No need to worry, though, as GamesCampus.com (run by OnNet USA) assured players that the Tank Ace servers would be up starting 12 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Monday.

Tank Ace: Engage! Engage!

“We have got a wonderful collection of bugs to fix thanks to you all. I really appreciate all the input and I literally read every single thread that was posted (on the Tank Ace forums). Quite an undertaking for one fellow. But I really do want us to succeed and so I’m putting forth what I hope will go down in the record books as the most epic GM’ng job of all time,” said TankAceGM on the Tank Ace forums to explain the need for the maintenance.

“So, yes, the servers are going down for maintenance and will be back up Monday, the 21st. I will provide an exact time for being back up as soon as I have one. You can bet pretty safely it’ll be 12 p.m.,” the GM added.

Developed by B.O.B. Studios, Tank Ace is an action-packed tactical shooter that features realistic World War II battlefields and vehicle stats based on actual historical facts. Players can choose from multiple historically accurate WII tanks and then customize them by adding armor, camouflage, body art, kill marks, and clan insignias.

“Fans of tank warfare games will be incredibly impressed by what they see when they place Tank Ace,” said Jonathan Stypula of GamesCampus. “Tank Ace is unlike anything else on the market and we look forward to the response from our beta testers.”

Tank Ace is packed with engaging battles and accurate specification like realistic recoil action and tank tactics. Players can create their own clans and devise winning strategies as they utilize terrain features, coordinate assaults and more.

Here are some features of Tank Ace that you may find interesting: World War II factions including Russia, Germany and the United States; and easy-to-pick-up controls and an area-specific damage system.

For more information about the game, make sure to drop by the official Tank Ace website.

Check out this gallery of screenshots from Tank Ace:

Post from: MMOtaku

Developed by BOB Studio, this action-packed WWII shooter promises a lot of features that at first glance seem perfect for aficionados of both massively multiplayer online first-person shooters and massively multiplayer online real-time strategy games.

“With more than 10 years of experience in creating tank shooting games, we have been impressed with BOB Studios’ work on this fantastic new WWII shooter,” Jonathan Stypula of GamesCampus. “Tank Ace is packed with some astounding features and offers an engaging battle experience that is like nothing else available online today.”

Tank Ace: Destroy the opposition!

Here’s a short list of Tank Ace features:

Realistic Tanks with Historically Accurate Stats: Customize tanks by adding armor, different styles of camouflage, body art, kill marks, and clan insignias.

World War II Factions: Players can choose to join one of three different sides from World War II: Russia, Germany, and the United States. Each faction gains access to a unique stable of historic tanks, uniforms and other in-game items.

Ease of Control: Using WASD controls, players will immediately be able to control their tanks. The mouse is used to rotate the turret, aim, and fire. Users can also select various views on the fly, such as the Commander View, Gunner View, Driver View, and Scout View. Each view has its own benefits and drawbacks. Choose the best one for the situation you find yourself in.

It’s Pure Tactics: Gather up your friends and create your best strategy. Call in air support to scout out an enemy stronghold and take them out. Use field artillery to soften up the opposition. Tired of that barn hiding the enemy approach? Blast it away!

Area-Specific Damage System: Tanks in Tank Ace have 10 hit areas, each with a different defense rating. Focus on attacking areas with lower defense ratings, or conceal those areas for defensive stances. Just as in real life, the front of the tank is the most highly armored area and the rear is vulnerable. If you really want to stick it to the enemy, send a shell right up their tailpipe!

Damn, I’m already excited, and the closed beta test for Tank Ace, which starts December 17th, 2009, seems so far away.

Go check out Tank Ace official website for North America.

Post from: MMOtaku

“Sieghart is a fabulous new addition to Grand Chase,” said Chris Lee, chief executive officer at Ntreev USA. “Sieghart is a skilled and accomplished character that our players are sure to enjoy. That combined with the multiple Halloween events going on make October a big month for Grand Chase and its community.”

New Grand Chase character Sieghart

Now that October is ending, it’s time for Grand Chase players to look forward to a better future courtesy of more updates.

Let’s take a closer look at Sieghart, shall we?

Sieghart was a renowned hero of Bermesiah (the world of Grand Chase) 600 years ago, but disappeared in the midst of ruins. Reappearing in the times of Grand Chase, he tells the people that the Highlander gods saved him from death and gave him the gift of immortality.

In continuing the saga of Grand Chase, Sieghart comes in at a time when a few brave knights and nobles are trying to stop the Ascendant God from invading Bermesiah.

Sieghart, by the way, is also the name of Elesis’ grandfather. Beyond that, they have little similarity. Sieghart has a chargeable gauge to strengthen attacks, much like Jin’s, that fills up over time. This gauge fills faster whenever Sieghart gets damaged or deals damage. Like Elesis, Sieghart wields a long blade.

Aside from the introduction of Sieghart, Ntreev USA is holding various Halloween events for Grand Chase, like the Jack-o-Lantern Drop event where players receive special items to use in their quests. This event will run until November 3rd.

For more information about these Halloween events, make sure to drop by the official Grand Chase website.

Post from: MMOtaku

Wait! Before you cast that stone, hear me out (or read about it if you can spare a peek). I got discouraged, plain and simple. I didn’t continue playing Rohan: Blood Feud in the Philippines after the first day of closed beta because of sheer frustration with latency. I watched my character die dozens of times, and that was just inside the training area. She never even got past Level 10.

Now that Rohan Philippines is in open beta, I expect things to run a little more smoothly. Of course, I haven’t tried logging in. I’d hate to end up pulling my hair out in frustration again.

Anyway, for those who missed it, here’s the Rohan Online Philippines open beta announcement:

To celebrate the launch of OBT, we will be launching a new server: Syrephis!

Now you can forge your own legends and conquer the lands of Rohan for as long as you like because OBT will have NO MORE server wipeouts. Accounts and characters created in OBT will continue on until Rohan’s commercial launch.

OBT also includes the much-awaited Item Mall feature of Rohan Online as well as other web services and account linking to My Level Up.

Players may now register new accounts or use existing CBT accounts. Upon linking these accounts to MyLU, they may now use the web services such as change/forget password utilities. Linking accounts to MyLU also allows players to top-up their accounts and assign credits to acquire Rohan Points.

Image downloaded from Rohan Philippines official site. This online game, developed by YNK, is operated in the Philippines by Level Up! Games.

Post from: MMOtaku

So what’s new with Lunia? Well, fans of the online game in North America may not be as happy as those in China. Here’s why:

CDC Games, a business unit of CDC Corporation and a pioneer of the free-to-play, pay-for-merchandise model for online games in China, has announced the launch of an expansion pack for Lunia, its MMORPG based on the popular manga style comic art form.

Since CDC Games launched Lunia in China on March 6, 2009, it has already attracted more than one million registered users. The expansion pack features four additional episodes and new quests, a slime ampitheater as a new game mode, and a new and free character class named Krieg El Hati (The Templar). New merchandise and two new zones, allowing 12 players at the same time, have also been added.

“CDC Games has looked forward to launching its first action arcade MMORPG in China, which further expands our games portfolio,” said John Huen, chief operating officer of CDC Games. “We believe that Lunia is beginning to generate a stable pool of repeat players as we believe this differentiated style of game offers a more unique experience than most other traditional MMORPGs.”

“Lunia is an established game in several global markets that we expect will feature several future content updates, including our recent new addition. With solid server performance to date, and the expected continuation of upgrades, we believe that we may see an increase in players in the months ahead,” he added.

Cool. As they say, patches, expansions and updates are the lifeblood of all MMORPGs.

Interested in playing Lunia? Hie on over to the game’s official website in China.

Post from: MMOtaku

Are you ready to write your own adventure epic starting this Spring? With the new online action role-playing game Warrior Epic, you may yet fulfill that dream of not only witnessing and writing the beginning of a saga but also starring in it.

At this point I’d like to shut up for a moment and let Warrior Epic’s operator and publisher do the talking:

True Games reveals key features and game details for its new MMORPG, Warrior Epic

True Games Interactive, an international publisher of multiplayer online games, has revealed the first key features and game details for its highly anticipated online action MMORPG, Warrior Epic. Developed by Austin-based studio Possibility Space, the game has already developed a growing community since the developer launched the Warrior Epic website last year. With the new publishing partnership, True Games Interactive is now sharing new features, screenshots, and game details as it gears up for the game’s Spring 2009 launch.

Warrior Epic is an online, action role-playing game set in an original fantasy universe. In the game, players will assume command of a Warrior Hall from which they manage their characters’ adventures. They can recruit from a wide array of warrior classes, each with its own style of play. The classes and the hall itself can be upgraded visually as well as functionally. Players adventure together in multiplayer campaigns, adventure mode, solo quests, and player-versus-player matches.

One of the most unique aspects of Warrior Epic is that death does not mean the end of a warrior. Instead, it opens totally new and strategic options for players. The game’s unique Warrior Spirits System enables fallen warriors to not only be revived at any time at their hall, but also to be transformed into spirits that can be bound to weapons to increase and open weapon abilities and skills, or they can be called out to inflict massive damage depending on player needs.

“Possibility Space and True Games are doing an incredible job building the Warrior Epic universe,” said Jeff Lujan, founder and chairman of True Games Interactive. “The game creates this totally new genre of session-based MMOs with incredibly innovative gameplay features that have been fine-tuned and are sure to offer global appeal. Gage Galinger and Feng Zhu, founders of Possibility Space, are highly talented video game veterans,” Lujan continued. “Their game design and creative talent combined with the amazing technical and publishing background of our team at True Games makes for the perfect development relationship.”

So there you have it, in a nutshell.

What intrigues me the most about Warrior Epic is its Warrior Spirits System. Don’t get me wrong, the game is shaping up to be great. What bothers me is this line: “… but also to be transformed into spirits that can be bound to weapons to increase and open weapon abilities and skills.” Can players do this multiple—infinite—times? What I mean is, can players level characters to a certain extent, get them killed, and use the spirits on their weapons, and then create new characters, level them … well you get the picture.

I’m sure measures will be in place once Warrior Epic goes live. I guess we’ll just have to wait until Spring, which is only several days away.

More on Warrior Epic within the week.

Post from: MMOtaku

Meanwhile, get the latest news about Street Gear in China from this tidbit on online games portal 17173:

According to Chinese game operator 17game, the final round of closed beta for Street Gear will be held on February 16.

Street Gear is a skate-themed massively multiplayer online game developed by Korea-based Wemade. Since its launch in Europe and Korea, Street Gear has been widely accepted by players.

Okay … well, as I promised, I’m posting a video of Street Gear’s gameplay:

Sweet, eh? It actually looks like, hmmm, Drift City, except for the fact that in Street Gear you control a guy (or gal) on rollerblades. Give me a few days to dig up more information about this game.

Post from: MMOtaku

Counter-Strike Online, of course, is the newest incarnation of the highly popular mod to Valve’s Half-Life franchise. The MMOFPS first saw the light of day in South Korea and, thanks to Nexon, has since expanded its reach to Japan and China.

Recently, Tian City, operator of the online shooter in China, announced a breakthrough, which online games portal 17173 was able to pick up:

Tian City announced that the PCU (Peak Concurrent Users) of CS Online has reached 150,000 during the traditional Chinese New Year.

CS Online is an MMOFPS based on the widely popular FPS series Counter-Strike. The online version brings in a brand new gameplay—human versus corpse—which attract more players to the game world.

Here’s the trailer for Counter-Strike Online’s Korean launch:

Post from: MMOtaku

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

The graphics of Aion looks great and the sound effects seem crisp, but I just have to go hands on to pass judgment. Knowing NCsoft, however, I’m sure disappointment will be far from my thoughts.

Now, the only hindrances are Aion’s actual release date in North America (yes, I’ll be playing on the North American server—if NCsoft will not block foreign IP addresses) and its business model—whether pay-to-play (subscription) or free-to-play.

Post from: MMOtaku