MMORPG : USA/EU vs Localised Server

After playing various MMORPG for more than 2 years already, I can now make a few comparison between the servers located in the USA/EU and those located in SEA. Few games that I played in the SEA servers are dying, and one has already declared server shutdown .

Player Base :
1. Servers in the USA/EU are fairly populated and the population numbers last long.
2. Servers in the SEA are only populated at the beginning , but slowly dissipated in numbers.

GM Support/Event :
1. GM in the USA/EU servers very heavily involve themselves in the game and frequently conduct events that cheer up players every now and then.
2. GM in the SEA servers is almost non-existent. It seems like they throw servers at us, and leave it to ourselves how to make fun with the game.

Game Patch :
1. Servers in the USA/EU are always updated to the latest patch from the developer of the game. This make the game interesting as there are new things to do in the game.
2. Servers in the SEA are usually not up to date, lagging behind about 2/3 patches, and this makes the players become bored after a while. The reason could be on licensing etc, we don't know, but as a game publisher they should have expected that every game patch may/will require license payment to the original producer.

Community :
1. Players in the USA/EU servers are very helpful to the newbie, no matter where you are from. They just want to have fun playing the game with friends. They like to party when leveling up or doing quests. Botting players exist but not very serious, as the botters are usually killed by legit players.
2. Players in the SEA servers are not very kind, arrogant, and selfish. They don't like to help newbie . Bots are infesting the game. It seems like they are leveling a character with a view to sell them in the future.

RMT ( Real Money Trading)
1. RMT is definitely banned in the USA/EU servers. RMT shouters exist but immediately removed from the game by the active GMs . RMT is destroying a game as it will make price of items in game go sky high and uncontrolable .
2. RMT is having a field day in the SEA servers. With the help of botting software, the RMTer can stand in the crowded area and spam the RMT adverts for days without being removed by GMs.

Runes Of Magic : A WoW Clone ?

Recently I have been introduced to a brand new MMORPG that looks familiar , but with a different name. The first time I looked at it, my conscience says I have seen this game but cant remember where. Then quickly I remembered, World Of Warcraft.

Runes Of Magic certainly have the WoW look, and plays like WoW. The only advantage is that it is free to play. So for those who wanna try WoW, but dont want to pay over the nose, this game is certainly a nice option.

Below is the game login and character selection screen :

The following are the screenshots of the game user interface and character info:













Lastly, a screen shot of my character in a Town called Varanas :


I'm playing the game on Singapore-Malaysian server, just for the sake of trying the game. As usual, those looking for a a stable game server support and gameplay should try the American servers.

Guild Wars : Vanquishing Tyria

Vanquishing Tyria is continued eastward, starting from Deldrimor Bowl. The process was done non-stop, i.e. a 6-man caravan party moving eastward towards the Eastern Frontier. This had to be done so that the vanquishing of the areas normally done with 4-man party can be done with a 6-man party. The Eastern Frontier and neighbouring areas usually have groups of grawl with 2/3 Grawl Udolytes (monk). It is almost impossible to tackle the area using 4-man party. Even with 6-man party, my party experienced wipe-out and need to be resurrected at shrines few times.

The vanquishing was done with"Heroes & Henches" . My heroes are all necros with slight modification from the Sabway. They all spam spirits so that corpses can be generated early to be used to raise minions. Eventually all areas were vanquished. At the moment my Vanquishing of Tyria is at 25/54 . Below are the screenshots of area vanquished :

Meanwhile I received a news that Last Chaos MY servers will be closed down permanently on 31/10/2009 . It is a sad news for the Last Chaos MY community, especially to those who spent so much into the game . Lucky me, I sold my gears and pet in the game for RM230 early in the year. One player said on the game forum that he spent RM500 a month on the game. Not sure if there is any truth in it, but if it is true, what a waste ! For RM500 a month, it is better to play a game that has it's server based in the USA. More stable, less hack.

Shaiya : A New Adventure

Recently I tried a new MMORPG called Shaiya. It is a F2P game with item mall. I never played WoW but from the experience playing Shaiya, i believe it inherit the gameplay of WoW and Lineage2 .

The characters in Shaiya are typical MMORPG games where u have damage dealers, tankers, and healers. What interests me is that there are 2 opposing factions in Shaiya, each with 2 races, and each races can only be configured to play certain character type. Certain character in Shaiya can solo quickly, while certain others need a party setup to farm XP to level up .

There is also a feature that make Shaiya very interesting, the PvP field. The PvP is divided into level range i.e. 1-15 , 20-30 etc which means u can always PvP without feeling too weak as compare to the upper level character. It was fun too, I managed to joined 1-15 PvP.

I'm playing on USA version of Shaiya . There is a local Malaysian version of the game but from the forum , i learn that the gaming community is dying because on the imbalance between the opposing faction where not many people joining the Union of Fury (darkside) as compare to those joining Alliance of Light (lightside).

Lineage 2 : Manoring

Last week I discovered something quite useful in Lineage 2, and that is manoring. Basically manoring is where we plant a seed prior to killing a monster, and then use a harvester to harvest the fruit from the killed monster. The fruit can then be sold to a manor manager, and we can gain rewards in return, in the form of crafting materials. There are quite a few guides on the internet on "how to do manoring", but I'm not going to explain it in here. They can be referred to at l2stratic or l2vault or pmfun.

What is tricky about manoring is to get the seeds, and to sell the fruits. This is because, there is only a limited number of seeds sold in a day for a particular region, and they only restock at 8.00 pm. Not only that, the number of fruits bought back by the manor managers is also limited for a particular area, in a day , and also only renewed at 8.00 pm. So we basically need to be the first one to deal with the manor managers so that we can buys most seeds or sell the most fruits. For the time being I'm manoring just outside Goddard, killing bandersnatches and antelopes. I'm manoring "blue coba" in return for mold glue as the reward. My low level Scavenger is currently at level 50, and I'm thinking of using it to manor at the Oel Mahum area, and get the mold hardener as the rewards . I need to get the seeds first.

Meanwhile, in Guild Wars I continue my vanquishing . Below is a screenshot of my success in vanquishing North Kryta Province :