Yearly Archives: 2012

Remnant Knights: Heroes of Kasmari Impressions

Remnant Knights: Heroes of Kasmari Impressions

By Meredith Watson, OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

Remnant Knights –Heroes of Kasmari is a Free to play Anime MMO published by GameSamba featuring PvP, questing, dungeons and crafting with an emphasis on social activities.

 

 

Remnant Knights is a bright, cheery, and colourful game which is strongly anime. There is a very childlike, cutesy theme throughout. Graphically it isn’t spectacular but it doesn’t need to be. This game does have a very distinct look and feel which is partly Asian with some American junior high school thrown in for good measure meets Harry Potter.  I would have thought Remnant Knights would have been aimed towards tweens but I was assured, after chatting with a GM, that it is aimed towards young adults that appreciate anime.

 

 

Remnant Knights also has a varied soundtrack.  The intro music can only be described as cute and pop-like whereas the music from Sunset Pier is almost haunting.  The only issue I have with the sound is that there isn’t a way to turn off the characters combat vocals (which are very repetitive and somewhat annoying) without turning off all sound effects except music which has its own setting.

 

 

If you are a lore fan, this game might be a bit of a disappointment.  The backstory is rather weak but to be fair lore isn’t really the selling point of this game.

 

 

Character creation is much like most games out there in that there are very few choices for hair, face and colours.  There are three class “circles” to choose from when deciding class. Each of these three circles split into two distinct classes after level 10. The three circles are gun, magic and fight.  The Magic Circle becomes the elementalist and the priest, the Gun circle splits into Heavy Launcher and Dual Gunner, and the Fight Circle leads to the Striker and the Crusher.  I have been playing casters lately so picked the magic circle.  Aside from determining the circle I needed to choose between the Owl Academy and the Dragon Academy. The Owl Academy is focused on magic whereas Dragon is science. It isn’t immediately obvious how the two Academies impact gameplay other than acting as a faction.  There is a persistent theme of school throughout from registering a student ID card to acquiring a dorm room.

 

 

After each level, including before level ten, there are skill points to spend. The skills before level ten seem to focus on enhancing your existing spells/skills. After level ten they are spent in your chosen specialization.  The skill tree is fairly straightforward and offers some choice but isn’t very in depth nor is it overwhelming.

 

 

The tutorial phase of the game is done on your school campus when first entering the game. Here you learn all the basics of the game. Remnant Knights is fairly standard in its tutorial and does a reasonable job of acclimating the player to the game.   Controls are the usual WASD, click to move or arrow keys.

 

 

Now where this game truly shines for me is in the combat. Combat is very fluid with no awkwardness in the controls or hotbars. Combat feels comfortable. There isn’t a steep learning curve though I will point out, because most spells seem to be AoE and the mobs are fairly close together, it is easy to get overwhelmed by mobs. It isn’t an issue as long as you are aware.  Some would call the questing in Remnant Knights a grind. I didn’t see it that way. I personally prefer kill quests versus a lot of running around, talking to different NPCs and whatnot. Remnant Knights is absolutely chock full of kill quests and to a lesser degree drop quests  There are many dungeons on Kasmari but I’ve only visited one which allowed me to choose the degree of difficulty before entering. It was recommended for three players but was easily soloed.

 

 

While chatting with one of the GMs I was told that there isn’t a raiding end game and that what there is of an end game is PvP focused. There are only a few high level dungeons for 55-60 but there are multiple ways in which to engage in PvP and it is always optional.  Marble Battle is a 5v5 point capture, Arena Battle is level 60 tournaments, and Club War is to capture a region. World PvP and duelling are also available.

 

 

Not to be overlooked is the club (guild) PvE event called Club Challenge. As well as the Club Challenge, there appears to be an event going on at all times of some description or another.  There certainly isn’t a shortage of things to do in Remnant Knights.

 

 

I do love crafting in games so it was nice to see there was some gathering available. Resources seem to primarily be mines and plants. The actual production of items is done a little differently in Remnant Knights.  For example, if you want to make a potion you will need to find a nurse and ask to make something. This will then bring up an interface in which you pick an icon of what it is you want to make from the left hand side. On the right side the ingredients would be listed for the item chosen and you would then insert the ingredients from your inventory in the appropriate place.  This seems to be the way to make clothing and gems as well.  There isn’t any real depth to the crafting and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of choice as far as what can be created.  Fishing in Remnant Knights is a little different as well.  Instead of just casting your line and waiting for a bite you have to struggle with your fish by pushing arrow keys until the fish tires. Think of The Abyssal Ride quest in World of Warcraft which utilizes arrow keys and you will have it. Once you’ve caught your fish you will need to find a cook in order to prepare it into a food that acts as a short term buff.

 

 

A bank and an auction house are both available on your school grounds.  The bank requires a password and is taxed, which ties into the PvP element.  I did find the search function on the Auction house subpar and the interface wasn’t as helpful as it could have been.  That being said, the UI for the most part is quite tidy and streamlined.

 

 

Remnant Knights is a very social game.  There is both Twitter and Facebook integration but in game as well there are a lot of activities centred on being social such as a bonding system and a matching system. The bonding system is a mentoring program whereas the matching system is quite literally a matching system for players to find like-minded players.  This is done by registering your student ID card. Your student ID card states where you are from, your gender, interests and very oddly, your blood type.  Any of these categories can be ignored when filling out your ID, which also isn’t mandatory.

 

 

Remnant Knight also has a pet system . The pets, when out, will need to be fed using a pet feed card but they also provide some boosts such as defence, mana, or movement to name a few. The higher level the pet the higher the boost. Pets can be stored in your dorm room. Pet feed cards and skill cards as well as additional pets can be found in the item mall.

 

 

At level ten I got my dorm room and after a cut scene explaining how I can have friends around, I was able to decorate it. Decorating my room included placing the furniture and picking a lighting colour. The placing of furniture and the room interface was similar to Runes of Magic.  Different styles of room furnishings can be purchased on the item mall.

 

 

The item mall, which can be quite obtrusive on other free to play games, is not in Remnant Knights.  There isn’t any in game spam advertising specials or the like.  The item mall is full of fun mounts, costumes, and furniture.

 

 

The other very unique aspect of Remnant Knights comes in the way of their customer service.  Remnant Knights boast “If you are online, so are we” and they aren’t lying. Every time I logged in, which was many, there was a GM online announcing his or her presence and interacting with the community through events, contests and trivia.  I did want to see how helpful they were and if they would in fact answer any questions as they claim.  Maenon, the GM I spoke to, was very accommodating and was able to answer my questions while being very pleasant.  This degree of customer service in any MMO is unheard of and I think it ties in with Remnant Knights’ social aspect nicely.

 

 

My time in Remnant Knights has been fun which is all one can really ask for in an MMO. This isn’t the type of game I would normally play due to the anime styling and overly cute art direction but I was pleasantly surprised by the gameplay and found myself enjoying it.  If you are looking for a fun, cute, social game with a strong competitive spirit instilled in the community then this just might be the game for you.  Give it a try!

 

Meta’s Verse: My Vindicators

Meta’s Verse: My Vindicators

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

For the last month City of Heroes’ P.E.R.C (Player Event Resource Committee) has been running what I would say is the most interesting competition to come to City of Heroes in its history. The idea was to give the Vindicators a makeover. And while there were a ton of great responses to the competition I never got the chance to put in entries of my own. The rules were simple, give the members of the Vindicators a makeover using only what is available in the costume creator. The Vindicators are a group of heroes who is lead by Ms. Liberty and happen to all be the sidekicks of the members of the Freedom Phalanx. So since I didn’t get to show off my creations I’ve decided to cheat a bit this week and share my creations with all of you.

 

 

Ms. Liberty

 

Ms. Liberty is the leader of the Vindicators and has taken the mantle in Independence Port where her Grandfather, Statesman once stood. Her original costume is a tribute to her mother Miss Liberty. I took some basic elements from that outfit, the dress, boots, gloves, shoulder pieces and belt and added them to a modified version of Statesman’s outfit to create a tribute to two great heroes who have left us while giving Ms. Liberty a more grown up look.

 

 

Aurora Borealis

 

Aurora Borealis was the sidekick of Sister Psyche. But it is safe to say she went above and beyond the call of duty when she housed Psyche in her mind. It was only with the help of her husband that she was able to return to her normal self. The loss of her friend has prompted her to update her look, making herself more colorful by accenting her outfit in gold instead of silver.

 

 

Infernal

 

Infernal is a master of demon binding and summoning. He comes from an alternate Earth where his order binds demons to their armor and weapons. He’s been in the same armor for years now. As a gift for her close friend, Numina had new armor custom made for Infernal.

 

 

Luminary

 

The original Luminary was a man. When he retired Positron presented him and his wife an Andriod who was modelled after her with powers similar to his. In the near decade she has been activated she has seen a lot of action. And though she was easy enough to repair the dents were really starting to show. With the help of Positron and her dear friend Citadel she was given a redesign.

 

 

Mynx

 

Mynx is the result of a Crey experiment and the aid of Synapse who helped her develop control over her new abilities. She has always been described as a girl, now she is all grown up and though she’s still fond of her old look she’s changed the shade of blue she wears while at the same time getting new ears and a tail.

 

 

Swan

 

Swan has been Manticore’s faithful sidekick ever since he saved her and offered her a chance to fight at his side. After having grown tired of being told that she practically looks naked for years now she’s decided it is time for a makeover. I also thought that she was a bit freakishly tall so I made her shorter. No story reason for that.

 

 

Valkyrie

 

Valkryie was once an archaeologist until she was injected with nanites and her personality was changed completely. She came to Paragon City to help her come to terms with who she is now. When she first started out her armor had to be bulky to stand up to the abuse she gives it in combat. Now though technologies have advanced and she doesn’t have to wear all the heavy armor she once did to get the same protection. Once again, like with Swan I felt she was a bit freakishly tall so I made her a bit shorter.

 

 

Woodsman

 

The Woodsman is the conact for my favorite task in all of City of Heroes, the Eden Trial. He also happens to be one of my favorite heroes as far as costumes go. So when it came time to change him I didn’t want to change him too much. Though I did, like with the last two make him shorter.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my creations as much as I enjoyed making them. Who knows, maybe in the coming weeks I will do some more makeovers. When the winners of the actual competition are announced I will be featuring them. I think we can be expecting that in the next week or two.

Elsword Launches Phase 1 of 3 Phase Overhaul

Elsword Launches Phase 1 of 3 Phase Overhaul

 

 

This week, Kill3rCombo will launch the first of a three-phase overhaul of skills, gameplay balance, and dungeons for the free-to-play manga-inspired action MMORPG Elsword. All players will have their skill builds reset for free as part of the massive rebalancing, offering a rare opportunity to try an entirely different character build without the need to start a new character.

 

 

The “Elsword Awakened” rebalance introduces new skills for every character and reorders skill trees to add additional depth and strategy to player-versus-player (PvP) combat, while making progression in player-versus-environment (PvE) content smoother and more fun.

 

 

PvP fans will discover that their characters have new combos and new PvP titles. In addition, the matching system has been revamped to provide better PvP battles. PvE players will also see major improvements. The quest system has been overhauled to give players a deeper storyline and a more immersive experience, fulfilling Elsword’s goal of letting gamers “play their Manga.”

 

 

The remaining two phases of “Elsword Awakened” will take place in September, revamping and adding to new content to the dungeons.

A Day in the Life of Allods’ Community Manager

A Day in the Life of Allods’ Community Manager

By PioPico, gPotato Representative

 
Greetings! I’m PioPico, a community manager for Allods Online, and I’m the one that creates these cool blog entries for your viewing pleasure. Past blog entries we have shared with you have revolved around going in depth on new in-game features. I wanted to add some variety to this week’s blog entry by providing you with something more personal and light-hearted. I’m going to share what a typical day is like for your Allods community manager. Also throughout this blog I’ll share some fun pictures taken from past events I’ve done with the Allods community.

 

 

A player challenged me to listen to a Pikachu song loop for 10 hours on YouTube. I completed the challenge and in the end, I did not receive the hand-drawn picture of Pikachu in a tuxedo that I was promised. However, I did experience bleeding ears and a cool story that I could share.

 

 
I start off my morning by checking emails from my fellow Allods teammates – Condulus and Shockpix – for any important announcements or tasks they need me to do. From there, I check the forums to see what new discussions the community has created throughout the previous night. It’s great to see how helpful the community is with answering each other’s questions about the game and just generally being active with feedback. And no gaming community would be complete without its fair share of troll posts so those get sent to the garbage bin 😉

 

 
As publishers, one of our main responsibilities is to review community feedback regarding the game and share the feedback with the developers. While some people email their suggestions to our team, most of the feedback is posted on our forums. Besides reading discussions on the forums and replying back with our thoughts on the topic, we compile the feedback and bug reports to bring to the developer’s attention.

 

 
I also check and reply back to all private messages sent to me on the forums, although 50% of them are requests for help with issues in the game where I refer them to submit a support ticket. We want to be consistent and make sure we don’t miss everyone who needs help. While I understand it may be easier to send a forum message to a GM requesting help, there is no tracking system with our forums so resolving issues through an official support ticket is the way to go!

One of the most memorable events is we had players record themselves copying dance moves from characters in Allods Online. Condulus and I showed our Allods pride where we created a video that showed our dance moves to promote the event. You can check out the dance video below.

 

 
One thing we pride ourselves with is a quick turnaround for the customer support tickets sent in. It’s a responsibility that is shared amongst our entire team. I’ll start off by checking how many new tickets we currently have in our inbox as well as tickets that I am currently in communication with for some players. I’ll always make sure I respond back to players I’ve already been in contact with first since their inquiry was reported at an earlier time. Responding back to customer support tickets isn’t a one-time deal and neglected for the rest of the day either. It’s something that we check throughout the day, so if there are not too many tickets sent in and we’re in effective beast mode, it’s possible you may get a response within the hour!

 

 
During my lunch break is also when I’ll check out my Facebook account that I created for my GM alias – PioPico. Facebook is a great way to reach out to people so I created the account earlier this year as another method to get to know the Allods community on a more personal level. You’ll often see me posting random pictures from IRL and random informal shenanigans. It’s a place for me to goof around and be sillier.

This is a picture from one of our many maintenance games that we host every week. This picture was an example for a scavenger hunt where we told players a letter and they needed to take a picture of an object in real life that starts with that letter.

 

 
Something that doesn’t happen on a daily basis but is one of my main roles is planning events. I try to come up with a diverse amount of events for the forums, Facebook, or in the game. The amount of events we plan often depends on the workload of other projects that take priority, such as getting ready for a patch update with new content. Fortunately, our other community manager Shockpix is a champ at handling the game’s localization, the bulk of our workload for new patch updates.

 

 
Going back to events, I’ll create a schedule a month in advance of the events we’ll run for the community. Most of the contests I plan for the forums or Facebook reward winners with Premium Crystals, a form of Item Shop currency that players use to purchase items from our Item Shop. Events in the game offer more variety though, giving anything from in-game items, global bonuses (increased experience, increased monster drops), or even just a chance to hang out with the GMs with blinding fireworks and snowball-in-your-face fun! These types of events are important for a happy community since it brings added entertainment to the game. It makes the community’s ingame experience that much more special while allowing me to express my creativity in a virtual space.

 

 
However, bigger events that require more coordination such as login events or real life prize giveaways is something the whole Allods team brainstorms together. Those types of events will always have set-in-stone dates for the best execution and positive feedback from the community.

Since event planning requires a creative mindset, I prefer to plan future events outside of the office. I like to plan events over a drink or snack at a coffee, boba, or smoothie place.

 

 
The day continues until about 6:30 PM when I typically leave the office for personal activities. There are some issues that can only be resolved by meeting players while they are logged in the game, so I’ll plan to stay later in order to meet up with some players who may be living in time zones that are outside of our active hours of operation. I just wish there were more hours in a day to respond back to everyone in the community before the day comes to an end.

 

 
The tasks I covered are the bread-and-butter that define my role as a community manager. There are other projects I work on that may not occur on a daily basis, such as writing these blog entries, but the variety of tasks available are one of the wonders of being in this position. It’s all about customer service and keeping the community cool. Being a community manager is never dull as each day brings in new challenges and situations, often bringing a smile to my face in the form of a “thank you” from a member of our community. From my time spent as a community manager, I understand that the more you give, the more you get.

WoW Wednesday – The Launch of Meh (5.0.4)

WoW Wednesday-The Launch of Meh (5.0.4)

By Meredith Watson, OnRPG WoW Reporter

 

 

 

Patch 5.0.4 was released yesterday, August 28th, in the US and this morning, August 29th, in the EU to mixed reviews.  After waiting most of the day due to extended maintenance for the US ( Blizzard clearly found the problem and had EU up by around 11am) the overriding theme was one of “meh”. It seems as if everyone is just a bit blasé about the whole thing.  Even Blizzard couldn’t be bothered to name the patch. It is just 5.0.4. Meh.

 

 

The forums and even twitter are awash with comments on the patch and how classes are broken or classes are over powered. There seems to be a common feeling in that the new talents are meaningless and quite often PvP focused.   Normally though the official forums are all up in arms come any sort of messing about with the classes.  Not so today. It does feel as some are making a half-hearted attempt to stir up trouble but gone are the heated debates it seems.

 

 

It isn’t all bad though. One of the major changes is the account wide mounts, pets and achievements. I was personally looking forward to this as I have been playing since the beginning and have characters that have since retired but had acquired some nifty mounts or achievements. It is good to see those things now on characters I am currently playing.  It was a bit shocking to see how many pets I actually had given; I’ve never considered myself a collector.  It is interesting to note that duplicates of certain pets do show in the pet tab meaning you can fight with all of the duplicates.  Speaking of the Pet Battle system, it isn’t live but will be introduced with Mists of Pandaria.  I have already been building my teams in anticipation.

 

 

Feats of Strength are also account wide now.  I do like this if for no other reason than bragging rights.  Upon logging in this morning I was awarded two new Feats of Strength for pre-purchasing the digital deluxe edition of Mists of Pandaria with the Imperial Quilen Mount and Quilen pet.

 

 

There are quite a few class changes. Whether or not they are good or bad is up to the player to decide.  I didn’t like the fact that rogue off hands were normalized meaning it no longer matters if you have a fast offhand and slow main hand which used to be the old compensation.  It was a thing that rogues knew. Okay, it was a thing good rogues knew. I would like to say I do like the using of poisons now as a buff versus applying to the weapon. However, I will miss the green poison effect dripping off my blades.  Rogues, remember when we had to make our poisons? We’ve come a long way.

 

 

Gone are the days of the melee hunter much to everyone’s relief no doubt.  The ranged weapon slot has been removed so now the hunters bow or rifle will go in the main hand slot.  This goes for all classes. Casters will no longer be able to equip wands in the ranged slot but will be able to in their main hand.

 

 

The Battle of Theramore event is supposed to be live the week before Mists of Pandaria is and at this point I am not holding out much hope for anything particularly epic.  I want it so badly to feel like the Dark Portal opening event,  Ahn’Qiraj event, or the Sunwell event. I have a sneaky suspicion the Battle of Theramore will be equally as lacklustre as the Wrath of the Lich King event or the Cataclysm event.

 

 

Blizzard has always been rather unapologetic when it comes to their game. From downtime to nerfs, it has always been their way or the highway but it does feel as if they are ceasing to care about their game and to a degree, us, the community. Or maybe, like the rest of us, Blizzard just feels a bit “meh” about the Mists of Pandaria.

 

Gamescom 2012: C9 and Arctic Combat

Gamescom 2012: C9 and Arctic Combat

By Shannon and Jonathan Doyle, OnRPG Journalists

 

 

 

While at Gamescom we got the chance to meet with a few people from Webzen. You may know them for games like Continent of the Ninth Seal (C9) which released earlier this year and Arctic Combat which is currently in beta. During our meeting we got to hear about upcoming plans, learn a bit more about both those games and we even got to play them for a bit. This was the first time I had played C9 and while I was playing it Ardua was trying out Arctic Combat for the first time.

 

Before I get into the plans coming up for C9 I feel like I should talk about it a little bit. It is a beautiful 3D fantasy, action MMORPG which was developed by Cloud 9 Studios and is published globally by Webzen (though it is also published by several other groups in Asia to allow for the best localization possible). There are 13 unique classes which fall under four base classes.

Fighter: Warrior, Blademaster, Guardian, Berserker
Hunter: Assassin, Scout, Ranger, Shadow
Shaman: Elementalist, Illusionist, Taoist
Witchblade: Warden, Slayer

It has both pve, which is what I tried out and pvp elements. In the pvp experience there are several modes to choose from. They include, Teammatch, Deathmatch, Relay and Ranking Matches. There are also competitive pvp tournaments. The EU championship was held at Gamescom. The tournament in North America will be coming up in October and the World Championship will be held at G-Star in Korea at the start of November.

 

Combat is very free compared to other games. You don’t have to have a target selected. There are combo skills which are a ton of fun to play with as well as being visually amazing. Speed is an important part of combat. And best of all if you find the keyboard/mouse combination to be a bit awkward C9 does support joypads.

 

So! I said there were some things upcoming! I didn’t lie. Scheduled for release on September 5th is the first major update to C9. It’s being called 4th Continent and will introduce the ancient city Okapia. The level cap is going to be raised from 50 to 57. New content includes a lottery system which gives you a chance to win unique items from killing monsters. There will also be a skill book which will allow you to upgrade skills. On September 19th comes a new class update. These dates are of course subject to change, but keep your eyes out for news on them in my daily news article Shotgun News.

 

I had a fantastic time trying out C9. And though I wouldn’t take part in the pvp aspects of the game because I’m just not competitive enough I could easily see myself playing the pve aspects of the game. Even if the critters are sometimes just too cute to kill. Keep an eye on OnRPG’s giveaway page as we’ll soon have access codes to get you into the 4th continent beta test.

 

At the same time as Leliah was coming to terms with killing cute things, I got to grips with Arctic Combat and killing not so cute things. Well unless grizzled soldiers are your sort of thing.

 

Based upon the Unreal Engine and set in, you guessed it, an arctic setting, Arctic Combat is a team based shooter aimed at pretty much everyone. Arctic Combat is free to play and has recently begun its closed beta in Europe inviting people in to the frozen tundra to do battle as either the Red Star Alliance or the Allied Forces.

 

 

Naturally enough in such a team and clan based game the focus is on player versus player but there are pve elements available for play against challenging AI opponents. I can say that with complete certainty because well… it actually took me a minute to realize I wasn’t playing against players. Maybe that’s why I actually managed to pull off some of my more noob antics…

 

Either way while Leliah slaughtered her way through fantasy, I took aim in Webzens realistic setting. Want to call down an airstrike? Want to bring in UAV support? Want to modify your weapons and have your pick of a skill system that’ll be sure to spice things up? You want to head north then, find your way into snowy wastes and grab your favourite skin from the cash shop. Of course OnRPG has keys to get you there as well so don’t miss out.

 

No matter if you are fighting on a fantastic distant continent or merely in a near future frozen wasteland, WEBZEN were more than happy to guide us through and let us play in some very engaging and very enjoyable games.

Gamescom 2012: Dust 514 – Immortality has a Price

Gamescom 2012: Dust 514 – Immortality has a Price

 By Jonathan Doyle (Ardua), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Not every massively multiplayer experience is limited to a PC. Consoles are playing a greater role in bringing people together in ways that typically would have been those limited to PC gamers.

 

 

Having brought us space to be conquered on the PC, CCP Games is branching into new territory. It is bringing a massive shooter experience to Playstation 3.

 

 

For those who do not know, this is DUST 514.

 

 

War Without End

The beauty of science fiction is that it can be used to explore a broad range of concepts. Morality, legality, the future, hope, fear. You can cover all of those in a spaceship and laser gun package and dissect them once a week to world acclaim.

 

 

The beauty of science fiction games is when they have a beautifully realized world, half of the work is done for you.

 

 

Worried about the amount of arenas available to you in your favourite shooter? The New Eden cluster has hundreds of stars and thousands of options.

 

 

Are you the type of person to demand a modicum of realism from your games? Being shot in the head by an advanced laser or futuristic shotgun is no longer an impediment to waging war seamlessly. The same rationale and technology behind the deep world of EVE Online has been applied to DUST 514 to not just explain the shooter but to give it meaning.

 

 

There is war amongst the stars, war without end and most importantly a war you can affect.

 

 

Two Methods, One World

Interested players already know that the worlds of DUST 514 and EVE Online are on in the same. Specifically while PC gamers spend their time warping around New Eden and laying waste to one another in losec space, Playstation 3 gamers will be fighting it out on the worlds dotted throughout those voids. There will be market links between the two allowing material to flow between players of either game. More importantly, as the wars wage and as players claw out territory, EVE players can support mercenaries on the ground with orbital bombardment.

 

 

Been turned into plasma and itching for payback? You can turn the tables and fire back at those spaceships hindering you and helping the opposing force.

 

 

My Experience

Admittedly, and sadly, my experiences with DUST 514 were limited. Not for any failing on the part of the game, there’s just so much to see and get done at Gamescom that both the time of interviewers and developers is limited. What I did play? Very engaging. Each instance is a 24vs24 battle that quickly turns brutal, or at least it did for me. There were reports of a clan of players so eager to get to grips with DUST 514 they kept lining back up to play together.

 

 

I fought tanks and fought with them. I had the pleasure of having my clone brains scattered around the landscape on more than one occasion and yearning to repay the favour. One thing that I rather enjoyed? In the lore of the game and in the actual gameplay, some vehicles are capable of spawning troops. That drop ship buzzing the complex? You better take it down quick or the guy you just sniped may well respawn on it even as it bobs and weaves through the air. Just to make your life worse, he’ll even be able to fire its guns if no one else is covering them.

 

 

I came away from the CCP booth a little disappointed honestly. Once again, not because of any failing on their part, but this time on mine. I don’t own a Playstation 3. I can’t jump into the mercenary war. Not right away anyway. I can’t get my hands on a Playstation Move and mount it on a rifle body (DUST 514 is move enabled and this is something that you could play with on the show floor) to mow down players. For now, I’ll have to content myself with EVE, with the knowledge that whenever I do get my hands on a Playstation that DUST 514 is free and waiting for me to jump into and finally with the work of one Tony Gonzales.

 

 

Templar One, like The Empyrean Age is CCPs reminder that their universe is out to suck you in. It’s on our PCs, it’s on our consoles and it’s in our books. The best part about a world like what they are offering?

 

 

You’re more than willing to be sucked in.

Otherland’s First Beta Begins Friday

The first beta weekend for Otherland begins on August 31, 2012

 

 

Otherland

 

 

The weekend of August 31-September 2, 2012 should be marked in red on the calendar for all fans of the action MMORPG, Otherland. On these days a chosen few players will get the first chance to test the beta version of the game.

 

 

Florian Hörpel, Product Manager for Otherland.: “A small, manageable group of accounts will be given access to the servers for the first closed-beta weekend. This is because we want to get a feel for the limits of the systems.”

 

 

In the meantime, the development of Otherland is coming along in leaps and bounds. A short while ago an additional simulation, called Five Isle, was presented which is based on the five Chinese elements. Tad Williams, bestselling author of the Otherland novels, makes his first appearance in the video and talks about his vision of Otherland and the enormous freedom offered by the game.

 

 

Participants of the first beta weekend for Otherland will be informed via e-mail.

OnRPG Shotgun News 8/29: Ran Online, WoW, FireFall, and much more!

OnRPG Shotgun News 8/29: Ran Online, Otherland, FireFall, and much more!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Tribal Wars Summer Championship Is On

 

The qualifications round of Tribal Wars’ Summer Games Championship is over. 75 tribes are moving ahead into the final round. The competition picks up again on September 4th when players compete for ipads, phones and titles. It is expected to take nearly two months before the grand finale will be held.

 

 

Ran Online Reveals New PvP Optimized Assassin Class

Ran Online has revealed details of its new Assassin class which has been optimized for PvP play. They are able to hide and teleport as well as turn themselves into animals for faster movement. They also have a skill called Crowd Control which is specially designed for group PvP combat situations. The update featuring the new class is expected on September 27th.

 

 

WoW Has Pre Expansion Patch

World of Warcraft is getting ready to go full on Panda. A pre expansion patch has been released in preparation of Mists of Pandaria which releases September 25th. The patch includes updates to achievements, pets, and mounts, the introduction of AoE looting, BattleTag support, class changes, some currency conversion, and so much more! For more details check out the patch notes on the World of Warcraft website.

 

 

Free Realms to Show Off Sunstone Valley On Twitch.tv

 

Free Realms Producer Harvey Burgess is getting together with designers Eric Hankins and Christ Fritchoff to show off a never before seen zone. The reveal will be broadcast live on Twitch.tv this Thursday at 4 PDT. They will also be sharing a few more changes that have been made to Free Realms. Be sure to show up on time as the broadcast is only expected to last for 15 minutes.

 

 

Zynga Chief Creative Officer Leaves to Start His Own Company

Mike Verdu has announced that he is leaving Zynga to form his own as yet unnamed mobile game studio. This comes less than a month after Zynga’s then COO John Schappert left the studio. Verdu has stressed that his departure is an amicable one and that Zynga will be investing in the new company.

 

 

Firefall Reveals Special Deals for Founders

Firefall has revealed a specials Founders Package which will be made available for the first time at PAX. In addition over the PAX weekend, (that’s this weekend) there will be a discount on the Founders Packages. And if you buy your package at PAX you’ll get your very own Merch pet. After PAX the packages will be available for a short time at the standard price. For all the details please see the following video.

 

 

 

Gamescom 2012: World of Warplanes

Gamescom 2012: World of Warplanes

By Jonathan Doyle (Ardua), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

The Wargaming.net booth in the Gamescom Business area is as brimming with interviewers as the booth is on the show floor, showing off what we’ve come to talk to them about.

 

 

It’s time to take to the skies and get airborne with World of Warplanes.

 

 

The Golden Age

I admit being a huge fan of the technology of World War II. The arms race of our world brought technological changes that can easily be felt the world over. I have heard about the battles in the air, the planes used and dreamed of. I have watched weathered old men recount the terror and glory of flying those glorious machines into danger time and time again.

 

 

Respect should and has been rightly heaped upon those who flew these missions across battlefields.

 

 

Obviously a video game can and in some cases does deal with moral questions, that isn’t why we’re here though. Wargaming.net has captured the glory of flight. The exhilaration of the chase in three dimensions and the chaos and confusion that is a dogfight.

 

 

What they’re offering you and I is nothing less than the golden age of aviation. The whole gamut of planes from rickety looking 1930s Red Baron-esque biplanes to early Korean War jet fighters. Not content to merely pick from what did fly, we’re also getting what may have flown. What would have flown, had the projects seen the light of day or their turn on the construction lines.

 

 

There is love apparent in every plane I am shown, every modification and variant sitting in a hanger. World of Tanks players are almost certainly nodding and smiling, knowing what I am talking about, but at the time I admit I was unprepared to see just how faithfully and fantastically the planes have been recreated.

 

 

Getting in the Cockpit

Eager to get into the air? Eager to get to grips with the enemy team and bring them down one at a time? Well everything I saw says that that will be quick, easy and entirely fulfilling.

 

 

During the presentation the preset system was shown to me for pilots who are ready to go right now. Want to switch out your engines and weapons? Just a click away. Want to get a nice rounded package to fit in? Push of a button.

 

 

For others though, there will be every chance and option for them to drill down into the bones of the game and really experiment with different engines, wing configurations, weaponry and so on.

 

 

Everything comes with a cost of course, one that may not be immediately apparent to you sitting pretty in the sky. Oh, didn’t we mention that? No tedious takeoff and landing. No long slogs to get to grips with the other guy. You will start in the air and ready to go once you’ve picked all your gear.

 

 

The cost though, the cost is very very real. Every plane was not created equal; if they were wars would have been fought by heavily armored, super nimble, bristling with guns and packed with bombs superfighters. Thankfully not here. The dream planes may have made it in, but what they can do, or what any plane can do for that matter, is still grounded in reality.

 

 

Bombing Runs!

Specifically, if you want a nimble dogfighter? Leave the bomb payloads at home. If you want to cover those nimble souls darting into knife fighting range in the air? Well there’s always ground targets to consider and for that you’ll need bombs. Heavy bombs, leading to a slower sluggish bomber. These are the decisions that await you and the team. Want those anti-air towers gone? Someone will have to do a bombing run. It’s this little pve component that adds something more to the battles in the air.

 

 

Ground is such an important feature, after all we all need scenery to admire and to make use of, not just endless blue expanses. To that end the combat ceiling has been lowered from where it would have been historically to mix in the added spice of ground targets and a nice dash of strategy.

 

 

They Came Outta The Sun

Wargaming.net really are very very good at their jobs. So are their consultants and historians. It’s not all just fly at the other guy and spam you know. Originally, in earlier builds of the game, there was an ammo count to avoid precisely that behaviour. After extensive CB testing they switched to admittedly unrealistic bottomless magazines. Instead of a hard limit they went with a heat system. Spam the guns too much wasting your shots chasing a guy when you should be leading the target? The guns will overheat and you’ll need to let them cool off a touch before you can bring the weight of fire again.

 

 

It’s not just guns though, the environment adds as much to the strategy of the game as a pilot’s configuration does.

 

 

You’ve seen exactly the moments they’ve thought of and provided. Want a little edge on that unsuspecting USSR fighter? Climb high and come out of the sun. Glare will hide you. Some tough as nails and damnably irritating Japanese dog fighter on your tail? Take him into the clouds and lose him. Think you’re a hot shot and the other guy isn’t? Drop to the floor and see who can hug the ground better. Just watch out for those towers that your friends really should have been bombing before you decided to duck under a bridge (entirely do-able in game) to get the other guy to crash.

 

 

Get Airborne.

I could go on and on about how fun it was to watch the dogfights. I could spend ages waxing lyrical about the glory of the visuals or the tense feeling I got every time we dived right down to the ground. I wish I could show you just how close you can get to the other guy before you clip his wings and send him down in flames. To be honest though, the proof of this pudding is in the eating. There’s no other way to really get it across to you what it’s like. So I implore you, fire up the engine, clear the tower. We’re all needed in the air, and may the ballsiest win.