most clever LoL cosplay definitely goes to this fine lady and her Desperado Cassiopeia skin

 

Shaco nearly managed to get the jump on us while interviewing Sonic at the Sega booth. Unfortunately it was classic Sonic so he was about as mute as Sona.

 

We stumbled across Sejuani keeping the crowds of Esports fans in line with her giant mace during Saturday’s final LoL match

 

After chasing after this scurvy dog for three days we finally caught him slipping at the Dungeons and Dragons Online booth. He’s definitely a tough foe to CC long enough to get a good shot.

 

 

This is of course just a small taste of the dozens of awesome cosplay pics we snapped at PAX this year so keep an eye out all week as we get into the details of dozens of titles we covered, offer plenty of video interviews, and give out some sweet prizes in OnRPG/MMOHut’s best convention giveaways to date!

PAX Prime 2012 OnRPG/MMOHuts Day 2 Recap

PAX Prime 2012 OnRPG MMOHuts Day 2 Recap

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief
Co-Written by James Hunt (JamesBl0nde), MMOHuts Content Manager

 

 

In yesterday’s recap I called PAX chaos. That was a weekday. The weekend has begun and simple chaos has evolved into outright pandemonium as the population of the convention center at least tripled in size and cosplayers representing everything from Guilty Gear to Mario were out in force to keep things interesting. Not to waste any time, we hit the floor at 10am and split to maximize our coverage.

 

 

I took to the Sheraton hotel next to the convention center to meet with Funcom’s Senior Game Director on Age of Conan, Craig Morrison. He pulled no punches about Funcom’s massive layoffs this week saying The Secret World hadn’t hit sales expectations. However he confirmed that there will be no delay to the upcoming Secret World Issue updates or Conan’s Secrets of the Dragon Spine update slated for release later this year. Meanwhile James and Bowen were hitting it up with Sony Online Entertainment’s Planetside 2.

 

 

At the Planetside 2 booth I immediately jumped it to an interview with one of the game designers for my first hands on demo. There were over a thousand people involved in the battle I jumped into during the demo. So much action was happening around me that we had to move away from the battle just to discuss the game without adding to the enemy kill count. I was shocked to learn that, as massive is the world is, the game designers individually created all of the landscapes and didn’t use a repeating skin to create the environment. After the long hands on I scored a stack (no, really, a stack!) of beta keys just for you guys so keep an eye out for a special giveaway.

 

 

Next up I followed Mark Kern, the CEO of Red 5 Studios, over to the panel discussing the future of MMOs. This was basically a panel of MMO head honchos talking about what makes a new MMO successful. All sorts of questions were asked including the topic of mobile MMO gaming on the toilet. No matter how they said it, the point came across that we will see more Guild Wars 2 dynamic event style quests in all future MMOs.

 

 

Back at the convention center Bowen and I crashed head first into Warner Brother’s upcoming MOBA console title set in the world of Lord of the Rings/ The Hobbit. And the first thing on my mind was ‘why did it take so long to bring out such an obviously awesome idea! However while most MOBAs these days have been trying to model themselves after the success of League of Legends or DotA, Guardians of Middle-Earth is setting out on a unique path of their own with no item purchasing, power-ups that unlock as you level up, upgradable turrets and minions that can learn special abilities, contestable jungle towers that provide power-ups, jungle minions that can inflict damage on turrets, and some seriously imaginative skill sets on each of the 20 starting guardians. Don’t miss our upcoming interview for all the details. Sauron is the new Karthus!

 

 

Next we made a quick pit-stop at Trion Worlds to check out their always sexy cosplay team and get some information on their PvE system involving the nearly unstoppable Order of Nations, a computer controlled faction that steamrolls players without prejudice and keeps the global map evened out between the many warring factions in the game. The Order of Nations behemoths can literally drive over top of units (both theirs and yours) and cut down massive armies with no problem. However we learned that they aren’t invincible, nor do they require a massive legion of players to stop them if you can manage precise tactical gameplay and outwit these massive vehicles into becoming their own worst enemy. We can’t wait to learn more about these features in closed beta 3 starting 5 days from now, and if you keep an eye out on our youtube channel you might just get a chance to join us with a limited beta key giveaway.

 

 

 

Following a marathon of cosplay photo taking and lunch we met up with Andy and Mark at Perfect World to get our latest look at RaiderZ and Neverwinter. While RaiderZ intimidated the hell out of us with their new devastating chimera boss, Neverwinter wowed us with a look at their unfathomably detailed quest and dungeon creator.

 

 

Any true fan of Dungeons and Dragons will feel right at home designing backstories, building and customizing NPCs, and setting up dungeon layouts for both their friends and strangers alike to enjoy. The best part of all was that these dungeons literally become content in the game world where you can level up and collect loot appropriate for the difficulty of the dungeon. While Neverwinter’s launch is still a long ways off, they are finally ramping up for alpha testing. Though after this preview we feel their ‘alpha’ version is superior to most finished games these days.

 

 

The Neverwinter interview ran a little long so Bowin and I snuck into the Wargaming press booth with some other journalists to check out the progression of World of Warplanes. The game features realistic details, so specific; the design team went out and literally took measurements on the actual planes, all the way down to the thickness of the metal! The game also includes planes that were in concept and never actually took flight in history. The biggest shocker was how much different World of Tanks will look in their next update. Yeah, expect awesomeness!

 

 

A little later on I was thrown into an interview for Hawken. I didn’t know anything about the game other than it sounded and looked sweet. I soon learned from one of the designers that the game is based around Mechs but acts like a FPS. Choose your Mech, select your firepower, take out your enemies.

 

I got a chance to enter into some tough negotiations with the Hawken team during James’ interview and bring back excellent news. OnRPG and MMOHuts will not only be the third and fourth websites on the net to snag beta keys for their October beta test, but we also might be giving out some sick Nvidia hardware through Youtube to make sure you make the best out of the beta test!

 

Following Hawken we met up with, in my opinion, the most impressive start-up MMO of all time. You may not have heard of them before but I’m talking about Novus Aeterno, a SciFi space MMORTS of galactic proportions. I drilled their CEO Nick for a good 18 minutes and learned everything from the 5 ship formats to the unique real time strategic combat to building and customizing your fleet of ships. We also discussed the lore and some never before heard details on the many alien races present in the game as well as how you can manage to steal their technology for your own. If you’re a fan of RTS titles you’re going yourself a great injustice if you don’t keep an eye on Novus Aeterno. It’s launch date is likely going to be around summer of 2012 so expect tons of coverage leading up to it over the next year as I’m now an official fanboi.

 

 

Next up we hit up Turtle Beach to get a preview of the Ear Force SEVEN coming out November 2012. You can literally fall asleep wearing these headsets as a soft cushion placed between the connecting bar and your head combined with the feather weight design makes it as if you’re not wearing a headset at all. With interchangeable boom mics to meet your current needs, 5.1 digital surround sound, and the ability to virtually customize and adjust each of the six speakers, this headset will definitely be topping my Christmas wish list. If you grab the top model (XP) you’ll literally have an unfair advantage in competitive titles as multiple presets are programmed in to amplify key FPS sounds including footsteps, the sound of bouncing grenades, and even reloading weapons. Personally I’m just excited to be able to plug my phone into the control panel to order out for Chinese without missing a beat from my vent conversation.

 

We had a little extra time at the end so we decided to stop by the Carbon Games booth to talk to the team behind AirMech. I asked the CEO about some of the game modes other than what you see often with AirMech and he told me about the CTF game mode they just released. I also asked about the game being geared for esports and surprisingly enough they are constantly getting approached by esports people for a push in that direction.  This is almost unheard of in the browser world. The cool part is the CEO saw my First Look… and loved it!

 

It’s been an intense two days of constant coverage. Between filling out our Pokedex of League of Legends cosplayers and covering just about every multiplayer title on the show floor, we can barely stand. Our voices are shot and our eyes are blood shot. But we’re definitely not done! We’re on our way to the Starcraft II tournament now and have a full schedule tomorrow featuring Borderlands 2, Phantasy Star Online 2, Marvel Heroes, Forge, Minion Masters, Guns of Icarus, and DDO! Until next time, this is DizzyPW and JamesBl0nde signing out.

 

PAX Prime 2012 OnRPG/MMOHuts Day 1 Recap

PAX Prime OnRPG/MMOHuts Day 1 Recap

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

Co-Written by James Hunt (JamesBl0nde), MMOHuts Content Manager

 

 

PAX Prime is a monstrous event. Outside of Gamescom you’d be hard pressed to find a community gaming event that can match both the size and scoop of games being covered. Everything from arcade titles to indie Ipad games to portal gaming consoles to standard consoles to MMOs lined the convention halls with hardly any predictable order as to who was where. It is chaos. It is emotional. The Cosplay to norm ratio is roughly 2:3… It is PAX and it has begun!

 

 

Our day started with me waking up at 3am, downing a mana energy potion and donning my wizarding hat, and summoning my partner and our website’s head engineer Bowen into action. We immediately followed the line of sexy and awesome League of Legends cosplayers to the completely booked 6th floor of the convention hall to check in with Riot Games. What we witnessed was pandemonium as we arrived just at 11am when the opening ceremony of the NA League of Legends Regional Tournament was beginning! The crowd was deafening as cheer after cheer resounded through the hall while each member of the competing teams were introduced as if they were the starting five on an NBA line-up. Being relatively disconnected from the esports community, this was an extreme culture shock and sent chills down my spine as I realized I was witnessing the beginning of a new world of sports, now catered to the PC geek rather than the weekend warrior.

 

 

After a short elevator ride (including a freaked out Phreak yelling orders left and right about the coverage) we were on to interview Associate Designer Pabro, possibly best known for the following video:

 

 

We discussed the recent change in philosophy of champion design and artwork at Riot, some brief discussion on Syndra, what’s in store for Season 3, and of course I snagged somewhere around 6 Arcade Sona skins and 3 Riot Graves skins which we’ll be giving out in a trivia event coinciding our interview. So study up on your LoL, OnRPG, and MMOHuts knowledge because only those knowledgeable in useless information will survive the gauntlet!

 

 

Next up I finally finally got to meet the Firefall cosplayers Typhon and Mourningstar! Excuse my overuse of exclamation marks but I’ve seen them 4 times prior to this and never gotten a chance to talk to them so I feel a cloud has lifted from my soul. I then got a bit of a recap interview with David Williams (Lead Class Designer) on the massive changes that have come… and will soon be coming to Firefall on both the content side as well as the esports side. What’s more, I snagged 5 sets of Founder’s Packs to not only get you into the game but get you in with style and exp boosts to boot. This will also be going out when our interview airs on MMOHuts and OnRPG’s Youtube so don’t miss your chance as these babies cost from $50 to $120 a piece!

 

 

Afterwards we got a chance to talk to the esports queen of Firefall, Morgan Romine, about their epic new MGU (mobile gaming unit) that seemed to have had a rough journey plagued by overzealous fans throwing themselves in the way of the bus from Los Angeles through Oregon until finally reaching its sectioned off temporary home on Pine Street in Seattle. With 20 pimped out AMD PCs lining the interior walls and a bad ass shoutcasting station smack in the middle, you’d have to be crazy to visit PAX and not hit up this truck for some gaming action.

 

 

At long last we ran into JamesBl0nde fresh from his 105 degree Texas weather and ready to bask in the glorious 60s that is Seattle. We darted straight to the Unicorn theatre only to be corrected that Razor’s CEO was doing his presentation in the Pegasus theatre. Further aggravating the situation were those dang ponies telling me this was not the correct type of pony I was looking for. Fifteen minutes later we arrived sweaty to snag the final 3 press seats in the first 2 rows of the Razor demonstration. And it was a demonstration that may shake the foundations of the Gaming Laptop industry.

 

 

The second generation of the Razorblade gaming laptop was revealed to the appropriate slogan “The Beauty is now the Beast.” And that was no bluff. Weighing in at 6.6lbs and a mere 0.88lbs, this compact laptop brings the heat with performance and FPS rates on par with the much bulkier Alienware M17X! In addition it offers the special side bar (known as the Switchblade) features with customizable hotkeys, screenshot functions, and so many other features it’s hard to describe. With a 17.3” monitor and LED backlighting standard and a price tag of $2499, this is going to be a tough laptop to beat in 2012. Oh and for those early adopters that bought the first… well you earned yourself a $500 discount if you buy generation 2! Pre-orders are available now and the next-gen laptop will begin shipping in 30 days from today. I’m definitely ordering mine as the first generations were sold out for 4 months straight after launch.

 

 

While Dizzy was off somewhere trying to get exclusive swag from Kitty Mach, I got a chance to talk to Todd Harris from Hi-Rez about Smite and Tribes Ascend. I asked Todd, “As popular as Smite is does Hi-Rez plan on taking an approach to E-Sports?” His response, much to my surprise was, “Well we are working on an observer or spectator mode that will allow the person watching to snap to and see just what’s happening in the lanes.” I figured that was one step towards esports if you ask me. I was also interesting in knowing if we can expect to see any new game modes or maps added to smite. Todd confidently told me that we should expect to see that sometime in the future, however, right now their main focus is getting out a good number of champions for players to work with. On the Tribes Ascend side of things, Todd was able to let us know about plans for even more game modes to come. Stay tuned for the actual interview as Todd reveals the next class that will be revamped.

 

 

Right after Hi-Rez I found myself drawn to the Blacklight Retribution booth, but while I was there talking to the Zombie Studios Communications Manager Collin Moore, Their new title Special Forces Team X caught my interest. The game is still in development but it’s already packed with plenty of features, things such as being able to vote on map positioning based on your play style and also the fact that these developers have the rights to real weapon designs to feature in game. This game is going to release for Xbox 360 as well as steam for the PC later this year.

 

 

Besides our typical MMO and MMORPG coverage, we also took some time to check out what was popping outside our usual realm of gaming. Since our forums are constantly talking about Pokemon I spent some time to interview a member of the Nintendo team assigned to play non-stop Pokemon Black and White 2 during PAX. He fleshed out all the major changes coming including the path the former champion has taken, the revival of all the gym leaders from past Pokemon titles, and the introduction of all Pokemon being fully animated. The sprites and overall graphics were fantastic and I very much look forwarding to continuing a 2v2 slap bet going on in my apartment over who the best Pokemon Masters truly are!

 

 

On the indie side of things we also checked out two unusual titles. Card Hunter offers turn-based competitive strategy akin to Might and Magic, but one in which each character on the playing field has his own deck of cards based on the equipment you’ve unlocked and equipped on him/her. With multiple races and classes, a wide variety of card types and effects, and tons of tactical goodness, this is a title to keep an eye out for if you are a fan of the genre.

 

 

The other odd indie title we randomly stumbled upon thanks to an enthusiastic programmer sitting with his Ipad in a corner of the 6th floor was called Colour Bind. This platforming physics-based title incorporates gravity defying acrobatics and plenty of puzzle solving elements to force you to get through an obstacle course of flashy colors and death defying leaps. Not terribly surprising, it also comes with a color blind mode that replaces the flashy colors with crazy textures.

OnRPG/MMOHuts Gamescom Best in Show Awards

OnRPG/MMOHuts Gamescom Best in Show Awards

By Shannon and Jonathan Doyle (OnRPG Journalists)

 

 

Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the OnRPG/MMOHuts GamesCom Awards.

 

 

We have been back and forth, pounded the walkways of the convention centre and come up with the following for you. Hope you enjoy.

 

Categories

Best Cosplay

Best Free To Play Title

Best Subscription Title

Best Sneak Peek

Best Non MMO

Best Upcoming

Best MMORTS

Best MMOFPS

Best MMORPG

Best Expansion

Best Co-Op Shooter

And of course Best In Show

 

So on with it!

 

 

Best Cosplay:

You know, I’ll be honest. I have no idea what they were dressed as and they couldn’t really tell me or Leliah thanks to a language barrier. However, style and attitude count for a lot. Best Cosplay goes to these two lovely girls.

 

 

Runner Up: Of course people put their most work in what they love, that’s why the Runner Up deserves a mention and a look, World Of Warcraft inspires again.

 

 

 

Best Sneak Peek: The Secret World

I may be biased (go on and correct me in the forums if you want). If I had to pick any one sneak peek that we saw, that is an update and not an expansion to any existing game, to win this award; hands down The Secret World takes the cake. From the dark and creepy monster art for Tokyo to the sheer fun of Rocket jumping into Atenists to the New York Raid, The Secret World scoops it.

 

Runner Up: The Old Republic

Not to be forgotten by any stretch is The Old Republic which peeked first for community and finally showed the floor the new updates coming in the future.

 

 

Honorable Mention: Project Theralon

In sneak peeks, I know I already defined it as an update to an existing game, but we will give an honorable mention to Infernum Games Project Theralon. It’s not quite ready for alpha, but it is shaping up wonderfully.

 

 

Best Non MMO: Star Trek

Ushered into a dark room and equipped with 3-D glasses, we sat down to see some early in game footage of Star Trek. I am reasonably convinced that what I saw was straight into the mind of J.J. Abrams and the next movie. Absolutely gorgeous visuals, spot on voice acting and the humour of 2009’s Star Trek movie were all featured in the play through. Hands down, the best non MMO we saw.

 

 

Runner Up: Sim City

Every time we wandered past the Sim City booth I grabbed at it like a baby who wanted her bottle. Anyone who is a fan of the Sim City series will have been waiting nearly a decade for a new one to come out. Now that it is just within our grasp we must start preparing to surrender our lives to our Sim overlords.

 

 

Best Upcoming: Defiance

Best Upcoming, like Best Sneak Peek is an unusual category. This is our nomination for the as yet unreleased games that excited us the most, regardless of any subdivision. To that end, Best Upcoming goes to Defiance. It isn’t content with “merely” being available on XBox 360, Playstation 3 and your PC. It is coming to your television too. Defiance is attempting to blend an MMOFPS with a television show in a manner that literally has never been done before. As a gamer as well as a science fiction fan, I couldn’t be more excited.

 

 

Runner Up: World of Warplanes

I admit it. I am not just a gamer, not just a sci-fi geek. I am totally a World War II guy. World of Warplanes scoops the runner up for Best Upcoming for the impressive, enjoyable and extremely diverse dogfighting world they are bringing to players.

 

 

Best MMORTS: End Of Nations

It appeared to me that if I wasn’t playing an MMOFPS or co-op shooter this year, I was playing Real Time Strategy. Leliah covers the less shoot you in the face sort of things and so this was left entirely up to me. My pick for the best MMORTS at Gamescom based on the pure enjoyment factor: End of Nations.

 

 

Best MMOFPS: Firefall

There were so many options. So many choices. The larger FPS games, compared to the smaller but no less enjoyable co-op team shooters, all faced off this year. In the end, there could be only one. For me, that one was Firefall. However my top 3 were all SciFi shooters so FireFall definitely has some stiff competition to compete with this year.

 

 

Runner Up: Dust514

Firefall may stand victorious but it was by no means an easy battle. CCPs Dust 514 takes Runner Up after sneakily putting a bullet in Planetside 2 while it wasn’t watching.

 

 

Best MMORPG: Neverwinter

There is nothing in the world more worthy of the title “RPG” than Dungeons and Dragons. That alone would be no where near enough to secure Best MMORPG for Neverwinter. Neither would the exceptionally fun combat and gorgeous visuals experienced on the convention floor. Finally by itself the ingenious Foundry system from Cryptic, seen in an earlier form in Star Trek Online, wouldn’t be enough to win. Taken all together, the setting, the lore, the love, the looks and the Foundry, hands down Best MMORPG goes to Neverwinter. More on the Foundry soon.

 

 

Runner Up: C9 (Continent of The Ninth Seal)

When you think of MMORPGS you think of grand settings, awesome moves and a compelling story. C9 has all that and so much more. What ended up really drawing me in were the amazing graphics, how fun it was and how easy it was for a complete newbie to pick up while playing on a Korean keyboard.

 

 

Best MMO Expansion: Rift: Storm Legion

There weren’t many expansions to be seen at Gamescom this year. So you might think that makes the choice even easier. But it really doesn’t. When it came down to decision time we went with Rift simply for the sheer size and awesomeness that went into it. The world will be three times the size it is now; each class is getting a new soul, housing, and a level cap increase. For a first expansion Rift is really outdoing themselves.

 

Runner Up: World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

To ignore the Panda in the room would be nothing short of idiocy. Mists of Pandaria drew huge crowds, had a danceoff and had lines at all times of the day. It is safe to say that people are looking forward to World of Warcraft’s fourth expansion.

 

 

Best Co-Op Shooter: Warface

Once again, it comes down to personal preference. Personal experience. I experienced a fair few co-op shooters in Cologne but if I had to pick one to win, without a doubt it goes to Warface. Engaging PvE content, fun PvP content and a shotgun on the medic that left me giggling and enemies flying… Warface takes it.

 

 

Runner Up: Arctic Combat

Maybe I am a sucker for helicopters and UAVs. Maybe it all comes down to fun. The runner up for best co-op shooter then goes to Arctic Combat for the second most fun I ever had getting owned in the face.

 

 

Best Unique F2P Title: Brick Force

There were many shooters of both the massive and co-op types this year. I had the chance to play many, see many more and come to some conclusions. If I had to give Best Free To Play title to any one game, it’d be for sheer fun factor above and beyond any FPS/RPG/RTS subdivision. In this, Brick Force takes the cake for me. Is it pretty? Well… if you like cubes it is. Is it massively complex? You shoot the other guys to win. Is it fun? Oh my God yes!

 

 

Brick Force is what you get when you cross Minecraft, a map editor and a team based FPS shooter and blend until awesome. Design, build, dominate.

 

 

Best Subscription Title: Rift

What can I say? The competition may have been narrow with the sheer number of free to play titles out there on the floor and online. Even so, don’t consider this a throw away. Rift wins for its sheer aggressive updating, ear to the community, constant improvements and bright future.

 

 

 

Best In Show: League Of Legends

Who put on the best show? Who brought legions of fans to Cologne? Who or what stole peoples hearts, minds and attention better than anything else. Judging by the adoring fans, the ESL tournaments, the consistently packed booth whether hats were flying or not, the Best in Show from OnRPG andMMOHuts goes to Riot Games’ League of Legends.

 

League of Legends NA Regionals Have Begun!

League of Legends NA Regionals Have Begun!

 

 

Today through Sunday Riot Games will be streaming the North American League of Legends Regionals straight from PAX Prime in Seattle. With $150,000 on the line and the chance to proceed to the finals where $2,000,000 will be up for grabs, the action is expectedly fierce. Check out the stream below to join in the action yourself!

 


Live video for mobile from Ustream

 

DK Online Dev Spotlight: Paladin

DK Online Dev Spotlight: Paladin

By Aeria North, Aeria Games Representative

 

 

 

Greetings, followers of the light,

 

We’re back to talk some more about DK Online‘s third class spotlight, the ever-shiny, never-shady Paladin! These holy fighters are handpicked by the goddess Dione herself to charge into battle and defend their allies from Kharvag’s minions.

 

 

We’re going to go a little off course here and share some of what Paladins used to be, because ongoing improvement is always a crucial part of the development process. Much of DK Online is being fine-tuned and overhauled as we continue to work towards releasing the game, and the classes are no exception. This also gives you a glimpse into the game development process as a whole, where things have to be flexible and fluid as certain needs and demands arise.

 

 

So what did Paladins used to be? The earlier vision for the class was that of a primary damage dealer and support class. Whereas Warriors once favored the good ol’ sword-and-board and Paladins relied mostly on two-handers (though both classes could use either, they were each designed around a particular weapon), there’s now much more parity between them. Paladins before were best suited to being straightforward dps, but they now have the tools in place to enhance and defend their party as they lead the charge into battle.

 

 

New abilities are also being added to make the play-style more engaging. We felt like the Paladin of old needed more active abilities, and was perhaps too reliant on passive skills. While the class still has very useful passives, we decided that it is important for the Paladin to actively take control over the party’s well-being. We’re continuing to add abilities as we go, so that the end result is fun, interesting, and really establishes the image of the Paladin as a bastion of light.

 

 

Our Favorite: Well, in light of all that, it’s hard to pick a favorite skill—but we’re going with Heaven’s Wrath. In addition to having the coolest name, the hard-hitting attack leaves nothing but a crater where the enemy once was. On top of that, enemies that take the hit and are still standing have a chance to be stunned, opening them up for further punishment.

 

 

We hope you enjoyed the latest look into the development process. We think it’s good to have a bit of transparency too! Keep an eye out for our next class spotlight as it comes down the pipe!

RF Online Server Transfers Begin Today

RF Online Server Transfers Begin Today

 

RF Online

 

GamesCampus today announces a temporary suspension of services for the PVP centric sci-fi MMORPG, RF Online as it moves to its new home at GamesCampus. A mix of fantasy with a healthy dose of science fiction, Rising Force Online launches players into a massive three-faction nonstop battle that equips them with everything from swords to nuclear weapons to bring the opposing factions to their knees! Players can sign up now for a GamesCampus account at rfonline.gamescampus.com, and starting August 31st players can transfer their accounts from the former host to the GamesCampus network.

 

 

“GamesCampus is committed to making a smooth, full transition for all interested players.” said Hubert Yee, Head of Marketing at GamesCampus. “Whether players wish to retain their old accounts or start over, we’ve got plenty in store for the rest of 2012.”

 

 

Starting August 31st, players can use http://rfonline.gamescampus.com/?page=transfer to move their characters from the old servers to their new home at GamesCampus, who will service RF Online moving forward for the North American and global audience. One week later, on September 6th, space enthusiasts can begin logging in to RF Online again at approximately 11:00am PST.

 

RF Online

 

New to RF Online completely or just want to start over? Join us on the new server Excelsior! This new server will be available from September 6th to November 6th, and will not take transfers of veteran accounts. Instead, players new and old will have a chance to start from scratch and compete with and against similar level friends and foes. Eventually, Excelsior accounts will be merged into the central server to compete against the full pool of Rising Force players.

 

 

GamesCampus is also pleased to announce they will be launching Patch 1.5 during Q4 2012. This new update has never been seen on the English version of RF Online, and players will be delighted with the fresh content and myriad of exciting changes, which will be revealed in the coming weeks.

OnRPG Shotgun News 8/30: End of Nations, GW2, Ragnarok, and much more!

OnRPG Shotgun News 8/30: End of Nations, GW2, Ragnarok, and much more!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Drakensang Online Celebrates One Year

Drakensang Online is celebrating its first anniversary by announcing it has surpassed 10 million registered players worldwide. To celebrate Bigpoint is giving every player who subscribes to the newsletter 250 units of Ancient Wisdom. There will also be a series of community oriented competitions which will be held later. Later this year there will be new content releases, and a fourth character class added.

 

 

Guild Wars 2 Is Going To China

ArenaNet has signed a deal to take Guild Wars 2 to China. The partnership is with the KongZhong Corportation. This is one of the biggest licensing deals to bring a Western game to China.

 

 

End of Nations Third Beta Weekend

Trion Worlds has announced the dates for the third closed beta event for upcoming free to play strategy game End of Nations. It will run from Friday, September 7th to Sunday, September 9th. This beta weekend will see the debut of Elite Companies which are pre-configured armies that can be purchased to serve a specific purpose.

 

 

Dragon Saga and Ragnarok Collide

 

The latest update as part of an ongoing expansion through the year has brought Ragnarok to Dragon Saga. Portals have been created by Ragnarok scientists which allow players to travel between dimensions.

 

 

Grepolis Update Brings New Features

InnoGames has released an update which gives new players a new starting experience in the browser version of the game. While mobile users will have new toolbox access to the game’s forums.

 

 

Dino Storm Enters Open Beta Phase

 

Have you ever wanted to ride a dinosaur while dressed like a cowboy and shooting lasers? Well in Dino Storm you can do just that. Splitscreen Games has announced that open beta for its brower based MMO, Dino Storm has begun. Getting started is easy, just head on over to the website and create an account.

 

 

Black Prophecy Powering Down Engines

After a year and a half of being online Black Prophecy has announced they will be shutting down. It will remain open until September 26th with events planned for the remaining four weeks. Players will no longer be able to purchase KK$, the in game currency. Players with currency remaining funds will receive vouchers in their inboxes to transfer the currency to one of Gamigo’s other games.

 

 

MOGA Announces New Software Partners

PowerA has announced new software partners for MOGA, the mobile gaming system which is said to bring console quality gaming to mobile devices. New software partners include, Virtual GS, Brisk Mobile, and Flex Friday Creations. Gamers will be able to get their hands on the MOGA for the first time ever at PAX this weekend at the PowerA booth.

 

 

R.O.H.A.N.: Blood Feud Is Released

 

 

YNK Games has announced Blood Feud is live, bringing full integration of the Spanish language to ROHAN. In addition there are two new servers, an increase in the success rates for forging, refining and reinforcement. There is also a new UI, adjustments to the levelling experience and modifications to the exchange market. To celebrate events are being held, to find out more about them head over to the official website.

 

 

Ultima Online Producer Lays Out Future Plans

As Ultima Online stands on the brink of celebrating 15 years Producer Bonnie “Mesanna” Armstrong addressed fans in a letter which talks about future hopes and plans for the game. In it she says that Publish 78 is on its way to a server near you. And work has already started on Publish 79. Some of the things they hope to work on in the future include, a pet revamp, armor revise, new wearables, and a battleground shard. To read the entire letter just click here. http://www.uoherald.com/node/685