PAX Dungeon Runners Update

Dungeon Runners is a Casual Free to Play game from NCSoft. An easy to get into, quick to play, hack and slash game with some of the funniest crude humor around in an MMOG. A light hearted spoof of the MMOG genre with snarky names, funny dialogue and information. Weapons for example have speeds that range from grandma and slothful to ludicrous and freakin' fast. Quests send you to rescue some guy in a dungeon but you find out that the quest giver is trying to kidnap the guy and hold him for ransom. NPCs thank you sarcastically for busting up their treasure chests or call after you when you buy something that you’ve helped send their kid to school. It’s closer to playing Diablo online than to WoW. It is 15 minutes of fun with a bunch of guild mates while waiting for the server to come up on patch day.

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Recently, NCSoft released a game box. Why? In order to get the game out to a wider gaming audience. The box is available at Big Box retailers such as Walmart as well as your usual game stores. I spoke to Online Content Editor, Alan Dunkin at PAX who was happy to tell me more about the box and the next update to come, Chunk #4.

Dungeon Runners’ free to play model makes use of Online Ads. The monthly subscription is $5 a month and that gets rid of them, if you‘re so inclined. The Game Box sells for $20 and gives you a 6-month paid subscription, or basically, two months free. The added value of the box, which has many current players buying it, is the Bling Gnome. An ugly little fellah with an attitude by name of Pope Sweet Geebus who follows you around like a pet dog, eats up the junk (items of under Purple and Rainbow colored levels) you leave lying around on the ground and poops out gold, together with associated animation and gold “sparklies.” Once in a while, he will poop out a better version of the item he ingests, so the “Amazing Cardboard Dip Stick of Parasitical Wonder” could become the “Super Amazing Cardboard Dip Stick of Total Pwnage” or something like that... yes, I made up those names, but it’s close to what weapons and armor are named in this game. Honest! Still, isn’t it amazing what Pope Sweet Geebus’ digestive system can do?

We ran around in game for a bit and it looks like every character has a Bling Gnome. This is not unexpected, as characters don’t have very much in the way of inventory space. Inventory consists of a grid of 10 x 8 squares not unlike that which you see in Diablo, and fills up quickly with your potions, town portal scrolls and every piece of armor and equipment usually takes up more than two squares.

In Chunk #4, expected in two weeks, new content entering the game is based on wrestling. Yes, wrestling. There will be new wrestling themed dungeons. From low level backyard brawl types where you’ll find maybe a few tables and barrels, to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) level wrestling dungeons with professional-looking raised platform rings. Alan wasn’t giving out any spoilers, but tells me that there will be human looking type wrestlers that just might resemble some recognizable wresters in the WWE. Loot will of course be wrestling themed as well. Smelly Sweat Stained Towel of Hulking Doom? I inquired. “Maybe!” was the laughing response.

A feature that may or may not make it into Chunk #4, depending on whether NCSoft completes it in time, are the guild or in Dungeon Runners parlance, Posse tools. Players have been asking and waiting for this feature for some time. As much as there is a forum community in Dungeon Runners, players do not yet have the ability to form Posses in game. One of the features that will be implemented once Posses are in game will be the ability to have Posse battles in the PvP arena.

Pocket MMOG, pocket update. Dungeon Runners is not an overly complex MMOG. Just a fun casual one that’s actually free to download and play.