PVP:Yes | Distribution:Download | Retail Price:Free | Pay Type:Free | Monthly Fee:Free
Desktop Client | System Req:
Runes of Magic Previews: A Quick Look At Chapter Two
Recently, MMORPG.com's Jon Wood got a quick look at the upcoming Chapter Two update to Frogster's Runes of Magic.
By Jon Wood on August 26, 2009
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with the developers of Runes of Magic to take a look at some of the changes and additions coming to the game in with their Chapter Two update, due to launch on September 15th.
Up until now, Runes of Magic players have been restricted to human characters. Well, no longer will players be forced into the forms of foul-smelling, lumbering Men. Instead, they will be given the choice to play as an elegant and regal elf.
Fantasy racial stereotypes aside, the developers have worked hard to present not only their new race, but a story and area to match.
Environmentally speaking, the developers have done a great job of creating a new area that fits exactly the expectation for players of the elves. In other words, they're quite Tolkien-esque. The Elven town is built in the trees, with beautiful, naturalistic surroundings. Buildings are joined together via a series of bridges. It should be noted as well that the design of a new starter town has also changed the way that the game's tutorial runs. Previously, players were taken to a whole separate area to learn how to play the game. Now, the tutorial will be more integrated into the early game's quests.
;)
The elves are not alone out in the wilderness. The elves, it turns out, have an ancient enemy that will follow them into Chapter 2: The Naga. An evil race by nature, the Naga were previously imprisoned by Humans and Elves behind a great wall that has now been breached. Hence, Chapter Two's conflict.
So what else does this upcoming update bring to the table?
Classes
Chapter Two will raise the game's level cap from 50 to 55 and will also introduce two new classes, The Warden and The Druid.
The Druid class replaces the Priest class on the Human side of things, while the Warden Is actually a unique pet class with each of its possible pets having different abilities.
New Zone
It will also bring in a new zone, known as The Savage Lands. During the tour, the developers told me that they tried very hard to bring a truly unique look to each of the game's different zones and The Savage Lands are no different, taking on the look of a vast rainforest. I have to admit to being greatly impressed by the overall look of the game. In my opinion it stands heads and shoulders above much of its F2P competition in that area.
New Public Encounter
A new public encounter will make an appearance on Sept 15th as well. Approximately 150 players will be able to jump into the encounter's first stage where they will be forced to work to close red-glowing portals that spawn monsters. Once that task is accomplished, they will move on to stage two which is a boss that will be able to take different forms. Beware, each form is resistant to a different kind of damage. The third part of the encounter will mark the first on-screen appearance of the Demon Lord, and NPC that was referred to in Chapter One, but never before seen.
;)
PvP
Chapter Two will also introduce a new PvP game to the mix. It's a "king of the hill" style game where teams of players compete for control points. The team with the most control points, wins.
Dungeons
A couple of new dungeons will be added with Chapter Two, the first is a group dungeon known as The Origin, which will focus on bringing some of the history of the elves to light. The second is a twelve man raid dungeon.
Other
- Chapter Two will introduce new music into the game
- Chapter Two will also mark the first instance created by the game's developers to be held out in the open sky.
Okay, I'm interested. Thanks for this.
Also, instances in the sky? Really? That has me curious all on its own.
the game is still acne on a stick!
omg this is why i love this game it so friggin aweomez!
I think that out in the open sky, was meant to mean it's not in some underground dungeon, but on land in open air.
Looks good so far, hopefully there are some good raids put in.
Nobody seems to be mentioning the fact that there have been some updates to the graphic engine as well - shadows!
Ok where to start.
First of all,yes new update is nice,gives the game a needed boost.It seems as usual alot of players race to level 50 then quit playing.
I am not sure a 5 level raise in cap will do a lot ,but i guess,it will give something to the 50's who don't want to play a new elf.I am not sure if it is also to give a slight raise in stats or a new spell or two to strengthen players or it is just to offset perhaps a VERY hard Demon Lord Boss.I am sure he will be a WORLD boss status.
What i have also got to feel is what so many complained about in FFXI.However the problem here in this game is not so much the needed party as it is the needed over level tank to handle needed quests.I mean your doing a level 20 quest you should not need a level 30 tank to do the quest,nor should you need a raid party,i mean this Raid idea is too much of WOW for my liking.Players move in drones,they whip past levels so fast,because it is IMO too easy to level,that you often times find nobody to party with when needed.That is because of the WIDE spectrum of game play it goes from extreme easy to extreme hard,no in between game play.So if say you can't find any players to do the quest,and that is the ONLY content in this game ,so you NEED to do quests,normally you level up 5 or so levels then solo it or maybe 2-3 players do it.Not the case,heck you be lucky to solo some quests if 20 levels over.So instead of getting to play the game,you put those on the back burner and continue to look for easy quests,because you can have SUPER long waits for that needed group.
In other words a simple 5/6 man party should suffice with a level 19/20 tank for that level 20 quest.Sometimes is ok but sometimes is ridiculous.This is only my opinion but,i don't think a level 50 should EVER struggle to take down a level 20 boss.I can buy the ridiculous 300k hit points,but no way in hell that level 20 crowned boss should be able to inflict any damage through level 50 gear,cloth no matter.
Other little knit picking things like having a level 50/50 World boss spawn in a level 10-20 zone is ummm.let me say ,what was their thought process behind this?
Honestly,again just my opinion,i really would like to see them completely over haul the Elite system and the sub class system.What is basically happening is that they introduced it just to add the FFXI unique flavor ,but they did not put enough effort into it,so they made restrictions.Restrictions like only allowing a few spells to be used from your secondary.In most cases they are over ridden by better main class spells,making the whole sub class thing kind of weak.
Why this worries me is because they did not want anything too powerful so they also made a VERY weak ELITE skills system.The more content they add to this game like the new Warden and Druid,the less likely they are to revamp problem areas of the game,the work load starts to add up.Like how would they revamp the Elite system at this point in time?Make all the players redo everything?so it it now becomes a mainstay of the game and not one that is too good.
This game is pretty good ,with a lot of potential areas for improvement,but i think changes are not going to happen,so you got a WOWesque game[quest for xp]pretty easy leveling really.So you got this EXTREMELY easy game play,then you got the exact opposite end of the spectrum EXTREMELY hard content that is pretty much Raid only or VERY high level only,nothing in between.
The other REAL problem is the Item mall factor.Sure there are some areas of the game that allow free,but in reality,the item mall is pushed so hard,it does not allow a realistic approach to the free part.Example using the in game bought with GOLD,upgrade stones,the succeed factor is ridiculously low,almost useless.However buy from the item mall and you get a sizable advantage.Everyone in gaming pretty much agrees that ITEM MALL use,should be relegated to quirks that don't ruin game play,but in ROM it not only ruins it but is a MAJOR factor,nothing subtle about item mall use in this game.We all understand they need to make money ,but in ROM it is pay money=win.
One other area of concern,is what i have said all along PVP and PVE cannot coincide.The reason is because this game and pretty much every other game,influence the skills and abilities based on PVP.This means the PVE part of the game takes a hit and often times ,there is skills or abilities that a PVE player would not even use,so why bother.
Long POST,but you know this game has a lot of touchy areas.It could use a lot of work to touch it up nicely,it actually has the potential to be a great game,but for now it is a sort of fun wow clone,with limited game play.I think 99% will agree to the feeling i get from this game.If you keep it totally free,then it feels like it was worth it after playing to 50.If you spend real money it adds flavor and fun along the way,but at the end you will wish you never spent a dime.This is why the game needs a better approach to item mall use.
I guess this was your first F2P MMO?
What you mention here is exactly what F2P MMO's are about and why me and so many stay far far away from it.
In other words: Welcome to the world of so called F2P MMO's, where it's about the people with the biggest wallets.
And then ROM is even kinda light on the Item Mall. You should see some of the other F2P crap out there. That's a lot worse even.
Cheers
Ah yes, that makes more sense. Thank you. I do not know what I was thinking.
This is still quite interesting. I am taking from the lack of posts that maybe people do not care for it as it is F2P? I cannot blame them too much, because I have not enjoyed any F2P game I have played. Still, it is good to see this site posting information on all games, not just the big ones.
Some really good posts in this thread. Nice that they are adding things, but the game has some issues like Wizardry says they really should clean up. The f2p problem is very typical of all these games. The item mall is a necessity. True you can buy things from the item mall from other players, but that increases the grind immensely.
Adding new content will be a very short term help for this game, there is not enough content at higher levels to keep players interested.
The big problem for all these f2p games is lack of content. Once players discover that lack they tend to find another game. The only players that stay are the few that spend big at the item mall, as if they can't afford to quit, but they do eventually too.
Where did you get the stats? I'd have to agree with you that most mmo's these days rise and fall based on quality and what they are delivering to the players. RoM's biggest problem right now is they have a decent game, I'd even call it good for a F2P/micro transaction game, but they are not delivering on promises and it seems to be centered around what they call preventing exploits. I think it boils down to just wanting more purchases through the item shop.
I do have to hand it to frogster/runewaker, they are trying to fix things and improve the game. I've played other micro transaction games where they don't give a crap about the players, even the paying players. At least in RoM they try to resolve issues instead of just telling you to get lost.
I'm happy to see they are expanding the playable races and adding some new content. I think it's a step in the right direction but they have a long way to go before they have a hit game. They are still in the first months after release though, so anyone considering RoM, give it a try and you might be pleased by what you find.
Are mage/priests still the flavor of the month?
I gona try it
They are. I don't think they're overpowered anymore, but I think people still see them as being that way. I switched from my main (K/P) to level up my Scout since everyone was in tears over how underpowered Scouts were (supposedly) and I wanted to see it first hand. Funny things is, I'm 44 now and I have yet to find an M/P in my level range that can keep up with my DPS. Sure they have some big crits here and there but overall I'm not all that impressed with M/P's. Granted for AoE, they are the best... not because they're super-powerful, but rather because no other class has any decent AoE attacks.