MMO News |
- Fortuna Review
- Splinters of Ares Crowdfunding Interview
- RuneScape 3 – First Look: Then & Now!
- Jiang Hu: The Chaotic Age Launched Today for Conquer Online
- New SMITE God Chang’e Released
- Anime-Inspired MMORPG Elsword Now Available on Steam
- Steam Launch Date for Guncraft Announced as August 9, 2013
- Firefall Unlocks the Melding This Year at Gamescom 2013
- Aeria Games Announces F.E.A.R. Online
| Posted: 25 Jul 2013 05:08 PM PDT By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor) With a catchy title of 'Your Legacy Begins Today' I was interested in what Fortuna from Perfect World had to offer. Set in Europe, during the golden age, the player has to take a side with one of the three available noble families. As a big fan of the Italian families, I chose to go for the Medici to capitalize on a legacy of great thinkers from their region like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo. Take control of your own army, develop them into a big empire and form alliances to gain more power. That's the name of the game! When you first see your empire it looks rather empty and dull. You'll have to start from the ground up. From hiring people, to building up the necessary buildings, you will have to do everything manually by yourself. Each player gets a large capital city. Here you will have to place buildings within designated squares. Unfortunately you cannot go wild and place your buildings around to create unique designs as the spots are static. In the campaign, you will have to go through a questline together with your hired general. Each time you win a fight, you will move up a spot and you will face a tougher battle. Unfortunately the fighting is completely automatic, and the player has no control whatsoever over his troops. This feels like a missed opportunity in the gameplay department. The generals that you can hire however are able to utilize skills, and these will activate automatically as well. The bulk of the tactics comes in the form of finding generals with the right set of skills to best supplement your army's strengths. The process of building your army is where Fortuna shines and allows you a sense of individualism from other players. In the tutorial you are taught how to use your army, and how to deploy them. The deployment of your troops is important, if you specialize yourself with ranged units, you obviously don't want them to stand at the front. Then you need to find the right balance of tanky front line units to protect your ranged dps, which of course can vary from battle to battle. Your heroes can also influence the strength of your units, and because every hero specializes in certain attributes, you really want to play around and experiment to see what works best. Your heroes can also receive training without having to endanger them on the battlefield. In the training halls, your heroes can farm experience while you do others things; it's like bringing your kids to school. And if you want to make your kids even happier, you can dress them up with special equipment that makes them even better in combat. And slowly but surely you will see your empire increase. Buildings will rise and your rag tag group of marauders will grow into a hardened specialized fighting force built around your tactics. You remember the city you had when you started? It's now a bustling metropolis with animated people going about their daily business. Of course the impatient player can use cards and throw money at your screen to make the building or training of units speed up. These time saving features are the limit to what cash shopping can get you though as every unit and building can be acquired without spending a dime. Just don't underestimate the power that those speed boosts can offer. You are even able to buy resources and this can definitely give you an edge over people that do not pay. Conclusion: Okay Fortuna is one of those real time strategy games that is a lot of fun, has a nice background story to offer, but unfortunately feels like it's missing something from being perfect. While building up your empire is fun and creating your army's legacy is quite entertaining, the game overall lacks in the features department. Though I'm more of an action gamer so Fortuna likely appeals more to those who prefer to spend time strategizing and arranging formations rather than controlling combat in realtime. Leveling up your units and building more buildings offers the RPG addiction for a while, but I look forward to seeing if Fortuna can up the ante in future updates. |
| Splinters of Ares Crowdfunding Interview Posted: 25 Jul 2013 05:02 PM PDT There may not be much press about it yet, but Splinters of Ares isn't your average MMO. It's a self run crowdfunding project which spans from MMO, to Film, beyond to paper and even into your nose. This ambitious project is being undertaken by Bulltiger Productions and I had the opportunity to talk with three wonderful people involved with the project, Stephen Brent Jenkins, Adam W Rodriguez, and Kate Meehan. I found out about the film, the MMORPG, the development and more. If you'd like to start, please introduce yourself and tell us what your role is in the development of Splinters of Ares.
Stephen Brent Jenkins, CEO/Creative Producer of Bulltiger Productions. I work on all major aspects of the "Splinters of Ares" MMORPG and the Film "Splinters of Ares: Rogue."
Adam W Rodriguez, the Chief Writer of the Splinters of Ares IP and the script writer for the film Splinters of Ares: Rogue.
Kate Meehan, CFO, Bulltiger Productions. I'm also working closely with the writers and creative team to shape the cultures in the various zones.
For our readers who may have never heard about Splinters of Ares, could you give us a bit of background not only into the development but also the history of the world?
Jenkins: The Splinters of Ares world is a vast fantasy world set on and around the planet of Ares and its moons and planes. When Adam Wade Rodriguez and I sat down to develop this game, we pulled together our vast knowledge of games, both PC and table top, and cherry picked some of the old gameplay features we were sad to see abandoned as games evolved. We then started expanding on those and adding in features we'd always wanted to see in PC and console games, attempting to marry the visual immersion of a console game with the freedom of table top RPGs. Along with magical and combat options for gameplay
Rodriguez: Brent Jenkins and I have been dreaming up fantastical worlds since we saw Star Wars the first time, so as far as development goes we've been at it as long as we can remember. When we sat down and began mapping the game and film out, the culmination of years of imaginative world building began detailing the World of Ares. We were careful to build an appropriate past that would lead the player and viewer to the future we envision for the franchise. We want the history and the unfolding story of the IP to be full of surprises.
Meehan: As far as the history goes, the entire starting continent in World of Ares is trying to rebuild itself after a major war united the free peoples against invading armies. These allegiances, now that the war is over, are starting to disintegrate. Meanwhile, the wizards, a fairly secretive bunch, are muttering about a terrible prophesy coming to fruition — just as everyone is trying to get back to normal. It's a pretty terrible time in the history of Ares.
Let's talk a bit more about the world you've created. What inspired the history and lore for Splinters of Ares?
Jenkins: The world ideas and ethos that have gone into the histories of Splinters of Ares come from our team's wide knowledge base. We incorporated some of our favourite obscure earth-bound mythologies and combined them with inspiration from some of our favourite table top games and fantasy stories. We'll freely admit to probably having let our imaginations spend too much time exploring Krin and Middle Earth, and questing with Hawk the Slayer, Conan and Wolverine. We've worn the pips off way too many D20 dice.
Rodriguez: Right around here we introduced Kate to our world, and started building a map. Kate's knowledge of European history is pretty impressive. This made for a rich dialog and series of brainstorms that resulted in a backstory and lore base that the historians and fantasy fans can give several knowing nods to. Our nerdery knows no bounds and this world reflects that.
Meehan: Our goal in the development of the zones was to base them off cultures that you're probably vaguely familiar with from history class and set them in regions with similar environments. That familiarity helps with bringing players deeper into the game – if they feel like they've been there before, or can already affiliate a region with stories and legends, whether they're ours or not, the players are already deeper into the game than if we built a world entirely based on fantasy.
Some say that the fantasy genre is oversaturated, especially in the MMO scene. What makes this world different to all the others out there?
Jenkins: Splinters of Ares is hoping to be the forerunner in the evolution of MMOs. Fantasy gaming should be more than plunking your game into a setting where elves run around. We really enjoy the shared elements of storytelling, where players are as much in control of the story as the GMs. With the Morphic world engine, the decisions players make will affect the world around them and how other players are affected as well. We have a highly reactive faction engine that will account for every quest and action the player takes.
Rodriguez: Oversaturated isn't the word I'd use. I'd say MMO fantasy games are becoming a little too formulaic. A mold has been formed and deviation from that mold might be intimidating to some developers. We have a design that offers what the player wants in a MMO, like quest versatility, a world that actually is affected by the actions of the player. Some of the things players love about table top RPGs.
Continuing along that same vein, let's talk about gameplay. What is Splinters of Ares going to be like? Will we be sent out to kill 10 rats? Will there be PvP?
Meehan: Screw grinding. Screw it in its ear.
Jenkins: Grinding is the bane of the MMO! PVP …Yes! Battleground, arenas, specialty areas and duels, they will all be here, along with some pretty fun PVE options.
Rodriguez: Less grinding and more PVP is a part of our game play model.
In the crowdfunding video it is said that no two severs will be alike because the players shape the world they live in. This isn't something typically seen in the MMO genre. Will players be able to play on more than one server, or maybe even transfer if they don't like how things are going on the server they originally pick?
Jenkins: Through our "Morphic World Engine," players will change the world around them on a constant basis, Server transfers will be available from the beginning, but there will be quests you'll have to accomplish to shift from one temporal time line to another. Why have you chosen to go the crowdfunding route instead of the more traditional route of finding backers and publishers to start with?
Jenkins: For two reasons. The first is to establish incorporating player feedback into our development process from the very beginning. We think making those systems part of our company culture keeps us tethered to the idea that we're making games for our players, not for the distributors. The crowd fund is a tidy vehicle for getting our players involved early, and to make a game and film that is based on their feedback, rather than what our investors and distributors want. The second reason is to buy us a little more creative freedom.
In addition to that, why have you decided to do the funding on your own site instead of one of the popular third party sites like Kickstarter or Indiegogo?
Meehan: While we appreciate the visibility of Kickstarter or Indiegogo, we're a gaming company. It seemed strange to pay someone else to build something that we should be quite capable of building on our own. We may do an official Kickstarter down the road, but for now, hosting it on our site allows us a lot more flexibility in the amount of time we can keep the campaign running.
Will the crowdfunding project have an end date or will it go until the money is raised? If it does end before you reach the goal what will happen then?
Jenkins: The crowd funder is initially set for six months, but because it's set up on our own site, we can have it open as long as people seem to want to contribute. Six months just gives us a good window to develop some of our more unique bits of code and software before having to march to the tune of our investors. Regardless, the game and film will be made. The crowdfund lets us be more creative about it.
Trion Worlds currently has the MMO/TV Series Defiance with Syfy which is perhaps the most popular transmedia MMO project at the moment. How will the Splinters of Ares film differ from previous transmedia endeavors?
Jenkins: Trion did a great job, but we want to take it much further. The film is actually the first of a series of films to be released internationally that are tied to game expansions, all of which are influenced by the choices players are making in-game. We'll also be releasing literary and graphic novels, which feature characters you only see momentarily in the film, but which also intersect with in-game questing. We're also launching a full suite of mobile apps, which include lighter games, MMO interfaces, and a slew of other bits. We're really excited about the world we're building, and we want to figure out as many avenues as possible to share it with you.
Do you have any big names lined up for the film and MMO? Be it from the production end or acting.
Jenkins: Ah ha! Yes, we've got some pretty big names on both the film and game sides. Kalani Streicher (who worked with George Lucas at Lucas Arts on much of the Star Wars Franchise) from Kalani Games has partnered with us for our game development and production. Mick Giles worked with EA and SOE for just about ever, and worked on some of their biggest titles, among a bunch of others.
On the film end, we're still waiting on ink to dry on some contracts, so we can't quite announce those yet. Let's just say it's a who's who of our very favourite actors and directors, and we will let you know as soon as our attorneys will allow. But seriously, we're really excited about the people we've managed to bring on board. Will people all around the world be able to see the film in theater?
Jenkins: Yes. It'll be released on the big screen, internationally.
What, to you is the single most exciting thing about Splinters of Ares? Other than the fact that you have the pleasure of working on it, of course.
Jenkins: For me, it's got to be merging games and films together, and the ability to bring players on from the beginning. I like the idea of the players steering the industry, rather than the other way around.
Rodriguez: For me it's bringing the IP to life. The process is awesome and being able to create a new world based on my ideas and the concepts of the team we have assembled is an incredible experience.
Meehan: I'm totally into the Choose Your Own Adventure aspects of the game. I loved those books as a kid, and the way that the players can shape the world is very exciting.
Finally, let's talk dates. Do you have any release dates, or betas scheduled?
Jenkins: We could give you some wild guesses on dates, but you know how uncertain MMO development timelines are. We hope to be in alpha next year.
Thank you to Stephen Brent Jenkins, Adam W Rodriguez, and Kate Meehan for taking the time to tell us more about Splinters of Ares. Now, you may be wondering, where does the nose come into this. Well it was just announced yesterday that Splinters of Ares is teaming up with Scent Sciences to bring players custom Splinters of Ares scent packets which will allow the player to smell the game they play. Let's just hope we don't run into any rotting zombies. MMOHut will be keeping a close eye on the development of Splinters of Ares and we will be sure to bring you any news as we get it. |
| RuneScape 3 – First Look: Then & Now! Posted: 25 Jul 2013 01:29 PM PDT RuneScape 3 – First Look: Then & Now! RuneScape 3 is here! A new age dawns today, kicking off with the Battle of Lumbridge. Along with the hugely customisable New Interface System, the chance for fame in Seasonal Hiscores, over 6 hours of new live performed music and a range of technical improvements to enhance the player experiance as if it was an entirely new game! |
| Jiang Hu: The Chaotic Age Launched Today for Conquer Online Posted: 25 Jul 2013 12:22 PM PDT The eagerly awaited expansion for 2013, “Jiang Hu: The Chaotic Age”, is finally making its debut on July 25th. As the biggest expansion this year for Conquer Online, it brings several new concepts that is sure to raise eyebrows in the F2P world. New PvP Gameplay & Power Glyph System
In order to encourage players to take part in the action, this Jiang Hu mode has been made different from other PvP modes. Instead of giving PK points as a penalty for normal PKing, the players will be rewarded by their PvP activities against others, offerring chances at power and prizes. Unique Skill Name & Skill Souls Jiang Hu: The Chaotic Age is set to be a proud addition to the Conquer Online story, and will offer players a new and exciting PvP adventure! |
| New SMITE God Chang’e Released Posted: 25 Jul 2013 12:16 PM PDT Today, Hi-Rez Studios have released yet another addition to the SMITE god roster with Chang'e: Faerie of the Moon. A graceful magical mage, Chang'e sways to the rhythm of the night sky with a selection of dance-themed abilities. With her Moonflower Dance, Chang'e twirls elegantly on the battlefield scattering flowers, and healing herself and nearby allies. Her ultimate, the captivating Waxing moon dance, deals magical damage and stuns enemies. Each subsequent god being stunned for longer than the last. The Faerie of the Moon also benefits from her Jade rabbit companion, which will travel back to the shop to purchase or sell an item from anywhere on the map. To see more of Chang'e for yourself, check out the god reveal video below.
This latest patch update also contains a new golden skin for Vulcan, a Chang'e Bright Moon skin and all-new voice packs. |
| Anime-Inspired MMORPG Elsword Now Available on Steam Posted: 25 Jul 2013 12:03 PM PDT Today Kill3rCombo announced their hit free-to-play action MMORPG Elsword is now available on Steam. The popular side-scrolling RPG has already won millions of fans worldwide. Elsword challenges gamers to "Play Your Manga" by incorporating manga panels right into the action, making the anime-inspired story and combat come alive. With six distinct characters, a skill-based PvP mode, and more than 50 beautiful cel-shaded PvE areas, Elsword is a huge, one-of-a-kind experience, finally available on Steam. To celebrate the launch, special deals will be available exclusively for Elsword Steam players for a limited time. They will be awarded a bonus 5% for each purchase of $50 worth of Elsword currency and 10% for each purchase of $100. Also, exclusive in-game titles with powerful bonuses will be given to new Elsword accounts created through Steam. Finally, all players will be able to earn prizes by conquering dungeons with Steam users in their party.
"We are thrilled to offer Elsword to all the gamers in the Steam community," said Eugene Kim, CEO of Kill3rCombo. "We also want to thank our community who supported us through the Greenlight process to help bring Elsword to Steam players." |
| Steam Launch Date for Guncraft Announced as August 9, 2013 Posted: 25 Jul 2013 11:56 AM PDT Indie developer Exato Game Studios, in conjunction with Reverb Publishing, announced today that Guncraft will launch worldwide on Steam August 9, 2013. Guncraft is a voxel-based shooter that challenges players to build maps, characters, and weapons on the fly, then decimate them all to take down enemies across nine different game modes such as Team Deathmatch, Lava Survival and Meteor Survival. Anticipation for Guncraft's launch is high after the community voted it through Steam's Greenlight process earlier this month.
Guncraft will launch on Steam with the following new features: - Racing Mode: Race alone or with a friend, co-op double dash style, to see who can be number one, including community created tracks and levels - Steam Achievements - Steam Leaderboards - Steam Trading Cards! |
| Firefall Unlocks the Melding This Year at Gamescom 2013 Posted: 25 Jul 2013 11:49 AM PDT Red 5 Studios™ today released a brand new gameplay trailer for Firefall to accompany the announcement that players can visit Firefall live at Gamescom 2013 in Cologne, Germany. Currently in its first stage of Open Beta testing, Firefall delivers unique skill-based vertical combat in a futuristic sci-fi universe. This year at Gamescom Red 5 will discuss ongoing plans to push back the melding and unlock Firefall's world, featuring its latest dynamic events and three new "melding pockets", the upcoming Gamescom milestone and more.
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| Aeria Games Announces F.E.A.R. Online Posted: 25 Jul 2013 10:32 AM PDT Aeria Games is proud to announce that the acclaimed F.E.A.R. franchise is back with a vengeance! We're giving you the early scoop on the news that Aeria is publishing the multiplayer-focused F.E.A.R. Online, featuring both intense team-based FPS competition as well as terrifying co-op play. F.E.A.R. Online is the latest installment in the popular F.E.A.R. franchise of horror FPS games, with a strong multiplayer focus. Fans of the series will welcome a return to the hardcore shooting action now accessible to a large and active community of online players.
F.E.A.R. Online also delves deeper into the mysterious events surrounding F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin and the tortured series antagonist Alma Wade. Players must rely on each other to survive as they discover the fate of the F.E.A.R. team. The struggle between Armacham Technology Corporation and the elite F.E.A.R. soldiers continues across several competitive team modes and more than ten maps in gruesome, hair-raising locations. Fan-favorite modes such as Soul King from past F.E.A.R. titles also make a return.
As players continue to battle they will take advantage of an extensive upgrade system to keep their weapons and gear in the best shape possible in order to combat ruthless enemy players—as well as the terrible horrors lurking in the dark…
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