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Over 20 minutes of ArcheAge gameplay on display in new vids

Jef Reahard — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, ArcheAge, Sandbox, Crafting

Looking to change the world? You can in ArcheAge according to a couple of new videos released this week for China's Tencent Games Festival 2012.

Both clips are in Chinese, but you can still get a good sense of the diverse gameplay on offer in XLGAMES' fantasy sandbox. The first video is an eight-minute affair that shows off everything from housing to farming to rearing cattle and sieging castles. The second clip was taken from a Tencent demo station and features nearly 15 minutes of random gameplay. See them both in their entirety after the break.

Continue reading Over 20 minutes of ArcheAge gameplay on display in new vids

Over 20 minutes of ArcheAge gameplay on display in new vids originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 26 Nov 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ArcheAge Chinese beta begins May 2013

MJ Guthrie — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Classes, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, ArcheAge, Sandbox

Yesterday, we brought you the new ArcheAge trailer that XLGAMES originally planned to debut at the Tencent Games Carnival 2012; lucky for us, it released early. Today, we can see the entire live stage presentation the studio put on at the carnival. In addition to the trailer, attendees were treated to costumed actors representing four different classes and at least two different races plus live music and additional gameplay footage.

Next, XLGAMES devs took the stage, and using the names of registered fans in China for the countdown, they announced that the Chinese beta will begin in May 2013. Sadly, there are no subtitles for those of us not fluent in Chinese, but feel free to share if you can translate, and check out the full presentation after the break.

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ArcheAge Chinese beta begins May 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 Nov 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ArcheAge trailer offers a look at locales, mounts, and more

MJ Guthrie — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, New Titles, News Items, ArcheAge, Sandbox

While the big Thanksgiving meal may be over (except for the leftovers, of course!), ArcheAge fans get to feast their eyes on a new trailer filled with plenty of eye candy. From locales to mounts to combat, the video, which was created for Chinese publisher Tencent, depicts a variety of gameplay features. There are even clips of a storm on the high seas and what appears to be a wedding!

Want to see more of what this world has to offer? Fill up on the new ArcheAge visuals in the trailer after the cut.

Continue reading ArcheAge trailer offers a look at locales, mounts, and more

ArcheAge trailer offers a look at locales, mounts, and more originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Nov 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New ArcheAge China videos profile Hariharan race

Jef Reahard — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Races, ArcheAge, Sandbox

ArcheAge is preparing for a sixth closed beta phase in China, apparently because of challenges inherent in localizing the Korean sandbox for a foreign market. To gear up for the testing, publisher Tencent has put together a "racial week" highlighted by a trio of new gameplay trailers.

The first is a very brief intro clip, followed by two longer videos that offer extensive looks at the game's Hariharan (i.e., human) race and its native territory. All three videos are viewable after the cut.

[Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]

Continue reading New ArcheAge China videos profile Hariharan race

New ArcheAge China videos profile Hariharan race originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dungeon Fighter Online counts over 3 million concurrent Chinese users

Eliot Lefebvre — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Dungeon Fighter Online

Concurrency is a big deal for most MMOs. Total numbers of accounts and subscribers might tell you how many people play the game, but concurrency tells you how many people actually play the game on a regular basis. So when Dungeon Fighter Online breaks its previous concurrency record in China, that's good news for the game and the development team. After setting an earlier record with 2.6 million users, the game peaked at just over 3 million concurrent users in June.

Neople, the developer of Dungeon Fighter Online and a subsidiary of Nexon, has been working with Tencent Games to help adapt the game for the Chinese audience, as China has a long list of rules about what is and is not acceptable in a game. If you want to see what all the fuss is about, you can play the game now on your PC or an XBox 360, depending on your preferred platform.

Dungeon Fighter Online counts over 3 million concurrent Chinese users originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blade & Soul nearing commercial release, adding Summoner class

Jef Reahard — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Classes, Game Mechanics, Interviews, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, Blade & Soul

NCsoft is loath to talk about its Blade & Soul martial arts MMORPG here in the West, so we have to rely on third-party fansites and Chinese/Korean translations for most of our info. The latest such comes courtesy of MMO Culture, and it features an interview from a recent Tencent Games media event with a couple of newsworthy notables.

First up is the fact that upcoming Korean and Chinese Blade & Soul beta phases will feature the new Summoner class. Not much is known in terms of class specifics yet, but the site says that it boasts an "easier" and "more relaxed" playstyle than other classes.

The interview also touches on Blade & Soul's business model and its impending release. Despite the fact that NCsoft titles like Aion and Lineage II have recently committed to free-to-play in North America, the firm isn't talking about any particular Blade & Soul payment model just yet. Finally, MMO Culture reports that Blade & Soul "is currently near the end of the development phase for commercial release," and given the lack of info on a Western client, we expect said release to be exclusive to the Chinese and Korean markets for now.

Blade & Soul nearing commercial release, adding Summoner class originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tencent grows its empire with SURA Online

Jef Reahard — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Business Models, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play

If you haven't heard of SURA Online yet, well, consider yourself enlightened. The online action title is renowned for its fast-attack combat system inspired by martial arts cinema, and ThisIsGame reports that SURA has been picked up for worldwide distribution by Chinese mega-publisher Tencent.

SURA boasts three races and six classes, and TIG compares its fighting mechanics to the Tekken series (you can see an official gameplay trailer after the cut, below).

Tencent is a major player in the global MMO market; much of its revenue stems from the sale of virtual goods via its Q Coin currency. Interestingly enough, the company also acquired the ZAM Network in February.

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Tencent grows its empire with SURA Online originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New ArcheAge videos show off PvP, dancing gameplay

Jef Reahard — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, ArcheAge, Sandbox

A couple of ArcheAge tidbits surfaced during the recent Tencent Games Carnival. XLGAMES' sandpark MMO was on display since it is gearing up for both its fourth Korean beta phase and a 2012 beta in Tencent's native China.

Two noteworthy videos came out of the conference, and their radically different nature points to the breadth of gameplay on display in ArcheAge. First up is an over-the-shoulder clip featuring some five vs. five PvP gameplay. The action takes place on an instanced map known as the Siege Warfare Training Camp, and MMO Culture points out a couple of lingering bugs relating to character movement (as well as some interesting weapon combinations).

The second video comes directly from XLGAMES, and it shifts gears in favor of ArcheAge's social features. While many MMOs feature dance animations, thus far the only title to take a serious stab at dance gameplay has been Star Wars Galaxies. ArcheAge looks to continue that tradition by allowing players to choreograph dances and coordinate with other dancers, though we are scratching our heads a little bit due to the jarring mixture of high fantasy and pop music. You'll find both videos viewable after the cut.

Continue reading New ArcheAge videos show off PvP, dancing gameplay

New ArcheAge videos show off PvP, dancing gameplay originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New ArcheAge trailer released, Jake Song talks player content [Updated]

Jef Reahard — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, ArcheAge

If you're as starved for news about ArcheAge as we are, the new video accompanying XL Games' announcement of ArcheAge China is akin to a desert oasis. The clip features a good amount of new in-game footage as well a bit of narration from lead designer Jake Song.

What's the occasion? It seems that XL has partnered with Tencent Games to bring the sprawling fantasy sandbox MMO to the Chinese market, and the new trailer was created to show the game at Tencent's recent annual press conference. If you're an English-speaker, Song's comments (which appear in the video from approximately 1:30 to 2:20) have been translated at MMO Culture, and they illustrate how ArcheAge is being positioned as a third-generation MMORPG that refines the best of all that has come before.

"The third generation online games use the previous two generations as the basics, further improving content and visuals. More importantly, players themselves can now create content and playing styles themselves, permanently reshaping the in-game world. When players log into the same place after some time, the place might look totally different," Song says. ~~Click past the cut to watch the video and also note that the video repeats itself around the 7-minute mark. We'll post a higher quality embed as soon as one becomes available.~~

[Update: We've embedded a subtitled 720p version of the video behind the cut. Thanks to ArcheAge-Online.com for sharing the upload!]

Continue reading New ArcheAge trailer released, Jake Song talks player content [Updated]

New ArcheAge trailer released, Jake Song talks player content [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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