Monthly Archives: April 2013

Aeria Games Leaks News of Sword Art Online MMO

Aeria Games Leaks News of Sword Art Online MMO

 

 

Thanks to our close relations at Aeria Games, we’ve been granted an early glimpse at the plans behind the recent acquisition of Gamepot, and believe it or not, their first joint title is set to be none other than a F2P Sword Art Online MMORPG!

 

 

“This is a great milestone for Aeria,” said Lan Hoang, founder and CEO of Aeria Games. “Our acquisition of Gamepot was indeed a powerful strategic move to capitalize on this Japanese company’s unique design philosophy while gaining a powerful ally in increasing market share in Japan. With the simultaneous beta tests of Sword Art Online coming up in Japan and North America, we’re sure to see our largest launch to date.”

 

 

Although details remain scarce, our insider points out that many signature characters from the related Anime IP will be present in the game and controlled by GMs during set events. Characters will also unlock specific powers based on an extensive 300 question personality quiz given upon creation, some of which won’t surface until much later in the game (to prevent too much rerolling). Permadeath will be present and elements of sandbox city building are in the works. We look forward to bringing you more details on this surprise title of 2013 as they become available.

 

 

To stay up to date with the latest information be sure to like Sword Art Online on Facebook or the official site at Aeria Games.

A-Zac of The Killer Blob!

A-Zac of The Killer Blob!

By Jason Harper (Hhean), OnRPG League Reporter

 

 

Zac is a magic damage dealing bruiser who uses his own health to fuel his abilities. His ambush tactics and strong initiation are offset by his low damage output and suicidal resource mechanic. He could be put in either top or the jungle, but he’s likely going to see more play as a jungler than a laner. Given his kit isn’t too unusual for a bruiser, any player familiar with that archetype won’t find him hard to play. Anyone who enjoys the strong ambush play of Fiddlesticks in the jungle may also take a liking to his jungling style. They both will make you think “Now I’ll just wait in this brush until….. SURPRISE!”. Insert your own mad cackling where appropriate.

 

 

Pros:

Can be an absolute menace in team fights

Two gap closers, one of which has a very long range

One of his gap closers reaches into forever

Good sustain

His base health regen is so high it laughs in the face of Garen’s passive

Jungles well

 

 

Cons:

Can chunk down his own health bar quickly

Can’t move while charging his gap closer

His sustain can be easily stopped by both friend and foe

Very little hard crowd control

Much like Fiddlesticks, he needs to catch an enemy unawares to be effective

The 20% healing reduction on Dominion kills him dead

 

 

Ability Summary

 

Cell Division [Passive]: When Zac dies, he leaves four blobs behind. If any of them reach the spot where he died, he regains a portion of his health equal to the number of blobs that make it. Think of Anivia’s egg, but a good deal worse. AoE attacks mean Zac doesn’t stand a chance of ever making use of this ability, making it utterly useless in team fights, which are what the rest of his kit is built around. It does make him very hard to tower dive though, as few enemies are going to want to stick around under the newly buffed towers to finish him off.

 

 

When Zac hits an enemy with one of his abilities, Zac will drop a blob that will restore a percentage of his maximum health if he walks over it. These blobs will always fly out of a target at the opposite angle from the target hit, with a bit of randomised scatter. Think about them like Draven’s axes, but in reverse. If any other champion walks over the blob, be they friend or foe, it will be destroyed.

 

 

All of Zac’s abilities cost a percentage of his current health, so unlike other health cost characters like Vlad or Mundo, he cannot simply get a large health pool to make his costs negligible. Due to the difference between his current and maximum health though, he can slowly restore his health pool by spamming his abilities on a minion wave or jungle creep camp then collecting his blobs.

 

 

Due to the way his blobs always are hurled towards his opponent though, it very tough for Zac to regain his health in the lane, as an alert opponent will walk over his blobs if they don’t feel under threat. This unfortunately means that if Zac isn’t already in a dominant position in the lane, able to bully his enemy away from his health giving goop, he has only his natural health regeneration to fall back on. Even worse, given the nature of his health costs, an enemy is essentially dealing damage to Zac every time they prevent him from recovering his blobs, as the cost of his abilities are not recouped.

 

 

Stretching Strike [Q]: Short range skillshot that slows and damages the enemy. His best harassment tool in the lane. Its low cooldown means he can keep hammering an enemy every time he gets close, though they will frequently get his passive blobs before you due to its reach, so its costs are rarely recoverable.

 

 

Unstable Matter [W]: AoE nuke that centres on Zac with a short cooldown. Deals flat damage plus a portion of an enemy’s max health. Great for spamming during melee exchanges, and for clearing out jungle camps.

 

 

Elastic Slingshot [E]: Charged gap closer that deals AoE damage and applies a short knockback around where Zac lands. The longer Zac charges the ability, the further it can fire, but he cannot move while charging, and can only launch himself in a cone in front of himself. Cancelling the ability knocks off a portion of the cooldown and doesn’t cost him health. Unusually, levelling this ability increases its range, allowing Zac to gank enemies from extremely unusual spots. Due to the obvious nature of the ability, its best off being used in the brush or fog of war.

 

 

There are rare times when using Elastic Slingshot in the open can be a great idea though. One such use is when you’re on the chase. When your desired victim is trying to leg it, you have the option of charging up a leap while pursuing them. The charge will set you back a bit, but the ground you cover will be greater than simply running after them, plus you get a little bit of damage and that added knockback. If necessary, dropping an uncharged Elastic Slingshot on someone at point blank range can act as a quick interrupt.

 

 

As an escape, this is even more unreliable than Vi’s charged dash. While you only need to charge a very short while to get over a wall to safety, he becomes an easy target for any form of crowd control the enemy have to hand. While Zac is a burly guy who can handle a fair bit of punishment while he charges, he’s just as susceptible to a stun as everyone else.

 

 

Let’s Bounce [R]: Zac leaps into the air, then bounces four times. Each time Zac leaves the ground he deals damage, slows and knocks airborne all enemies around him. The knock up can only affect any enemy it hits once, in the same manner as Wukong’s ultimate. While airborne, Zac gains a movement speed boost, but cannot pass through walls and remains targetable, unlike other abilities that send a character into the air. He will gain a significant amount of crowd control reduction, and bonus resistances, making him a poor target during any teamfight he’s hopping into. During Let’s Bounce, Zac can still use Unstable Matter, but his other abilities are disabled. So spam Unstable Matter as much as possible while you’re bouncing about to be even more annoying! Spam! Spam! Slam those buttons like a hyperactive Ryze player on Red Bull.

 

 

It feels like Zac was built from the ground up to use this ultimate. A designer said “Hey, I’ve got this cool idea for an ultimate where a guy bounces all over the place, but I have no idea what sort of character would use it”. Someone replied “Goo guy,” and Zac was born.

 

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Combos & Shenanigans

In the lane, Zac will spend most of his time using Stretching Strike to harass his opponent, while also making use of Unstable Matter to farm. His main concern isn’t really about careful positioning or even working out advantageous trades, it’s simply to make sure he always grabs a blob after using an ability. If he can keep his blob farm up, he can be an immovable object in the lane, but if an enemy can keep him away from his own blobs, he’s forced to be very cautious with his ability usage.

 

 

In the jungle, Zac simply moves from camp to camp spamming his Unstable Matter. While his health will be low, it will remain consistently low throughout his jungling and never actually go down due to the sustain from his passive. When he needs to gank, leap at the enemy with Elastic Slingshot, preferably from a hidden position. After dropping next to them, use Lets Bounce to stop them from running off while also mitigating any incoming damage. Keep spamming Unstable Matter every time it’s off cooldown. When you return to a human shape, snipe your victim with Stretching Strike as a parting blow.

 

 

A fun gimmick on Zac is that when he fully levels his Elastic Slingshot he can fly over the baron or dragon pit without landing in them. This can be used to scout, or to perform an incredibly stylish flying smite steal.

 

 

Conclusions

Despite being an unusual looking character, his kit is surprisingly mundane. A ranged harass, a farming tool, a gap closer and an AoE crowd control ultimate for team fights. It’s not exactly the most inspiring set of abilities. He makes up for this though by being a fairly solid character, unlike Quinn (Who may have an unusual niche as a Twisted Treeline pick), whose goofball kit pretty much prevents her from acting in her intended role.

 

 

For a visual perspective I also feel like Riot could have done more with the ‘goo guy’ archetype. While his size being dependant on his current health is a nice touch, his character doesn’t change much over the course of a match. Perhaps I’m simply a bit disappointed that he doesn’t match the character they teased, which is always an unfair comparison. I came to Zac expecting a slowly growing monstrosity, akin to Dota’s Tiny, and what I got instead was the result of Majin Buu’s sordid night at a flubber factory.

 

 

Final Verdict

He’s middle of the road. There are a number of bruisers that are better at locking people down than him, but his jumps give him some unique options. Get him only if you really like his aesthetic design, or are fed up of Malphite being banned in every game.

 

To discuss Zac yourselves, post in the massive League of Legends thread in the free to play MMOs section, or post in the comments section below. If you haven’t tried League of Legends yet, you’re missing out.

PAX East – Hawken Update Impressions

PAX East – Hawken Update Impressions

By Jonathan Doyle (Ardua), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

It’s a matter of faith for me that Heaven is a giant Mech. Granted anywhere you get a giant mech, like all over Hawken, you get other giant mechs trying to blow you up.

 

 

Maybe my idea of Heaven is really Sci-Fi Valhalla. 

 

 

In the meantime, we’ll just have to satisfy those desires with what is on offer in the real world. At PAX East Hawken made sure to offer a double helping of the future.

 

 

Medic!

Coming in the April update for Hawken is a new mech that doesn’t rely on the twitch gaming skills of the current giant robot jockeys. The Technician is coming to heal you up and debuff the opposing team.

 

 

Packing “weapons” that slowly regenerate other mechs on their team or buff them up in combat will be familiar to anyone who has played the Team Fortress 2 Medic class. Just now instead of being German and with a pigeon, your medic is a giant robot that can also strip away enemy armor and slowly whittle down their health. 

 

 

The Technician promises to shake things up in Hawken as a result. Not through straight firepower, of which it effectively doesn’t have any, but through the added layer of strategy and by bringing in more players who otherwise would not have been comfortable with the gameplay previously.

 

 

People were of course tight lipped about other mechs that will be coming in the future but I think it’s safe to say that they will be looking to create even more strategic and open options to keep things fresh and fun.

 

I’m not Heavy, I’m Big Built.

The other fantastic thing we got to see was physics! Yes, physics.

 

 

Hawken, in partnership with Nvidia, had a demo both in our interview and down on the floor demonstrating a potential future of the game. Fully destructible environments!

 

 

 

Is your enemy hiding behind a building? Go through it! Are you jump jetting onto a bridge? I hope it’s not been shot up because if you’re too heavy you will break through it.

 

 

Admittedly if they could release this with the Technician, and I stress that they cannot yet as it is well.. rather complicated and needed some hefty hardware, I’d give the big shake up to physics, not the new mech class. Maps as they exist will/would have to be reexamined and redesigned to deal with the fact that the big guys can now charge right through walls or otherwise ruin the landscape to deny cover and opportunities to their foes. 

 

 

Maybe we’ll get it one day and bring sci-fi Valhalla that little bit closer. 

 

Walls? Where we’re going you don’t get cover from walls.

 

OnRPG Shotgun News 4/1: Trion, Everquest 2, and Guild Wars 2

OnRPG Shotgun News 4/1: Trion, Everquest 2, and Guild Wars 2

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Elder Scribe

 

 

Sorry for the delay today everyone! We’re in preparation to roll out a massive OnRPG redesign and it seems some hooligan is having some fun with it on our forums. Anyway onward to the news!

 

 

Guild Wars 2 Goes 80s

GW2 has gone a little bit retro with the Super Adventure Box by Moto! For the entire month of April players will throw themselves into pixelated, 8-bit worlds of jumping puzzles and combat with a stick. As if that wasn’t enough they’ve released a commercial that is out of this world!

 

 

 

World Devastation Predicted

The great scholars at Trion Worlds have predicted that tomorrow we would get a glimpse of a devastated future in which St Louis has been renamed and there are almost more aliens than Humans. Keep an eye out for raiders and mutants. And be ready for the documentary special live from the future on SyFy starting April 15th.

 

 

 

Everquest 2 Brings back the Meatbeast

Due to popular demand and not enough awesome in EQII the developers have brought back the Meatbeast! This time in an awesome mount! Players can pick from a male or female version and get the whole family while they’re at it. For the exclusive behind the scenes peek at how they were made check out the video below.

 

Guild Wars 2 Introduces Retro-Gaming Mode

Guild Wars 2 Introduces Retro-Gaming Mode

 

 

NCSOFT®, the world’s premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) and ArenaNet , developer of the renowned  Guild Wars franchise, are delighted to continue the great tradition of larking about on 1st April with the introduction of the “Super Adventure Box”.

 

The latest in a growing list of regular, free updates, the “Super Adventure Box” turns Guild Wars 2’s world of Tyria into a 1980s-style videogame. The update, arriving today, introduces players to a 3D land of pixelated rabbits, giant mushrooms and retro-electronic music.

 

“It started out as a fun side project idea”, laughed Colin Johanson, Game Director at ArenaNet. “Originally, we were going to have a laugh with a fake 8-bit update, but the more the team worked on it the more we realised we had something really cool on our hands. We figured; the gaming community are really going to love this, let’s expand on the concept of the Living World in Guild Wars 2 and make it for real”.

 


 

“We’ve turned the clock back 30 years”, joked Daniel Dociu, ArenaNet’s multi award-winning Art Director. “With retro-style videogames such a part of the Zeitgeist, we’re excited to marry Guild Wars 2’s cutting-edge gameplay with childhood nostalgia. The results are hilarious!”

 

The Super Adventure Box features:

Super-Hot Graphics: Featuring ‘cutting-edge’ graphics with more than 256 colours, the Super Adventure Box is a visual feast for the gaming connoisseur. Your character has never explored a world like this.

Awesome New Levels: Three levels full of pogo mushrooms, platform puzzles, bunny tornadoes, and more. Don’t worry about taking a tumble – we’ve turned off the falling damage and turned up the fun!

Big Fun, Big Rewards: You’ll earn “baubles” by slaying varmints and exploring the virtual world of the Super Adventure Box. Exchange baubles for weapons and skills by talking to the shopkeepers inside the Box, or redeem your baubles for special Super Adventure Box weapon skins from asuran inventor, Moto.

 

 

Accessible in-game by visiting Moto, a crafty asuran inventor, in the asuran capital of Rata Sum, the Super Adventure Box will be available for one month from today, the 1st April, 2013.