MMO updates

MMO updates

Gamania Game Show 2011 - New trailers for 4 titles

Posted: 08 Sep 2011 04:21 AM PDT


Gamania Entertainment is one, if not the biggest, online gaming publisher in Taiwan. Over the past few years, the company invested heavily in self-development teams, working on various MMO projects rather than relying on titles from other developers. 4 of the company's latest games were available for demo testing at the show. They are Tiara Concerto, Dream Drops, Langrisser Schwarz and Core Blaze.


My personal favorite is once again Core Blaze, an action MMORPG developed using the Unreal 3 Engine. While the game looks similar to Mabinogi Heroes and Continent of the Ninth, the environment is in no doubt much much more interactive. Notice in the developer footage below, the game is ready for game pads as well. You can view more info and trailers on Core Blaze here (link).


Below are the latest trailers for the other 3 titles, with the graphics looking more towards the colorful and cute side. Dream Drops is pretty unique in the character classes, Tiara Concerto looking to take Japan by storm while Langrisser Schwarz will be one of the most watched as the franchise's rebirth title. Which one of these 4 titles will be your favorite?

Blade & Soul (KR) - 6th class confirmed

Posted: 08 Sep 2011 03:02 AM PDT


(Source) Speaking earlier today at a media conference in NCsoft's very own Research and Development Center, Blade & Soul's producer James Bae officially confirmed that the 6th class will be the Summoner, first teased back in one of the previous G*Star trailer. The race portraying the Summoner is the Rin race. Although not mentioned by himself, various media is reporting the class to make an appearance in Closed Beta 3. With that said, it will take some time for the next phase to begin as NCsoft will be looking to tweak the game further.


James talked about how they are looking at feedback from players with regards to upcoming class designs, including the Gunner and Warlock (specialize in debuff spells). The team is also looking at suggestions for a class using musical instruments as its main weapon. So after the Summoner is revealed, there will not be a new class for some time. A Blade & Soul smartphone application is also under consideration as well, similar to Aion and WoW's but again it will be based on the community's feedback. More from the interview when a fansite translate the full transcript :)

Rumor - PlanetSide 2 to go Free to Play?

Posted: 08 Sep 2011 03:04 AM PDT


According to the Chinese media, President of Sony Online Entertainment LLC, John Smedley, mentioned recently that PlanetSide 2 will be going the Free to Play route. PlanetSide 2 is SOE's upcoming online massive combat title, costing over USD 5,000,000 to be developed and supporting over 2,000 players in the same map. The main additions compared to its predecessor will be the skill system and territorial control feature.


According to John, skills in PlanetSide 2 will take time to master. The lower level skills will take just minutes to train, but months if on a higher level. The skill levels can be trained (at a slower pace) even when players are offline, but players who subscribe will gain them at a faster rate. For territorial control, each area will provide players with different resources to obtain different materials, weapons etc. While PvP is the core content, there will be PvE elements added in the future, with all 3 opposing factions working together and fight against invading aliens.


While stopping short of confirming the business model (Free to Play or Freemium), the article said that going Free to Play does not mean PlanetSide 2 will be totally dependent on Cash Shop sales, with proposals similar to Diablo III's auction house system touted (charge a fee for each transaction).  John said that the era of Pay to Play is coming to an end, with Star Wars: The Old Republic possibly the last big-scale online title to adopt this model. Going Free to Play will also lower the barrier for all gamers.


As for the release date, an end of year or early 2012 massive scale beta test for the North American server is currently scheduled. As for the China server, published by The9, localization is happening right now. John also put down the Unreal 3 Engine, stating that PlanetSide 2's engine, Forgelight, is much more superior and can be referred as "Unreal 5".  The article ended with John talking about the importance of making the game a more user-friendly one through optimizations.

Warface (CN) - Closed Beta phase dated

Posted: 07 Sep 2011 08:33 PM PDT


If you have not heard of Warface, it is Crytek's first foray into the world of Free to Play online games, with the game developed using the company's very own CryEngine 3. Warface is designed with the Asian gamers in mind, particularly Mainland China, hence it will launch there first under Tencent Games. With that, the Closed Beta phase has been scheduled to start on 15th September, which is less than a week away.


There are currently 4 classes revealed: Engineer (middle range combat, laying landmines, fix armors), Assaulter (main DPS, replenishes bullets), Sniper (long range combat) and finally Medic (short range combat, replenishes health, first aid). As you can see, a successful team will need a variation of all 4 classes.


Similar to most new online shooters coming out, there is a heavy PvE component in Warface. This is in the form of missions, similar to the ones found in the multi-player modes of Battlefield and Call of Duty games. For the PvP side, all the normal modes found in other titles will be available. There are a few which claims to be "innovative", but from my point of view is just slightly modified maps and aims from existing ones.


Finally, of the 3 out of 5 features revealed, the DIY weapons system is something most players will be looking forward to. Weapons can be customized according to individual battle's needs and used accordingly. I have not seen how this will be like inside the game itself, but Blacklight: Retribution's system (link) totally blew me away. I am not very confident of getting a key for this titl, so do not stay tuned for in-game footage :(

Age of Wulin (CN) - CEO reveals new game details

Posted: 07 Sep 2011 11:43 AM PDT


So, an avid fan of Snail Game's martial arts MMO, Age of Wulin sent me an interview article I missed out on the Chinese media. The interview is done with Snail Game's CEO, the enigmatic Mr Shi Hai, which was is actually carried out on Weibo, China's preferred choice of Twitter-like social media and it lasted for 3 hours. Please note that some questions and answers are summarized and only selected ones are translated. More info about the game can be found here (link).


Q: Will Age of Wulin (CN) be delayed at the last moment again?

A: This is the very first time the comapny has stated in black and white on Age of WUlin's website regarding the beta schedule.We did create an illusion in the past,  having an optimistic time frame in mind for the beta test, but perhaps we were too optimistic and sent out the wrong information to the players through interviews and forums. We did try to get the beta phase out as soon as possible, but the game just wasn't finished.

Q: What happens if the beta phase gets delayed again on Dec 25th, the date for Closed Beta 2 and the phase where all players who activated the beta keys can play together?

A: If by then the players do not see Snail Game's hardwork and feel that we are dropping players a smokebomb, I advise players to delete Snail Game from their to-play list. Even if they tell their friends how sh*t Snail Game is, I will have nothing to say.

Q: What is it about the 35 hours growth period in Age of Wulin?

A: The main quest line currently takes over 30 hours to complete, but the other world and game interactions does not have any time limit.

Q: Will the Miracle Quest system be triggered by different character surnames (each character has a surname when creating) ?

A: From what I last know, surnames do not affect the Miracle Quest system. I must confirm this again with the project department.


Q: Will overseas players be able to participate in the Closed Beta 1?

A: For overseas players, we will open a new proxy server for them (no specific additional details). For the other regions, once again, will not be able to play with each other during Closed Beta 1.

Q: Will Age of Wulin support game pads?

A: Currently the game can be played using game pads, but it is not officially supported at this moment. We will work on this once the game has been polished.

Q: Has the Cash Shop and final business model been confirmed?

A: Nothing is confirmed now for the final build, that is why we had the summer camp seeking advice from players and the Closed Beta phases. We want to bring out a polished product to please the players and build a trusting relationship with them.

Q: We read that the European server (under gPotato EU) will be opening soon. What are the exact details?

A: For the registration phase, it is up to our partners in Europe to handle. I must stress that the upcoming Closed Beta phases is the process which will optimize Age of Wulin. I can confirm the version our European partner is getting will be the more polished one after the Closed Beta phases (which ends in April 2012).


Q: For betraying one's clan (e.g. Shaolin attacking Shaolin), will the Miracle Quest system be affected?

A: From what I know, the NPCs will remember such acts. In theory, you can do whatever you want, but sometimes players must control their actions as well.

Q: How big will the client be?

A: It is currently around 6GB. The client can also be updated for future phases, hence there is no need to re-download.

Q:  Can players immediately PK others upon joining the game?

A: No, players will not be able to do that. But PK is possible when performing Qing Gong (scaling walls, buildings, treading on water).

Q: How many characters can we create now?

A: There is only 1 character slot available now. As the amount of freedom in Age of Wulin is high, one character will be able to leave a clan and join another. But given that all actions will be remembered by NPCs, frequently leaving and joining clans is something players must control.


Q: Will the marriage system be ready for Closed Beta 1?

A: Marriage feature is actually one of the big systems in Age of Wulin and currently it has some interactions with NPCs. We have many ideas for this system, but it will be developed and implemented only after the Closed Beta phases, which means the system's exact details are not confirmed yet. While marriage between players and players is the most important element, marriage with NPCs is also a part of the system. This will affect the whole game world in some ways.

Q: What about the auto-path system in Age of Wulin?

A: Many game companies nowadays take little effort in polishing this system, with players walking awkward paths and walking into objects all the time. Age of Wulin has a save path system, where players can use the routes veteran players use. Or simply save their own paths for personal use during the 2nd time.

Q: How is the user-created martial arts system going on?

A: There will be minimal content for this feature, but it will be improved and updated once Open Beta begins.

Q: Are players able to kill others who are offline (please read Point 17 here) ?

A: No, the current system only supports players kidnapping players who are offline. This system will be affected by server disconnections and lags, hence we are actively seeking feedback from players during the Closed Beta phases and help us polish the game.

Q: Can skills be taught to my in-game girlfriend?

A: No, currently skills are learned via skill manuals. In the future, user-created skills can be taught to others. However, if you have a skill manual and want to "duplicate" it, you can find a player with the appropriate crafting skill to do so (each character can only have 1 crafting skill). The higher the crafting skill, the more powerful skill manuals they will be able to duplicate.
Posted by Shri Krishna

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