Yearly Archives: 2013

Wargaming’s World of Warplanes Sets Date For Open Beta

World of Warplanes

 

Wargaming, the leading free-to-play developer and publisher, today announced that the company’s highly anticipated free-to-play aerial combat MMO World of Warplanes has will go into open beta testing on July 2, 2013.

Dedicated to aerial combat featuring aircraft from the late 1930’s to the beginning of the Korean War, World of Warplanes pits virtual pilots against in each other intense 15 vs. 15 matches, where supremacy of the skies is dictated not only by the prowess behind the trigger, but also in teamwork and tactical cooperation. With planes from the United States, Russia, Germany and Japan, players will be able to jump into the cockpits of some of the most iconic warbirds to ever grace the skies.

 

World of Warplanes

 

The open beta phase of World of Warplanes will also see the introduction of a number of new features, including in-game tactical tips to help pilots learn the ropes of aerial combat, the implementation of crews and crew skills, access to consumables and premium ammo, a brand-new tutorial, as well as two new in-game maps.

Most excitingly, at one of its stages the open beta will also see the official launch of Wargaming’s recently announced Unified Premium Account. This new type of premium account will allow players to carry over their premium account status across Wargaming’s titles. During the open beta, pilots will receive special in-game tokens which can be redeemed for Unified Premium Account status.

 

 

“All of us at Wargaming are extremely excited to launch the open beta testing phase of World of Warplanes,” said Andrew Yarantsau, VP of Global Publishing at Wargaming. “Closed beta was a tremendous success and we’ve implemented a great deal of player feedback into the game.”

“We can’t wait for players to get the opportunity to experience our newly announced Unified Premium Account feature, which is going to provide a tremendous amount of value for our games,” added Yarantsau.

PlanetSide 2 Review – Not Even Death Is An Excuse

By John Shadle (Sephorus), OnRPG Journalist

Planetside 2 Combat Review

PlanetSide 2, developed and published by Sony Online Entertainment, is (in case it wasn’t apparent already) the sequel to the 2003 MMOFPS hit PlanetSide.  Sporting the same style of three-faction warfare as its predecessor, PlanetSide 2 brings a class system, heavily-improved visuals, and a free-to-play model to the table in order to bring the title into present-day gaming.  The title has also gone through some pretty regular content updates and has just seen Game Update 10 roll onto the live servers.  Given the changes, I gave PlanetSide 2 a bit of a revisit and, in short, came away pretty damn impressed.

 

Basic controls, for the most part, are pretty straightforward and should be pretty comfortable to anyone who’s played first-person shooters on the PC before.  There’s a few controls and Planetside 2-specifics with a bit of a learning curve – vehicle controls, how to attack and/or defend bases, respawning, the map overlay, etc.  While I had planned on noting that my one complaint about the game was a lack of a proper tutorial on such matters, Game Update 9 saw a tutorial added for new characters, so while my initial experience involved stumbling around to learn how things work with a hefty amount of death involved, new players should have a far easier time getting settled into their proverbial boots before touching down on Auraxis.  It’s almost like SOE was in my head with this update, really.

 

… you guys aren’t actually reading my thoughts, are you?  Anyways.

Planetside 2 Classes

Each of the three factions has access to six classes, each with their own equipment list, special ability, and possible functions on the battlefield.  The Light Assault comes equipped with a jetpack that can either function as a jump booster or a hover pack (but not both at once), making hit-and-run tactics a viable option and superior mobility their greatest defense.  The Heavy Assault, by contrast, swaps out the jetpack for a modifiable energy shield to soak up some additional punishment; they’re also the only class capable of utilizing light machine guns, heavy weapons, and rocket launchers.  The Infiltrator has slightly lower health than all other classes, but comes equipped with a cloaking device.  They’re also capable of hacking enemy terminals and defenses to open them up for your own faction and are also the only class capable of using sniper rifles.  The Engineer comes equipped with a variety of nanite-channeling tools, which allows them to deploy ammunition packs and portable turrets – along with being able to repair friendly vehicles and turret defenses.  The Combat Medic sports both a medical applicator and nano-regenerator field devices, allowing them to both heal and revive friendly infantry units.  Finally, there’s the Mechanized Assault Exoskeleton – more commonly known as a MAX.  The MAX is more of an infantry-sized vehicle that’s capable of soaking up far more punishment than other classes and comes with a weapon held – or mounted – on each hand.  However, unlike the other classes, MAX units move far slower, cannot ride in most vehicles, cost precious resources to deploy each time they’re utilized and lack personal shields of any kind, making them less of a regular class choice and more of an option on the battlefield.

 

Each of the factions has its own array of weaponry that revolves around a particular theme for each empire.  Terran Republic weapons tend to feature bigger magazines and higher rates of fire compared to the other factions, making them more capable of laying down a hail of bullets for extended periods of time.  New Conglomerate weaponry tends to kick slightly harder, but packs more of a punch than other weaponry, which plays very well to shock-and-awe tactics.  Vanu Sovereignty weapons, unlike the other factions, use plasma cores instead of traditional ballistic cartridges, making bullet drop over long distances a non-issue for them.  There’s also a small selection of Nanite Systems weaponry, colloquially called ‘common pool’ as all three factions can utilize them.  NS weapons tend to feature more attachment options when compared to similar weapons, making them attractive options as multi-purpose platforms, but not as specialized as other choices may be.  That’s a key point to make, as no one weapon is superior above all others in all situations – at least, that’s the intent – which makes weapon choice and various attachments more of a sidegrade instead of an upgrade.

 

Each faction also has an array of vehicles at its disposal, and like weaponry, each can be modified to fill a variety of roles.  However, unlike weapons, where most of the options are faction-specific, most of the vehicles are provided by Nanite Systems with a small selection being faction specific.  The Flash is a two-man ATV that’s meant more as a personal transport vehicle, but can be modified with a weapon for more hit-and-run tactics.  The Harasser is a three-man buggy that seems like the Flash’s big brother that can take a bit more of a beating; additionally, the third seat is large enough to transport a MAX unit.  The Lightning is a one-man tank that can be modified with anti-tank, anti-air, or anti-infantry weaponry, allowing it to specialize in shutting down a particular threat or left to be capable against a wider array of targets.  The Sunderer is a twelve-person transport vehicle that can be set up as a mobile spawn point, vehicle repair or resupply station, or can be modified to pass through shields around any base controlled by another faction.

Planetside 2 Vehicles

The Liberator is a three-man aerial bomber that’s capable of providing a lot of firepower against ground targets, whether infantry, vehicle, or a mix of both.  The Galaxy is a twelve-man transport aircraft with enough gunner seats to provide a lot of air support, and is also the only aircraft that allows infantry to safely airdrop by default.  Each faction also has a specific two-person heavy tank (the TR Prowler, NC Vanguard, and VS Magrider) and a one-person aircraft (the Mosquito, Reaver, and Scythe, respectively), and while my less-than-stellar piloting skills hasn’t been conducive to trying them out for myself much, the tanks seem more durable and harder hitting than their Lightning counterparts, while the aircraft boast an impressive weapons array and high maneuverability.

 

Progression in Planetside 2 is pretty straightforward.  You earn XP by doing almost anything that helps your faction, and for each 250 XP you earn, you’ll gain 1 Certification Point to spend on unlocking new weapons, weapon attachments, class upgrades, vehicle modifications, and the like – although some unlocks (namely, Squadron Leader abilities) require a certain Battle Rank before purchasing, even if you have the appropriate amount of points to spend.  Things like taking down enemy players or vehicles grant a fair amount of XP, but the more support-oriented actions – supplying an ammunition pack as an Engineer, recovering health as a Combat Medic, hacking terminals as an Infiltrator, participating in successful territory captures, etc. – offer XP (and thus, Cert Points) as well.  Racking up a certain number of kills with a particular weapon will also eventually earn medals, which award a flat bonus of Cert Points instead of any amount of XP.  Two more recent additions to Planetside 2 are the Alert and Ribbon systems.  Alerts are periodic contests for one empire to fully capture a given continent in two hours that grant a slight XP boost for actions there and a large chunk of XP to the winning faction.  Ribbons are periodic chunks of 250 XP awarded for repeated actions – kills with a particular weapon, certain amounts of damage repaired, etc. – and also grant bonus XP for the first five Ribbons earned in a day.

Planetside 2 Kill Recap

The actual gameplay consists of each faction attempting to gain control of three continents – the desert-styled Indar, the wilderness-covered Amerish, and the frozen wasteland of Esamir.  Each has a variety of facilities to assault and/or defend, and each will provide either aerospace, mechanized, or infantry resources to spend on vehicles or personal equipment (med packs, grenades, C-4, etc.).  There’s no overall mission system built into the game (IE: no “attack this base next!” prompt), and while the game’s periodic Alerts tend to focus players to fight over a given continent, the entirety of the action is player driven.  This makes the ebb and flow of battles fairly organic overall, and while the possibility of constantly reacting to the unknown might be daunting for some, I have to say that some of the best moments I encountered during my time on Auraxis revolved around either a small faction-versus-faction skirmish turning into a three-way all-out assault over a territory or manning some sort of gunner emplacement and not being entirely sure of the number of targets we’d find over the next mountain ridge.  There’s a tension in the random nature of combat on this scale that’s simply not present elsewhere, and it’s nothing short of awesome.

 

Graphically, Planetside 2 is running on SOE’s proprietary Forgelight engine, and while I couldn’t possibly give you appropriate technical specifications of its capabilities, I can tell you that it’s able to support a lot of moving targets at once and look damn good while doing it.  Bullets can be seen whizzing across the battlefield, explosions off in the distance (or up close, if you’re unlucky!) will light up the area, and various plasma emitters, generators, and forcefields give off an eerie glow – all of which is even more striking if you’re dealing with a nighttime assault.  While long-range targets can render a little less cleanly if you look closely enough, it does little to detract from the fact that, from the landscape to the various bases to the vehicles and troops out to conquer said landscape, everything in Planetside 2 looks pretty damn impressive.

 

The audio work in Planetside 2 is equally as excellent.  There’s not a large amount of musical score – which is understandable as it could block out more critical sounds in a firefight – but the brief clips you hear for each faction during character creation/selection, redeployment, and base capture go a long way towards establishing a theme and identity for each faction.  More prevalent are weapon sounds, which are fairly distinct for not only each faction, but each class of weapon as well.  Pay attention enough and you’ll pick up some differences between, say, an NC carbine and an NC assault rifle.  For the most part, there’s an appropriate amount of audible oomph that accompanies each pull of the trigger – Vanu’s plasma weaponry being a sole exception I can think of, but can’t really call a complaint as they’re apparently looking at a sound retooling for VS weaponry ‘soon’.  Still, overall, it’s impressive ear candy.

 

The cash shop in Planetside 2 is one that, truthfully, strikes a very good balance between selling useful items and not simply selling power.  Most weapons, whether for infantry or vehicles, can either be purchased with Certification Points or Station Cash, although there’s a few visual-upgrade models that are Station Cash only.  Weapon attachments, class upgrades, and deployable weapons (grenades, mines, etc.) can only be snagged with Cert Points, so while it’s possible to throw down hundreds of dollars to unlock every weapon available, you’d still have to rack up enough XP to modify those weapons into something more useful than the stock model.  There’s also a few consumable boosts and a large assortment cosmetic items – helmets, camo patterns, vehicle dashboard trinkets, etc. – in the cash shop, so there’s a bit for people to spend SC on if they’ve already gotten their weapon of choice.  Overall, it’s a pretty good implementation.

Planetside 2 Review

All in all, Planetside 2 is one hell of a game – and one that caught me completely off guard, given that I normally am not a fan of purely-competitive shooters.  Once you get past the steep learning curve (which should be easier now, given the tutorial), there’s enough fun to be had on Auraxis for a myriad of playstyles.  I can’t call it a perfect game, if only because I know that not everyone is a fan of first-person shooters.  If you are, though, it’s worth an extended stay on Auraxis, or at least a brief check-out given the low entry price of free.  Regardless, Planetside 2 is a game that I simply cannot recommend enough.

Shotgun News 6/11: Black Gold, GW2, TSW, Infinite Crisis, and much more!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG News Monkey

 

Black Gold English Website Live

Black Gold Steam castle

During all the excitement of E3 it may have gone unnoticed that the website for Snail USA’s Black Gold has gone live. Well our forum goers didn’t miss it! And thanks to OnRPG forum user Seya we didn’t miss it either. The website isn’t complete quite yet though. There are still a lot of coming soon signs where information on Races, Classes, and even the backstory should be. But if you’re looking for pretty pictures that is the place to go. They have concept art, wallpapers, and screenshots all available. And though they may be empty the forums are live too! Be sure to come back later in the week for a look at Black Gold from E3.

 

Missing Worlds Media Announces Incoming Kickstarter

Born from the ashes of City of Heroes’ fall Missing Worlds Media was formed by a group of fans to start work on a spiritual successor, The Phoenix Project. After more than half a year of work. Missing Worlds Media has announced they will be taking it to Kickstarter. The Kickstarter Campaign is expected to launch in early September. This gives MWM a chance to get out the elbow grease as they polish the proposal and campaign. And once the E3 dust settles be on the lookout on OnRPG for an interview with the developers.

 

Guild Wars 2 Dragon Bash Begins Today

Today marks the start of the Dragon Bash in Guild Wars 2! After drama unfolded in Southsun Cove the residents of Lion’s Arch are putting on a celebration which gives a nod back to the ancient Dragon Festivals of old (Guild Wars). New weapons skins to fireworks displays the Dragon Bash has a little something for everyone. If you want to know more about it check the
early look at the celebration in Tyrian Times. And look at what happens when our sister site MMOHuts runs into a dragon in the video below.

The Secret World Black Weekend

A special Black Weekend event is taking place in The Secret World this weekend and everyone is invited! So what does this mean? Double XP! Every 24 hours you can claim a free xp potion from the store for double the experience points for 8 hours. Double the Black Bullion, everytime you do something that would earn you Black Bullion, you get two! Free Boots! It’s the end of the world as we know it, and you get free boots from the in game store! The event starts this Friday and runs until Monday.

 

Infinite Crisis Reveals New Map

A new map has come to the closed beta of Infinite Crisis! CoastCity features two lanes, defensive turrets and a massive area simply called The Wastes. In The Wastes you find creatures of all sorts…and The Doomsday Device! And to make things even more interesting there is a neutral turret to defeat and Power Relays scattered all over the map.

E3 Big Press Reveals: Sony and Nintendo

Welcome to Day 1 of E3! We’re starting off where we ended last night right after the end of Ubisoft’s amazing presentation. If you haven’t already ready the MMO related roundup of the earlier three major press conferences you can read all about them here. There was one more last night from Sony, but being in Europe that was a bit too late for me. So I watched it earlier this morning along with the big Nintendo reveal.

 

Sony

The Playstation 4 mostly dominated this presentation. And unlike Microsoft they actually spent a bit of time talking about the machine itself. No having to check in online, trading games is as simple as it has ever been. And PS4 got a price of $400. And they announced some great upcoming titles for both the PS4 and Vita, though there weren’t as many multiplayer/MMOs. So what can we look forward to? Destiny. An awesome shooter which allows friends to team up with eachother or take part in public quests as they pop up. These public quests will have people pouring out of everywhere to take part, and from the looks of it you’ll need all the help you can get.

 

 

Not interested in another shooter? The Elder Scrolls Online might just be for you then. This was the first place it was announced to be on anything besides PC or Mac, though it was later revealed you could play it on Xbox One. PS4 players will get to have a special access beta, which more information will be released about later.

 

Nintendo

X

Nintendo’s presentation was a short one this year. Not having a new console to reveal gave them a chance to focus on the games. All the classics were there, from Zelda to Super Smash Bros. Though, Megaman is finally making an appearance in SSB, which may just be the biggest news outside of Bayonetta’s makeover for Bayonetta 2. For us MMO fans the most promising title is X from the makers of Xenoblade, Monolithsoft. X is an open world rpg with mechs who transform into cars, fly, and fight. From the preview we could see a four player team but there isn’t much else to say about the title yet.

 

After the three performances yesterday today felt a little bit lacking for MMO fans. But that is about to change because we have a team on the floor at E3 and we will be bringing you news and in depth looks throughout the convention. Keep coming back often and make sure you’re following us on twitter @OnRPG to get the latest.

Elder Scrolls Online on Xbox One and PS4

ESO

 

If you were excited for Elder Scrolls Online before, the news got even better today as Bethesda announced they were bringing it to Xbox One and PS4 in addition to the PC and Mac. Matt Firor, Game Director of Elder Scrolls online had this to say about the announcement, “It’s something our fans have been requesting since we first announced the title, and something our team is excited to offer. Everyone will be able to play The Elder Scrolls Online the way they want to play.”

 

In addition, during the Sony Playstation 4 Press Conference it was announced there would be a Playstation 4 exclusive beta in the coming future. Anyone interested in signing up for the closed beta on console or PC can do so by going to the official Elder Scrolls Online website. Elder Scrolls Online is expected to launch on all four platforms in Spring 2014.

E3 Big Press Reveals: Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft

Microsoft, EA, and Ubisoft. Three of the biggest press conferences from E3 2012 are done. With Sony and Nintendo coming later. Unfortunately this European is just a bit too tired to stay up to see all the action. But that doesn’t mean I can’t bring you the highlights as they relate to MMOs and open world games from the first three.

 

Microsoft

Microsoft’s presentation this year was all about Xbox. From the 360 getting a sexy makeover to announcing a ton of titles for Xbox One, and even a price for the next gen console ($500). But what really got us excited was the announcement that the massively popular World of Tanks would be making the jump to the Xbox 360. It will be free to play for Xbox Live Gold users and available this summer. But if you’re looking for news a bit more next gen, then you’ll be pleased to hear that Twitch is teaming up with Microsoft to allow gamers to stream directly from Xbox One as well as viewing other streams with a full integration.

 

EA

PvZGW

EA had a lot of sports this year. But what got us at OnRPG (or maybe just me) most excited was the multiplayer version of Plants vs Zombies. Team up with three other people and become the plants as you fight off everyone’s favorite loveable zombies. Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare will be available on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

 

Ubisoft

TCTheDivision

Possibly the most exciting press conference of them all Ubisoft was action packed, with an involved crowd and was confident from beginning to end. While we did see the highly anticipated next instalment of Assassin’s Creed, or interest lies elsewhere. The Epic Quest for Mighty Loot has been a name I’ve seen tossed around quite a lot lately. But I never really looked into it. That changes now. If the free to play MMO is anything like the hilarious trailer we saw today it is sure to be a hit. If driving is more your thing then The Crew is for you. This persistent world goes from single player to multiplayer with the click of an invitation. There are no lobbies and car customization goes to an all new length. They go so far as to let you build your car from the ground up using all the parts available in the shop. And that isn’t all. You’ll even be able to take the car customization to the tablet. And just when we thought Ubisoft was done, they surprised us with an all new title. Tom Clancy’s The Division. A multiplayer apocalypse in an open world RPG. You’ll be able to join friends in this hellish world in which anything could happen. Come across another group of players with your friends, enter PvP mode and take them out before they take you out.

 

The next generation of games looks to be all about the customized experience. Putting you in touch with your friends on a more personal level and making the world just a little bit smaller. And though there are two more of the big press conferences to go I’m going to call Tom Clancy’s The Division the most anticipated so far by the OnRPG watchers. And if you watch the Sony and Nintendo press conferences log into the OnRPG forums, chat with others watching it in the chatroom or go to the E3 thread. And be on the lookout tomorrow for more on OnRPG.

Age of Wulin Closed Beta Announced

After months of anticipation Webzen (formerly Gala-Net/gPotato) has at last announced that the epic F2P MMORPG set in Imperial China, Age of Wulin will be entering Closed Beta this month. Closed Beta will begin June 17th, just one week from today. At launch the European English server will be available to those who have access with the French and German servers opening later. Beta keys for the English server are being distributed through various partners, including OnRPG, so be on the lookout for those keys when we get them. And check out the new trailer celebrating the announcement of closed beta below.