MMORPG

I’d been cautiously looking forward to the upcoming Star Trek MMO for a while, being a fan of Cryptic Studio’s previous efforts in the genre City of Heroes/Villains and Champions Online, despite never really being a fan of the overarching genre. Their games gave the player unparalleled freedom to create their own character in the world, and in a game with thousands of other people running around I believe that it’s a pretty important thing to focus on. As a result, I decided to take part in the Open Beta for Star Trek Online, due out 5^thFebruary in Europe and the 2^nd in America, hoping to see what the company had improved.

After our recent review of MMORPG hit Maplestory Gamehub was able get in touch with the masterminds behind the game and ask them a few questions.This is what the korean develoment team had to say:

1. When you released the game almost six years ago did you think it would become as popular as it has?
We did expect MapleStory to bring great impact to the online game society, but didn’t expect this much support and popularity with over 92 million registered accounts across the world.

 2. What were your main influences when designing and developing the game?
We are influenced by numerous factors, but the most important factor is the reaction and satisfaction of our players. We always review our content to check if they will be able to present fun and excitement to the majority of our players. As in designs, warm and cute designs were developed in the beginning, but as MapleStory service develops, we are bringing more fantasy factors to designs.

3. Was the decision to make the game two dimensional a difficult one?
It wasn’t a difficult decision. We had confidence that the two dimensional theme would be welcomed by our players as a pleasant surprise.

After a disappointing delay back from its original release date in June, Champions Online recently opened it's doors to the pre-ordering and FilePlanet using public for open beta testing.

Emerging from the deepest depths of Korea for European consumption in 2007, Maplestory is a massively popular MMORPG, with over fifty million players worldwide.Inspiring everything from Anime and fan art to a range of snacks. Whilst being extremely popular, the game is also very different from its online siblings, boasting unique visuals and side scrolling gameplay, while retaining many of the classic elements that make the genre so popular. With the recent release of the expansion pack, Knights of Cygnus, the time seemed right to look at what makes the game such a fan favourite.

After the initial, coma inducing tedium that comes with installing any downloadable PC game, it quickly becomes apparent that Maplestory is much more, and in some cases much less, than an ordinary MMORPG title. Visually the game looks like a cross between an upscale anime and the psychedelic imaginings of an overactive twelve year old splattered across the monitor. Colourful players roam across 2D backgrounds reminiscent of an early Megadrive title, interacting with surprisingly detailed characters and items, while a retro digital soundtrack will either serenade them or drive them insane. This style will instantly put a lot of more mature gamers off, but for those willing to look past Maplestory’s out of retirement presentation, a deep and engrossing MMORPG experience awaits.

Luminary Review

Developer: AeriaGames

Here’s a little secret about MMO games. What makes them good has nothing to do with design or gameplay; it’s all about the chat. Levelling up? Just a way to impress members whom you think are of the opposite sex. Exploring the world? Merely showing off to them your hard-earned armour and items. A tad cynical you might think. This view actually makes a game like Luminary, a free online downloadable MMO from AeriaGames, difficult to review. If chatting with other users, a pastime not directly controllable by the developers, keeps people playing, then the quality of your gaming experience is entirely dynamic. Manage to find someone to adventure and trade with who can speak to you without resorting to spiking their sentences with nonsensical numbers? Maybe they’ll be kind to you. You might actually enjoy Luminary. It, like all MMORPG’s that have come before it, relies too much on players being social in the absence of original game design such as unique worlds or interesting characters and quests. Rather than spend the time developing these features, creators of MMO’s concentrate on giving their players the ability to chat with/abuse each other with the minimum of fuss. In other words, push the game itself aside so they can blah blah blah. It almost seems as if the game itself is of secondary concern.

This is another free-to-play MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) from Aeria games who are also working on Luminary as we have mentioned here at Game Hub before.

Twelve Sky 2 is set amidst a seemingly everlasting war over territorial dominance between three factions in ancient China. These factions have been dicing each other up for years, but they may have to team up because of the emergence of an old common enemy, if the extended trailer is anything to go by. Don’t worry if you’ve not played the first game as this has a brand new story.

The MMO industry is one of the most interesting and exciting developments that online gaming has made possible.  With the top 10 most popular MMO's attracting around 50 million players between them their popularity across the world, particularly in the far east, is unquestionable.  And most gamers, fans of RPG's, card trading games and table-top games will understand why.  Playing video games for escapism is an oft cited reason for playing them, and you'll find it in bucket loads in an MMO game.