Since the release of Rusty Hearts we’ve seen a couple new characters, Natasha, Meilin, Roselle, Edgar, but today we’re officially announcing our latest character, Leila Vergerius. Just like the other characters, Leila is considered a premium character, but unlike them she will be free!

For the first time ever, we’re releasing a premium avatar at the low price of FREE. Getting Leila Vergerius is as simple as connecting your Perfect World account to Facebook and selecting your Leila reward package. Connecting your Facebook account is easy and secure; additionally, you’ll be eligible for new rewards every day. While you can only claim one Facebook Connect reward, you can repeat the steps daily for a new reward. Want 3 Leilas? Simply visit the Facebook Connect page each day and select your new Leila as many times as you would like (or can). It’s important to remember you can only receive a Facebook Connect reward once daily, if you mistakenly select a buff you will have to wait 24 hours to select Leila.

source from: mmosite

We made it! Whew! The Skyshrine Game Update went live and was well tested thanks to the community at large as well as the internal teams. We are all really proud of it and it seems like a good bunch of you are enjoying it too.

While we are still watching Skyshrine and responding to any issues that come up, we are obviously marching onward to our next big projects. Also, as we’ve said many times, we are looking at the existing game and how to make improvements to what we have. We’ve jotted down a few things below that are in progress this month to give you an idea of just some of what we’re working on right now. We hope to release them in May but won’t until they are ready:

• Remember in December 2011 on Test server we offered the ability to play as your character in Dungeon Maker? We took a look at the results and it was pretty clear we needed to make some significant improvements. Our team of engineers took to doing some research and experimentation and has come up with a great solution that we feel will have other applications as well. We are calling it “Level Agnostic” game play. What it means is that no matter what your level, you will be able to go into Dungeon Maker as your character and be effective. While that’s a bit of a no brainer, this goes for groups in Dungeon Maker too. We have already done early tests of groups of level 90s with level 50s and lower and it’s really fun! There’s a bit of tuning we need to do here and there, but there are definitely other ways we can use this. We are still in testing and want to get this one right, so we are going to do a lot of testing before we go live. And of course we’ll have it on the Test server when we feel it’s ready.
• On a more practical side, the team has been looking at low-impact solutions to improve the game experience for everyone. One of them was to be able to target an NPC and have an indication of what quest they might update. The engineering team already has this working for simple quests. The challenge now is to make sure we get every quest in the game flagged appropriately. That’s going to take some time, but the functionality is already there and it’s been great to see it working in game. We are hoping to get the first phase of this out to the Test server soon.
• Another challenge the team faces is being responsive during testing during our Beta periods. It’s very frustrating for designers and engineers to be testing raids and group content and have to stop due to a bug or difficulty and have to wait a day for another build. Not anymore! The engineers are already well into developing a testing tool that allows developers to make changes on the fly in real time. This is HUGE news for us and those players who help us test certainly will recognize the value. We certainly hope to start using this during testing for our next update.
• We are also starting to push through a list of historical bugs and prioritizing those and we’ll give updates on those as we go forward.

So from all of us, to all of you, thank you for the amazing support and playing the best MMORPG around!

Holly “Windstalker” Longdale

source from: everquest2

At the time of the formation of the great continent, when the mysterious force still moved within the fabric of the world, the Southern tribes paid homage to the Guardians of the earth. The Guardians, beloved and respected among the tribes, made their homes in the quiet recesses of the Kingdoms, where they, at the behest of their closest followers, shared their knowledge and bequeathed their secrets unto those who were worthy. As time passed, and the ancient ways that once held sway in those Southern lands faded into memory, the Guardians became more and more like the creatures of myth, and as their only remaining followers merged again into the still waters of creation, the Guardians passed purely into legend.

Seeing the plight that had befallen them swell with the changing tides, the Guardians passed into spirit, prolonging the peace and harmony that still reigned in the hearts and minds of the people. Aware at the time however, of a growing darkness that loomed in the North, the Guardians chose to forgo their return to the source of things in order to remain in the world as a strength and power in those whose heart was pure. In the tribes that continued to honor the old ways, the secrets that were imparted so many years before were somehow unearthed and reborn again under the shadow of the Northern onslaught; and in the souls of the valiant and fearless individuals that made up the Glorious Shield, the Guardian spirit was resurrected, enabling them to transform into the embodiment of their respected Guardian to vanquish all those who oppose the path to peace.

Spirit Tales goes into open beta on May 10.

source from: mmohuts

The PvP system has been retuned to include improved matchmaking, pre-and-post battle healing, a centralized PvP area on the world map, and new global leaderboards. The world map has also been retuned to show the difficulty of missions and achievements on the map, as well as some user interface adjustments.

The update includes an account reset for all accounts, meaning all players will have to create new companies (although they will keep their gold).

Jagged Alliance Online is published by gamigo, which also publishes Black Prophecy and Loong.

Jagged Alliance Online Gameplay Screenshot

Source:

Jagged Alliance Online gets comprehensive update
Hamburg, May 3, 2012 – The latest milestone of the turn-based strategy game Jagged Alliance Onlinebrings with it a reworked PvP system, an improved world map and adjustments to the difficulty of the game. As a result, the mercenaries that players know and love can be hired much earlier on and are no longer only available to high-level players.

The changes to the PvP system apply mostly to matchmaking, which now finds equal opponents more quickly. A new global ranking list, which shows the best PvP players in all game modes, has also been added. The world map now has a centralized PvP area that connects the PvP missions, which were previously separate. To provide a better overview and help players find a suitable mission more quickly, the difficulty of a mission is now shown on the world map.

Jagged Alliance Online is currently in the open beta phase of testing. Registration is free and there are no monthly subscription fees.

source from: mmohuts

Are you participating in our Early Character Creation event this weekend? You may have noticed a few frames of the TERA launch cinematic as you furiously clicked through it to claim your first character’s name! With your preferred name secured, you can now safely watch the video, titled “Beginnings”, right here in this news post or on our YouTube channel.

The cinematic shows how the Valkyon Federation has come together to face a soulless army that threatens to engulf the world from the perspective of a baraka warrior-sage. Observant viewers will see each of TERA’s seven playable races take part in the action, and will enjoy a sneak preview of the monsters they’ll face and the places they’ll visit. Combat-essential to an action MMO like TERA-takes center stage, and eagle-eyed fans will recognize some of the spells and attacks they’ll use when TERA launches on May 1.

source from: mmosite

The PC is supprted by a GeForce GTX 680, a quad-core Intel i5 overclocked to 4.5ghz per core, 8 gigs of RAM and a 128GB solid-state drive, all kept cool by water. But that’s just the beginning of how great this thing is…

Take a look at these pictures and they will explain everything.

source from: mmosite

While CryEngine 3 is making another step forward, more games that built by this engine are announced. Crytek just announced Crysis 3 which will come to PC and console in 2013. The third Crysis game will combine jungle with New York city and offer you more grand scenes.

The MMO market has numbers of CryEngine 3 titles on the way, too. XL Games’ ArcheAge could be the one you hear most and the Korean MMO will start first closed beta and CBT 5 in China and Korea respectively soon. Piranha Games is bringing MechWarrior to MMO fans and they are working on MechWarrior Online with CryEngine 3. The latest gameplay trailer shows you the game’s combat. The other CryEngine 3 MMO in development is Undead Labs’ unnamed zombie survivor MMO which will release on console only. The latest one we reported is ChangYou’s Project K, which will be a non-targeting action MMO.

More about the new version of CryEngine 3 can be found at Crytek website.

source from: mmosite

Congratulations to Teqila, this week’s Screenshot of the Week winner!

The winning screenshot and Teqila’s accompanying description can be found below:

“Avatars of the two gods(Nihaz-God Of Darkness and Sarn-God Of Light) and me

Part of the mystery quest”

For his awesome screenshot, Teqila has snagged himself the now discontinued Swift Purebred mount, a Medium Sack of Mountfeed, and a Lesser Scroll of the Commander!

source from: mmorpg

Yet TERA has a tough row to hoe in the coming days as it seeks to find its place among other big titles coming in 2012, particularly The Secret World from Funcom and Guild Wars 2 fromArena.Net. Being the first of the three out the gate gives TERA a chance to find and captivate its audience. Will it? Well, it rather depends on a number of factors.

One of the biggest mountains that En Masse and Frogster have to climb with TERA is the notion that it’s “just another Asian grinder”. For my money, this is the single biggest factor in how successful TERA ultimately becomes and is the hardest thing that the Korean development team and their Western partners will have to overcome. As I play TERA, I want to like it, I really do. But my innate bias shines through as I’m sent along on another “kill 10 rats” quest and forced to FedEx my way around the starter zone. I hold out scant hope, however, that things will improve once I’m on to the main continent and working my way to Arborean glory. I have to say though that, at least at this point, the notion of an Asian grinder is still there in TERA. Luckily there are offsetting factors that might win players over if they’re patient enough to stick it out.

Combat in TERA is just plain fun. Without an auto-targetting system and with players able to use console-like attacks and combos, combat is a breath of fresh air in the MMO space. Even I, famous as an Auto-Target Queen, loved the rolling, dodging, stick the sword in and back off type of combat that my warrior encountered over the weekend. Plowing through a big group of monsters is just pure F-U-N! The moves are fluid and natural…well as natural as being superhumanly fast and balanced actually is but you get my point. There’s nothing stiff or weird looking about the way characters do what they do. The effects are quite nice too.

Aesthetically speaking, TERA is one of the most jaw droppingly gorgeous games I’ve ever encountered. It’s like a fine pastel watercolor and the color palette is nothing short of astonishing with those soft pastels juxtaposed against vibrant backgrounds. It’s breathtaking in some instances. The eye-candy begins on the Isle of Dawn, the starter area for TERA. It’s worth taking the time to actually look up to see what developers, BlueHole Studios, have painted for players. And you do have to look up. As with all things in TERA, bigger is….well, not better, it’s just BIGGER. As the now famous “Big Ass Monsters” indicate, everything in TERA is big from monsters to the surrounding scenery. It’s worth taking the time to look around and appreciate the beauty.

The overall beauty of TERA shines through in all sorts of places such as in combat animations, spell effects, buffs, water, etc. In short, just about anything that requires eyes to see is worth looking at in TERA. Even the female armors are well constructed if way too revealing and uncomfortable looking.

Which brings me to my next point about TERA’s need to win over audiences with En Masse’s/Frogster’s “westernization” project. Why in the bloody realms of Hell can’t someone ask for better female armor? You know, something that’s actually a bit more realistic than a pair of pasties and a G-string? I’m not going to segue into a diatribe about female armor models in Eastern MMOs but it’s fair to point out that Western audiences, which have a growing population of female players, like to at least have a choice in what female characters wear. Hey, I get it. Lots of folks like the pasties and G-string look. That’s great but some of what makes players think “Asian grind fest” is the prevalence of little things like overly pole dancer armor to name one example.

And of course, what article about TERA would be complete without at least a cursory mention of BAMs? Big Ass Monsters are, well, B-I-G. Every screenshot shows off gargantuan monsters that defy belief. But, as said earlier, bigger is better in TERA. I can’t wait to face off against my first real BAM. There’s no question that the overabundance of BAMs in TERA is something that sets it apart from the pack!

Most of the things that I find “disturbing” about TERA are surface-level and shallow. I can admit that. But when I manage to overlook the female armor models, I am pleasantly surprised by how much I like TERA. Not only is it pleasing to the eye, it also has enough terrific combat to keep even the most seasoned MMO veteran on his or her toes. Like I said before, combat in TERA is just plain fun.

TERA will have a loyal following in North America and Europe. I firmly believe that. But the development and publication teams have a tough road ahead of them in selling the game to an increasingly bitter and demanding MMO audience here in the West. If players can manage to overcome what has become something of an innate bias against Korean MMOs, they just may find that TERA is the game of the year. TERA has a lot of potential. Let’s hope that En Masse, Frogster and BlueHole Studios have done all that they can to ensure success come May 1st.

source from: mmorpg

Let me start by saying Seven Souls Online is a decent attempt at a game for a smaller gaming company.  SSO has certain features that could make a mmorpg great, and others that are unoriginal, and don’t.  Let’s start with the classes, and races.  There are 3 starting races Imeperial Guard, Exiled Avenger, and Manatech Rebel.  There are not really class’s just weapons to choose from.  There are 3 weapons per race Exiled Avenger (Dagger, Claw, Bow) Imperial Guard (Broadsword, Great Axe, Polearm) Manatech Rebel (Scythe, Chakram, Sword). Each race is gender locked the Exiled Avengers being the only female race; however there is a 4th race that hasn’t been put into the game yet.  There are not a whole lot of customization options to choose from, and even though the game is only in open beta the population is low.  Once you get in game getting to, and finishing quests is easy.  There is a white dotted line that leads you to where your quests are, however sometimes that dotted line glitches.  When it glitches you can look on the mini map, and follow the red arrow to your quests.  Once you get to your quest area your quest target will have ! symbol over its head to show you what you need.  As for the NPC’s/Monsters they are straight boring.  For your first 10-12 level you are killing frogs, boars, pigs annoying little creatures like that.  Leveling can also take some time even at low levels, and grinding is a no-no in this game.  If you were to grind it would take year questing is the only way to go.  Every time you level up you get a skill point.  All of you skill points can be put into any weapon your race has, also every character has a common skill tab, and at certain levels you unlock new skill in there.  You get a sprint skill at level 5 which looks exactly the running skill in Twelve Sky 2.  Each weapons normal attack animations are interesting to watch, but start to get annoying after a few hours, but each weapons skill animations are all unique, and fun to watch.  Each character builds up rage from fighting after the rage mode gets full you can toggle the rage button, and go into rage mode.  At this point your character grows wings, and hits like a beast.

A feature that certainly is a help in the game is jackpot. Basically you gain point over time called jackpot point, and when you are ready you click the jackpot button located at the bottom right.  After getting enough points, and hitting the button you can claim a reward which can be items, exp, gold, or buffs.  For the most part you don’t get much for completing quests.  As far as I’ve seen you rarely get weapons or armor.  To get weapons armor you have to buy or craft them.  I didn’t get to do much crafting, and the system most definitely needs attention. Chat is pretty bad in game due to low player population.  If you need to ask about something in game I would recommend looking it up on Google, or going to the game’s forums.   Each area has a manatech carriage that will take you to any location you have been to at a fast speed.  It’s interesting that the graphics are probably one of the best features of the game, and they are okay.  There are two types of mounts in the game fed, and not fed.  Fed mounts all you have to do is unregister them, and re-register them to restore their levels.  Non fed are just like mounts in any other mmo. All food does for mounts is makes them faster.   When it comes to pvp the system is kind of unique there is no lost xp or item or anything like that.  Every time you pvp you gain a debuff, and you lose a certain amount of hp, and mana for a certain amount of time.  There is also infamy levels in pvp the greater the infamy level the worse the debuff gets.  At infamy level 25 you lose half of your health, and mana.  So obviously this can be annoying for you hardcore pvp players.

Overall I would say SSO is an okay game.  There is a lot it needs to improve on, but the game could also use some more advertising.  I would not recommend this game to hardcore pvp players because it is more of a pve based game.  Also if you high player base games this is not for you.  If you don’t have a decent speed internet you may experience a lot of lag because of the servers I would say at least 5 mb/s.  Like I said before the game has decent graphics, but nothing amazing.  Overall I would only recommend this game if you are bored, and have nothing to do.

source from: mmosite