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First Council of Stellar Management meeting hailed a success
Delegates from the first democratically elected MMO player Council have declared themselves pleased with their initial face-to-face meeting with CCP (www.ccpgames.com), the developers of leading Internet spaceship game, EVE Online (www.eve-online.com).

Over 25,000 EVE players voted to select the initial nine delegates to represent them on the ‘Council of Stellar Management’ (CSM). Following the elections, the nine Councillors worked with the player base to identify and prioritise game-related issues ranging from combat through economy to design of the user interface. These issues formed the basis of the agenda for the three-day meeting at CCP’s Headquarters in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Prior to the face-to-face meeting, Councillors (and players) aired concerns that the CSM had been created simply as a PR tool to generate publicity for the game. However, it soon became apparent that senior management at CCP have really bought into the process and see a long-term role for the CSM as an important institution for player participation in the future development of EVE.

Over the course of the CSM meeting, more than 30 game related issues were discussed by Councillors and senior members of the CCP development team, which included game designers, programmers, storyline staff and members of the quality assurance team. The meetings were chaired and moderated by a neutral arbitrator from an Icelandic university.

Many issues and ideas raised by the CSM were accepted by CCP and are being built into the game development pipeline for implementation in future patches. Other ideas were seen as problematic to implement but compromises and alternatives were discussed for further feasibility investigation by CCP. A few ideas were dismissed outright on the basis of being technically difficult to implement without diverting huge programming/development resources, at the detriment of advancing other elements of the game.

“We had a great dialogue with the developers and they were exceedingly open to our ideas and suggestions and pretty straightforward in explaining technical limitations where not. It was clear that some changes we suggested were already on CCP’s agenda, but it was also nice to see the occasional ‘Eureka’, - ‘why didn’t we think of that?’ moment amongst the developers. This clearly demonstrated the value of the process both to us as players but also to CCP,” said Andrew Cruse, Chairman of the CSM.

As part of their trip to Iceland the CSM Councillors were taken to visit the birthplace of Icelandic democracy at Thingvellir (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Eingvellir). Thingvellir is reputedly home to the oldest Parliament in the world. From 930 AD chieftains’ from across Iceland would meet there annually to discuss the law and settle disputes. During the visit to Thingvellir, Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson, CCP’s lead economist, made a rousing speech describing the CSM delegates as the first ‘Internet chieftains’ and ‘pioneers’ of democracy in online communities.

“While it is very gratifying to be described as an ‘Internet chieftain’ what really matters is proving to our constituents, the players of EVE, that we have actually delivered results that improve the virtual universe in which they play. To that extent we are reliant on CCP continuing to be an active partner in the process and delivering on the promises made in Iceland,” said Sean Conover, a CSM delegate.

June 25th, 2008, Toronto, Canada: JoWooD Productions and DreamCatcher Games, leading publishers of interactive entertainment software around the world, today announced The Orb and the Oracle will release in Winter 2008 for Windows® as the next installment in the bestselling saga, Dungeon Lords.

“We have eagerly anticipated releasing a new installment in the Dungeon Lords saga,” said Byron Gaum, Global Product Marketing Manager at DreamCatcher Games. “We’re really excited to offer Dungeon Lords fans a new dose of the combat, magic and incredible quests that this fantasy RPG is known for.”

Created by legendary RPG game author, D.W. Bradley, The Orb and the Oracle boasts a massive fantasy world filled with incredible a ction and meticulously detailed indoor and outdoor environments. Offering both single and multiplayer co-op game modes, the game is sure to engage RPG fans for hours on end!

The game features an advanced and robust combat system coupled with devastating magic spells for a variety of ways to vanquish your foes in real-time. Set to the tone of an epic soundtrack, players should prepare themselves for an unforgettable journey.

The Orb and the Oracle for Windows® will sell for an SRP of $39.99 USD. The anticipated ESRB rating is T for Teen. For further information please visit our website at www.dreamcatchergames.com.

SouthPeak’s Critically Acclaimed Xbox LIVE^® Arcade Puzzle Game is Available Now Wherever PC Games are Sold

MIDLOTHIAN, VA - June 25, 2008 - SouthPeak Games today announced that its puzzle game Roogoo is now available for Windows PC. Roogoo, which was previously released on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft, features 45 levels as well as two-player split screen.

“Roogoo is a fun, family friendly puzzle game that is as addictive as it is cute,” said Melanie Mroz, CEO of SouthPeak Games. “Not only does the game get progressively more challenging to play, but it also gets harder and harder to put down.”

Taking place in the fantasyland of Planet Roo, you star as one of the last Roogoo’s still uncorrupted by the evil King Goo. King Goo can think of nothing but power and uses his influence to make other Roogoos believe that greed is the way of life. He starts to steal joyful meteors from the sky and uses their powers to build bigger and more powerful cities. After a fair amount of stealing, many of the kingdom’s once cute and innocent Roogoos have turned into wicked Meemoos. It is your job to stop King Goo from collecting the remaining meteors and to turn the Meemoos back into Roogoos before it’s too late.

In order to accomplish your quest and save Planet Roo, you must guide falling meteors, in the form of different shape blocks, through rotating platforms. When matched correctly, the blocks are allowed to reach their intended destination. Each meteor you guide correctly gets you one step closer to your goal.

Roogoo is available now for $19.99 at retailers everywhere. It is rated E for Everyone.

The update introduces the land of Caebolan (pronounced SAY-boh-lan) once a beautiful region rumored to be a holy land hiding the path to the city of El Dorado. After a huge explosion, Caebolan is now a barren wasteland littered with relics and remnants of a lost and ancient civilization. The entrance to this new land is blocked by a powerful titan that must be conquered in a massive world event; multiple clans working together is the only way to unlock Caebolan.

Along with this new region, the expansion will unveil four new UPCs (Unique Player Characters have the ability to join your family as a playable character after you’ve earned their respect): Vincent Rio, a master of music where his powerful songs can harm foes and heal allies; Baek Ho, a spy from the far reaches of the East that has been trained in a Martial Arts style not seen in the west; Calypso, a royal guard and dangerous vixen with the crossbow; and Claire, daughter of the local blacksmith, she may look petite, but can handle combat with the best of them and has the ability to summon monsters.

Nocturnal Sonata also debuts new weapons, armors, and accessories that will be needed to defeat the titan and take on the abominations of the cursed Caebolan. New events like the Royal Rumble (where clans fight against clans and Raid Bosses) have been added, while pre-expansion events like Andre’s UFC (where players are pitted against each other in a struggle for complete domination) are expanded to allow lower level players.

“The key to maintaining Sword of the New World is offering innovative content for existing players, while making things fun and easy for new players” says Associate Producer, Jon-Enée Merriex. “We’re doing that with Nocturnal Sonata, as Sword of the New World evolves, we’ll continue to deliver a game that is as fun as it is deep.”

Sword of the New World is an action-packed tactical fantasy MMORPG set in a world of colonial exploration inspired by Europe’s exploration of America. Delve into a visually stunning world, join or create a clan, claim colonies and choose a side in a political struggle. Players even have the ability to become the representative of one of the political parties that are constantly vying for power. Sword of the New World offers exploration and discovery in a world of political conflict and danger. Control up to three characters at once, each with their own statistics, skills, and levels. Fight alongside your clan mates for control of the many colonies that lay unclaimed in the New World. The more colonies your clan controls, the more power you wield.

This weekend, my first review!

It’s great to see one major gaming company making sure sick kids have something to do while recovering.

by Matt Martin, GI

Tales of Pirates: Introduction of Explorer Class

This is the introduction of Explorer Class in Tales of Pirates (http://top.igg.com), here players will know more about this Class.

1. Class Introduction:
Class Advancement: from Explorer to Voyager.
Level Requirement: Each player can become an Explorer after level 10 and then become a Voyager after level 40.
2. Class Features:
A: Explorer: In order to explore uncharted waters, Explorers need to be brave enough to fight thunderstorms and raging waves in search of unknown territory and make use of Energy Corals to store energy.

B: Voyager: Make a name by traveling past oceans and uncharted waters. A Voyager’s passion for exploration is undeterred by the dangers that lie before them.
3. Coral System
A: Both Explorers and Voyagers can use Corals, a special kind of equipment. Most of their skills cannot be utilised without Corals.

B: Sorts of Coral

Wind Coral: Players should equip the Wind Coral to use Tornado skills and Tail Wind skills. Energy needs to be recharged in the Wind Region.

Thunder Coral: Players should equip Thunder Coral to use Lightning Bolt skills and Lightning Curtain skills. Energy needs to be recharged in the Thunder Region.

Strike Coral: Players should equip Strike Coral to use Strike skills. Energy needs to be recharged in the Strike Region.

Fog Coral: Players should equip Fog Coral to use Fog skills. Energy needs to be recharged in the Fog Region.

C. How to equip these Corals?
Voyagers need to equip these Corals to use related skills.

Wind Coral can be equipped in the Badge Bar.

Strike Coral can be equipped in the Left Hand.

Thunder Coral can be equipped in the Left Trinket.

Fog Coral can be equipped in the Right Trinket.

Note: Players can equip these Corals by double clicking or dragging them to the relative location.

D. Consumption:
Some skills consume energy stored in the Corals when they are used. Different skills consume different amounts of energy. Higher level skills consume more energy. After energy is used up, players can recharge it in the related region and then reuse the skills.

E. Recharge:
Players can recharge the energy a Corals needs in the related region. To do this:

a. Equip the Coral and going to the appointed region.

b. Make sure the region is the correct one for recharging that particular Coral.

c. Begin to restore energy.

d. Appointed energy is recharged second-by-second.

e. During the recharge, the Coral needs to be equipped.
 
f. Energy cannot continue to recharge if your ship moves away from the region.

g. The location of the recharge region will occasionally change.

h. Each recharge region has its own feature so that players can find the correct region easily.

 
F. Representation:
Players can find out how much Coral Energy remains in the left-hand bar of the Coral. Energy levels will change after a skill is used.

 
G. Level:
Different Corals contain different energy. Higher level ones can provide more energy. Players can collect these high level corals in high level regions.
For more information, please visit the official site: http://top.igg.com.

Wonderland Online: Strong Scroll Preview

The Wonderland Online team (http://wl.igg.com/ ) is unveiling the mysteries of Strong Scrolls and guiding you through enhancements to make your weapons and armor more powerful.

A Strong Scroll can only purchased from the Mall. Weapons and Armor from the Mall can’t be improved by setting Diamonds or Bomb Diamonds in them, or by compounding. The only way to increase their attributes is through enhancement using a Strong Scroll. The level you wish to enhance the item to will determine how many Strong Scrolls you need.

a)   +1 = One Strong Scroll
b)   +2 = Two Strong Scrolls
c)   +3 = Three Strong Scrolls
d)   +4 = Four Strong Scrolls

Therefore, if a weapon is enhanced to +4, you will need 10 Strong Scrolls (1+2+3+4=10) If armor is enhanced to +3, you will need 6 Strong Scrolls (1+2+3=6).
 

These are some examples of the attribute increases for weapons and armor after enhancement:
Weapon:
Sky Sword +4 = atk+18, spd+18, 34% chance of critical strike
Attack Pestle +4 = atk+40, consume enemy’s 95% sp
Crescent Bow+4 = atk+18, spd+18, 34% chance of critical strike
 

Armor:
Energy Halo+3 = maxhp+140, maxsp+140 
Gold Ears+3 = spd+40
Stand Ears+3 = def+40
Dark Evil Wings+3 = atk+24, matk+24

For more detailed info visit the official website: http://wl.igg.com/news/newscontent.php?aid=552