Yearly Archives: 2013

Shotgun News 7/23: RaiderZ, ArcheAge, WorldAlpha, and more!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG News Editor

RaiderZ Europe Shutting Down

Gameforge has announced that they will be shutting down RaiderZ Europe on August 30th The publishers stated the reason behind the shut down being that RaiderZ didn’t meet their expectations as far as success and they were left with no alternative. In the shutdown FAQ Gameforge advises those who wish to continue to play RaiderZ to do so with another publisher, but warns that they will have to start over completely.

 

Quantum Labs Map Introduced in Combat Arms

Nexon’s free to play FPS Combat Arms has a new map named Quantum Labs. The new map features a lab complex with interlinking corridors and large rooms with low-gravity conditions. When the map launches there will also be several missions for players to complete. These will only be available until July 30th though, so don’t miss out. In the next few months Combat Arms will introduce VIP Escort Mode, Arms Race, and VIP Elimination mode.

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ArcheAge Community Manager Gives An Update

Over on ArcheAge Source Trion Community Manager James “Elrar” Nichols gave an update on ArcheAge’s development status. With over 1,000,000 words to be translated from Korean to English it bound to take a considerable amount of time. Also any Westernization that occurs will be minimal and mostly geared towards improving understanding and usability as western customs and game mechanics can differ from those in Korea. Finally there is still the little matter of the accounting/billing platform, for which XL Games will be sending representatives to Trion.

 

WorldAlpha Announces Launch Date

Thanks to a hugely successful Crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo and a popular Founders program WorldAlpha has announced they are launching for the Founders and supports on July 26th. The free to play MMORTS has been in development for two and a half years and features a realistic player-driven economy, and politics in an immersive world. The official launch date is July 30th.

Everquest II Darkness Dawns Press Preview

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG News Editor

Earlier this week I got in on an exclusive press tour of the Everquest II Darkness Dawns update which is due out today. There has already been a Producer’s Letter and a Follow up on it but we got to take a deeper look at everything on offer.

 Everquest II Drakelands

Fabled Dungeons

One of the major highlights in Darkness Dawns is new higher level versions of dungeons from the first expansion are introduced with all new loot tables to meet the higher levels required to complete the new fabled dungeons. The dungeons available include:

 

Scornfeather Roost

Pedestal of Sky

Clefts of Rujark

The Djinn Master’s Prism

 

Why were these chosen while others weren’t? These are simply the best and favorite from the early years.

 Everquest II New Templates

Character Advancement Templates

Players will be able to build and save templates for spending alternate ability and prestige ability points. With this 3 profiles will be available on your character and an unlimited amount on your hard drive. Don’t worry though, previous alternate advancements won’t disappear. Mirrors will allow for profile saving so they can be loaded into the new system.

 

Daily Objectives

Loyalty Point Tokens can now be earned by completing daily tasks. These tasks are all simple things that are usually done just by playing normally. Completing two tasks will reward a token. These tokens can be traded for unique items. Tracking these tasks is account wide, so players won’t have to worry about logging every character in every day for the reward. They are tracked at the top of the quest journal and don’t take up any journal slots so tracking these objectives is neat and easy.

 

Personal Depots

New personal depots have now been added. Players will have access to the following new depots:

 

Fuel

Consumables

Collection

Ammo

Food and Drink

Poison and Potion

Harvesting depots

 Everquest II Avatar Lineup

Arena of the Gods

In the Arena of the Gods, 24 players go up against one of the 9 avatars in the game which includes the three new contested avatars which have been made available with this update. There is a lockout on rewards but you’re free to practice as much as you like.

 

PvP Rewards

PvP rewards have been given a reworking along with the introduction of new rewards. Players will find rewards are significantly cheaper than previous prices making them more accessible. There are also new armors available for purchase which will reflect the new prices.

 Everquest II Solusek

Today the servers are expected to be down for four hours while all these amazing new changes are put into place. And this really is just the surface of what Everquest II is bringing today. And none of this has even mentioned the overhanging story which continues to expand with each update. Later today players will get to dive into Darkness Dawns for themselves. Until then, all there is to do is wait and read more articles.

Fiesta Online Announces Thrilling New Crusader Class

Fiesta Online

 

Today gamigo delighted millions of Fiesta fans with the announcement that Crusader, a brand new class of elves, will be arriving this week in the wildly popular free-to-play anime fantasy MMORPG. Not since early 2011, when Trickster was introduced, has so much excitement been seen in the Fiesta community.

Unlocked at Level 60, Crusader provides experienced players an opportunity to master the powers of light with dozens of new weapons, armor and skills. These masters of swordsmanship are swift, agile, and possess stunning abilities that include slicing and dicing enemies with glowing blades and balls of light.

 

 

Legendary fighters who mysteriously disappeared from Isya long ago, Crusader now makes a triumphant return on floating ships with their fearless leader, Tiros, at the helm.

To celebrate Crusader’s arrival, Fiesta Game Masters will be hosting a vast array of fun-filled, action-packed in-game events, including:

Isya’s Defense – a PvE moshpit of epic proportions where players are called upon to defeat a relentless monster spawn and share in a massive loot drop.

EldersTale – a GM-led tour of Elderine where players share stories of the great war that forced the Crusaders to leave Isya and how they made their way back to the land they love. At the end of the tour, players can test their wits at trivia for chic fashions.

 

Fiesta Online

Crusader Race To The Top – See how quickly you can get from L60 to L115. Players who make it beyond L100 will have the opportunity to do a sub-class change to Templar and will be entered into the Templar Raffle for a chance to win special prizes.

Snapshot Wonder – Community is invited to post screenshots in the forums to show off their Crusader characters for rich rewards.

Tyrian Times: Cutthroat Politics

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG’s Resident Tyrian Expert

 

When Pirates meet Politics anything is possible. Today marks the launch of Cutthroat Politics, the latest update to the ongoing Living Story in Guild Wars 2. Today marks the start of campaigns as Evon Gnashblade, Owner of the Black Lion Trading Company goes head to head with Ellen Kiel, formerly of the Lionguard go head to head in a political race which will decide who will sit on the Lion’s Arch Captain’s Council. It will be up to the players to decide who will take the all important seat, each with their own campaign promises and videos. Voting is easy, earn support tokens for the person you want to see take the seat by taking part in games and events, WvW, and just normal day to day playing. Then turn the tokens in and convince your friends to vote the same way you do. Support tokens will be accepted until August 5th and each time you turn one in you will get a Representation Button. Using the button will show your support for your candidate and help you advance certain achievements. If you wish to support a candidate more directly you can take part in their trials which will put you against the elements and against other players. These are PvP activities and do have achievements attached.

If you haven’t decided who you want to vote for here is a run down of what each promises:

GW2_2013-07_-_04_-_Southsun_Survival

Evon Gnashblade:

Price of Black Lion Keys Reduced for 4 Weeks
Fractal of the Mists Research into the Fall of Abaddon
Crab Toss and Southsun Survival

GW2_2013-07_-_02_-_Aspect_Arena

Ellen Kiel:

Reduced Waypoint Travel Costs for 4 Weeks
Fractal of the Mists Research into Thaumanova Reactor Explosion
Crab Toss and Southsun Survival

CalmShinies

And if none of those really appeal you can check out the write in campaign for the Skritt King. He promises:

The Skritt King promises less junk and more shinies for as long as Skritt King  live, probably four weeks!
The Skritt King will teach you better ways to salvage!
The Skritt King will sponsor lucrative Fractals of the Mist research into the Depths of Tyria! Find lost shinies!
The Skritt King will host a rotation of popular activities like Crab Toss and Southsun Survival.

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Of course if politics aren’t really your thing the bizarre bazaar is still open for business along with the Sanctum Sprint and everything else that came with the Bazaar of the Four Winds update two weeks ago. This update also brings a Player Instrument Volume Slider to the Sound Options (Thank whoever the Grawl are worshiping this week for that!). Catapult Mastery has been added to the Rank and Abilities tab, plus a heaping handful of class changes. On top of all of this there are new back pieces and Aetherblade weapons. The weapons can be obtained with Black Lion Claim Tickets which are only found in Black Lion Chests. As a result Black Lion Keys are now a rare drop from chests. The tickets and ticket scraps will continue to be available for the foreseeable future as they will be used for future weapon sets. The skins purchased with these will be tradable until they are used!

Arena of Heroes

Arena of Heroes is a turn-based tactical multiplayer game for PC, Mac, and iPad. Four heroes on each team go forward to destroy the enemy’s Power Core at the back of their base. Rounds consist of two player and two minion turns, adding for some element of strategy and some of luck. Like a traditional MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena), the arena is set up of three ‘lanes’ with a tower that may be defended or destroyed.