All Posts by Lepidus

San Jose, CA October 27h, 2006 – Shot-Online announced today the finalists who qualified for the 2nd United Cup Finals (10/27/06 thru 10/10/29/06). The list (10 members from each team and 5 alternatives) is below:

The finalists who would like to participate in the 2nd United Cup Finals need to send a DQA with the following information:

• Subject line should read: “2nd United Cup (either US or EU)
• Country of residency
• MSN Messenger email (for instant support during Finals)

Prizes:

• All finalists will receive a 2nd United Cup Cap with +1 Stamina and +1 Skill
• The winning team leader will receive $450 (USD)
• The winning team leader will have his/her name engraved on a statue in the Square (in-game)
• The winning team members will receive $150 (USD) each
• The winning team will be listed on the SO Master of the Month page (Shot-Online homepage)

About Shot-Online

Shot-Online, developed by OnNet Co., Ltd., is a hybrid massively multiplayer online game. This golf simulation game incorporates elements of traditional role-playing and is enhanced by proprietary physics software. This software allows for real-world golf ball behavior based on environmental factors. Detailed 3-D graphics and realistic animation enhance the user-experience as players help their characters grow in skill and capability. Team and solo competitions allow players a chance to win game currency with which users can purchase skill-enhancing items.

About OnNet USA

OnNet USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of OnNet Co, Ltd., was founded in November 2005, and is the Shot-Online International Service Provider. For more information about OnNet USA Inc. please visit http://www.onnetusa.com.

Magnus Bergsson: The new voice integration is more than simply a replacement for other third party voice clients like TeamSpeak or Ventrillo. It is directly integrated into the chat channels and more importantly the new gang features. It will offer functionality users simply don't have with other voice software and will offer gangs a strategic advantage in combat, and especially larger gangs. In addition the voice quality is leaps and bounds better than what users are used to.

The voice support will not create any lag for two reasons. First, the voice traffic will go out on different pipes than those used by the EVE cluster and will run on dedicated servers at Vivox headquarters. Second, lag that sometimes occurs in large fleet battles is caused by tremendous pressure on the server CPU running the system that battle is enganged on, and has nothing to do with internet bandwidth. So the net effect is that the voice support will not have any effect on EVE Online.

There are still discussions about how we will charge for the voice client. We are fully aware of the comments our users have made and are doing everything we can to bring this to them for as little as possible. The voice support is not a profit center in any form; we simply think it is a very cool feature but understandably there are operational costs that we need to cover.

Tuesday, October 31st marks the one year anniversary of City of Villains. Launched on Halloween of 2005, City of Villains finally answered one of the players’ top requests - to be the bad guy. To commemorate this first annual milestone, we conducted our own Q&A with Cryptic Lead Designer Matt Miller (Positron).

Q: What are some of the most valuable things that you have learned over the first year of City of Villains?

A: I learned to listen more to the users. We have lot of very passionate players in the game, and their insight and feedback can be really valuable as the design progresses. There are a lot of good ideas out there that help us prioritize our feature lists and at times will lead us in new directions that we might not have thoroughly considered. There are a lot of different desires the players have for the game, and it’s great to be able to deliver for them.

Q: When comparing to City of Villains with City of Heroes, what are some of the aspects of each game that you prefer over the other and why?

A: This is like asking me to pick which one of my children is my favorite, isn’t it? City of Heroes has the unmatched aspect of playing a Hero. Doing good and right, and saving the day. It’s something that just can’t be offered on the Villain side. But City of Villains has a more “proactive” feeling to it. You have a sense that you are going out and causing trouble, instead of reacting to it like heroes do.

Q: How do you plan to further integrate City of Heroes with City of Villains (co-op play, social areas like Pocket D, etc.)?

A: We have plans for a co-operative zone where both sides band together under a common flag to combat a mutual threat. While Villains and Heroes obviously do not get along with each other, there are times when the enemy of my enemy becomes a friend, no matter who they are.

It seems like designers are so focused on creating the game content, making it playable, and wowing us with their features that customer support not only takes a backseat, but was left at the last rest stop. They fill their staff with qualified artists, writers and coders and whoever can't do anything else gets stuck listening to us cry about how some guy is using speed hax. Like the lead singers in a band they are the ones the audience sees the most, but are usually the least skilled. The paying customers get the really short end when they have to wait days for a legitimate petition to get answered.

Here’s a quick rundown on some of what’s in store...

• New instance – The Tower
  In the no-man’s land of Ground Zero, a little-known Justice base has recently become a target for all three races. Dominated by a powerful overlord known as The Tower, only the most experienced road warriors should even attempt to take him on. Four players at level 80 might stand a chance…are you up to it?
• New Instance – Scav Uprising
  This Human-only mission is designed for players at or around level 18. The Scavs are causing trouble again and it’s up to you and your convoy to take them down. This instance must be attempted by a convoy since puzzles are involved that require more than one player to complete
• New Instance – La Leche Madre
  Again, for players around level 18, but this time for our green-skinned brothers and sisters – the Mutants. Travel back to the ruins of a long-abandoned temple and discover what lies in wait in this convoy-only instance
• New Instance – Malachite Detention Center
  The Biomek race is known for dispensing instant and merciless justice and here, they need to bring rioting Pike prisoners under the weight of their iron fist. Designed for players at or around level 18, this convoy-only instance will prove to be a challenge – but you’re a Biomek and you know no fear…right?
• 2 New Loot Sets
  Full sets of loot to modify your chassis – you’ll look good and kick some major buttock with the bonuses you’ll receive.
  Set 1: The Warmonger Set – Collect Outpost Tokens and buy set pieces from your friendly INC supplier
  Set 2: The Tower Set – Take on The Tower in his Ground Zero lair. Make the run multiple times to collect the full set!
• Ground Zero Token System
  In this change to game play, Ground Zero tokens will no-longer be given out for capturing an Outpost. Instead, you’ll receive tokens for PvP kills. Furthermore, your chance to receive a token is based on population. For example, if Humans are heavily outnumbered, they have a greater chance than their Mutant and Biomek opponents to receive a token.

A: Team Quitter is composed of nine members from varied backgrounds: we have three members from I Guild I [iGi], three from We Pwn Char [Char], one from Clan Kgyu [KGYU], one from Fallen Angels [fA], and we have one member who is currently involved purely with Heroes Ascent. We all knew each other from constantly competing against one another in regular GvG ladder matches. When all of our guilds disbanded at relatively similar times (though some have since reformed) it was easy to join together as friends with identical goals. Thus, the guild One Hitter Quitters [QQ] was born. After finishing third place in the first of several "fun seasons" One Hitter Quitters changed our name to Team Quitter, knowing we had formed a solid, highly competitive GvG team.

For an in-depth look at what's going on behind the scenes here at PotBS central, give this link a click!

Let us know what you think, and as always...

Enjoy, won't you?
Aether
Community Envoy

- The restrictive magic placed on the Halloween costume potions has weakened with the coming of Halloween. The potions can now be used anywhere until Halloween passes on November 1, sometime in the afternoon.

Just a side note - these potions are meant to provide a bit of fun, but I'm asked to warn you that some combat animations may not look quite right when you're in 'costume.'

A: The fact that the window didn’t just close automatically was, technically, a bug. However, it was a bug we put at the absolute rock bottom of the priority list, because we thought it didn’t hurt anyone and a lot of players found it convenient.

In fact, it would still be a bug, or what I like to call a featurebug if it weren’t for the fact that there was a potentially dreadful exploit related to the way the window used to work. I’m very sorry, but it had to be fixed, and fixed fast.

So if you haven’t got into RF Online yet don't miss this amazing opportunity; head on over to GameStop here!

Please go to http://www.dolarmaker.com/my to participate in this Lucky Draw!

Deep inside the eastern swamps lives Serf, his brothers were cursed by the evil Apozen, can you safe them? Also a maze master has appeared in the imperial castle, if you can solve his maze he will reward you.