Yearly Archives: 2012

TERA Online Releases Argon Queen Update

TERA Online Releases Argon Queen Update

 

 

En Masse Entertainment, the company behind the highly acclaimed action MMO TERA, is pleased to announce the game’s all-new Argon Queen update is now live and available free of charge to players. The update adds significant high-level content to the game, including several new dungeons, the highly anticipated PvP battlegrounds, new character abilities and much more. A new video showcasing the Manaya’s Core dungeon demonstrates just how intense end-game BAM battles can be.

 

 

In the lair of the sinister argon queen, players will invade Manaya’s Core to confront the queen in an epic battle that will take both might and skill to survive. In addition to the Manaya’s Core dungeon, two new dungeons—Sirkuja Gallery and Argon Corpus—will be revealed with the update, as well as an expanded 20-person raid in the Nexus Traverse. Warrior and lancer classes receive new abilities as well as lancers receiving a new defensive skill oriented resource bar, and the ruthless PvP battlegrounds, in which players compete against each other across servers in action-packed 15-on-15 clashes, are making their debut.

 

 

After playing briefly last night I can say the new resource system and skills have completely changed the way I play Lancer. The towns were also incredibly populated with people testing out the new battlegrounds, though I haven’t given them a try yet.

Diablo III Introduces Paragon System as part of Patch 1.0.4

Diablo III Introduces Paragon System as part of Patch 1.0.4

 

 

In an attempt to improve end-game content, Blizzard Entertainment has announced a new Paragon Leveling System to be released along with Diablo III‘s Patch 1.0.4. Through this system players will be able to gain Paragon Levels once capped at at the max base level. Paragon Levels offer core stat boosts, an increased % chance for magic-find and gold-find, as well as a stylized portrait that improves every 10 Paragon Levels (with a max of 100 Paragon Levels) so you can rub your elite status in the faces of those less veteran than yourself.

 

 

“The whole team really banded together to get as much great stuff into this patch as possible,” stated Jay Wilson, Game Director for Diablo III. “With the Paragon System in place we’re capping Magic Find and Gold Find to 300%.”

 

 

This barely scratches the surface of this massive patch. To read the full details see Jay’s full post at Battle.net.

Gamescom 2012 Day Three/Four Roundup!

Gamescom 2012 Days 3 and 4 Roundup!

By Jonathan Doyle (Ardua), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

Gamescom is an experience. There’s no other real way to say it.

 

 

I thought it was busy on the Press day. I thought it was packed on the others. The weekend was something an order of magnitude busier.

 

 

Across Saturday and Sunday for both Shannon (Leliah) and myself it was a blur of fantastic booths, noise and lights.

 

 

Raiderz and Aion kept up the insanity previously recorded constantly pumping out music, giveaways and drawing crowds to experience Raiderz on the floor. They really set the stage, literally, with cosplayers and crowd pleasing.

 

 

Red 5 and Firefall were everywhere across the convention and had a fantastic looking booth waiting to draw people in to try out the beta.

 

 

All the other games you might think of there were out in force. Trion Worlds kept the crowd entertained with Storm Legion demos, playable End of Nations and more. Warface extended their presence into another hall in an excellently appointed helicopter set up while Defiance squared off against Call of Duty and Sim City.

 

 

Not to be outdone by anyone, World of Warcraft drew large crowds to watch their various orchestral pieces and the ever popular dance competitions. Pretty girls doing the elf dances are good, but you just can’t beat an enthusiastic guy Hammer Timing like crazy. You can also take it from me that that’s the best time to try Mists of Pandaria while everyone is distracted and enraptured.

 

 

Biowares The Old Republic eventually let other people in on the new reveal video that we got our exclusive sneak peak of at the community party. For anyone who missed that news, new planet, new raids, new race and new pvp. You will not be disappointed by the efforts of the team on this one.

 

 

Being mostly concerned with online games is a saving grace for me, there were plenty of console titles around and about but online games clearly took the show for me.

 

 

It’s not all just games though; attendees could expect to be entertained by a rather popular cosplay village in Hall 10.1 and retro gaming exhibit in 10.2. Not enough? Indoor carting and biking as well as bike and skateboard competitions. For my first convention I must admit I was rather impressed that it wasn’t all just games and merchandise but people having fun in a vast number of ways.

 

 

It was nothing less than an experience, admittedly at times an exhausting one due to the heat and a mystifying one on occasion. E-sports is a huge thing, but I never really understood until I came across the masses staring adoringly at League of Legends and Starcraft up on the big screens. Next year… next year I may even be able to work out who I should get excited over. I say this because random German men escorted by a brace of security guards and hounded by hordes of fans… are a sight to see, even if no one can quite tell me who he was.

 

 

OnRPG’s Gamescom coverage has only begun though. Come back early tomorrow for my take on The Secret World’s showing, our Best of Gamescom Awards, and much more!

PAX Prime SCII Tournament Event Voting Begins!

PAX Prime SCII Tournament Event Voting Begins!

 

 

Yesterday we broke the news that Red Bull would be continuing their newly born legacy hosting North American Starcraft II tournaments with a new party at PAX Prime in Seattle. Today things heat up as voting has already begun on what kinds of dynamic events will be taking place during the competitions! If you missed yesterday’s article, a brief summary is that the shoutcasters and audience will be able to actually influence the outcome of the matches, and I don’t just mean by jeering and taunting the players. There will be dynamic events that evolve the map, change resources, rain fire from the sky, and so much more.

 

 

Now is your chance to be apart of Starcraft II history. Check out Red Bull’s site HERE and vote for your favorite dynamic events, then tune in online (or better yet, in person) from August 30th to September 1st to witness the results of your voting first hand.

Arctic Combat Starts First Closed Beta with Esports Tournaments

Arctic Combat Starts First Closed Beta with Esports Tournaments

 

Arctic Combat Closed Beta

 

WEBZEN Inc. announced the start of the closed beta for the online tactical FPS game, ‘ARCTIC COMBAT’ along with upcoming e-sports tournaments for North America and Europe.

 

 

From August 22 to September 9 (GST), Arctic Combat will have its first closed beta with regional tournaments for North America and Europe players. To participate in the closed beta, just grab a key at OnRPG or MMOHut and follow the instructions to get into the game. Each beta key will also allow you to invite 5 of your friends to stand beside you on the beta battlefield.

 

 

During the closed beta, Arctic Combat will continue the e-sports tournaments with the ‘Veterans League’. Regionals for North America will be sponsored through the Cyber Sports Network, while Europe regionals can be joined through ESL (Electronic Sports League). Later in November, each region finalists will be invited to compete at the World Champions Cup.

 

 

Jihun Lee, Head of Global Publishing, commented, “With the much interest and anticipation from the media and gamers across both continents, we are looking forward to the closed beta and tournaments. We hope many gamers will participate as we rely on their opinions and feedback to improve the game.”

Gamescom 2012: Trion’s RIFT

Gamescom 2012: Trion’s RIFT

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

The squee heard around the world. It was on Thursday, did you hear it? That was me, getting to see Storm Legion with my special host Adam Gershowitz the Senior Producer of RIFT. I started out waiting in a little waiting area where there were all sorts of people. Slowly, one by one all of Trion’s games were called and press who wanted to see them scurried into their rooms until there was only me. I was given a look and asked what game I was here for. The man seemed quite surprised to see someone waiting for RIFT. (End of Nations seems to be insanely popular in Europe.) As soon as I walked in the room and saw a Harbinger on the screen I squeed. It didn’t actually occur to me until after the meeting was over that I had met the Adam Gershowitz. But even then I was still so pumped I couldn’t stop smiling.

 

What was it that had me so excited? More than anything it was seeing Dimensions. As a roleplayer I adore the idea of player housing but since there was no information released I nearly had forgotten about it until I saw it. Dimensions are little chunks of Telara for players to make their own. I know there are a lot of questions about how it works and I tried to get as many answers as I could so I’m going to summarize them.

 

 

Dimensions are picked by the player out of a preset selection of locations from Telara. They had considered making it worldwide but ultimately the preset locations were easier to do and most people would all be wanting the same places anyway. So, you get your little plot o’ land and the building begins. Players will basically have access to anything the devs have. Fond of a particular lamp in Granite Falls? It’s most likely there. Not only is that lamp there, you can make it huge or tiny, rotate it every which way, and it can even float in mid air if you want. One thing they really hope to see is what players can make out of the various items instead of preset buildings.

 

 

Speaking of lamps you can play with the lamps making them brighter or dim to your liking giving you the ability to create unique areas with a variety of lighting options. Various special items can be used to bring weather to your Dimension as well as giving you day and night. Another thing they’ll be allowing is for people to own multiple Dimensions. You will be able to unlock Dimensions with Achievements and performing certain tasks. And if you decide to switch to the new Dimension you just got they’ll pack up all your things from your first Dimension and move them to the new one. Awfully nice of them, that really is the worst part of moving. So, how do you access these Dimensions? Well the owners of the Dimensions get keys which go in your inventory and allow the owners to access them from anywhere in the world. Friends and family can get special permission to enter and of course access will be made available from the main cities. I know already I’m going to get sucked in and not leave for a few months at the very least.

 

 

Some other information I learned during the presentation had to do with things that had already been announced. I just got a few more details on them. Like for instance we will be using the Infinity Gate. Or that awesome tusked mount we’ve seen will be for people who take advantage of the year’s subscription to RIFT and get Storm Legion free. That Colossi we saw during the first reveal breaking down a wall will actually be a repeating event on a timer of around 3 hours. So if that wall is up it is a safe bet that either someone is taking him out, someone failed before or a fight will be coming soon.

 

 

I also asked about Planar Attunement and what would be happening with it after the level cap. I learned that players will still earn towards Planar Attunement. It is a completely separate system from the 1-60 experience. The new zones are made so that a freshly dinged level 50 is just as able to play as someone who has filled their PA. This is fantastic news for me because I am so behind in my Planar Attunement.

 

 

 

Storm Legion is topping my Christmas wish list this year. And Christmas might be coming a bit early this year. If you buy a year long subscription to RIFT you will get Storm Legion free plus you get an awesome mount. If you already have a subscription like I do don’t worry, they stack! So go buy yourself another year of RIFT!

 

Retweet our twitter post for your shot at winning this bad boy! (the helm that is. Ardua sold separately)

 

One final note, we didn’t return from Gamescom empty handed. We’re going to be tweeting this article on OnRPG’s Official Twitter and anyone who retweets it will be entered into a drawing to win one of four of these bad ass helmets. You know you want it!

Gamescom 2012 Day Two Roundup!

Gamescom 2012 Day 2 Roundup!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

You may have logged in to find a round up of day 2 from Gamescom only to discover there wasn’t one. Well that would be because I was busy slacking off and rubbing elbows with the good folks at Trion. I know! I should have been writing this article for you guys. But would you be able to say no to free drinks, free food, the best views in the city and on top of all that devs from your favorite games just standing around chatting? No way! I’ll include a couple of photos from the party throughout the article so keep your eyes open. Before I got to party though I put work in. A ton of it.

 

 

It was the last day the business center would be open and that meant any one on one time I was going to get had to be then. And while I could tell you all about them I’m not going to. Not yet at least. The games have been awesome, the presentations have been practiced in the mirror more times than people care to remember and the passion for the games they’re a part of is high. I’ve had personal time with everything from C9 to Warface. As my last day of meetings before I could begin enjoying the conference with everyone else I got to see the likes of Neverwinter and Age of Wulin. I won’t go into too much detail on them now, just enough to say they’re awesome.

 

What time I did get to spend on the floor yesterday was filled with insanely long lines for all the big titles. Well, all of them except Guild Wars 2 which wasn’t available to play.  The most popular of all the games seems to be League of Legends which has smartly avoided boxing people in and has a huge display for people to watch live matches on. Any hopes of ever reaching someone at Riot or the front of the crowd were crushed by the masses. We didn’t mind all that much though. Riot was on the same flight in, and we’re based in the same city. So I could see some studio harassment in the near future.

 

Something that Ardua failed to mention in the last roundup was the trouble with doors. Specifically what happens when you can’t get through a door fast enough after exiting an escalator. This happened at one of the main doors. A crowd of people had developed at the top, not enough people were getting through before more came. Eventually it was so full people had to start walking in place on the escalator. Thankfully someone thought to shut off the escalator before anyone got hurt. In another section of the convention center a door leading to the cosplay and indoor sports area was closed off for seemingly no reason. The escalator leading up to the door was stopped and the giant shutters came down over the door. It only lasted for a minute before it was open again but it certainly lead to a lot of confusion.

 

Despite the little hiccups this is shaping up to be a fantastic time. I can’t wait to get out on the floor and give some of the games a try.

Sevencore Early Look Pt 2 – Gameplay and Features

Sevencore Early Look Pt 2 – Gameplay and Features

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

 

Get your game face on fellow underweight gamer geeks sitting around in your boxers. It’s go time!

 

 

For those that missed my weekend article, I introduced the basic ideas behind gPotato’s upcoming SciFi Fantasy title for 2012, Sevencore. That of course was just scratching the surface as I have plenty to tell about this title catered towards organized MMORPG PvP enthusiasts.

 

 

For those that see the world PvP centric title and cringe at the thought of griefers and gankers riding their back for the first 20 hours of gameplay, Sevencore isn’t a title that’s going to scare you away. In fact most of the open world PvP is based around guild systems so you can always go factionless to avoid the drama all together. Of course I wouldn’t advise it as the guild community is a massive part of the overall experience in Sevencore as I’ll now explain.

 

 

The Guild, Politics, and Power

Guilds take on a much more organic and evolving form in Sevencore than most titles of its kind. For one guilds can level up and grow in a manner not far separated from the concepts of an RTS. To explain this I must first introduce “The Turns” System.

 

Helpful Paint Arrow not included

 

As players spend time in Sevencore, they will slowly unlock “Turns” that allow them to roll RNG-based dice in order to win unique items (with the rare occasion of cash shop items being given). In addition to these fun freebies you also contribute experience points to your faction each time you take a Turn Roll on your character while in the guild.

 

 

Now the RTS element comes into play by offering guild masters one of two options for how to spend their guild experience. Each time the guild levels up, they can choose to expand the maximum capacity of the guild by 10 players (up to a maximum of 100 player capacity at guild level 10). However they can also purchase powerful passive bonuses for all members of their guild that will give members an one-up over non-guild members in various stats and playstyles of the guild masters’ choosing.

 

 

This seemingly simple choice becomes quite complex for anyone who knows what’s involved with managing a faction in a competitive PvP MMORPG as factions with more passives are more likely to attract new members with the lure of power while guilds that recruit too many members at one time will be forced to spend their experience on leveling their faction to accommodate more members rather than upping passive bonuses. In the end it becomes a give and take between getting a strong tight knit faction early or settling for a more basic large faction in the hope that the increased member count allows you to accumulate guild experience at a faster rate.

 

 

Now in terms of open world PvP, factions can take part in an autoflagging war feature if your guild and a rival faction agree to sign a war pact. While this has been seen countless times before, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they will also have faction alliances implemented at launch, allowing you to request help in a guild war from an ally faction so that they too can join into the open world battle without suffering PvP penalties if they see someone from your faction under attack.

 

 

This competitive guild system is perfectly complemented by the territory war system in which the five major regions available at launch will be up for grabs via weekly guild wars (which I’ll expand upon more later). The owners of these regions will gain immense prestige for their position as well as the ability to set tax rates on their local towns as well as prices on goods unique to each region. However this system bases territory ownership entirely on power and tactical prowess rather than popular opinion. How can a server hope to fight against the tyranny of the infamous no-lifer power players once united?

 

 

The answer to this lies in the continental presidency vote where in the leaders of the five regions converge to decide on one of the governors to rise up as the president of the entire continent. This president is able to cast restrictions on the governors to block unwanted policies from being enacted on their continent. So ideally if a server wants to protect its rights, they must rally behind the power player factions that hold similar interests and push to try to get a majority of likeminded factions into regional control so they can stack the presidential vote in their favor. I can’t tell you how excited this system has me for the forum drama this game is likely to generate once live.

 

A More Involved, Tactical Guild War

Imagine you’re at the launch of Sevencore. An announcement is made and the first round of regional governors is called upon. Various factions throw their hat into the ring and the first circle of rulers is selected at random. The time begins to train your troops, prepare your elite members, and decide on battle formations and tactics as in one week the first real test of PvP will begin for your guild. This is it. Your success in the following week can make or break the success of your faction for months to come. This pressure of course has been felt in plenty of MMORPGs before now. Sevencore ups it to the next level with the introduction of Battle Points.

 

 

GvG battles in Sevencore are not massive zergs as the recent trend of MMORPGs have aimed for trying to outdo each other on the maximum number of players they can throw onto a single instanced battlefield. Instead they limit you to only bringing 20 members, exactly 1/5th of the population of your maximum capacity faction. Of the 20 members you assign to the battle squad, you can choose a Commander (responsible for assigning the 20 members and spending Battle Points) as well as the Command Officer (who can also assign Battle Points should the Commander find himself predisposed).

 

 

As objectives are taken and kills are scored during the battle, these commanders can spend battle points to unlock unique skills, special GvG only mounts, and other powerful bonuses to sway the battle in their favor. Is the enemy overwhelming you with air superiority mounts? Summon a unique GvG dragon and take the fight to the skies after them! Need a defensive boost to get your dps fighters in range of the enemy staging point to deal a decisive blow? Use your Battle Points and make it happen. Raw power will just not be enough in Sevencore to ensure a victory on the territory war zones. Only true tacticians with powerful friends will be able to maintain control of a region for the long run. Although unconfirmed, I did hear a rumor that they may allow allied guilds to send members to fight for a friendly guild to help fill out their 20 fighters. This could add an entirely new element to the war system if it ends up being true. For now though it’s a wait and see on whether it makes it to the final version.

 

 

Gameplay and Impressions

So now that I’ve painted a pretty comprehensive picture of the concepts and features of Sevencore, the question remains… how does it play? My first contact with the title was the pet system, causing my PvP focused mind to immediately begin transitioning each word GM Vi offered into tactical decisions. Competitive contact with another player will never be a simple point and click affair.

 

 

First off you can expect an opponent to bring 18 hotkeyed skills at you from the start before we even include the pet system. If you’re facing a hybrid character things could get even less predictable as hotkey swapping weapons could rapidly change your opponent’s fighting style on the fly. For instance a magic might CC and deal hefty damage to your with their staff as you attempt to get in range to level them. But once you do they could switch to a wand and begin a game of hit and run, attempting to outlast you and maintain their artillery advantage with dot spells unique to wand users only.

 

 

Enter the pet system! Just as you’re starting to acclimate to opponents utilizing multiple weapon styles against you, things get a bit trickier with the introduction of pet types and different modes that can be rapidly switched on the fly. Say you’re fighting that same mage and just when you get them on the ropes, they merge with their turtle mount and begin spamming potions while utilizing the merged turtle defensive bonuses to mitigate your damage!

 

 

On the reverse side, imagine trying to kite and escape a warrior with his raptor pet tracking and CCing you independently. Should you actually manage to escape him long enough to get off a devastating spell or two, he can hop onto his raptors back and chase you down then separate once in range and unleash a killing double team combo on you. GM Vi even demonstrated his wolf’s ability to split into multiple wolves to further overwhelm his opponent’s with pressure by numbers. Despite using standard point and click mechanics, gPotato has implemented enough on the fly decisions to keep battles incredibly dynamic. The decisions only grow as you throw more players into the fray each bringing unique builds, items, pets, and racial passives to the equation.

 

What is this? GMs never fight fair…

 

Beyond the PvP I found the towns to be quite complex and impressive. Although the skinning on the buildings weren’t exactly top notch, I was caught off guard with the fact that you can actually enter into buildings and shops in town. Beyond just being quest hubs, towns act as community builders with all the usual features including crafting centers, auction houses, and if you know where to look, risky black market merchants that can get you some unusual and rare goods if you’re willing to risk some RNG in your purchases. The crafting system seemed basic and simple and I believe the developers understood this as they’ve streamlined the system to make it easy for you to learn a craft so you can get the equips/consumables you want and get back into the action faster than some other recently released MMORPGs. Resources are broken up into three types and gathering ability levels separately for each one so at least dedicated crafters that put the time in will still be valuable contributors in a guild community… probably. You can never tell with these kinds of things until the economy develops after launch but I still have high hopes.

 

Delos City’s Black Market Manager Spotted!

 

PvE and Dungeons

The final piece of the puzzle shown to me during my press tour was the PvE and dungeon raids. Of course my first question was what are the driving factors behind PvE? One of the first features I stumbled across was an announcement that flashed after initiating a combination with my pet turtle. Various random and/or challenging events unlock titles that offer special stat boosts to further help differentiate who you are in the MMO world.

 

 

After mindlessly crushing a few of the weaker open world mobs and testing my class’ unique overdrive skill, I decided Sevencore feels just as you would expect a modern F2P MMORPG to feel (with quest monsters filling the holes between towns, occasional world bosses dotting the landscape, and diverse regional looks and regional monsters to keep things fresh). The raids on the other hand actually offer quite a bit of platforming adventure that takes the usual training wheels off.

 

 

Rather than invisible walls or flight giving you easy mode when battling on narrow bridges stretching over deep gorges with dangerous creatures waiting below, players can freely fall from these ledges, take fall damage, and then be forced to fight on their own to reunite with their party members. In the chaos of dodging monster skill shots, watching out for your person mana and hp and your pets hp and energy bars, and maintaining proper positioning, it was all too easy to take one wrong strafe step and tumble off these cliffs.

 

Watch your step, it’s a long way down!

 

Beyond this, the monsters seemed intelligent enough to not be fooled by more simple pulling techniques. Our group simply had to split our pet attacks with our own and maintain a balance of agro between mobs to push further into the dungeon. While in a tank and spank trinity title this might have been a simple exercise, but in Sevencore’s world that lacks a dedicated tank or healing class, you will find your team kiting, potion spamming, and carefully timing each shot to come out on top. It’s always difficult to get an exact feel for how tough a title’s PvE content is while on a preplanned press account, but I definitely felt more pressure than average.

 

 

This was even more apparent when I was suddenly thrown into my first boss battle. The foe we faced was a slow stalky looking monster that mostly focused on GM Vi’s warrior while the gPotato marketing manager’s mage and my gunner were safe to fire off round after round of dps heavy attacks into his back. Just as I started to relax and be lulled into a false sense of safety, pillars of fire erupted behind me and to both of my sides and the boss started to throw random aoe shots at me rather than focusing his full attention on GM Vi. These fire pillars not only hurt like hellfire but were able to move around at about 75% of my characters standard movement speed. At this point I realized the folly of bringing my tanky turtle pet with me on this battle as a faster dps pet could have offered me a ride to safety had the fire been too fast to escape from.

 

 

In the end we managed to barely take down the boss without any deaths though I won’t lie, I only survived with the help of the autopotting system. I’m not a fan of such systems but in the case of Sevencore I can see that the game is a bit overwhelming for newer players and you’ll be glad it’s there from time to time while learning the game. The part I did find nice about the autopot system is that you can control at what % both mana and hp pots for both yourself and your pet are activated, as well as have an easy to click icon next to each bar if you are facing a suddenly extreme situation and know you might very well lose half your life in one attack without the autopot feature ever kicking in.

 

 

Speaking of novice friendly features, try hitting F1 the first time you get into the game. Boom there is a manual level description of where everything is and what everything does. Possibly the best tooltip I’ve come across in an MMORPG to date.

 

 

Closing Thoughts

To be clear, my excitement for this title may not be shared uniformly across the MMO world. Players looking for more of a PvE raid focused title might not find Sevencore complete enough in its launch state to satisfy them. Players looking for mind blazing graphics may also not find Sevencore to meet their standards. But if you are a fan of instanced PvP mixed with open world PvP, community drama and politics, a detailed and crazy character customizer, and an intricately designed pet systems, then Sevencore’s design philosophy is catered towards you. I’ll leave by saying there weren’t many titles on my radar for the end of 2012 after the summer of blockbuster titles comes to a close, but after my brief taste of Sevencore I’ve decided to leave the client installed on my PC to see where this baby goes post-launch.