Here’s the lowdown from China-based online games portal 17173:

According to The Eighth China Online Game Market Survey, most Chinese players rated MMORPG as their favorite game genre, no matter their ages. For players whose age fall between 19 and 25, the percentage is lower, at about 78.3 percent. They are more for online battle games.

As to the game genre most favored by players, MMORPG tops the list with 84.4 percent of votes. It’s estimated that MMORPGs will continue to dominate the market. It’s noticed that virtual reality games, which debuted on the list for the first time and won seven percent of votes. According to iResearch, this is in close relation to the fast development of webgames and the SNS community. With the combination of the two, virtual reality games will be more popular this year.

Of course, the trend isn’t limited to China. In this part of the continent and the world, MMORPGs like Perfect World, RF Online, Fly For Fun, RAN Online and Cabal also enjoy a strong following. Casual online games such as Dance Battle Audition, O2Jam and Crazy Kart are merely second fiddle, usually to break the monotony of playing MMORPGs for almost the entire day.

Image shows screenshot from Martial Heroes, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by CR-Space Inc.

Post from: MMOtaku

First off, I’d like to thank MMOtaku’s avid readers, those who visit the blog every day, those who come and go for a dose of MMORPG news, reviews and what-have-yous, and those who have dropped in just to take a gander at what we have to offer. Without your constant support, MMOtaku would have floundered a long time ago.

Second, I’d like the acknowledge the inputs and help of several key people in the life of MMOtaku. To Mike Leaño, former b5media Video Games Channel editor, for putting trust in my abilities to bring the blog to life; to PJ Punla, pioneer blogger and player of Granado Espada Southeast Asia, for showing me that love for video games extends beyond playing them; to Siege Malvar and Alcarcalimo, for keeping me on my toes, a constant reminder that MMOtaku does have readers who crave insights on MMOs available in the market today; and to Joyce, my wife, for being the rigid wall off of which I throw my ideas to see if they stick.

Third and last, I salute the growing online games industry in Asia for giving us topnotch games (yes, despite Mike Leaño’s opinion that MMOGs developed in Asia are, ehem, excrement. These games are getting better, and they’re grabbing the attention of MMOG players in different parts of the globe.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I give you the best of MMOtaku:

November 2008
Granado Espada SEA pioneer pooh-poohs IP e-Games’ ‘mishandling’ of game
Zhu Xian: I came, I saw, I … got disappointed
Endless fun with Perfect World character customization

October 2008
Beach Volleyball Online: The latest craze
Florensia: Kill-stealers and other dregs of society are moving in
RF Online to go offline in November

September 2008
E-Games clamps down on Cabal botters
Perfect World: Bots popping out of the woodwork
NBA Street Online: Soon, real soon
Requiem Bloodymare: New race, yes, but what’s there to like?

August 2008
MMO Etiquette: Stop poking me!
Granado Espada fails to please Chinese market

July 2008
9you crushes Audition shutdown rumor
China’s online games market: 147 million players!
Dragon Nest: The King of MMORPGs

June 2008
Perfect World inks deal with IP e-Games
Requiem Bloodymare launched
Perfect World: Jump hack? Stop crying wolf

May 2008
MMO Etiquette: Pay it forward
Fly For Fun Penya Hack!
Khan Online Philippines bows out

April 2008
Philippines to host Ragnarok World Championships
In this part of the world, MMORPGs and cosplay go hand in hand
Pandora Saga to grace Philippine shores

March 2008
Fantasy Westward Journey online posts 166 million concurrent users
They’re cute and cuddly, and they’re coming to your PC
Not so supa anymore

February 2008
RF Online Crimson Dawn is now online
Blog post on Perfect World clan too hot to handle?
Third job classes coming to Ragnarok Online
Blog post on Perfect World clan’s struggle stirs hornets’ nest

January 2008
GigaMedia bags license to operate Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
Reign of Revolution: No rules, just power
Counter-Strike Online to give other online shooters a run for their money
Top Ten Thursdays: Best MMORPGs in the Philippines

December 2007
China’s Perfect World claims strong presence in Asian MMORPG capital Korea
What’s in a(n MMOPRPG) name?
The Vista Trap: How to make your Asian MMOs work on Microsoft’s latest baby
FlyFF Philippines launches Volcane Legends
MMO war: Korea versus China

November 2007
Craving for a slice of Zhu Xian
Asian MMO, meet world

Screenshot taken by Joel from the online game Perfect World, developed by Beijing-based Perfect World Co. Ltd. and published in the Philippines by Level Up! Games.

Post from: MMOtaku

Here’s an excerpt from the comment of player pintados26 (note: I took the liberty of translating it from my mother tongue into English):

Why do my characters always get blocked when I’ve already paid for the bot I’m using in Cabal Online? To think that I also topped up for premium service. If bots are illegal, then why do you sell them?

Hahaha! What did I tell you? Hilarious, right? Sorry, pintados26, but I just had to get it off of my chest.

Okay, let’s sort out your complaint, shall we? First, MMOtaku and its publisher, b5media, are in no way connected to IP E-Games, operator of Cabal Online Philippines. So posting your complaint here will probably get you nowhere.

Second, we haven’t heard of an online game that espouses the use of bots and other third party programs. It’s just not possible. They’d lose a lot of revenue by doing that since non-botters, those who spend more than what you botters ever spend in an MMORPG lifetime, would get turned off by the proliferation of hacks.

Third, the site you bought your precious bot from, presumably CabalRider, or a very enterprising but devious player, is, I’m sure, also not connected to IP E-Games. The online games operator would probably shut it down in an instant, if ever it figures out how to do it. So it’s also safe to say that IP E-Games does not sell bots, especially those that may cause their products irreversible harm.

Fourth and last, if you only take the time to visit the Cabal Online Philippines website, you’ll learn that:

CABAL releases a New BOT/HACK Policy!

In our pursuit to make Cabal truly bot-free, we are implementing a new policy against the use of bots and third party programs. This is to ensure that Cabal remains a vibrant and dynamic virtual world with real people playing the game. This program is for players who have their accounts frozen due to violations of the Cabal anti-bot/hack policies.

E-Games does not intend to legalize the use of bots. Despite our best efforts to educate players why botting is illegal, people will still find ways to create and use these programs for Cabal.

Go check out the list of violations and their corresponding penalties here.

As for you, pintados26, there’s only one thing I can say, “That’ll learn ‘ya.”

Post from: MMOtaku

Here’s the lengthy official announcement from local publisher IP E-Games:

The war is upon Nevareth. As sworn members of your chosen Nation, it’s your duty to defend your territory against the opposing factions. However, before you enter the battle field, you must prepare your body and spirit. The War Server is not merciful to CABALists who have weak resolution. Know everything there is to know because knowledge will strengthen your spirit as you cross swords and exchange skills with your enemy. Practice your skills because your skill mastery will keep you alive when force arrows fall from the sky. Finally, know your history because this will keep the fire burning in your heart.

The Sage Tower Falls
As you already know, the Sage Tower is the center of administrative power that holds the whole kingdom together. However, after the disappearance of the three Sages—Sirius, Aldebaran, and Rigel—Capella and Procyon decided to create their own Nation that advocates their own ideologies. The Nevarethans were confused with the sudden fall of the Sage Tower and turned to the two sages for guidance. The people became divided. Soon, a war erupted … war that would last for generations, until one of them becomes the supreme wielder of power and bring of Glory to Nevareth.

Enemy Territory (War Server/Map)
To a hero, honor is more valuable than all the alz in Nevareth. That’s why it is important to know how you can earn more honor points aside from completing quests and conquering dungeons. Note that whenever you kill monsters or players in the War Server, you gain honor points. The amount of honor points earned this way varies.

If you are an undecided hero, meaning you haven’t chosen a Nation yet, you earn 1 honor for every monster that you kill.

If you have already chosen a Nation, the amount of honor points that you gain depends on the amount of players of the opposite Nation that are on the server or map. For example, if at that certain time there were more active players from the opposing Nation than your own, you will gain more honor points for every monster that you kill.

Also, please remember that whenever you kill a player of the opposing Nation on the war server/map, you will gain 50 honor points. The name of the players from the opposing Nation is displayed in red and is scrambled when they are in war maps.

Finally, if you kill a player without a Nation (orange name), you will gain the same amount of honor points as when you kill a normal monster.

The Nation Wars
You can only join the Nation Wars after you complete the Nation Quest, which you can take only upon reaching level 95. After you’ve chosen either Capella or Procyon, you can take part in the daily struggle for National dominance. Only the first 100 heroes from each Nation can enter Tierra Gloriosa, the War Server. The two Nations will battle over the outposts that are being controlled by massively powerful guardians. The Nation that takes control of the opposing Nation’s capitol will control the battlefield.

The war will go on day after day, however due to the agreement that Capella and Procyon entered with Sirius, the war can only last for one hour (1hr) per day. Entry to the Nation War costs 1,000,000 Alz, which will not be refunded regardless of whether you quit or get disconnected. The lobby is open for half an hour before the Nation War so that the members of each Nation will have time to plan their strategies, purchase items from the Grocer, leave items with the Agent of Port Services, and recover from their previous battles. While only 250 players can enter the lobbies, only 100 from each Nation can take part in the Nation War.

Post from: MMOtaku

If the figures of IP E-Games, local publisher of Cabal Online, are to be believed, the number of concurrent users of the game has already breached the 40,000 mark. Not bad for a new MMORPG. But can they sustain it? The answer from the mouths of diehard Cabal Online fanatics and officials of IP E-Games, of course, is a resounding yes.

Recently, Cabal Online has shifted from open beta testing to commercial, with the celebration to mark this passage drawing quite a number of players. Here’s an excerpt from the press release from IP E-Games on the commercial launch of Cabal Online:

Unmindful of the storm brewing that day, avid gamers of IP e-Games’ newest, action-adventure massively multiplayer online role-playing game Cabal Online trooped to the Glorietta Activity Center on June 21 to witness the game’s passage from open beta testing to commercial.

Over 2,000 gamers were in attendance, filling the entire venue to its seams. As early as 10 a.m., long queues of e-Gamers lined up at the registration areas.

From the stark, simplistic look, Glorietta’s Activity Center was transformed to resemble the likes of the game’s medieval-futuristic setting. Booths were decked in black and green over-alls, representing the main colors of the Osmium series as seen in the game.

The entire rotunda was bedecked with Cabal streamers, with the main stage dressed to resemble an in-game portal. Over 80 computers were made available for registration and freeplay purposes, while event partner booths thrilled the young crowd with fun-filled activities and other contests.

Neophyte gamers were given a brief walkthrough of the game features in a special viewing room.

Cabal guilds came as a force in the event, bringing their own streamers to announce their presence in the venue.

“Despite the stormy weather, the gamer attendance was quite astounding. We were even surprised that some guilds brought their own banners to promote their group,” said Jay Ramos, assistant product manager and community manager for Cabal Online.

The celebration of CABAL Online’s transition to commercial was rather timely, as IP e-Games announced that the game had exceeded the 40,000 concurrent users (CCUs) mark during open beta.

Like I said, not bad for a newly launched MMORPG. Here are some photographs taken during the launch:

Characters come alive at the grand commercial launch of Cabal Online, the newest, free-to-play, futuristic MMORPG from IP e-Games. Featuring the Warrior, Force Shielder, Wizard, Force Archer, Blader and Force Blader, these six characters wowed the crowd in a unique cosplay fashion show at the Glorietta Acitivity Center in Makati City, Philippines.

Over 2,000 gamers flocked to the launch of Cabal Online in the Philippines. Performances from local bands like Urbandub, Rivermaya and Team Vibe kept the audience entertained while gamers signed up for the recruitment and had their fill of freeplay activities and free game trial.

Post from: MMOtaku

So I played the “next best thing,” which was Cabal Online. Heck, almost everybody at the café was playing the darn game (aside from Warcraft III: Defense of the Ancients, that is), so I figured I’d play it, too. Unfortunately, I get bored easily with grinding games, more so with games that are, hmmm, limiting. The current incarnation of Cabal Online here in the Philippines has, what, three maps, excluding the special dungeons and other “invisible” or “off limits” maps. Put this side-by-side with its pros, which are the combo system and the hover bikes, you’ll soon realize that doing combos isn’t all that great because it’s so damn hard to continue the combo from monster to monster and that hover bikes or any type of mounts in very small maps feels rather awkward, if not dumb.

I ended up surfing the ‘net instead. No hassles. My only complaint is that a lot of Internet cafés in this country still rely heavily on Internet Explorer for their clients’ surfing needs. Ewwwww. Sorry, Bill, that particular product really needs a drastic overhaul.

Six hours later, I find myself PhP 120 (roughly USD 3) poorer as I left Phoenix for the trip home. Ahhh, nothing beats playing MMORPGs at home.

Post from: MMOtaku

Everywhere I went on my second day in Metro Manila, I saw Cabal Online plastered, especially on dozens upon dozens of computer monitors in different Internet gaming cafes across the metropolis. The only person not playing (in the real sense of the word) Cabal Online was yours truly, or so it seemed.

I see this zest for Cabal Online as a passing fancy. Oh, sure, IP e-Games may lure hundreds, perhaps even thousands of players into its fold from its strongest competitor, Level Up! Games, but the question remains: Can the company sustain the game?

I’ve been hearing very nasty rumors that IP e-Games’ boosting of Cabal Online’s charm comes at a cost. One of its titles, Granado Espada, is already suffering. Hardcore players, the ones that really make or break a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, are complaining of IP e-Games’ alleged lack of attention in marketing Granado Espada.

So what’s up at IP e-Games? A lot, apparently, but I, and the hundreds of Granado Espada players, haven’t heard anything from them yet.

Oh, if you’re wondering about the video, it features a bunch of Cabal Online Philippines players having a roaring good time creating their own music video. Darn. Where were video editing tools for dummies back then when we needed them most?

Post from: MMOtaku

IP e-Game Ventures Inc., a subsidiary of IPVG Corp., announces that its newest action-adventure massive multiplayer online role-playing game title, Cabal Online, is set to go on commercial stage on June 12.

The game promises players more advanced features in this phase, among which include the availability of the Cabal Cash Shop. The service allows players to purchase in-game items to accessorize their characters and to make them more formidable in combat.

Some of the items to be included in the feature are blessing beads, which allow players to level their characters’ experience points and skill points, consumables such as inventory slot extender, in-game pets, and other great items.

The premium service feature will also be offered to gamers come commercial stage. These are bundled services that include the use of experience and skill bonus, craft experience points, drop rate bonus, global positioning system, warp and skill experience for use of training dummies. These items will be available in 30, 90 and 160-day packages.

Aside from this, players will be exposed to more compelling game events and contests that will complement both their online and offline experiences.

Arrgh! Need to cut the press release short. Suffice it to say that Cabal Online will be formally launched in the Philippines on June 21 at a large mall in Makati, the business district of Metro Manila.

Post from: MMOtaku

Here’s the lowdown on the Cabal Online combo system:

The system, or combo mode, is unlocked when your character reaches Level 10, after a brief promotion quest. From that moment on, your character will be able to charge your SP, or Spirit Point, bar, which forms half the equation in executing combos. The SP bar is charged as your character performs actions, particularly skills. So the more times you use skills, the more SP you get.

To activate combo mode, simply place the combo mode icon in a quickslot, any key from “1″ to “=”, move near a target, click it, and tap the key where you put the combo mode icon. Once activated, a meter appears on your screen, much like the power bar in online games such as Pangya. You must execute a skill as the bar hits the line between the second and third portion of the meter.

Hitting a skill at the precise—or nearly precise—moment will result in a successful combo attack. Of course, you’ll need to continue tapping skill keys if you want to sustain the combo. If you tap a skill at the wrong moment, that is when the meter has just started to rise, your character will exit combo mode.

Okay, enough with the words. Sit back and watch this video on Cabal Online’s deadly combos:

Post from: MMOtaku

I failed to make it to the first day of the open beta because I was still downloading the client at the time. If you’ve been following my rants on MMOtaku, then you already know about the shabby service I’ve been getting from a local Internet service provider (I shouldn’t have upgraded my account from 384 kbps to 768 kbps. My previous connection, although a bit slow for online games, had been stable).

Anyway, this post is not about the crappy Internet service, but Cabal Online. Despite my travails, I still managed to cram in a few hours of playing the game.

Guess what I did during my first five minutes in Cabal Online Philippines? Take a gander at these screenies:

Yeah, I (rather, my character, JadziaDax) danced … and danced … and danced (mostly because I was AFK [that's away from keyboard]). Well, it’s a cool function for those who want to while away the time in town (if you’re not vending, that is).

More Cabal Online in a later post. Stay tuned!

Post from: MMOtaku