MMO updates

MMO updates

MARK Online - Middle Ages fantasy

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 07:05 AM PDT


If you look at the logo above, MARK actually stands for Middle Ages Rising Kingdoms... Which does not make any sense to me with the last word. No matter, MARK Online is the maiden title for Korean developer Blacksmith Games, which was first announced last month. Touted as a "hardcore" MMORPG, Blacksmith Games started out with a group of friends gathering together and sharing new game technologies back in 2008. However, the studio only officially form in October 2010, with the game then known as Gideon Project.


Heavily influenced, or should I say totally influenced by the Middle Ages, the game's design stay true to the cultures and history of the era. Focused on open world PvP/ PK, the PvE aspects is rather interesting as well, as the monsters and bosses in dungeons are set to spawn randomly, with the developers not knowing when will they spawn next. Oh, the dungeons' entrances spawn randomly across the world as well! With that said, if a team enters and another team follows soon after, open PK might occur if one team gets aggressive.


For the quest system, players are able to pay a fee to another player to help him or her gather the required materials to complete the quests. There will also be a personal bounty system, where players can pay another to PK someone for them. Before I forget, if Player A kills Player B, Player B's entire inventory will be looted by Player A. To make sure there is some balance, there will be a skill where players can use to send items back to their storage. It is like remembering to save your Powerpoint slides in case the computer shuts down suddenly.


Open PK will not be made easy for high level players camping at low level maps. These areas are heavily protected and patrolled by strong NPCs. Once reaching open PK maps, all players are free to PK anyone except their fellow guild members. Players can gain EXP from both PvE and PvP. Finally, strong guilds will be able to build a guild castle, as seen in the second trailer above. There will then lead to siege warfare and so on.


There are no classes in the game, with players having the freedom to choose what skills to use and build their own unique characters. MARK Online is scheduled for its first Focus Group Testing (FGT) in September next month, with a release scheduled for next year.

Jade Dynasty (CN) - Prelude expansion

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 05:57 AM PDT


With the English server recently getting the Path of Glory update, the main Chinese server for Jade Dynasty will be getting its own mega expansion this coming September. The title this time round will be Jade Dynasty: Prelude. The main addition in this update will no doubt be the 2 new Hero classes, 1 each for Athan and Human. But I shall not translate those names since it will sound really weird.


As you can see above, the Athan's Hero class will be a melee brawler using his fists and gauntlets. The Human's Hero class will be a wizard sort of character, wielding the mystic flames to both attack enemies and defend himself.


There will of course be new maps, instance and bosses as well! The new bosses are shown below in their artwork form, with the bottom being the main boss of the Prelude expansion.


Furthermore, all existing classes will apparently get their skills strengthened, with thousands of lower level equipments getting upgraded stats and new looks as well.


In order not to spoil the fun, these will be the few new stuff I will be posting. Jade Dynasty seems to be getting really interesting with more updates!

Age of Wulin (CN) - Summer camp leaks

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 06:01 AM PDT


Snail Game China, the developer for the much anticipated martial arts MMORPG, Age of Wulin, recently held a summer camp for a group of lucky chosen players. They were invited to the company's offices to try out Age of Wulin and provide feedback for the game. The summer camp had players of both gender and from different age range, hence I see it as a really good experience for both the company, including the ever-present CEO Mr Shi Hai, and the players.


So what information was leaked from the participants of the camp? Well, even though there are clans (Shaolin, Wudang etc) for players to choose from, players will eventually join guilds as well. During certain times, there might be certain times where a Wudang disciple from Guild X having a random PK (not PvP) fight with a Shaolin disciple from Guild Y. If another Shaolin player from Guild X helps to PK the opponent, he will apparently be kicked out of the Shaolin clan and be hunted by other Shaolin players. Do note that this is just a brief description and no finer details were disclosed.


For PvP, there will be clan wars as well (Shaolin Vs Wudang etc). One clan will be the defender while the other being the attacker. Do note that this is clan, not guild. Leaders from either side will be able to call upon other friendly clans to help. Once again, this is just a brief description. How will all these systems work out? The Closed Beta in China will begin in October, hence more information should be available by then. Search for more info on the game here (link)!
Posted by Shri Krishna

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