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Earthrise: The Hatchery

Jul 31, 2009 Articles Recommend|253views

As the Final Wars came to a close, devastation was widespread and humanity on Earth was extinct. A small glimmer of hope to restore the human population lay dormant in the Librarium on Enterra island, but on the surface all other life forms were fighting for their survival. Largely thanks to the human created nano viruses, they went through drastic changes, evolving to survive, and created a fiercely adaptive and hostile ecosystem. As the environment worked to regenerate, another ecosystem had already begun taking on an even more alien form in the vast and deep oceans.

On the distant ocean floor, a new life form was developing in eternal darkness unlike any other on Earth. Easily mistaken for a new ecosystem of parasitic life forms by the human eye, a vast, colonial organism was forming. With its instinct to grow and ultimate adaptability, it became the single master of the depths where it originated in just a few short years.

Roughly a hundred years before humans set foot on Enterra again, a scout swarm of spores traveled through the sea currents and reached the island shores. The swarm was sent to find a place with enough biomass that could sustain the emergence of the main organism from the deep. During these days the island was teeming with all forms of mutated life making it a suitable environment for the development of the colony. Since it was created with a limited ability to sustain itself for prolonged periods, the vanguard colony only managed to devour and assimilate a small part of the island before it died out, but not without completing its mission and sending a message back to its creator.

The spores that carried the encrypted chemical message traveled slowly, but the larger organism was able to exist in its natural habitat for many more years. When it began creeping towards Enterra, the Librarium had already opened and the Pioneers were roaming the island working to turn it into a new home suitable for humankind. In their pursuit of habitable land, the humans destroyed entire mutated ecosystems in order to open ground for terraforming and expansion of infrastructure. One problem usually follows another and once people felt like they had conquered the mutant threat, they turned against each other once more. Civil war broke out on Enterra and people took arms in the name of different ideals, killing each other in combat only to return back to the fray from the Crystomatrix Nodes. It was a conflict that could not be ended with warfare, but this did not stop either side from fighting for its beliefs.

While the Pioneers were busy killing each other, tiny spores that carried the cells of the parasitic swarm emerged from the ocean. The vanguard swarm found a suitable place for living on the southernmost shore of the island and began growing at an alarming rate. Having found only a limited amount of food when they first arrived on the island shores, the swarm consumed everything in its wake like a wildfire of organic mass. The decimated mutant ecosystems were not enough for it to thrive so it adapted through mutation in order to consume other kinds of matter and continue to grow. In mere months, the landscape took on a new alien look due to the infestation of the swarm - all foreign life forms were assimilated so that now only the swarm existed in the new habitat. The landscape now resembled a smaller image of the original organism and was, in essence, an autonomously functioning part of it on dry land. Danger was just around the corner, but no one could, or cared, to see it.

The mutations of the vanguard swarm turned even more disastrous once it encountered the Xcelyte deposits on the island and the other D.U.S.T. created compounds. They further boosted its adaptability and made it an even greater menace than it was before. An abundance of new horrific creatures spawned on Enterra, and finally drew the attention of the people. A new deadly enemy was poised against humanity, and while the people were still divided, it was but a single entity driven to devour and assimilate all life.

Tags: Earthrise

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures: Siege Basics

Jul 31, 2009 Age of Conan|487views

The border kingdoms of Hyboria are where the best of the best duke it out in an epic battle of wits and strength to find out who has the right to rule over one of the few battle keeps that are available on each server. Siege is the apex of PvP in Age of Conan in which there is a defending and attacking guild fighting during a set time frame (set by the defending guild) over a battle keep. These battle keeps offer up extreme PvP and PvE stat bonuses along with the bragging rights that come with owning one of the selective structures. This makes the battles to claim and defend those keeps extremely brutal, and sometimes even personal. Knowledge can always change the tide of battle, so I put up this little guide on the basics of how Sieges work in AoC so that rookie warriors won’t be caught clueless on this merciless battlefield.

Getting a BK / applying for siege:

First off before you can even try and apply to siege your guild must:

1. Have a T3 city keep (you do not need T3 buildings though)
2. Have the minimum number of guild PvP points* to bid on the attacking siege spot

*Guild PvP points are gained every time someone in your guild completes a PvP mini game or kills a player of an enemy guild (that you have just declared siege on) your guild master can then use these points to bid against other guilds attempting to siege the same keep as you.

Once you have met all of the requirements, pull up the massive PvP tab and look for the battle keep you would like and make a bid. If you are the top bidding guild when the bid phase ends then congratulations, you will be participating in a siege at the time listed. If for some reason there is an unoccupied battle keep in a zone, you can acquire it just like you would a guild city. Now whether you are attacking or defending there is quite a bit of preparation to be had:

For Attackers:

For the defending guild to upgrade their battle keep (if it is not yet a T3 BK), they will need to collect special resources only found in the border kingdoms. However, these resources drop if the carrier is killed in PvP combat. Some of the more aggressive guilds will systematically attack and steal from the resource gatherers of the defending guild, which will effectively slow the upgrading of their BK, give you resources to more quickly build their BK if the siege is successful and also earn Guild PvP points in the process. Remember the higher the tier, the more hits it can take.

It is also important for anyone participating in the siege to know the locations of the siege camps throughout the enemy BK. Though knowing the exact points within the walls of the keep are difficult to obtain without being creative, there is no reason that the outer wall siege camps are not known by everyone so that rally points can be clearly set.

Have a plan! Explaining a simple siege strategy to your comrades is the quickest way to victory. 48 players running around doing their own thing will only give the defenders an easy win while 48 players that know exactly where to go can topple the most tenacious of defenders.

For Defenders:

Know the locations of siege camps! Have as many people as possible mark on their maps where the enemy could put up trebuchets and catapults. This will help you communicate where to counter attack.

Keep the doors closed! At no point during the siege should the front or inner gates be open as this gives a huge time advantage to the attackers. Many guilds will even keep the doors shut days before the battle just to make sure no stealthy scouts or would be saboteurs gain entry.

Know the tunnels. As of 1.05, there are now tunnels throughout the inner keep for the defense force to use. Make sure people know the locations of these secret passages and are using them instead of the gates or jumping from the walls.

Trebuchets and Ballistae:

To create a trebuchet,t simply walk up to a siege camp (big orange tents that you can build on those piles of rocks aka siege camps that you hopefully marked earlier) and click it. You then select which plans in your inventory you want to use and viola, a siege weapon of your very own! These little puppies will start firing by themselves, but while they do it is you and your raid’s responsibility to let it do as much damage as possible before the defenders take it out. And trust me the defenders will come at these things like wild dogs.

*TIP* using the advanced trebuchets is highly recommended as they have a great amount of hit points, meaning it will get off at least one shot before it is taken out ( it costs a lot more though so is recommended when attacking the main keep directly).

For defenders, there will be special NPCs that spawn on certain towers during the siege. Talking to these guys will create a ballista on the tower and give you an item (so make sure you have inventory space!) using the item will create an AoE circle that you can put on the ground wherever you think the enemy might be. The ballista will then fire continuously at that spot until either you die, the tower is destroyed, or you give it another location to shoot. The ballista will not do any damage to the attackers but it will be a constant knock back AoE that ignores most anti-cc.

*TIP* Ballistae can fire behind the tower they are mounted on! Some attackers will overlook a tower they have already gotten past allowing you to set a knock back zone in very annoying places!

Getting to the battleground:

Use the Massive PvP tab to find which of the three border kingdoms you will be attacking. To get to the Aquillonian end go to the border kingdoms recruiter at the garrison just a bit up the street from the temple of Mitra. For the Border of Kush talk to the recruiter near the armory in Khemi. For the Cimmerian end talk to the border kingdoms guide right across from the wagoner.

You can also go to the border kingdoms straight from any of the resource zones. Purple lotus swamp=Kush, Poitain=Aquillonian end, Lacheish Plains= Cimmerian end.

Once you arrive, simply check the local map for which BK you are heading toward.

If you own a BK then all you have to do is talk to a special NPC in your guild city who can port you there instantly for a small fee.

The Basics of Siege:

When the time for siege comes, there will be a guild wide message along with a counter that appears in the top left of your screen (default). This counter will show the defending guild’s name along with a certain number along the attacking guild’s name next to a zero as well as the time left in the siege. The numbers next to the guild names are the amount of points the defending guild has from their buildings (The higher the tier of the city/ more buildings the more points they will have). Every time a building or wall takes damage or is destroyed, points are lost from the defending guild and given to the attackers. To achieve complete victory, causing ownership of the BK to go over to the attackers, you will not only need to destroy the keep itself but have more points than the defenders. For attacking guilds that already own a BK; only the keep itself needs to be destroyed for a victory to show up on your record, though the defenders will still own the land as a guild cannot own two BKs. This will reset a T3/T2 keep back to T1, however. Destroying buildings for points is not the only advantage you get from destruction. The defending guild will lose any bonus they gained from the building as well.

Siege can be one of the most intense PvP experiences in any game but having 48 v. 48 max in a zone can be very taxing on even the beefiest of computers, so turning down settings is a must if you do not want to experience lag or a disconnect because of high latency. There is a nifty little siege/raid setting that will work for most computers but most high end systems will only need to turn view distance down and particle effects off.

Sieging has some of the highest stakes PvP out there, so you can imagine that there are countless strategies out there used to achieve victory. From the more underhanded tactics such as planting spies or using a mammoth mount to block the targeting of siege weapons to the more creative ones such as defenders paying off a mercenary guild or creating a dummy guild just to grab their keep’s attacking spot and effectively get a free siege win. Each guild has their own play style and strategy that they bring to raiding and sieging alike. Just be sure to end the battle on a good note, even if your keep is razed to the ground and the corpses of your friends lie strewn over the battlefield just remember that you can come back the next week and take it right back!

Tags: Age of Conan

Mortal Online: Beta Phase 2 August 3rd

Jul 30, 2009 Articles Recommend|435views

As July comes to an end and August begins so does the second installment of the Mortal Online beta test.

Swedish software developer Star Vault highly anticipated MMORPG that features an open world within a fantasy setting. Using the Unreal engine, Star Vault strives to bring a truly immersive 3D experience to players this coming fall.

I hoped everyone has signed up for the Beta and pre-ordered their copy of the game. Their will only be 10,000 issued copies of the game first run, reason being Star Vault says,  ”This is because we want to be able to better control the Beta-phase by administering only one (or two) servers.”

There are the boxed versions available, a limited edition “Full Loot Bag” and digital downloads sold through there online store. All three versions offer a month free play time and access to the beta tests, on a first come, first serve basis.

Subscriptions to Mortal Online will cost roughly $14.25Usd and 14.25 Euro.  This MMORPG will offer no pvp zones, but an open ended world to where you can design and build your own keeps and houses. Whether it’s through war, trading or flexing your diplomatic influence you can custom create your characters skills to suit your individual playstyle.

So if you haven’t reserved your copy yet, make sure to hurry down to the Mortal Online store to reserve your copy, and download your beta client. You better hurry, there are only a few copies left and you wouldn’t want to miss out on the August 3rd beta phase!

If your curious on how Mortal Online will run on your computer, I posted the system requirements below.

MO System Requirements (an estimation)

Please note that all options and scaling are not yet in the game, meaning the requirements will change over time.

Minimum configuration (1024×768, detail reduced)
OS: Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3Ghz or equivalent
RAM: 1GB
Video card: ATI Radeon 9800/nVidia GeForce 6600
Video memory 256MB
Hard drive space: 5-25GB

Recommended configuration (1680×1050)
OS: Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista Service Pack 1
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz or equivalent
RAM: 2048MB Dual Channel DDR2
Video card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or equivalent
Video memory: 512MB
Hard drive space: 30GB

Happy hunting!

Inktomi

Tags: Mortal Online

Jade Dynasty Fort Siege System

Jul 30, 2009 Articles Recommend|1,094views

Are you ready to take your Alliance to the next level? Make sure to join a Fort Siege–a Battleground arena just for Alliance battles.

Fort Siege is a large scale PvP battle, waged against two opposing Alliances. Instead of the regular player Battleground–which is more of a PvP free-for-all–the Fort Siege will pit an Alliance as the attacker, and another as the defender in a two hour battle to own Fort Cloudstorm.

To be eligible to join Fort Siege, an Alliance must be at least level 4 and be at least a week old in age. To join, an Alliance must first acquire three Siege Invitations, which can be obtained by defeating Celestial Agents. They are essentially mini-bosses, so they will be easily located on the mini-map as a red dot. Try looking for Celestial Agents who are scattered throughout the world. Once your Alliance has three Siege Invitations, your Alliance Leader can turn them in at the Elder of Mystery (in Sunstream City) to receive one Siege Order. Next, the Alliance Leader needs to turn in that Siege Order to the Fort Siege Deputy, along with 100 gold to sign up for the next Fort Siege battle. With the Fort Siege Deputy, your Alliance and the opposing Alliance can schedule a time to do battle.

Is your Alliance below the level requirement, but everyone is itching to join Fort Siege? In that case, every Alliance member should be donating Merit Incense and other provisions to the Alliance Master to raise the Alliance’s level.

When an Alliance signs up, they can choose to attack a defending Alliance. In order to win as an attacker, the Alliance will need to break through the fort walls and destroy the Regenesis sword. To aid in their battle, attackers will be able to summon different Titans to bolster their teams’ offensive attack. Generally, the Alliance will need to destroy the three towers in the middle of the arena to open the fort gates. However, there are other means of entry into the city, so keep your eyes open!

As a defending an Alliance who has no desire to lose their fort, they must successfully defend their fort and prevent the other team from destroying the Regenesis Sword in the two hour time limit. If players feel their defense is strong enough, they can launch an offensive attack and attempt to destroy the Ruby of Discord tower in the attackers’ base.

Defenders have the ability to alter the battleground, upgrading the towers to make the attacker’s job much more difficult. Once a team has captured a fort, it is in the Alliance’s best interest to upgrade and fortify the towers to keep the fort.

The winning Alliance of a Fort Siege battle will have their name on the contested fort, as well as their success being announced in-game. The Alliance Leader will receive an exclusive Fort Siege mount, as well as 100 gold each day to be distributed as the leader sees fit. All Alliance members will receive a special title.

With such sweet prizes–not to mention just a fun battle–Fort Siege is definitely the next step in Alliance PvP. And if you’re not in an Alliance yet, what are you waiting for?

Tags: Jade Dynasty

City of Heroes Issue 16 Comic Con

Jul 29, 2009 City of Hero|350views

Joe Morrissey, Senior Game Designer and Matt Miller, Senior Design Lead at Paragon Studios are just great people to talk to and we joked around as they waited for a “Marketing Watchdog” to come by before we could start the interview at Comic Con. “Just a mindful presence to keep me from saying too much,” Joe quipped.

“Shhh! Don’t tell her about the Ninja Space Monkeys?” Matt hushed him. “Are you sure they weren’t Pirate Space Monkeys?” Joe responded “The space expansion? What space expansion?” They chorused, deadpan.

Build 16, which goes into open beta in two weeks, is a response to player requests and primarily consists of the Power Spectrum, which is the ability to customize the colors of your character’s powers. A new interface has been created with tabs across the top so that players creating new or tailoring old characters can easily switch from the different customization screens to adjust each of the customizable features of their characters.

Joe ran the game and character customization screens to show the new system while Matt talked. “Each power will have a palette associated with it,” he said, “a reflection of the type of power it is.”

They showed off the earth armor, which has a palette of earthy tones associated, although you can push the boundaries of blue and green, it won’t turn shocking neon green or electric blue.

“The summons will take on the color palette of the summoning spell,” continued Matt, “and some powers, like energy and fire, will have additive or subtractive colors in the effects.” Masterminds, however, will have a larger palette of colors for their pets, and this will not be included at launch of build 16 but will come later on down the line.

Another player request being fulfilled in this build are animations, in particular for super strength and martial arts. The current animations will be the default animations, but others may be set at the character customization at character creation or at a tailor shop.

The mission difficulty mission settings will also receive an overhaul. Players will be able to adjust the difficulty level according to team size as well as the level of the NPCs. “For example, the player or team leader can say… treat me or my team as a team of anywhere from one through eight and NPC spawn will be set accordingly,” said Joe. For NPC levels, players can set them to from minus one of their level to plus four. This creates missions of flexible variety. To test himself against many, a player may choose settings as a team of two or three but set the NPC level at negative one to see how he does, and then move up the difficulty. It is a joy to test the power of your character and sometimes you just want to go in with a bunch of friends and kill things with the action coming fast and furious.

When I asked about the continuing rumors of the game dying, both disputed that. “We had a bump in numbers when we released the Mac version of City of Heroes and our numbers rose quite a bit more when Mission Architect was launched,” said Matt “and they have stabilized.”

“I think we are a victim of our own success,” Joe commented. “The streets are empty because everyone is playing player designed missions at the System Architect building.”

The team is enjoying the success of their Mission Architect system and both were proud to speak of it. “We have over 50,000 arcs in Mission Architect right now. It’s leveled off as each player has only five slots unless they choose to buy three more,” said Joe.

“We’ve put in a new search system and continue to tweak the system,” Matt elaborated. Players may now search the system using key phrases and then refine the search from there onward.

“It’s amazing to play the missions that players have come up with. They use the NPC designers to great effect and put the system in use in ways we’ve not imagined.”

The next build after Build #16 is their coming paid expansion, “Going Rogue.” As the title hints at, players will have the ability to switch allegiance. Players can walk the line between Hero and Villain, or they can cross it. Two new iconic characters representing “Going Rogue” will be introduced: Maelstrom, a pistol-wielding hero gone rogue, and a Desdemona, a demon-summoning villain who has been redeemed.

They could not talk much more about it other than to say that they would have missions and areas for new characters as well as level 50+ characters. Although we did joke again about Ninja Pirate Monkeys. Yes, the expansion after #16 is Going Rogue… the Space Expansion. This is a joke, readers. No Ninja Pirate Monkeys down the line. Unless of course, the joke is too good not to make true in an April Fool’s Day event.

Tags: City of Heroes

Free Realms Brushing Up on the Brawler

Jul 29, 2009 Articles Recommend|425views

This time we’ll be looking at another combat class available in Free Realms. Last time we looked at a ranged expert appropriately named the Archer. The Archer is a members’ only job meaning only those that subscribe to Free Realms’ monthly fee of $4.99 can play as that job. The Brawler, however, is available to everyone. As one of the nine jobs anyone can play, the Brawler is one of two combat classes that does not require membership. The other job is the Ninja.

As a Brawler your main focus is damage up close and personal with the enemy. The job is really about damage, but it’s more formidable than the Archer. The Brawler can tank with a good healer around, but can’t always replace the Warrior. I often play with just one other person and I’ve found for smaller groups it’s nice to have someone who can deal damage but be moderately tough.

The skills of the Brawler allow him or her to deal damage to multiple enemies or one enemy multiple times. The job even has a ranged attack for times when pulling an enemy is necessary. Brawlers use hammers when fighting enemies and make short work of them with these abilities.

Aside from a basic attack that executes when clicked, the Brawler has four abilities. This is how all of the combat classes work in Free Realms. You will start with that basic attack and an ability called Leg Sweep. At level five, you’ll get Rock Toss, at ten it’s Pummel, and at 15 it’s Enrage.

• Leg Sweep - The Brawler sweeps all nearby enemy legs, causing 50 damage to each.
• Rock Toss - You launch rocks that stun 3 enemies and cause 53 damage each.
• Pummel - The Brawler attacks the enemy quickly, landing 3 consecutive blows for 29 maximum damage each.
• Enrage - The Brawler goes on a frenzied rampage for 10 seconds, increasing melee damage by 8 and critical hit chance by 1%.

As you improve these abilities with stars, you’ll do more damage on all of them except for Enrage. By improving Enrage, your melee damage goes up as well as your critical chance.

I’ll say it again; although there are only five abilities, the combat in Free Realms is still entertaining. When Free Realms hits the PS3, those five abilities will be easier to manage with a controller. Not to mention, there is a little depth in the upgrading of abilities. Honestly, if you’re looking for a combat heavy MMORPG this isn’t going to scratch that itch, but it’s still fun. For pick up and play reasons, you might get familiar with the Brawler since it’s one of the two free combat classes.

My experience as a Brawler in Free Realms includes getting to around level 12 where the level cap is 20. Like most combat classes in FR, leveling takes persistence. Like many MMORPGs there is a bit of a grind to it when leveling a combat class. Running dungeons and hopping into random encounters is a way to level, but really quests are the way to go. Finding a good guild to run with always helps and since loot is automatically distributed there won’t be much argument about who gets what. That may sound discouraging, but a lot of the fancy armor and weapons are purchased with coin. Aside from the journey of leveling, maxing out a job offers new weapons and armor.

One of the things I like the most about the Brawler is the way you dress when you’re performing that job. The Brawler wears makeshift armor. What looks a little like football padding, a pair of jeans, a backward ball cap, wrapped hands, and a pair of boots usually can be found on a Brawler. With hammers and the occasional drill in hand, the Brawler looks more like a crazy citizen on a mission than some pit fighter. The hammers are huge and two-handed. Some appear to be just hammers while others look mystical or even goofy.

To get started as a Brawler you need to unlock the Brawler job and start doing quests. When you first log into the game, a Brawler trainer won’t be too far away. Upon creating a character you’ll begin in the tutorial that will eventually allow you to choose to learn to fight or gather ingredients. You can do both, but choosing to learn to fight will unlock the Brawler job. This is done by talking to Ashley Lightwings who will lead you to Flanders; the man who will teach you to brawl.

If you choose not to talk to Flanders in the tutorial, you will have other opportunities to pick up the job. Once you’re out of the tutorial, there are several Brawler trainers around the world to give you quests and help you level up. The beginning Brawlers, for level 1 Brawlers, include Caitlyn Gravefog in Stillwater Crossing, Harold in Highroad Junction, and Carlos Brazenfist at the Crossroads. Like other combat jobs these beginning quests will lead you to repeatable quests that are optional in order for you to reach level 5. Once you hit level 5 you visit other trainers with quests that will later offer new repeatable quests to get you to level 10. This repeats for level 15 and finally to 20. You don’t have to take part in these repeatable quests, but they’re available for those who want the extra coin and experience.

There you have it; the ins and outs of being a Brawler. If you’re not a member this job will come in handy if you’re interested in Free Realms combat. Since you also have the Ninja you won’t get tired of the combat since their styles do differ. Of course if you’re looking for combat, $4.99 isn’t a terrible price to pay for a job you might enjoy more than the Brawler and the Ninja.

For next time we’ll examine the Blacksmith job; a production job that makes products for you and other players. It’s a members’ only job that highly relates to Mining. Join us next time!

Tags: Free Realms

EVE Online Apocrypha 1.5 - Rigs for All

Jul 28, 2009 eve online|1,190views

Rejoice and be merry, Tech Three ship prices are dropping. After the Apocrypha 1.3 update, the changes to the drop rates of the required materials and datacores has resulted in the individual ship components and base hull costs dropping substantially. What once were multi-billion ISK monsters, are now much more affordable, with a fully-built Strategic Cruiser costing around one billion ISK. It’s still a lot of money, but this is a big step toward them becoming a common sight in New Eden.

I was going to write about what could possibly be in the next expansion, but, just as I sent off my last correspondent article, I notice there’s a new Dev Blog up, with the title of “Apocrypha 1.5 this August”. As I’m wondering what happened to Apocrypha 1.4, I see the words: Mini Expansion. It seems the rumors of a summer expansion, while not entirely accurate, may have had some merit, and we can expect a sizeable update sometime next month. The focus of this article is going to be about the imminent changes to rigs (and a problem that may arise), but first let’s look at what else is on the menu for August:

Factional Warfare is getting bit of a boost, with the addition of more Loyalty Point rewards; previously, LP could only be earned through completing FW missions. In 1.5, militia pilots will be able to receive LP from killing opposing militia members, as well as capturing complexes. It’s not going to correct some of the more serious issues with the FW mechanics, but it’s a big step in the right direction by handing out some kind of tangible reward.

Black Ops Battleship pilots can finally celebrate. Easily one of the most requested features while they were being reworked a few months back, the addition of a separate fuel bay that would allow it to make multiple Covert-Cyno jumps (without relying on other ships to transport fuel), is on the horizon. We can also hope that more specialized bays (for fuel or ore) are also on their way for future updates.

The introduction of epic mission arcs with Apocrypha was a bit underwhelming for most players, as all we received was one introductory arc aimed at lower skilled players. Hoping to remedy that situation, 1.5 is due to include a number of new, level four difficulty mission arcs. Exactly how many and what kind of rewards we can expect are unknown right now, but we can expect more information soon (and it wouldn’t surprise me if a Dev Blog on the new arc is out by the time you read this). There are also numerous balancing changes and bug fixes that have yet to be detailed, but now it’s time to talk about rigs.

Built from the salvaged components of wrecked ships, rigs are ship modifications that improve your ship in some way, but usually at the cost of effectiveness in other areas (armor rigs, for example, reduce the speed of the ship). Rigs have become reasonably common, but they are also expensive enough that they aren’t worth fitting on basic frigates and cruisers, until now. As part of the first step toward revamping rigs, 1.5 will introduce small, medium, and large rigs. Small will fit frigates and destroyers, medium will fit cruisers and battlecruisers, while large will fit battleships and capital ships. The rigs we currently have will all be changed into large rigs, and require the same amount of salvage to build, but small and medium rigs will need much less. If the requirements on the test server stay as they are, then even a few paltry scraps of salvage will be enough to produce a small rig, instead of the dozens of pieces required for one of the current, universal rigs.

This is just the beginning though, and apparently we can expect more rig changes in the future; including new types of rigs (The hearts of asteroid diggers everywhere were no doubt aflutter at the mentioned possibility of mining rigs.), rebalancing of old ones, and the ability for players to convert low quality salvage into the shiny blue salvage needed for Tech Two rigs. I don’t want to understate just how awesome the splitting of rigs into different sizes is, as it will increase the already ridiculous variety of ship setups, especially amongst cruiser and frigate vessels, but there is a problem. Well, not really a problem, but if salvage conversion is introduced and lesser salvage parts can be reprocessed into better parts, then the salvaging of even the most basic of wrecks becomes worthwhile, which is only going to add fuel to the fiery argument over the profession of ninja salvaging (the salvaging of a wreck that doesn’t belong to you).

Unlike stealing items from a wreck, salvaging doesn’t criminally flag you and allow the wreck owner to shoot you with impunity. The most common victims of ninja salvaging are the high-sec mission runners. With dozens of enemy NPCs in an average mission, this is the perfect place to find large amounts of salvage. Unsurprisingly, there are more than a few players that are less than impressed when they can only look on, helplessly, as another player comes in and starts stripping their wrecks clean.CCP’s position on the matter is that it’s perfectly legal, but regardless of what side of the fence you are on in the ninja salvaging argument, it’s possible that this is going to be very lucrative if player can convert the lesser scraps of Tech One salvage into tech Two. In fact, this is only going to add fuel to the fire if a whole new wave of salvage pirates take to the stars.

Sized rigs are likely to cause a fairly massive balance shift if every cruiser and frig can cheaply fit rigs, but, as always, it’s going to be difficult to determine just how big a change this will be until 1.5 arrives. Bring on August.

Tags: eve online

Atlantica Online developer journal-Public Test Server

Jul 28, 2009 Articles Recommend|390views

The Atlantica Online development team has drastically loaded the next content patch with new features and game enhancing updates and has created a test server to help the new transition move along more smoothly. This test server was designed to help enhance the QA process in order to deliver patches with fewer bugs and faster than ever before. As careful as we are, we cannot catch every bug during our QA sessions, so opening up patches early will help find bugs that can slip through the QA process. Already launched, we have started letting a select number of players from the North American servers start helping us on July 22nd.

Just to start out, we wanted the program to be relatively small to avoid hitches and any problems that can be encountered when launching a public test server. As it stands now, we will be allowing 150-200 players to access the newest updated content in Atlantica Online to test and provide feedback on. This select group of players will be chosen via the online application as described in our forum. The application is short and to the point, requiring basic information such as you gaming experience. If the process goes well this time around, we hope to eventually open up the test servers to a larger group of players.

Because the test server gives players a great opportunity to access features and content not yet available in the live version of the game, players are definitely eager to take this opportunity to not only help us test for problems, but to also get informed about what to expect when the next content patch goes live. However, there are some very strict rules these selected testers must abide by in order to be able to participate.

Those selected to help us test the new game content will not be able to transfer their characters, but will find that leveling will be a lot easier and faster. One such way we plan to help this happen is by permanently providing double the experience points and free items. We want the players to test as much of the new content as they can to help us ensure a smoother, bug-free update for everyone else. In addition to experiencing new content, those testing the new server will have access to new mercenaries. There will be frequent character wipes, as well as occasional downtime, as the test server is meant to be used mainly to test the new content and get rid of bugs. We’ll have a private forum set up just for those participating in the test server where they can engage in discussion with fellow testers, report bugs, and provide feedback to the Atlantica team.

This is a new process that we are confident will help reduce bugs and reduce the time it takes to release content updates in the future. This upcoming content patch is so big that we felt that now is an appropriate time to launch the test server. We want our players to continue having an incredible game experience. The test server will definitely help us incorporate player opinions and feedback before it goes live.

Tags: Atlantica Online

Dragonball Z MMORPG: The concept of a true next-gem game

Jul 27, 2009 Articles Recommend|1,004views

Even if you had been living under a rock for the past two decades, you would have heard of Dragonball Z. The hit anime series Dragonball Z has one of the largest fanbases in the history of television itself. Mastermind Akira Toriyama wrote the created the manga and anime for Dragonball Z. He himself has worked on the design of numerous video games as an artist. The world he created is gargantuan and has a myraid of worlds, races, characters, powers, and villains. The world itself is ripe for the picking as the setting of a future MMORPG. While a game called Dragonball Online has been created, it has not been released in many parts of the world. While I do not want to bash this game, I feel that I must point out the reason why this game comes nowhere near the kind of game that fans and numerous gamers are looking for.

For those of you who do not know what Dragonball Z is all about I will do my best to explain it briefly. The series’ main character Goku overcome impossible odds numerous times in order to defeat villains that threaten his friends, family, and Earth itself. Now hold on! I know what you are thinking at this point and you have it all wrong. Dragonball Z is not your typical fantasy “save the world from the evil ganondorf” kind of series. It is infact one of the most origional shows out there. The powers of the characters consist of great strength that comes from training and growing in power through martial arts, speed, and even the ability to fly.

As time goes on in the series the heroes become stronger in the ways of martial arts to the point where they move so fast they cannot be seen or they can punch a mountain hard enough for it to crumble. They are able to shoot beams, orbs and a multitude of other energy blasts with their focused “CHI” energy. These blasts of energy create explosions that look similar to the fourth of july and can do anything from cook a hotdog to blast a hole in the Earth the Size of Texas. The more the heroes train the higher they can raise their power levels (Hence the “ITS OVER NINE THOUSAND” internet meme). As the characters’ power levels increase, their raw fighting ability becomes stronger as well as their speed, strength, chi, and health/armor. By using these martial arts they combat great enemies and ultimately save the world. But all of this will not do the series justice. I highly reccommend you watch a few episodes on youtube if you really are confused.

The concept behind this game is one that I have been thinking about for a very long time. For those who understand the show, picture this as a blip of the gameplay:

“You sense a strange energy coming from the wastelands to the north. As a saiyan you don’t need to wear a scouter to determine the power level of your foe. You leap into the air and power up quickly and you hover in the air for a second before flying off in the direction of the energy at the speed of a fighter jet. You create a sonic boom as you break the sound barrier. The world below you looks like a blur of large mountain peaks and rivers, trees and lakes. You pass some cities with pedestrians walking past the various sky scrapers. Once you reach the wasteland you spot your foe. He is merely floating in the air and starring at your friend (who you know in real life) Immediately they break out into a brawl in the air. Their limbs move so fast they appear to be a blur. They each lose a tiny amount of health but in this game boss fights can take a very long time to defeat. Your friend kicks him in the side of the face making him angry but he counters with a strong blow and your friend couldn’t dodge in time. Your friend flies though the center of a mountain turning it into a pile of rocks. The foe turns towards you. Your friend is defeated but not dead and he must regain some stamina before he can become conscious and fly again. (After all, this foe has a much higher power level than him)

“You know that you must defeat him somehow but you have to power up first. You hold out your arms, clench your fists, and charge up. Lightning strikes down from the sky and day seems to turn into night for any other players in your area. Your foe suddenly has a scared look on his face and rocks start to rise all around you. You let out a shout and your hair turns golden yellow. Electricity pulses around you. You are ready for him now. ‘Its about time Ive had a real challenge around here’ says your foe.You choose you dialog options and talk to him just like characters do in the series (it wouldn’t be dragonallball Z without some trash talking) It took you months of training (playing the game skillfully and effectively) to reach this power level. You start to charge up your custom energy attack and you let loose a blast of energy.

To be continued…”

The game’s graphics would have a cell shaded look in order to maintain the anime look. The graphics however would be very good (of course ;)) As I state later on, there is an emphasis on destructible environments.

Everyone who watched the show dreamed of being powerful like the characters (the Z fighters). The following races would be in the game:

Human: The humans would be the protectors of earth. Tien, Krillan, Yamcha, Master Roshi, Bulma, Hercule, and Yajirobe are all some examples of humans. In the show they are always weaker than the saiyans. However for balancing purposes you could reach power levels equal to those of saiyans. Due to their strong spirit they would be able to unleash power levels undreamed of when in life and death situations where their health is really low After the fight and their emotions are calm they will still be able to retain a fraction of this power. In numbers humans would be able to give each other moral support, boosting their power levels even higher. They would have access to jobs that other races could not get since they live on planet earth and fit into the culture.

Namek: The Namekians would have powers and abilities that would make them unorthodox and fearsome in combat. Regrowing lost limbs, fusing with other Nameks, and having hightened senses would make them very powerful. Piccolo, Nail, Dundae, and Kami are all examples of Namekians. They would have access to crafting abilities that no other races would have. Those who can find other Namekians to fuse with will end up with more powerful characters than most players.

Saiyans: It is obvious that most fans would create a saiyan, but who could blame them? For this reason saiyans would have the largest variety of abilities, fighting styles, and transformations. Reaching super saiyan levels would be as hard as gaining a full set of very rare and hard to achieve armor in most mmorpgs past the first level of super saiyan. For this reason seeing another player who is super saiyan 2 would be a sight to behold. Super saiyan 3 or even 4 would be left for only the elite. Saiyans can only gain experience by facing foes that are their level or higher.

Alien: Freeza is the prime example of the alien race. Aiens are shape shifters. They change their power by becoming larger and more monster-like. Aliens have the unique ability of conquering other civilizations in order to gain bonuses in money and xp. They have their own spaceships for travel as well as possies of soldiers to do their bidding. Aliens reach unimaginable levels as they reach transformations states beyond the normal.

Android: Androids would have the ability to go undetected by others. They could absord energy from others and they can turn their limbs into machine guns, rocket launcers, and an assortent of other weaponry. They have improved armor and more stamina than most fighters.They can absord other androaids or absord energy in order to become more powerful depending on wether they are good or evil.

The combat system would be the deepest part of the game. Environments would be destructible and attacks would leave craters and destroyed mountain sides. Fighting most foes would not take that much time and usually would be minions or training simulators. The real bosses would be long fights. If you can remember instances (dungeons) from other MMORPGs, some boss fights would take as long as them to finish by yourself! In the show, the villains would sometimes take an entire day to defeat.

Leveling in the game wouldbe done in many different ways. Collecting dragonballs, fighting enemies, Training, and fusing are just a few examples. Instead of the typical levels like in most games, players could have power levels into the billions. Players who reach the billions would have to be proficient in PvP and PvE.

Jobs would include working in capsule corp like Bulma, destroying planets (if you are evil), or collecting rare materials from other planets. Simple ones could include fishing even. After all the characters liked to take it easy too! Characters would be able to buy homes, cars, other vehicles and other items like scouters with the money earned.

There would be player vs. player in the game but you would have to fight good vs. evil (unless you wanted to duel) These fights would take a long time and the winner would gain a large amount of xp while the loser would gain a quarter of the xp. The World Martial Arts tournament would be held three times a week on each planet and open to only members of that particular race. The universe martial arts tournament would be open to all races. Do not think horde and alliance. There are no factions like this, but there are home planets and locations for some of the different races. Nameks can fight Nameks but the game would not have ganking in it  and (unless the level difference is really large) Most players would be able to hold off a much higher level at least until they could try and contact a friend for some help. Agreed 1v1 deathmatches would mean that noone could interfere with the fight. These fights would give the most xp and PvP xp.

Feel free to comment and disagree with my ideas. I know it is far from perfect and I would love to see what ideas I am missing that you guys have thought of. I know for fact that I am not the first person to dream of a Dragonball Z MMORPG! I agologize for any typos!

Tags: Dragonball Z

Runes of Magic Delving Into Secret of the Goblin Mine

Jul 27, 2009 Runes of Magic|421views

Frogster America announced the company’s latest addition to the free-to-play MMORPG Runes of Magic, Secret of the Goblin Mine.  The Goblin Mind proper, which is labeled as a “minigame” by Frogster, will be a solo dungeon that is restricted to one play through a day.  Should you die in your quest you will not be able to attempt the adventure till the morrow.

The hardcore addition to Runes of Magic does not stop there though.  The mine also needs to have its three tasks completed in under 30 minutes for the treasure chest, full of “rare armor recipes and handcrafted objects”, to appear at the end of the dungeon.  To top it off, only the bravest and most dedicated of warriors will obtain the ‘Goblin Hero’ title.

The July 28th patch isn’t just for the hardcore though.  More casual players will be able to take part in an epic weapon quest series that promises to be “the toughest quest series that Runes of Magic has to offer”.

In addition to uncommon recipes and epic weapons, players will, for the first time, be able to cultivate their own plants inside their homes.  Plants will reach maturity in three to seven days, but their yields are dependent upon the attention they receive.

Secret of the Goblin Mine launches Tuesday, July 28.  Check out Frogster’s trailer.

Tags: Runes of Magic

Earthrise developer journal-The Cascade Mountains

Jul 26, 2009 Articles Recommend|385views

Long before the construction of Sal Vitas had begun, the Pioneer scouts roamed the hostile island of Enterra prospecting its natural treasures and outlining their path for future expansion. During their exploration of the unknown territories of Enterra, the first wave of Pioneers encountered mutated wildlife in the northwestern parts and fought back against the mutants with all the means at hand. They built facilities and machines to be used for terraforming the area into humanity’s new home, but in the process major parts of the island were contaminated with the chemicals used for the decimation of various mutated life forms. Knowing that the citizens had the technology to remove such contaminants, Continoma continued with their efforts to terraform the western parts of Enterra, leaving the reclamation of the contaminated and rugged eastern region as an afterthought.

Eventually, steps were taken to begin the terraforming of the eastern region and the Core - a vast underground base of operations from where the Pioneers would launch terraforming missions in the heart of the wilderness - was constructed. The largest part of the eastern fringes was named the Cascade Mountains after the wide network of rivers and canals that sprawl the rocky terraces of the mountain.

When Noir split from Continoma before the terraform process was complete the rebels naturally occupied the Core as many of them already worked and lived there. Serving as the fortress-capital of Noir, the Core endured the long siege of Continoma forces in the first days of the civil war and became the symbol of freedom, security and resilience for the resistance. The rebel bio-engineers left much of the Cascade Mountains in their natural form, ensuring the reduction of atmospheric, water and soil toxicity to suitable levels while the wildlife was only at the initial stages of remodeling. Scientists developed ways to control the populations of the aggressive mutants in such ways that they didn’t interfere with the rebel activities, but instead protected the outer sectors of Noir territory.

Unlike the buildings Continoma used to construct, all installations and camps outside the Core are compact structures built from lightweight materials in order to accommodate the guerrilla warfare strategy Noir has adopted. The only man-made structures that dominate the landscape are the Mainframe Bastions, giant towers used to observe and protect the territory of the Cascade Mountains. Noir teams are always ready to launch an intercepting teleport strike against enemy trespassers. Thus, the trained rebel forces could easily defend the rugged plateaus, overgrown ridges and the narrow bridges that connect them against any enemy attack, while exploiting defensive advantage of the mountainous terrain.

The many rivers that flow down the primeval ridges of the Cascade Mountains pour into a giant swampland at the bed of the mountain. It is here that Noir has decided to leave the dangerous mutants that inhabit the area to breed freely as the rebels have no use for this outlying region yet.

The dreaded Strangler is derived from the mutated Rana genus of frogs. Its body is covered with a thick liquid-filled membrane that sustains a comfortable level of humidity when the creature leaves its usual habitat in the ponds and goes in search of prey beneath the jungle canopies. Its skin color varies in hue from pitch black to deep blue to olive green enabling the amphibian predator to often remain unnoticed by its victim until the moment it jumps from its cover within the shadowy thickets. Its perfect camouflage, combined with its ability to navigate the forest floor in almost complete silence, make this creature a threat to be reckoned with.

The aptly named Boghorror is a species of crocodilian reptile that employs an intelligent hunting technique. While swimming in the shallows of their river habitat they swallow great quantities of freshwater clams and crustaceans which they later vomit in a semi-digested condition upon a shallow bank that they’ve chosen as their hunting spot. The putrid smell emanating from the regurgitated remains soon attracts bigger scavengers which in turn become the main dish in the Boghorror’s diet. Lying in wait perfectly still on the riverbed, upon detecting its prey the large reptile springs its ambush with one powerful propelling motion of its muscular tail and in a split-second its jaws lock onto the unsuspecting victim.

The Dreadmoth is a real bane for the unwary explorers of the Cascade Mountain foothill jungles. Purportedly belonging to the Lepidoptera order, this creature has so far defied further classification as its sub-species have exhibited parts of the genetic make-up associated with wasps, spiders, reptiles or even mammals. The Dreadmoth actually reproduces by stunning the chosen host creature with a high-pitched, ultra-sound scream that directly assaults the nervous system of the victim, thus gaining the time to inject it with paralyzing venom from its stinger. After the victim is immobilized, the parent Dreadmoth dies still attached to it and its body releases an enzyme that fuses its husk to the host. Some scientists speculate that it is during this period that the Dreadhmoth larvae actually assimilate beneficial genetic traits from their host species during their gestation period. Regardless of the truth however, excruciating agony is assured for the hapless host when the moth larvae hatches and burrows from its mother’s body inside the host’s flesh to proceed with eating it alive from the inside out.

These and other peculiarly mutated creatures make the approach from the swamps to the Cascade Mountains a dangerous and deadly challenge fit only for the experienced few who have reasons to brave it.

Tags: developer journal, Earthrise

Flyff-A Beginner’s Guide

Jul 26, 2009 Flyff|747views

After you have registered for your GPotato account, click the download tab. Select the website you want to download the client from. Depending on what browser you use, click the link and run the file. Keep everything already written such as file names and folders that contain major information. After a while you will see a download status bar. Usually it will say that you have hours to wait. This is not a joke. FLYFF does take some files from the internet while downloading. Therefore it is not advised to download FLYFF on a wireless computer. Even on a high speed internet computer it is advised to leave the computer alone, do nothing on it while the game’s client is downloading, and relax. Soon it will finish downloading and a message will pop up. Click the finish button and you’re done downloading the client. Now pat yourself on the back and say “Well done”.

Assuming you already have the FLYFF game client, run it, select your server, name and design your character, and play. After the loading screen, you can see the character you made. Go toward the first bridge you see that leads out to a field. You should see a bunch of bat-like eyeballs. One of the items they drop will look like a gem. You want at least ten of these before you go to another kill. The item you see is only dropped by that certain monster and usually only drops for low levels. If you want you can get more for those people that need them for classes. Yes I said classes.

Once you get to level 15 you can change from a vagrant class from the class of your choice. Still the best class that has worked for me was assist for first class. The second class that has worked best for me is Ringmaster (I got to level 68). Still other people have different preferences. Assist bases on buffing, Acrobats on range, Magicians on magic, and Mercenary on closed combat and strength.

Here are some leveling tips:

• Level 1: The best way to level is by killing monsters. Before you start off though you should talk to Pang the Penguin for some buffs.
• Level 2: It is recommended you still fight Aibatts for items.
• Level 3: You receive you first skill. Move further east and hunt. DO NOT put points into vagrant skills. They are useful for class skills.
• Level 4: By now you should have quite a few items. Go to Bobuku and sell all items that do not heal that you can not use or have extras of.
• Level 5: At this point you should head north to hunt Pukepukes.
• Level 6: Same as level 5
• Level 7: At this point you can start doing quests. If you go to the quest office in Flarine you should have 3 quest available for you to take. One of the quests requires you to give items dropped by Pukepukes this is why you should have hunted them for 2 levels.
  
• Level 8: After you reach level 8, you will want to make sure you have at least 10 Peakyrinds before you come back to town for the next quest from the Quest Office. When you get there, there should be a new side quest made available to you. Talk to SsotTta to receive the quest called Doridoma Sushi. He will ask you to get 5 Muchurine Secretions from Captain Mushpangs and 12 Doridoma Keratin from Small Doridoma. The Captain Mushpangs can be found directly north of the quest giver, across the bridge over the lake. They are only level 4, and can be quickly disposed of. As you kill them, the Muchurine Secretions will immediately appear in your inventory.
  The Doridoma can be found slightly north of where you found the Peakyturtles and Captain Peakyturtles, near the area called Billeting Place By High Dwarpet. They are level 11, and can be quite difficult to kill for a level 8. Using special attacks will help you so that you don’t miss quite as often and helps you defeat them before they do any major damage to you. If you feel that you aren’t quite ready to fight Doridoma fight Demians in Madren Town until you are level 9 or 10.
• Level 9: You should at this point have the skill to fight Demians. Make sure you pick up the Poporam the Demians drop. They will be used in quest you get at level 11.
• Level 10: At this point you should join or invite people for a party and start earning items for your job.

Article By: Michael Hoyt

Tags: Flyff

World of Warcraft Factions and group

Jul 24, 2009 world of warcraft|374views

Factions and groups have played an important role in the history of the RPG. They’ve been a very solid factor in this genre of gaming even back in the days of Dungeons & Dragons, and they branched into the world of videos games with titles such as Final Fantasy and Breath of Fire. Now more or less a given in the RPG gaming world, these elements have been taken even further by MMORPGs. They go by many different names throughout the various titles in the MMO world, but this entity is known by World of Warcraft players as the “guild.” In this article, I will explain some elements of the guild and why it is so important to WoW players.

As I’ve mentioned before and countless others will mention in MMORPG-related articles, MMOs are very social-oriented games. The chance to help one another and interact is laid out in front of everyone who enters the realm of World of Warcraft, and players normally find the game far more fulfilling and entertaining when they decide to work and communicate with other players. The option to create groups, or temporary teams, is normally the solution to temporary challenges such as a difficult quest or a dungeon, but the party normally disbands leaving the players doomed to repeat the same task of finding another group later. The ultimate solution to groups and a great way to meet other players that can be befriended is the guild.

Not entirely differing from the idea of a clan, a guild is a faction of players brought together by a common goal. This is an important aspect in the game especially due to the sheer number of players that guilds can hold. Four or five people in a group can be helpful, but try to think of hundreds of people brought together in a giant group. Try to think of twenty to thirty people online at once who may be willing to help fellow guild members - or “guildies” - achieve the goals that are currently out of reach.

I mentioned earlier that guilds normally unite players who share a common goal, and there are many goals that guilds can aspire to achieve. There are guilds for leveling, roleplaying, raiding, PvP, twinking (more on this subject later), and just about anything else that the imagination can dream up. Every type of guild has its uses, but the two most common that new players will hear about when visiting Stormwind or Ironforge are the leveling and raiding guilds.

A leveling guild, like the guild that I’m currently in, focuses on getting members to higher levels as quickly and efficiently as possible. These guilds tend to focus on heavy questing while dungeon running is popular but seen more as a way to become geared - or to obtain the best equipment for one’s current level. Guildies will normally go out of their way to assist one another in questing or grinding certain mobs for materials in the name of profession leveling. Newer players, like I was not too long ago, will find this to be the least challenging and most rewarding type of guild to be a part of. There are always at least a dozen or so experienced players who are willing to help if the need arises.

More experienced players who are battle-hardened and know their characters will find sanctuary in the raiding guild. These guilds want to focus their time on quests and instances that require multiple groups and several players. The ultimate goal in doing this, aside from experience and a bit of pocket change, is to have the chance to pick up excellent or rare gear that will help the players become even better at what they do. These guilds probably won’t put up with an inexperienced player’s nonsense for very long, so I wouldn’t suggest attempting to join one if your dedication lacks. The members of this type of guild are adamant about having a strategy for encounters with enemies, and they can use voice chat like Ventrillo to hammer out a strategy for the raid instead of charging in blindly. This type of guild requires skill, experience, and, as already mentioned, precise strategy to be successful.

The camaraderie doesn’t end with raids and leveling - not by a long shot. Guilds are also able to purchase bank tabs and store gear and materials to help members along. Not only is this an act of kindness on behalf of the other guildies, but it’s a great way to ensure that everyone is properly geared and have what they need to level, raid, or whatever is on the agenda list. This does leave the opportunity for dishonest members to stock up on goodies to sell and run off, but a well-run guild isn’t going to fall victim to such tricks.

A lot of console gamers are used to looking out for only themselves, but games like World of Warcraft are designed specifically for players to join one another and get the greatest rewards for doing so. It honestly is hard for the console crowd to remember that another person is behind the character teaming with them, but they have to learn that MMOs are not the place to masquerade as Master Chief. I have decided to mention a few things that shouldn’t be done when being a guildie to avoid potential issues.

Don’t Beg for Gold

There is no cheat code to suddenly stock up on gold pieces, so it’s going to take a bit of playing in order to rake in the money. Do not beg other guildies for money. They were in the same position at one point, and they worked hard to obtain the gold that they have. Follow their example, and earn every copper.

Don’t Beg for Instance Runs

Instances certainly weren’t designed for just one player, so they’re going to be difficult. Don’t beg higher level guildies for dungeon runs - meaning they kill everything while the lower guys stand back, do nothing, and reap the rewards. A better method to obtaining help would be to ask if anyone else needs to or would like to run the same instance. If no one bites, then look toward general chat in major cities like Stormwind to find groups.

Do Not Choose “Need” For All Drops

The looting system is different when it comes to groups in that uncommon items and up are divided by a need versus greed system. Players may choose “need” if it’s an item that will help them or “greed” if it’s something they want but don’t necessarily have plans to use. All players are then split into categories, and a “dice roll” occurs if more than one player is in the “need” category - the same for “greed” if no one needs the item. Selecting “need” on every item even if it’s not needed can potentially take away valuable items from a guildie or player who honestly needed them. This is considered one of the rudest things one can do when participating in an instance.

Do Not Stray from the Group

Again, I understand that console gamers are used to online games like Halo 3 or GTA IV where teaming is an “if I feel like it” option, but straying away from the group is a great way to die - not to mention it could screw the entire instance up. Straying away from a group can quickly pit a player against nearly half a dozen elite mobs who are ready to bash anything near them to dust. Unless dying and having to run across the map back to the instance sounds like fun, I’d suggest staying with the group and staying alive.

I think that newer players will find guilds to be a fun and helpful part of the game. I can understand any type of bias that they would have at first because I had the same opinion at first. I thought that I didn’t need anybody’s help; I was a great gamer, and I could do it all alone. All I ask is that you give it a try, dear reader.

Tags: world of warcraft

Jade Dynasty Modo class levels 30 to 45

Jul 24, 2009 Articles Recommend|3,187views

Recently, I hit 30 and moved to Skysong. It’s the level 30 to 45 area. Skysongs’ main city is a sort of Buddhist temple replica, which I suppose is sort of the point as a male Skysong dresses somewhat like a Buddhist monk might. Of course now that I’ve hit 30, it seems 30 wants to hit right back. Gone are the good old days of one or two hitting the mobs and moving on. Now it seems like I have to add strategy to how I play. At least the quests give better experience too which is always enjoyable, of course they need to now because gone are the days where you could get a few levels a day easy peasy. Nope, we’re moving on up in the minor leagues and the mobs are coming out to play in full force. The one thing about the Modo class is that it’s a slow starter; while other classes have various niches to fill, the Modo is sort of a rebel without a cause, if you will, at least in the beginning. A Modo can’t even get the Modon, its highest level transformation until level 55. Still, at 150 levels, this ain’t no rabbit race.

A lot of chatter has been said about the Meditation and Invigorate abilities of Jade Dynasty, and how they affect Jade Dynasty. If Jade has taught me one thing, it’s this; every new MMO needs to have something similar. Let’s face it, MMOs are grind fests. Doesn’t matter if they’re quest heavy or light, PVE or PVP; in the end the grind is inescapable. Meditation and Invigorate can change that. Meditation means that after a long play session I can go to town, switch on meditate and gain some valuable experience while I’m eating or sleeping. Invigorate means that the hunt to get materials or cash or level up my espers or pets goes that much easier and quicker. Innovations, especially those of the last few years have been geared to replace the mind numbing madness of the grind. That should be received as a good thing, not a joke or a byline; still only time will tell where we go from here. End rant.

Level 45 is the first Tier quest in Jade Dynasty. Each faction has to fulfill certain requirements to reach each new tier of skills. Think of it as the Limit Break ala Final Fantasy XI of Jade Dynasty. For the Modo faction, we get the pleasure of beating a big boss. While some might question why, at level 45, we’re taken to an area for level 60 characters, I prefer to think of what fun it will be to have to run from everything I see. Pay no attention to the sarcasm, in actuality the quest is hard enough that you gain a sense of satisfaction that you were able to complete it solo, yet not difficult enough that you throw your keyboard against the wall. Whatever the reason, the tier quest is difficult to do alone and one should put a good hour or so away to get it done. Frankly if it wasn’t for the fact that I have no clan or alliance at the moment I probably wouldn’t have done it solo, but I’m glad I did. Once you get the carrier pigeon quest automatically received at level 45 and every level thereafter that until you complete it, you are given a task by your head faction leader. For us Modos’ that’s the bright and shiny Mr. Gho in Doom Bog. So as I was saying the Modo tier quest brings you to The Billows.

The Billows are a coastal area with all the pirates and booty that entails. Your fight is against the Cursed Pirate Leader and as such he cons red against anyone short of level 50 or so.) This fight can last anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes depending on play style and level. One word of warning, if you go at him solo remember to bring a lot of HP pots or make sure that the dew you get at the beginning of the game is near full, cause he packs a punch and even ten minutes of him can be devastating on your pot supply. Anyways I started the match quite foolishly, I had my HP settings on Invigorate well enough but I wasn’t utilizing my skills all that well and as such probably cost me five extra minutes. Instead of using an esper skill that was a huge spirit drain I used my best Modo skill. I also went Demonic Posture for the extra defense, after finding myself getting hit for around 250 every two seconds. Finally I triumphed against my foe and he was smote down as I shouted ‘I become Death, destroyer of worlds’. Ok so maybe not but I might have done it. And there is my word of advice for the day, always have a cool quote to say when you smite down a boss or else you’ll be stuck making something up; like me sad and alone. Making my way back to the Doom Bog I headed to Mr. Gho and received my reward, not only did I get the new tier skills, I was able to wear the level 45 gear which requires the level 2 enlightenment. That is really just a snazzy way to say that you’ve reached a certain skill level. And I must say the level 45 gear is a nice change. It’s red, orange, and black so it looks like your wearing clothes of fire, which is much cooler than the black and green from level 30.

I also made a new character a few days ago. I figured as things started slowing down level wise it would behoove me to get a low level character to play when things got boring. Amina is a Lupin and gearing up to hit Jadeon soon. She’s different from Ettarre already because I usually play a tank style when playing with Ettarre, so it’s nice to put up some good damage numbers. I haven’t really looked too much at where I intend to take her skill wise but I’m sure it’ll be all out damage, because she don’t need no stinking defense.

So that was what I did in Jade Dynasty for the week, I’m looking forward to hitting 60 and putting on a new set of armor. And of course then I want to see what the Modon can do.

Tags: Jade Dynasty

World of Warcraft The Faction Switch

Jul 23, 2009 world of warcraft|608views

Only announced recently, Blizzard’s move to allow players to change the faction of their character is one of the most talked about topics in the game. The forum post where we heard about it is already 250 pages long. World of Warcraft is a game that has seen many large changes in its most recent patch notes, which some believe to be diluting the game for the masses. In this article I wish to find out the motives for Blizzard deciding that a faction change is in order.

This topic has interested me so much that I was just itching to research it. After a while, I found out that in the past Blizzard had said that faction change was a feature they would not be implementing to the game any time soon. Crygil, one of Blizzard’s Blue posters, stated three main points as to why it would not happen soon. These are the following:

1. Critical Mass: People may decided that any given class/race combo is superior to other combination of that same class. Or people may decide that any given race is no longer worth sticking with due to some change we make to some racial abilities. This naturally leads to flavour of the month races. This is something we want to avoid.
2. Race Restrictions: All races are given a certain set of restrictions for both lore and balance purposes. There would be some serious investment involved in making certain that this system didn’t allow any exploitation of that system.
3. Future Content: Things change, some would say the only thing that stays the same is change and that is certainly true for World of Warcraft. If we allowed race changes it could negatively/adversely impact things we haven’t even thought of yet.

-Posted by Crygil: 06/08/2009

I would say it’s safe to assume that these are well structured and fair arguments against allowing a faction change. Now, for those of you who don’t know, this was posted just 21 days before we found out that a faction change was officially in the works. This begs the question why? What could have possessed Blizzard to make a U-turn on their stance so fast? Well, you could be cynical and just say that it is obvious and they have realised this move would generate high amounts of revenue, you could equally defend Blizzard and say they are doing it for the sake of the player base.

Regardless of their motives it raises many questions about what will happen to certain things in the game after it is implemented, questions such as: “What will happen to faction based items?” and “What will happen to my mounts?” I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t see a Tauren being able to fit onto a mechanostrider comfortably any time soon.

Cost to the Player

This is probably the most important question as there is always a cost incurred to the player. None of the information that has been given to us through the blue posts states how much it will cost the player. However, if we look at the recent highly popular “Character re-customization” service where a player is allowed to change the look, gender and name of their character, it costs the player £12.. From what we currently know about the faction change, you will only be able to change to a like-minded race. By which I mean that if you are a Night Elf druid you must become a Tauren druid. If a player decides then to change back to Alliance again they would only be able to return to their original race. My estimate on the cost to the player would be around the £15 mark, this is because of the issues involved with moving faction as well as the characters items and converting their faction based items to something that is equivalent for the opposing faction.

Balance

It is not all doom and gloom though! The faction change service could help balance out the population on some of the servers between the two sides. Many people that I have spoken to who play Alliance say they would gladly go to the Horde except for one issue: all of their friends, items, gold, achievements and more are on the Alliance. This service would allow them to move to the opposing faction, keeping many of their items and hopefully solving the balance issue. Although it is not as simple as this as there would have to be a limit on the number of characters moved between the factions to ensure one side does not over populate.

Imagine this: Your entire guild decides to migrate to the opposing faction, 50% of the guild manages to make the transition successfully but due to movement restrictions the other 50% of the guild get stuck on their current faction. Issues like this will be the biggest roadblock for Blizzard to bypass and ensure that the balance in the game remains constant. Large movement from one faction to the other could also have an effect on the economy of many servers. If people who regularly sell certain materials leave the faction then we may see the supply drop whilst the demand stays the same.

The only other issue that I can see in the game would be on the basis of quests that the character has completed; will they be able to complete all of the quests that are separate for the opposing side? Or will blizzard make it so all quests are completed on that faction once you have changed. Only time will tell how well this service works in the game.

A Few More Points

• This is a system I do not think we will be seeing in the game any time soon with all the controversy, Blizzard would do well to take their time with this and ensure that every angle is covered in their system.
• Could really improve the state of the factional balance on some of the servers and allow players to re-roll a new faction without earning everything all over again.
• Tight structure will be required to ensure the success of this service.
• Would you jump off a bridge of someone told you to? I guess Blizzard would because 3 weeks seems like an awfully short time to take a U-turn on their original stance which made very good points on keeping the game balanced.

Tags: world of warcraft