Here I am waiting, albeit impatiently, for two important changes to my current online game of choice, Perfect World. Just what are these changes? Take a gander at this image posted by Level Up! Games, Philippine publisher of the game, on its website:
Meantime, I’ll go run to the nearest supermarket and grab some gamer chow. It’s going to be a long week because of the experience point and soul modification. Grinding is the name of the game as long as the modification is in place.
According to the Chinese Online Game Market Survey for the first quarter of 2008, a report published by Analysis International, the toal revenue of the industry has reached RMB 3.985 billion, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 14 percent.
With a market share of 18.7 percent, Shanda kept its lead in the market, followed by NetEase at 13.3 percent, The9 at 11.5 percent, and Giant Interactive at 11.3 percent.
whew! I’m sure a lot of Western online game developers are setting its sights on China, one of the biggest markets for MMOs. I wish them luck —they’re going to need it, especially with the stiff competition not only from China-based developers but also those from Korea, the seat of MMORPG power in Asia.
Image downloaded from Shanda’s website and modified by Joel. Image features characters from The Sign, a 3D MMORPG developed and published by Shanda Entertainment.
No self-respecting general enters a battle without having an idea of the odds, of whether he can push his troops to victory. It is this very principle that guides a leader in handling the affairs of his guild or clan in MMORPGs. So it’s really a surprise why some players view decisions of some guild or clan masters to not attack a rival as a sign of weakness.
This observation is very true in my current online game of choice, Perfect World, which I play almost 24 hours a day. The guild war feature of this game operates on a bidding system, where clans engage one another in combat for control of 44 territories.
I belong to the Guardians, a clan in Perfect World Philippines’ Tiger Server that has weathered numerous trials since the start of the game (more than a year ago, methinks). These trials include, of course, expanding territories and trying to keep them in your clan’s control (that is, if you value the perks that go with owning territories including free teleport to clan-controlled territories once an hour, special potions and pills that can only be produced at castellans or governors of territories, and higher-level pots for characters level 70 up).
At present, we control about 40 percent of the map, give or take a few percentage points (If you click on the link, it’ll show you the map. Yes, my clan’s logo looks like Hello Kitty … some freak accident at Wan Mei turned out sword and shield into a cute pussycat). That’s 16 of 44 territories. Attacking and trying to conquer territories already in the hands of another clan is no easy feat, which is why most battles quickly turn in favor of the defender. Only the most powerful clans have an iota of a chance of successfully laying siege to a rival clan’s territory.
The Guardians is far from being the most powerful clan on Perfect World Philippines’ Tiger Server despite having our “moments,” such as bragging rights to being the first clan to successfully capture a city (there are only six cities in the mythical world of Pangu). There are more powerful clans out there, and one of them happens to be our most bitter rival, Exiled.
I guess at this point in this article I should admit that I’m only reacting to a comment made by a clanmate that “the Guardians only survived this long because its clan master keeps blocking attackers.”
Doesn’t it make perfect sense to block some if not all the attacks to maintain your clan’s hold on territories—territories its members have spent countless hours claiming and maintaining?
Some call the tactic cowardly. Some say it’s a flaw in the game that needs to be remedied. I submit that it’s neither a cowardly tactic or a flaw. Bid blocks can be circumvented by placing the maximum allowable bid of 200 million yuan (the in-game currency) on a territory. Thus, the theory that it’s a flaw is in itself flawed.
As for labeling it a cowardly action, well, you can’t really expect a fair fight whenever your clan is holding a large number of territories ripe for the picking by other clans. Fight a battle with bad odds to maintain one territory while releasing the clans hold on two other territories on either a Friday, Saturday or a Sunday? If you think that’s the better choice (just to show that you and the rest of your clan have the balls to go toe-to-toe with another equally or more powerful clan), then you don’t really understand the game.
Photo shows Montgomery Scott, who was played by James Doohan in the original Star Trek series. I’ve chosen the image to go along with this story to illustrate the lengths a leader will go through just to keep everything intact, including pushing things to the limit as in the Enterprise of Captain James T. Kirk.
I’ve written, oh, about two stories about Dekaron (also known as 2Moons in online gaming circles) in the past month or so, but they’re merely superficial, barely scraping the surface of a virtual world known to many to still alien to some. And this online game, despite being nearly a year old, is really alien to a lot of online gamers in this little tropical country I call home.
What better way to introduce this virtual world to the thousands of Filipino MMORPG fanatics than videos. Here are two of the more popular videos on Dekaron on YouTube:
I know the guys up at Digital Media Exchange and mobiusgames are in a lot of pressure to launch Dekaron at the soonest possible time, but maybe they can give us players a hint as to when it’ll hit our computer screens. Is it that obvious that I’m itching to try it out?
No, Shanda isn’t what Jedi Knights are called nowadays but the name of a China-based game developer and operator. And by strike back, I mean Shanda Interactive has just launched renewed campaign against private servers, third party programs, and account hackers.
According to legal experts, private servers, third party programs, and account stealing have become the poison of the Chinese online game industry. These illegal behaviors not only affect the balance of games, but also weaken the interest of most players. What’s more, these also infringe on the rights of law-abiding players.
Shanda has always been severe on these issues … Since private servers and third party programs gradually become the biggest obstacle to the healthy development of the industry, Shanda has established communication channels with police, cultural, copyright, and commercial and industrial offices, and is keeping the pressure on these illegal behaviors.
An industry insider says that, as an industry leader, Shanda’s action will no doubt become some kind of model in the campaign to purify the industry and create more space for development.
Good for, uhmm, law-abiding Chinese citizens, err, players. I wonder when local gaming companies will take the cue from Shanda and do the same. I’ve lost some very good friends to private servers just because they feel shortchanged whenever they play on legal servers, and no amount of threats—both from the game publishers and players—can ever make them come back.
Image downloaded from Hassan Chop! and modified by Joel. Characters appearing in the image are owned by Warner Brothers.
Don’t you just hate it when you receive a private message or whisper from another player that contains nothing but trash. By trash, I mean the kind that spews forth from the mouths of uneducated people.
This is exactly what happened to my wife recently in the online game Perfect World. She was minding her own business, going around the town of Fei Wei to window shop from the dozens of player vendors cluttering the field, when suddenly a whisper or private message leaped out at her from the chat box.
Here’s what she saw:
I don’t know about you, jAmEs[PK], master of Perfect World Tiger Server’s clan TuRjACkeR, but our parents taught us better manners than those you are showing.
Report him? Nah. No offense to our friends up at Level Up! Games, the game’s local publisher, but it just takes them too damn long to act on a simple harassment complaint.
We’ll just content ourselves with the knowledge that 1) we are better than this jAmEs[PK] in so many ways and 2) he’ll never amount to anything more than the trash that comes out of his mouth.
Yeah, you read that right. I have just received the key to Florensia’s special closed beta weekend, slated for May 9 to 12, and the third closed beta phase. Thanks, Florensia staff.
Here’s what the email contained:
Congratulations — you won a CB key for Florensia!
A while ago, we sent you a newsletter and we asked you to write down why you wanted to join the closed beta of Florensia. Your statement convinced us and we are happy to send you one of our closed beta keys!
Your Code: yOuaReHanDsoMEmyGOSh (of course I only made this up)
Your key will be activated for our special closed beta weekend which will take place from May 9 to 12. Please read our news in the forum to get more information about the closed beta weekend.
Furthermore, you will be able to use your code for the closed beta 3 of Florensia. More information about the closed beta 3 will follow on our website.
Great! Time to, uhmm, re-download the client (I accidentally erased it while purging my computer of non-essential files) and gear up for a new adventure in a fresh virtual world.
This is it, guys. IP E-Games, a local online game publisher, has finally announced when the closed beta testing for its newest baby, Cabal Online, will start. Whew! And I thought they’d never get down to it (I’m in the midst of teaching my daughter all I know about MMORPGs in the event Cabal Online launches in time for her 12th birthday). Kidding!
Anyway, here’s the official announcement:
This is it E-Gamers! Cabal Online Closed Beta Testing will start this coming May 15th 2008.
With regards to the game installer download, there might be a slight delay with regards to its availability; but this will be made available as soon as possible. Please stay tuned for recent updates by constantly visiting the community blog and the Cabal PH website.
Make sure you already secured a CBT account and have downloaded the Cabal Online PH game client a few days before May 15th.
The revolution is about to begin …
But that’s still a month or two away. E-Games has to iron out the kinks first, through the CBT, of course. We’ll see in a few months’ time if things finally go the company’s way in terms of gamer satisfaction. Personally, I haven’t played any E-Games game longer than a week (well, except for Granado Espada, that is).
Maybe the title of this post should be “Why can’t I have my cake and eat it too?”. There lies the greatest dilemma of an MMORPG addict. Oh, sure, I can play all the online games I want, whenever I want to, but don’t really have the time to play them. At present, I’m totally engrossed with Perfect World, an online game published in my corner of the world by Level Up! Games.
New developments in the local MMORPG scene are, however, diverting much of my attention to other games. Take Rising Force Online, or simply RF Online, for example. Now there’s a great game with an equally great potential to make it to the number one spot of most MMORPG players’ lists.
I’ve been playing RF Online on and off this past three months and, for the life of me, I can’t understand why I’m not hooked as much I am to Perfect World. Perhaps in-game friends play a critical role. I go solo whenever I log into RF Online. In Perfect World, I am frequently joined by my wife, who plays a damn good yuling or elven priest, and some friends and relatives, including Jake, my brother-in-law.
Now that RF Online in the Philippines has taken another step forward with the opening of a new server, Calix, I find thoughts wandering to Novus again and to what wonders it holds for players like me.
Chaos brings uncertainty and destruction. And sometimes, such chaos causes rifts in reality and opens up new avenues for peace and hope … or are we all just dreaming? With more bloodshed and intense battles, a new dimension may have just opened up. The Vanguards and Guardian Masters have gone ahead to scout this new version of the world; hoping that it would be a place for healthy competition.
Will you be there with them? Will you take this chance to move to this new dimension?
Maybe … maybe not. If I find the time to trot around Planet Novus and join my Bellato brethren, then it’ll be in Calix.
I never would have believed it if I didn’t see it for myself. As I was writing my previous post, a nagging thought kept vying for my attention. The thought: Just how loyal were these Khan Online players to the game?
Well, I got my answer in the form of videos. Not just any videos, but tributes from a few players, nay, Khanatics, to the virtual world that had been their second home.
Craving for a taste of Asia? Buckle up then as MMOtaku takes you on a ride through different virtual worlds through news, walkthroughs, previews, highlights, gossip, rants and raves about our favorite Asian-made MMOs.
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