Rappelz

For better or worse, free-to-play games are often seen as having a rather disposable lifespan, with the expectation that they'll be here today and gone tomorrow. And that's certainly true in some cases, but in the case of Rappelz, it's entirely wrong. Not only is the game still running strong, but it's been running for five years, quite a milestone for any game. Fans of the game are likely unsurprised that the game is celebrating in a big way, and that celebration starts today with a video contest and a 55% boost to experience.

The experience boost will last until October 5th and is just the tip of the iceberg for a series of events that lead up to the game's true anniversary of November 2nd. Players can also take part in a video contest to show off their in-game pets, with the winners receiving gaming headsets and one grand prize winner getting a free bundle of cash in the game's shop. Rappelz players are going to have a couple of months to enjoy all of the celebrations, so if you've been itching to log back in of late, now is the time.

While March's earthquake and tsunami in Japan is no longer in the headlines, relief and recovery efforts go on -- and will continue for some time to come. Gamers have been generous in answering the call to help by their favorite MMOs, and today we've received word that gPotato players have donated €22,151 to help with the Red Cross' relief efforts.

This hefty sum was raised through the sale of special in-game items created in response to the disaster. These items appeared in Rappelz, Flyff, Castle of Heroes and Terra Militaris. Players who purchased one of these items between March 25th and April 30th saw their money go entirely to the Red Cross. This was a part of a global effort by Gala Networks that ultimately raised over €50,000.

Gala Networks Europe CEO Hyun Hur has a few words for those who participated: "We're hugely proud of the amount our players have raised for the Irish Red Cross and that our community is so kind-hearted."

The earthquake that hit Japan on March 11th may no longer be at the forefront of gamers' minds, but the country is still reeling from the impact. NCsoft and CCP Games have both announced efforts to help aid the Japanese people with charitable donations, and it looks like gPotato has decided to encourage players to donate as well. The company has added new merchandise into the microtransaction stores for several games that, items that will grant players a unique look as well as donating all profits to the Red Cross.

Rappelz, Flyff, and Luna Plus are all offering capes for players, while Tales Runner offers a shirt and Iris Online offers a kitten hat. (Sadly, the cat in question is not Maru.) One hundred percent of profits will be donated to the Red Cross to aid in relief efforts, and the items cannot be purchased with "free" currency. The items will be available until March 31st, so if you play the games and haven't yet donated, now would be the time.

There aren't as many new MMOs coming out this year, but there are still plenty of games to compete for your attention over the summer months. The team at Rappelz wants their game to be your choice for the summer, and they've devised a straightforward way to encourage it: an event you enter via logging in. No random prizes, no ornate entries, nothing but the simple procedure of logging into the game's servers for prizes. And it makes sense that it would be called "Login to Win" as a result.

Running from July 7th to August 14th, the event will automatically award prizes to each character after you log in for at least an hour a week. If you log in for at least an hour for a certain number of days, you also get additional prizes, and characters who log in for a grand total of 35 hours during the promotion are eligible for a drawing from several nifty presents. It's a great way for Rappelz players to get a little added incentive -- after all, if you were planning on logging in anyway, logging in to win seems straightforward.

gPotato's free-to-play MMO Rappelz is getting a new expansion. Resurrection launches February 24th, bringing with it an old familiar face, new pets, and more.

Players will be familiar with the character at the center of this newest storyline. The Witch is the central villain in the main storyline of Rappelz, and Resurrection explores her beginnings as a young girl with mysterious powers.

Players will journey to discover the truth behind the Witch, but they won't be doing it alone. This expansion also introduces three new pets to tame: the Unicorn, Nightmare, and Ifrit. Each pet provides specific benefits to its owner: the Unicorn offers a variety of buffs, the Nightmare is a heavily armored creature that can often absorb damage targeted at its master, and the Ifrit is a magical creature that heals its owner as well as dealing damage to enemies.

These aren't the only updates that Resurrection will bring to Rappelz. Check out the new Resurrection page at the Rappelz site for changes coming to character creation, PvP, quests, and more.

The gPotato games portal, hosted by Gala Networks Europe in Dublin, Ireland, will be on hand in force for the upcoming GamesCom convention in Cologne where they will announce and unveil a new MMO project for the portal.

The new project, which will be demoed at the convention, comes with a tentative release date of early 2010. The genre or nature of the new project has not been released either, so it's anybody's guess as to what the new title will be.

gPotato currently hosts some of the more popular free-to-play MMOs, including Dragonica, Rappelz, Flyff, and Allods Online. Those four games will be on hand at the convention as well for demonstration, so it's sure to be a game filled good time over at the gPotato booth!

Every year on the 26th of June, the world recognizes the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, a campaign begun by the United Nations and first held in 1988. The publishers of the Arabic version of Rappelz, Game Power 7, have issued a press release signifying their involvement in this year's campaign; there will be a one-week "education and awareness" event held in-game that mirrors the UN's sentiments for the day itself.

As displayed in the picture above, the international campaign slogans "Do drugs control your life?" and "Your life. Your community. No place for drugs" will be featured in Rappelz for the event. Virtual gifts will also be given away, presumably educational in some form. Game Power 7 stated that using their virtual world to promote good values in the community is part of the company's strategy, so future events of this kind might find their way into the game.

To find out more about the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the best place to start is the UN's official page, which also features links to some nation-specific pages.

When we last talked about Rappelz, the game's developers were working on an enormous localization overhaul for the Arabic market. This new version was successfully launched last month, and with that milestone under their belts, it seems that the development team has had time to work on some new content. Gala Networks Europe has issued a press release heralding a "major content update" for the French and German versions of Rappelz to be available in May.

The update is called Navis Lamia, and will feature a new dungeon of the same name. Expect Scooby-Doo-esque antics as you explore a cursed missionary ship and contend with its zombie crew. One of the other major updates in the patch will be a revamping of the existing Trainee Island -- updating newbie areas is an ever-popular idea among MMO developers, and usually yields positive results. At this point, we're not sure whether the Navis Lamia patch will be exclusive to the French and German Rappelz for a period of time. The English website has made no mention of it as yet, so we might just have to sit tight for further information.

The issue of localization is a thorny one when it comes to MMOs, because often content, looks, and story are so intertwined. While some developers swear by the concept of creating content aimed directly at the local culture, others make only minor (or no) changes to their games when moving into new areas. The South Korean free-to-play MMO Rappelz is making plans to move to the Middle-Eastern market, and developer Gala is working with the company Game Power 7 to make unprecidented localization modifications.

According to TechRadar, nearly every element of Rappelz is going to see changes. Background music, costumes worn by the avatars (especially the female avatars), and even the noises that the monsters make will all see changes. The company will also make an effort to remove non-Muslim holy symbols, such as crosses. The resulting game is slated for release in some 19 countries, including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Egpyt.

[Via Gamepolitics]

Warcry brings us the news that Rappelz, made by the fine folks at Gala Networks (who also made Flyff), has attracted over 50,000 active users in the less-than-one month since the game has debuted French and German versions. Two new servers have opened to accommodate the influx of new accounts: the French Kentauros, and the German Bastet, both named after in-game creatures.

To further celebrate the success of the launch, Gala has increased the experience gain to 1.5 until March 18th. Rappelz's gameplay features a system by which you may capture and tame creatures to fight alongside you in combat. Hmm. Do we also gotta catch 'em all? Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, I choose you!