Monthly Archives: May 2013

Roccat Kave: Is 5.1 Surround Sound Needed?

By Mohammad Abubakr, OnRPG Journalist

A typical gaming headset comes with two speakers, one for each ear, a microphone and usually offers inline volume control. This has changed over the years as we see more and more headsets with additional speakers. However, the question remains whether these surround sound headsets are required or will a stereo headset be enough? Read on to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of a 5.1 surround sound headset.

The Roccat Kave comes in a clean all black design with blue LEDs on the remote and microphone. It is one of the better looking headsets and is not lacking in the visual appeal department. The size is easily adjustable and is marked, allowing for precise adjustment and ability to maintain symmetry.

Before purchasing this headset, please ensure that your sound card supports 5.1 audio. A dedicated sound card is recommended for the best experience.

Unlike stereo headsets, the Roccat Kave requires three 3.5mm audio connections, one 3.5mm microphone connection and one USB connection. This will most likely mean you will not be able to connect the headset using the front ports but this is not a problem due to the very long cable.

Along the cable there is a full sized remote control allowing users to manually adjust volume for all the speakers (centre, front, rear, and subwoofer), mute microphone and change between movie and game sound profiles. I absolutely love this remote control. It sits on your desk without sliding off while you move around and pull the wire due to the rubber feet and with a rotating wheel it is very easy to change the volume. One improvement that could be added in the future is better indication when the sound is muted. Currently the LED flashes for a few seconds but after that it returns to normal.

 

By far the best headset remote I have ever used.

It  features 3 speakers in each ear cup making a total of six speakers. With these speakers you get centre, front and rear audio along with a subwoofer.  The sound quality is amazing both for games and movies. With so many speakers the headset is very loud, I tend to use it at 4-6% volume at all times and even then it is difficult to hear anything in the real world due to the external noise cancelling ear cups.

The most noticeable improvement over my stereo headset is the vibrations due to the subwoofer. This makes games sound amazing and grenade kills feel even more amazing.

However, with so many speakers the headset is very heavy. After wearing the headset for more than two hours the top of your head begins to hurt and requires you to move the headset. This is not ideal for gamers that spend the majority of their day on the computer or game in long sessions. Due to the loudness of the headset, it is possible to use them as speakers by raising the volume and setting them on the table. This is not a good sign as that is not how the headset was intended to be used.

 

Feature Overview

Roccat does advertise the headset as being designed to equally distribute the weight to perfectly fit your head but my head still begins to hurt during gaming sessions longer than two hours. Initially my thought was that this was due to not being used to the headset but even after using the headset for over a month, this issue still occurs. I believe this is due to the headband having very thin and hard pads.

On the bright side, the ear cups are very comfortable. Some headsets that I have used in the past tend to be uncomfortable and feel too tight after hours of gaming. This was not a problem with the Roccat Kave. They feel great and block all external noise immersing the player into the game’s world.

The ear cups also fold, allowing for easy transportation. However, I would not recommend this headset to those that will be carrying it around.

The microphone has great quality and is Teamspeak certified. You will never have to worry about the other party not understanding your speech. A good microphone is to be expected from all headsets at this price point but Roccat takes it even further. The microphone is removable, meaning that if it is not needed, simply pull it off and keep it elsewhere. It easily comes off and goes back on but still does not feel like it will fall off. Additionally, the microphone has an LED which lights up if the microphone is muted. Never again will you feel like a fool talking to yourself.

Over the past month, I have tried the 5.1 surround sound in many genres of games. For RTS style games such as Starcraft II and Dota 2, you do see a difference with the sound having depth but it has no impact on your gameplay. In MMORPGs you feel more immersed in the world due to the surround sound and the external noise cancelling but once again, there is no impact on your gameplay. FPS games are the focus of this headset and the surround sound does impact your gameplay. Alongside sounding amazing as seen in all other genres, the surround sound gives you a slight edge to locating your enemies.

 

Definitely one of the better looking headsets.

You can pinpoint the exact location of your enemies based on sounds from gunshots and even footsteps. With the traditional stereo headsets you can still listen to find your enemies but with two additional speakers for each ear, you will know their exact location.

However, this edge will not make much of a difference unless you are the best of the best. This is similar to other small things such as tread swapping in Dota 2 or race selection in World of Warcraft. They will definitely help you but it will not matter unless you are playing at the highest level. Do not expect your rankings to skyrocket by simply picking up this headset.

Watching movies with this headset is amazing. It sounds just like you are at the theatre or sitting in the middle of a surround sound setup in your living room. If you are looking for enjoyable experiences in movies, I would definitely recommend picking up the Roccat Kave.

In conclusion, the Roccat Kave is a very well built headset that sounds amazing. However, due to its weight it becomes uncomfortable after long play sessions. The surround sound is only worth the extra cost for first person shooters and movies although the Roccat Kave is not much more expensive than a traditional headset. If you are a casual gamer that plays in short sessions, the Roccat Kave is a great choice however if you like to play in long sessions, I would look elsewhere. If future versions improve upon the weight and strain they put on the top of your head, I would highly recommend this headset for its build quality and sound. Currently I am not willing to sacrifice comfort for superior sound quality.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is an action game similar in style to many top down dungeon crawlers such as Diablo III. Players can experience Lara Croft as never before, in single player and co-op functions, as they unravel the mysteries of the Mirror of Smoke. With a variety of traps, puzzles, and exploration, the game feels like a Tomb Raider title, brought to a new direction.

Lost Saga Returns – An Updated Look at the Classic Brawler

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

 Lost Saga Update Review

There’s no question that fans of Lost Saga were in a sore spot when OGPlanet closed the doors earlier this year. I personally felt out of sorts as I’m a big fan of Elsword and the Smash Bros series and long had considered jumping into Lost Saga as the ideal combination of the two and, outside of playing private Mugen servers, was the only type of F2P online fighting game offering gameplay in this fashion. Thankfully WeMade has arrived to save the day with a relaunch, offering a start from scratch opportunity for those who have never played to jump in on the same level as the veterans of OGPlanet’s version. Or so it seems on the surface.

 

Lost Saga New Player

The Learning Curve

As a new player to the game, I found myself entirely lost when I was thrown into a few matches against the devs and PR crew to fight it out. If you go in with standard MMORPG control schematics in mind, you’ll probably find yourself staring at the game’s stylized movie mode (right mouse click) while the enemy smashes you apart with dramatic flair. Lost Saga is probably 1 of a handful of titles I’ve seen in the F2P online market in which I was glad to have a USB controller because it was far superior to my keyboard. Thankfully when the servers went live to the public and I started my own account, I was greeted by an extensive tutorial to ease me into the game.

 Lost Saga Individual Training

While most tutorials are optional and only require your attention to grab a few freebie rewards, I can’t imagine comprehending Lost Saga without theirs. Not only do they explain every tiny bit from comboing to modes to match finding, they even offer individual (and perfectly localized) hero tutorials to explain to a novice the proper timing and order to set up combos with your character. After playing around with the fire mage, storm trooper, and shadow assassin (Beginner preset builds that I’ll explain more about soon), I jumped into the game’s Crusade mode to test my skill with the bots.

 Skeleton MiniBoss

I knew I was in over my head when even the boss bot on the 10th floor tore me up. Lost Saga seems simple to jump into with limited controls, yet there is just so much to master here that it rivals and even surpasses some arcade fighting title. I soon found myself getting smashed repeatedly in PvP battles while in awe at how bad I was at this game. I had to be missing something…

 

Lost Saga Hero Purchase

Character Purchasing and the RPG Element

As I sunk a few more hours into the game I began to understand that my account’s ranking system was more than just a sign of prestige and warning to lesser players, but actually a requirement for unlocking more advanced heroes in the hero shop. The hero shop lets you purchase these presets for Lost Saga’s currency or the cash shop currency (WP). The unfortunate difference is that the two tiers of in-game currency offer 2 hour and 10 hour unlocks, while WP offers 30 hours and permanent unlocks. The prices are not cheap either but new players will receive quests to try out various heroes as they are unlocked that essentially results in you making an extra 3,000 GP for purchasing 2 hour trials of these starter heroes.

 Lost Saga Filler 1

Whether permanent or temporary, you’ll gain experience for taking these characters into any mode at all. This experience can be spent to up individual stats that vary in impact depending on the character in a system that instantly made me think empire builder tech/building upgrades. That’ll be 20 minutes to up your strength and 2 exp points…. Or instant gratification if you’re willing to spend some GP! And while I was glad this at least wasn’t a cash shop item, the writing was on the wall that probably only someone who was cash shopping elsewhere would have the spare GP to ever spend on an instant skill upgrade. This cash shop was starting to become a nuisance, though not yet a deal breaker.

 

Lost Saga Cash Shop

Paying for Sex in Lost Saga

Now that I have your attention, let’s focus on the actual shop beyond just character purchasing. The organization of the shop hasn’t changed much from OGPlanet’s model in 2009, which makes sense as it feels like a hybrid point in history between the rise of the F2P Asian MMORPGs charging cash for power, and the post-League of Legends model where cosmetics make up 70-90% of all cash shop purchases.

 Lost Saga Paying For Sex

In the case of Lost Saga, nearly everything is available if you’re willing to grind it out and spend excess in-game currency on it, but I question the choice of what they made WP only. For instance if you want to play a female character, sorry ladies but you’re going to have to pony up some cash. Want one of the licensed heroes from King of Fighters or any other upcoming partnerships WeMade signs?

If Iori is any sign of things to come, that’ll cost you as well. But before I call them out on this, I have to say that they pushed the intrusiveness to the point where a few players might be turned off initially, but those that get hooked on the game are likely going to eventually want one of these cash shop only items (or permanent characters, or that new hair style that just came out but you’re all out of in-game currency etc) and spend enough to make up for the initial players turned away by it. It isn’t as bad as it sounds and believe me I’ve dealt with far more greedy business models than this before.

 Continue to Combat and Modes

Tales of Solaris

Tales of Solaris is 2.5D action MMO set in a high fantasy world. Choose from one of six different classes and challenge a variety of environments and monsters as you develop your character to become more and more powerful. Various additional systems are also available, such as instances, daily events, a lovers system, and more. Since the game is browser based, it can be played whenever and wherever.

Features

Six Character Classes: Choose to be a warrior, wizard, cleric, assassin, sniper, or mage, and travel the lands to conquer all foes.

Pet System: Choose your pet to be for display purposes, or have it fight along side! Build its stats and skills, just like your own, and you can be a force to be reckoned with.

Instances and More: Delve into five different dungeons throughout the game. Additional bosses and more also await each player in the world.

Additional Systems and Activities: Create your own items, become friends and lovers with other players, participate in quizzes and daily events, and enjoy the world!

Dragon Pals Starter Pack Giveaway

OnRPG is partnering with R2Games to celebrate the launch of Dragon Pals with a Starter Pack Giveaway!

Dragon Pals Starter Pack Giveaway

Dragon Pals is a multi-faceted, adventure based MMORPG. It combines multiple game genres and various manners of gameplay to create a uniquely styled MMORPG. Players journey through a vibrant world full of stirring quests, wicked monsters, and intriguing events. One of the most notable features in Dragon Pals is the intricate Dragon Pet panel which players use to train, customize, and raise dragons they have befriended along their journey.

The DP Starter Pack Includes:
1) Advanced Exp. Scroll x5
2) Amethystsx 150,000
3) Voucher x 300
4) Dragon Souls x 1000
5) 99 Roses x1
6) Lvl. 2 Gem Chest x 6

To get your key you have to follow these instructions:

  • If you are not a member of OnRPG Please sign-up here.
  • Enter your OnRPG username and password below to get your key
  • The key will appear at the bottom of the page. Copy & paste it to a safe place as you may not be able to retrieve it once you close your browser!

 

To Redeem your key:

  • Sign up to play at Dragon Pals Website.
  • Once in-game click the gift box icon to the right of your radar.
  • Enter your code when prompted.
  • Check your inventory for your rewards and enjoy the world of Dragon Pals!

Neverwinter Review: A Co-Op Experience Forced MMORPG

By Jason Harper (Hhean), OnRPG Journalist

 Neverwinter Guardian Warrior

Neverwinter wasn’t always intended to be the FTP MMO it is today. Early interviews from Crpytic had them paint the game as a Co-op game similar to Diablo or Borderlands, but was repurposed after Perfect World bought the company from Atari. It shows. The game is at its best when it provides tightly scripted sequences with interesting set pieces and plots, but any time it falls back on standard MMO tropes, it puts its greatest weaknesses to the fore.

 

Unlike Turbine’s Dungeons and Dragons Online, Neverwinter doesn’t try to keep to the spirit of D&D. It uses the Faerun setting and reuses a lot of names and stats from D&D, but what these things actually do within the game is nothing more than window dressing. If you’re a purist who wanted an online version of their favourite tabletop dungeon crawling experience, then you’d be best off looking elsewhere. The game is an action RPG first and foremost, with an emphasis on a well-built skinner box rather than any real sense of adventure or exploration.

 

Character creation features a boilerplate UI that displays a series of drab, lifeless mannequins. Cryptic have never really made great looking games, but their excellent character customisation always made the process of making a new character fun. While you are given a variety of aesthetic options to choose from, no two characters of the same race and gender wind up too different from one another, regardless of what silly hairstyle you give them. While the rest of the game looks better than the opening character select, its muted colour palette, stilted animations and drab characters means no-one is going to call it a great looking game. The game also seems to assume that all surfaces were made of plastic, making everything look like action figures are moving between dollhouses.

 Neverwinter Town Combat

You are given the choice of five different classes that share names with D&D staples and little else. The Rogue is a teleporting single target damage dealer who disappears in clouds of black smoke. The Cleric is a ranged healer, a far cry from the healing bruiser in most D&D products. The Guardian Fighter is the standard tank who taunts enemies before smashing them with their shield. The Greatsword Fighter is a burly AoE melee damage dealer that pretends to be a Barbarian on the weekends. Then there’s the Control Wizard, who’s that kid in the playground who holds the nerds down so the other bullies can turn their victim into a punching bag.

 Neverwinter Control Wizard

This is a game with randomised starting stats. No joke. Once you’ve picked your clay faced adventurer and given them a job to do, you must submit yourself before a random number generator to determine your character’s starting statistics. Curiously, Cryptic seem to be aware of how awful it is to have a character be left to the whims of a digital dice roller, and opted for players to be able to randomise between a limited pool of stat arrays. You cannot simply choose which array you’d like for your character from a list, and have to keep mashing the reroll button until you get a stat block that isn’t going to make your character a waste of flesh. Someone at Cryptic likely thought this would somehow give the appearance of an ‘authentic’ D&D experience, in spite of the fact that the point buy system has been the standard for over two editions now. This is the realm of absolute disasters like Wizardry Online.

 

After escaping character generation, you will be confronted with some of the worst voice acting found in MMOs. Stilted. lines. read. from. a. script. mount a full frontal assault on your speakers while the camera zooms into a plastic, dead face to draw attention to the game’s lack of lip sync. One of the NPCs even switches their voice every time you speak to him, switching accents and mannerisms with each new quest. You can step away from the NPCs while they’re delivering their exposition and they’ll keep blathering while you can go and do something productive.

 Neverwinter Guided Storytelling

The combat will likely make or break your enjoyment of the game, since there’s little else to fill your time. There’s no tab targeting, but the game’s ‘action’ moniker and centre crosshair is just smoke and mirrors. When you use an ability as your crosshair is near an enemy, you will lock on to them, and be unable to target anyone else until they are no longer a viable target or die. The strategy for most fights is to hold down your left click to auto attack the enemy while you slowly build the resources needed to blast them to bits with your various abilities. While there is a dodge function available, it’s only useful to move when an enemy puts the big red ‘I’m about to attack here!’ marker on the floor. It’s a tepid effort, neither slumping into drudgery nor elevating its player to excitement. If you want something to relax to, it can be a good way to switch off.

 

The few times when Neverwinter’s combat almost drags itself from the fetid pools of mediocrity is when you encounter a new enemy type and have to figure out what new type of red marker they place on the floor. Enemy diversity in the game is very limited, as most packs of enemies will comprise of a combination of a big and small melee guy, an archer or two and a wizard. The odd surprise like some of the monstrous giants and ogres that have deadly, yet easily avoidable attacks are unfortunately too rarely seen outside the games constantly repeating template.

 Neverwinter Cryptic Sticks to What KNows

Structurally, the game sticks to what Cryptic already knows. If Champions Online were set in a pseudo-medieval fantasy world rather than silver age comic books, it wouldn’t be too far removed from Neverwinter. The player does one to three quests before fighting in a micro dungeon, ultimately building towards a final boss dungeon before moving on to a new area. It’s not a terrible formula, but it leaves you hungry for a change of pace.

 Neverwinter Big Boss

When this structure is abandoned in favour of a tighter narrative, Neverwinter gets off the couch, cleans itself up and screams for attention. During these sections it shows how strong a co-op experience it could have been, had it not been buried waist deep in MMO trappings.

 

Only, it is sometimes difficult to call this an MMO at all, as most content is designed as a single player experience first and foremost. If you consider that a negative, and was looking forward to something more group oriented, then the dungeons and skirmishes provide a moderately entertaining diversion. The rest of the content in the game won’t scale with the number of players though, so bringing more than a single player to anything else in the game will turn the already easy game into a complete cakewalk.

 Neverwinter Review

You might think that with all of these problems, Neverwinter is a thorough chore, and yet it never quite feels like it. Following the game’s glowing breadcrumb trail to complete its never ending stream of tasks is a satisfying experience due to the steady stream of strategically timed rewards. Each level feels meaningful, while never seeming hard to reach. Loot spews out as a glorious golden fountain from fallen enemies as each chest floods your inventory with new toys. Even the game’s simple crafting system is just another way of delivering a steady stream of goods to your pack. It makes it very hard to evaluate the game’s merits while every monkey part of your brain is screaming at you to keep pushing the buttons that keep shooting bananas your way.

 

The game’s greatest strength outside of its efforts to send you into a greedy stupor is The Foundry, a toolkit given to the game’s players that lets them build their own content. Outside of the inability to customise your own map layouts, and being unable to change the layout of the UI, the Foundry has a more robust feature set than seen in any other MMO. The way that the custom quests and dungeons can tie in with doors in the game world rather than being limited to some terminals off in one corner of the map is incredible. It lets the Foundry’s stories feel right at home alongside the developer made content. Some of the content to be found in just this first week is already more entertaining than most of the developer made stuff, making it likely that the game’s future is likely to be found in the Foundry’s quests.

 Neverwinter Succubus

Neverwinter is a game that’s worth trying out for an evening or so. If you have a download limit and are concerned about using up your cap on something so disposable, then you’re likely better allocating your bandwidth elsewhere. It’s certainly not worth actually spending money on, since the items in-game bought with real money get you little, and most people are unlikely to stick with the game for more than a week. It’s not a bad game, but it does commit one of the worst sins of game design. It’s dull.

 

Graphics: 2/5

Controls: 3/5

Features: 5/5

Customization: 2/5

Community: 3/5

LOTRO Update 11 launches May 13!

Lord of the Rings Online

 

The next content update for The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) – Update 11: Treachery of the White Hand – is launching May 13.  Update 11 features five new areas and continues the Epic Story in the remote region of Wildermore in Eastern Rohan.

 

The epic story continues as you are called to the remote region of Wildermore! This Eastern Rohan area has been hard hit by an unnatural and deadly winter. A Stone Giant named Núrzum, under the control of Saruman, is rumored as the source of this icy tragedy. Throughout Wildermore, villages have suffered ravage and townsfolk have become refugees. Follow in the chilly footsteps of evil as you attempt to restore this once thriving region.

 

Lord of the Rings Online

 

Embark through Five new areas
Writhendowns
All word from Wildermore has ceased and rumors point to the worst. You must find and aid the town of Scylfig, which suffers from a strangely deepening winter and an Uruk-hai threat.

The Fallows
Uruk-hai invaders have torched the region’s farms, slaying many and driving the survivors from their homes. You must ride into the smoldering remains to help drive out the evil tides of Núrzum’s raiders before meeting with the brooding Reeve of Wildermore.

Whitshaws
As the brutal winter rages, many folk have gone missing, and the small village of Dunfast is in dire need of protection. You must follow in the wake of Núrzum’s destruction, but can you find him in time? Face marauding Warbands as you race to save the people of Dunfast.

High Knolls
The town of the High Knolls, Byre Tor, long held out against the powers of Núrzum, but now has fallen to the beastly enemy. Venture among forbidding crags in search of the city’s hunted refugees, but use caution, for whispers warn that the Knolls are thick with Saruman’s minions!

Balewood
In the unruly, northern expanses of Fangorn Forest, the Darkness has taken hold. In the Balewood, violent Huorns and Wood-trolls prowl and Saruman’s Uruk-hai linger. You must gather young Ents to rally against the growing corruption.

The Wildermore Quest pack is free to VIPs.

 

Lord of the Rings Online

Also new to Update 11

  • Mounted combat revamp
    New class-specific traits now enhance your mounted combat skills, while bonuses to mobility have been moved from traits to your base steed.
  • Hobbit presents!
    Another reason to get in the game! All players will receive a Silver Hobbit Present each day they log in to LOTRO. Rewards vary from common to legendary and are tailored to your logged-in character’s level and class.
  • New VIP benefits
    Improved offerings for VIPs, including a custom character portrait frame, improved bonus experience system and better Hobbit presents.