Monthly Archives: August 2013

Game of Thrones Ascent Foundation Pack Giveaway

OnRPG is teaming up with Kongregate and Disruptor Beam to invite you to the best Game of Thrones browser game on the market, Game of Thrones Ascent! Start your adventure with our Foundation Pack!

In Game of Thrones Ascent players will lead the life of a noble during the time of upheaval as portrayed in the books and the series thus experiencing a new type of game that unites both story and strategy. Players will claim their birthright by choosing which of the great houses they’ll swear allegiance to, securing their holdings, developing their lands and personal reputation, and assigning sworn swords to quests–while forging alliances with new friends and much more!

The Foundation Pack Includes:
3 Bacon
3 Bread
3 Ale

 

To get your key you have to follow these instructions:

  • If you are not yet 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 closing your browser!

To Redeem your Key:

  • Visit the Kongregate Page through our special redemption link (no code required)
  • Create an account
  • Your package will be given to you immediately upon entering the game!

Dragons & Titans Review – Zynga Strikes Back

By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor)

Dragons & Titans Terrain

It is no real secret that the MOBA genre has exploded in the last few years. From having just a small fan base, to probably the biggest fan base of any genre worldwide. As a result the game industry have seen many MOBA’s come and go, and it literally is a tough market to break into, but once your game is noticed, you know you’ve done your best. On that note I recently came across Dragons & Titans, Zynga’s attempt to cash in on the rise of the genre. But what is their tactic to separate from the pack? Why dragons of course!

Now you would probably think, how does it work? That is how do you build a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) with only dragons as playable characters? Well, Dragons are kick ass creatures of diverse mythologies and varying powers and Zynga brings this variety of dragons to life on the battlefield.

Dragons & Titans Weapons

Getting started is as simple as opening your client, choosing a dragon and weapon from the available options, and clicking go. Dragons & Titans features several game modes including the less common MOBA options of single player and co-op. You can choose between 17 unique dragons that each have their own special abilities and stats. Some dragons exist purely to absorb damage on the front lines while others can turn the tides of a battle if left unhindered on the backlines supporting their allies. But to keep the game too simplistic, the weapon system allows you to influence the playstyle of a dragon to customize them to your preference. Whether you prefer to max your strengths to the fullest in an all-in dragon weapon combo or balance your weaknesses to be a more useful combatant in all situations, the weapon system exists to make it a reality!

Dragons & Titans Combat

I have played plenty of MOBA games both for work and pleasure as of late. The genre as a whole just has an air of unpredictability about it that keeps me coming back for more. Each battle is unique, each play session different, and the rush of a successfully orchestrated team fight is absurdly satisfying. Thankfully Zynga captured this all important rush as I soon discovered in my first game as a tanky dragon. Since I was new I figured the survivability would offer me enough staying power to get a better understanding of what each dragon brought to the table in terms of damage, survivability, and utility. Out of curiosity I snagged one of the offense heavy weapons to see if I could make myself a more distinguished threat and I can tell you, tanky bruisers are alive and well in this system as a result.

The game is played in a 5 versus 5 mode in the normal multiplayer game. This is the same as in the single player, but then you will play with and against AI. The grand goal of each match is to free your Titan from its cage. Across the map you will find shrines and obelisk from both your team and the enemy team. Together with your team you will have to take down the enemy shrines and obelisk before you can barge down to their Titan and kill it, but at the same time the enemy team will try to do the same and you will have to defend and tactically flank them in the hopes that you can catch them off guard. Or you can just break through them with brute force of course. While fighting minions on the map, and killing other dragons you will earn gold. The gold can be used to gain experience and power either by teleporting back to your home base or visiting an available Hoard. When you level up, you are able to level up one of the four available abilities. Depending on the battle and your dragon, you will have to tactically build your dragon so it has the winning edge in battle. As in any good MOBA, understanding your opponents is vital to properly building yourself.

Dragons & Titans Positioning

Controlling your dragon is also different than other MOBA games. You can move your dragon by either holding shift, or holding your right mouse button. Something that I had to get used to is that your dragon will actually take a few seconds to turn around or perform other maneuvers. This slows your ability to make split second skill shot dodges but adds a new type of strategy by forcing you to pilot more of a ship than a combatant within the MOBA genre. By using spacebar, you will fly backwards while still maintaining the same directional aim. This is useful for tactical retreats without the burden of having to deal with the slow 180 turn to return fire. Your primary attack can be fired with the left mouse button, or with the Q button on your keyboard. The rest of the skills can be activated with the W, E, R, D and F buttons. The controls resemble the usual MOBA keys, and will not confuse you at all; they are really easy to learn and memorize.

People that play League of Legends should be familiar with runes. Stones resembling them exist in Dragons & Titans to offer extra stat boosts and other beneficial aids in battle. Do not underestimate these stones, because they can be a deciding factor in close battles between equally leveled dragons. There was more than one occasion I flew away with a sliver of health that wouldn’t have existed without my stones. These power-ups can be acquired by either leveling up, or they can be bought in the shop. And these are not the only things you will find in the shop: you can also buy dragons, weapons and even different dragon skins!

Dragons & Titans Base

Conclusion: Great

When I first heard of this MOBA game, and that it was made for Facebook, I wasn’t sure what to expect. At first technical difficulties blocked me from playing and further lowered my hopes for the game. But once they got their systems together and working, I couldn’t believe how much fun I was having within a Facebook title. With so many simplistic monotonous games on Facebook, Dragons & Titans stands as an anomaly of fun and tactical gameplay. It can definitely compete with the current evolution of MOBA games, and since no download is required it is easy to start and play. Say what you want from Zynga, they might have a bad reputation but this game is a push in the right direction to rectify their past. And unlike some competitors, Dragons & Titans matches tend to not last longer than 20 minutes, ensuring you can hop in, play, and get on with your day without wasting too much time.

Guild Wars 2: The Queen’s Speech Update Arrives Next Tuesday

Guild Wars 2

 

The celebration of Queen Jennah’s rule continues in Divinity’s Reach! All over Kryta, people are talking about The Queen’s Speech, which is rumored to contain a major surprise. What will the Queen reveal to her people and the world? Find out on 20th August!

Here’s what to expect in The Queen’s Speech update:

 

Guild Wars 2

New Events

  • Developer Livestream – Take an inside look at the features in the release – 19th August
  • The Queen’s Speech – Don’t miss history in the making – Begins 20th August
  • Guild Wars 2 Anniversary Bash – First ever Anniversary Bash and Invitational Tournament – 31st August

New Rewards

  • Birthday Gifts – all characters created at the launch of Guild Wars 2 will receive gifts

 

Guild Wars 2

 

New Features

  • World vs. World XP and Point adjustments – the World XP rate is increasing
  • World vs. World Trebuchet Mastery
  • The End of Culling in PvE – the limit on the number of characters players can see on screen is being removed

Galatia Films Partners with MMOHuts/OnRPG to Bring Video Game Swordsmanship to the Big Screen

Reclaiming The Blade

A new film ‘Reclaiming the Blade: Sons of Fire’ will explore the gaming culture, as well as sword crafting and wielding within digital domains. Top online video game websites MMOHuts.com and OnRPG.com will be partnering with Galatia too offer experienced insight on the connection between sword culture and the rise of fantasy MMORPGs to supplement the already star studded documentary.

The online RPG worlds are fascinated with the sword and spend countless hours forging and wielding them. This of course presents a very interesting opportunity for the award-winning filmmakers to learn more about our true fascination with the sword. The first Reclaiming the Blade film featured Lord of the Rings actors Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davies, Karl Urban and Star Wars sword legend Bob Anderson. A #1 on iTunes, it delved deep into the cultural influence of swords in television and movies. The second film, ‘Sons of Fire’ will follow an army of gamers and developers who love the sword just as much, but the filmmakers need your help.

Forging a “real” digital blade and then taking up that weapon and using it in great battles and epic online quests sure is a ton of fun. The second film will leave no digital stone or sword unturned; exploring our love with the blade in games.

Sons Of Fire

In order to truly explore where this fascination with the sword leads, Galatia Films needs your help in getting their finishing funds for the movie and is offering great rewards for those willing to become backers. Will crafting systems and digital blacksmithing become more real than ever? Will the martial prowess and historical movements in digital space become more like their deadly counterparts? Galatia Films, will be exploring these questions and more in the sequel.

Galatia Films is teaming up with both the Starz’ Spartacus series and The Chronicles of Narnia films to help tell the story. Lead actors and sword stunt trainers from this movie and TV show will be interviewed. Additionally Galatia Films is proud to announce that key executives at OnRPG/MMOhut including Darren “DizzyPW” Henderson and MMOHuts spokesman James “Bl0nde” Hunt.

If you like epic swords in games or in the movies, then you will absolutely love this film. Make this film a reality, support Sons of Fire Kickstarter page today before time runs out!

RuneScape 3 Review – A Classic Reborn

By W.B. Wemyss (Tagspeech)

 

Anyone who hasn’t been living under a meatspace rock knows that Runescape is arguably the most popular browser-based MMORPG series in existence.  Personally, I never played Runescape or its sequel, so I was curious to see how the third iteration of the series presented itself.  Long-time fans of the series have reported a bit of dissatisfaction with the re-imagining of a few story elements and factions, but overall it seems that the reception has been largely positive.

 

The basic gist of the game’s storyline (that I could glean from my time with it), was that we have two large factions warring.  One of these factions is in favor of order (Saradomin), the other in favor of chaos (Zamorak).  These factions are apparently named for the living gods that lead them, and given how unapologetic the game is about being a Fantasy Epic™ we shouldn’t be surprised that Team Order is blue, and Team Chaos is red.  You might think this all sounds terribly stereotypical: it is.  But somehow, it doesn’t bother me.  Read on, and I’ll tell you why.

RuneScape 3 Evil Faction

I wonder if he leads the evil faction or not…

 

Classic for the Sake of Classic

This is a game that’s very self-aware.  The player is plopped down into the middle of a medieval fort being stormed by one of the classic fantasy-bad race: trolls.  The first thing you’ll notice is that the game’s graphics are superb for a browser-based title, and that the voice-acting in this introduction is superb.  The tone of the attack has a delightful, cartoonish quality that I found instantly endearing.  This was only made more effective by the use of excellent facial expressions and animations, something that remains consistent throughout the game.

Runescape 3 Discerning Tastes

A man of discerning tastes

 

The end result of this presentation is a game that is, yes, yet another Arthurian fantasy-epic swordfest.  But it never takes itself too seriously.  It has a wonderful sense of humor, and the tutorial quests are hilarious.  There was one in which I was asked to put together a disgusting pie and feed it to a fat, greedy merchant to force him to puke himself into the infirmary.  I remember him asking if it was the “redberry and distressed quail pie” he’d ordered, in the most ludicrously snooty voice I’ve ever heard.  Not often I get a laugh out of an MMORPG,so well done.

 

 

Old School for the Sake of Old School

The UI is one of the first obstacles any new player is going to run into.  After selecting your initial class in the tutorial, most of the instructions are based around showing you how to navigate and fully-utilize the 2002-esque series of menus and pop-up context windows.  It is decidedly old school, and yet somehow, it feels like a breath of fresh air.  Yes, it’s a bit arcane, and yes, the game likes to draw a lot of attention to peripheral content like pickpocketing and crafting and gathering, but that’s just it; that sort of thing isn’t peripheral in Runescape.  Combat isn’t everything.  This game loves to encourage socializing and non-combat activities.

Runescape Heard You Like Menus

Yo dawg I heard you like menus…

 

If you’re coming into Runescape 3 expecting some kind of new era in the saga of competitive, combat-focused browser games, you might be disappointed.  The combat system is basic, bare-bones, and not terribly exciting.  It’s the same kind of action-bar, build-up-points affair that we’ve seen done over and over for the past fifteen years.  But that’s just fine, because Runescape 3 is a game with plenty more to offer than monster-farming.

Good Looking Browser Runescape

Community at Large!

At the time of my playing and the writing of this review, Runescape 3 is still newly minted and hot off the development presses.  The areas I visited were teeming with players; not just noobs, but those proud few that had already rocketed ahead and secured some sweet gear for themselves.  General chat was fairly active and friendly.  But the real magic of Runescape’s community is how old it is; plenty of players are old guard from the first two games.  Their loyalty to the series speaks to how much effort the developers put into maintaining quality and communication with their game’s players.

 

One thing I liked in particular was how many cosmetic options I had, for a game of this scope.  In the premium store I could choose from dozens of different animations, many for the same kinds of actions.  I personally adore being able to replace my animations to further customize my character, and some of them were absolutely hilarious (and very well-made).  The alternate gathering animations were some of the best, with players being able to take apart trees with a boring old axe, or rip into the trunk with their bare hands like some tweaked-out ogre – or even dismantle it in an orderly fashion with the power of magic.  This is all on top of a huge wardrobe selection!  Cue girlish squealing.

 

Technical Difficulties

There are some issues with the game’s technical side, mostly involving their system of email verification and the differences between subscribers (VIPS) and the lowly, unsubscribed peasant masses.  While it’s generally great policy to make your VIPs feel like VIPs, the game goes a bit too far, in my opinion.  It will consistently award you with swanky quest items, only to reveal immediately that while it’s taking up space in your inventory, you can’t use it, because you aren’t a subscriber.  Do you want to dual-wield swords?  Too bad!  Subscribe.  Want to go to many different areas of the world?  Subscribe, or you’re not allowed.

 

It’s almost as if Runescape 3 is trying to strong-arm me into subscribing by dangling prizes in front of my nose – that’s fine, plenty of games do that.  But Runescape goes the extra mile by taking some of those prizes and slapping me across the face with them.  It’s a little irritating.

 

There’s also the fact that you can only play for seven days without verifying your email.  I think that’s a little weird, but it shouldn’t prove to be an obstacle to most players.  I suppose it’s just one more barrier between spammers/farmers and the game.

 

Runescape By-the-power-of-Greyskull!-

Final Verdict: Excellent

Well, what were you expecting, really?  Aside from plain-vanilla combat and some minor technical issues, Runescape 3 is a premiere browser-based MMORPG experience.  The game clearly has the backing of both a development team and a community that love it dearly, and the sheer number of non-combat paths and options a player can take make it truly unique among the sea of hack n’ slash, linear action MMORPGs.  For the social, community-minded player, Runescape is the place to be.  You can even RP there, if you want!  Don’t worry.  I won’t tell anyone.

 

“Tagspeech also goes by the name W.B.Wemyss, but only when she writes outrageous fiction novels like Children of Athena.