Mmorpg genre gaining popularity?

All Points Bulletin

It is pretty obvious that the mmorpg genre as of now is fairly popular, but how popular is it getting? Just like multiplayer is starting to completely replace single player,  mmorpg fashioned games may completely replace multiplayer games.

It is an interesting thought, for those of you who are actually trying to imagine the future of gaming, because it is something that has the possibility of happening. From a development perspective, having a mmorpg reduces the amount of games you need to create. Simply because of the amount of management one requires. But not only that, you make more money simply because of the subscription fee’s or premium items being sold through the game, which, contrary to popular belief, far out does the server costs if your game does moderately well.

The world is becoming more connected in a video gaming sense. Before, when games did not feature online match making, it would be all about the single player aspect, maybe including an option for offline cooperative play. But now, with the technology as advanced as ever, we are able to connect from opposing sides of the world, with the purpose of playing a game together. So now we have advanced match making, yes, and we are able to connect and play with people from all over the world. But the manner in which this is presented is quite different. You have to enter rooms, within a multiplayer game, to be able to play with others across the world.

While playing a mmorpg, you simply have to run into someone while going through the world, to be able to find a partner with which you want to do something. It offers a way for you to become much more social, makes the video game experience much more interactive and spontaneous, and in many cases, it just offers more fun period. Like the game in the picture to the upper left, All Points Bulletin, or APB for short. A game with one of the developers of the Grand Theft Auto original on the team, they pretty much managed to create an intricate and complex online mmorpg of cops and robbers. The game is looking fantastic, and will most likely sell out and make way more money than if it included the simply 16 player online mode that GTA4 had. The more players a game is able to support, the better popularity it achieves.

So I personally believe that within the future, near future at that, with the power of the consoles increasing, video game developers will begin to look towards a more unified form of gaming. I am pretty sure that mmorpg games will become the new standard in the video game industry, simply because of the possibilities it presents, the money it makes, and the benefits it brings.

Final Fantasy XIII Has No Mandatory Install

Final Fantasy XIII Ingame Screenshot

Final Fantasy XIII will not require you to adhere to the mandatory install feature, which is pretty good for those of you whom are losing space on your PlayStation 3.

Though the game is still a long ways off for those of us in North America, the game is reaching its release date over in Japan, coming this December. Though there is no mandatory install, the game will have a load time during the transitions from towns to field. But once you are in the open field, there are no more load screens, as it becomes an open world. Square Enix has been searching for ways to lessen load times, which has seemingly paid off. Many PlayStation 3 games require a mandatory install, which is taking up a lot of space on the hard drive. So it may be a relief to some that a game of this magnitude does not require one.

An install feature might have helped completely remove, or greatly reduce, the need for in-game load times, however. So maybe Square Enix will offer an optional install, for those of you interested. On a side note, Square Enix has revealed that Final Fantasy XIII will be sporting a trophy system as well.

Microsoft Starting Xbox Live Rewards Program Testing

Xbox 360

Microsoft has started conducting Xbox Live Rewards Program testing for those of you who have Xbox Live accounts. You may have been receiving an email from Xbox Live saying how out of the millions of active members, only a few will be chosen to win.

Surprisingly, when Microsoft was contacted for confirmation, they did indeed confirm that they are looking into ways to incorporate a rewards program for Xbox Live users. They say that they are constantly looking for ways to entertain and provide new and interesting things for their customers. They are currently looking into testing a pilot rewards program with a “select” amount of users in the Xbox Live community of the US. Though they have nothing more to say than that.

So far, the email that is sent has a sign up time period before the program ends, which is the 21st of October. The email simply requires you to do a survey, that gathers your thoughts on the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live service as a whole. Though unclear what the program will require you to do, it may reward you with things such as Microsoft Points, Free Xbox Live membership or even retail games. But what I am guessing this will require you to do is either take surveys for entry into these contests, or something else that benefits Microsoft without you knowing. Not saying that it is a bad thing though, since it does return back to the community.

Nexon Releases Dungeon Fighter Online

Dungeon Fighter Online

Dungeon Fighter Online is a 2D side scrolling online mmorpg game released by Nexon. It is quite a nostalgic experience for those of you who are retro gamers, and remember the days of Streets of Rage and Golden Axe. This game does an excellent job at offering you a variety of classes, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and giving you a reason to actually play all of them.

This game is not imbalanced with an unfair cash shop, which is great. A lot of Mmorpgs are destroyed due to an unfair cash shop that drives some of the users who can not afford to pay for premium items away. You can raise to the top tier of players without spending a dime, thankfully. Another thing you should note is that there are life tokens and a dungeon play bar. The life tokens are limited daily, if you die more times than the allotted amount of life tokens, you have to wait until 6 am the next day before your tokens reset and you can play again.Also, there is a bar, that decreases with every section of a dungeon you explore. Once that bar is depleted, you are unable to hunt in dungeons anymore until 6 am as well.

The game has an excellent skill and quest system. The skills are upgradeable and are quite flashy, which is sure to attract some of the more fighting oriented players. The quest system is great because it makes the grind of the game feel nonexistent. By constantly setting goals for you to achieve, the time will fly by quite easily, especially if you are a true Mmorpg fan. Level 18 is pretty much where the fun starts, as you are able to job advance, and you gain exclusive skills.

The player vs. player system works in a way that you are required to join a dedicated pvp server. After which you join a room started by a player, where you can alter the stage, the amount of players, and the type of match it is. The pvp system is where this game shines, because it comes down to skill, experience, and equipment. So for those people who tend to work hard and gather exceptional equipment, they will be able to do considerably well than those who just live to pvp. Not only that, but you can link your skills in order to allow you to do combos. Such as knocking you in the air, then catching you before you fall and doing a rushing throw, as characteristic of the Priest class.

The dungeons are pretty full and an interested addition. There are 4 levels to the dungeon maps. You have the regular map, the expert map, the masters road, and the kings road. These four levels increase the difficulty of the map, and to reach higher levels, you have to get a rank of B or more when defeating the boss and winning the dungeon. You get higher ranks by getting a high percentage of style and technical attacks, which can be done by using combos and attacking multiple enemies at once. This set up is ideal because it varies things up for those of you who may decide to back track throughout the dungeons.

Overall, this is my favorite mmorpg available at the moment. It offers a great player vs. monster system, has great pvp that can be started at an early level, and it has a likable feel towards the gameplay. The graphics are not too bad and the game play instills feelings of nostalgia as I mentioned earlier. For those of you who are interested in mmorpgs, pvp, or even retro beat ’em up style games, may find quite a lot of enjoyment from Dungeon Fighter Online by Nexon.

Left 4 Dead 2 BoyCott Ended

 

Left4Dead 2 Boycott

The Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott group has officially been disbanded by the owners, Agent of Chaos and Walking_Dead. A group originally started to protest the release and support of the sequel, so why the break up?

Agent of Chaos states on their Steam Community space that they have accomplished their intended goals of the group. They have been protesting and trying to capture Valves attention since the start of the group, now they have met in person, they are coming to the end of their discussions. They say that their goal was only to get Valve’s attention and have them continue support of the original Left 4 Dead, not to inspire users to not purchase Left 4 Dead 2. They believe that they have succeeded in their mission, so things are coming to an end.

Sounds a bit overly dramatic for my taste. But honestly, they should be quite proud of themselves. Video game boycotts do not often work, but they have managed to get theirs to not only work, but get noticed by the developers of the game themselves. The co-founder of the Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott, Walking_Dead, says that it is now up to you, the players, to decide what is right for you. They have achieved their goals, and most likely improved the relationship between the developers and community for the future. They are certainly proud, as they should be, since they have most likely changed the way Valve will go about handling things with their games in the future.