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A look back at year one of The Chronicles of Spellborn
The Chronicles of Spellborn is a game that I have long had a love affair with. I followed it through development and beta, and have played since the very beginning. Immediately its unique atmosphere and wonderful art style drew me in and had me hoping that this game would be one of the games to break the MMORPG mold. I downloaded screenshots, read the lore that I could find and waited with baited breath as the release date drew closer. Now, here we are a year after release. What happened within that year that resulted in two empty servers and a (seemingly) dwindling population? We haven't learned much through the usual channels, and the players that remain are left wondering. The last word given talked about a re-release, a "Spellborn 2" complete with a cash shop to aid adventurers, but the recent closing of the game in Japan and silence on the forums still have us a little confused.
Free for All: Five favorite game systems
This week I decided to talk a bit about some of my favorite game systems. Systems are essentially the building blocks of all quality MMORPG matter, allowing for an experience that is unique and worth returning to. Developers have been very creative in designing these systems that, like good technology, are not often noticed by gamers. Good systems blend into your experience but enhance it, and often make the overall game play seem like something more than it would be without them. Here are some of my favorites, and I would recommend downloading these games and checking them out. Or, if you are already playing these games, take a moment to notice how much thought went into these systems, and also of how much time you spend using them. Their simplicity can sometimes be deceiving, hiding the complicated processes that help your game play be a detailed and varied experience.
Free for All: A look into The Chronicles of Spellborn
I have always wondered what happened to one of my favorite free-to-play games, The Chronicles of Spellborn. It's still a great game, don't get me wrong, and is completely free to play. A new version is even supposed to come out at some point, essentially the same game but with a cash-shop that features different travel items and armors. But why didn't The Chronicles of Spellborn do as good as it could have? I enjoyed it from the beginning but did find some flaws, namely in travel time. Of course, I am the world's biggest fan of realistic travel. I think it builds "character," but only having the option to walk while on land is, to say the least, a little tiring. Still, the game continues to captivate me. Perhaps the combat system was too out-of-sync with today's gamer, or maybe the quest text and wonderful lore were not enough to stop some players from getting bored? The stat-less armor and weapons might have had the most to do with it, being that players felt short-changed without being able to be recognized as something powerful just from the look of their avatar?
Chronicles of Spellborn now completely free while in re-development
Did you miss out on the Chronicles of Spellborn when it initially came out? Most likely you did. If it wasn't the freemium model that confused you, it was most likely the crazy-odd "Acclaim coins" system combined with "membership" that turned you off of the game.Well, as we mentioned before, Chronicles of Spellborn is facing some issues and tough times. The game is being re-developed into a free-to-play model while one arm of the Spellborn company is facing issues of bankruptcy. But not all is doom and gloom with the game itself. In fact, now couldn't be a better time to check out Spellborn.While the game is being re-developed and eventually re-launched, the current version is now completely free. All you need to do is go on, create an account, and download the game. That's it. So if you passed up the game before and you have some time on your hands, we recommend going on over and checking out Spellborn for the low, low price of free. It's fresh and quite different from your standard MMO.
One Shots: High House Silver
With the recent news that The Chronicles of Spellborn is going to be going from a Freemium to a fully free-to-play game, emotions are torn. Those who have been subscribing feel like they're about to lose the game they've been enjoying. Those who have wanted to try it out but have been unable to do more than the first several levels are glad as it will give them a chance to play more. Either way you slice it though, it means change for the Spellborn community. With that said, we have a lovely screenshot from within The Chronicles of Spellborn that was sent to us by Terrivad of the Deiquonril server. He writes in: This is a screen shot of the interior of High House Silver in the city of Hawksmouth. House Silver being one of the five High Houses of the Enclave. They keep the economy in order and the day to day activities such as transportation, taxing and trade. (They're also obviously the richest House.)One Shots runs on reader submissions, so we need to hear from you! Just snap a quick screenshot from your favorite MMO and send it to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and the game/location it was taken in. We'll do the rest from there and give you the credit for sending it in.%Gallery-9798%
The Chronicles of Spellborn to be re-developed as free to play, bankruptcy issues loom
The Chronicles of Spellborn only launched a few months ago, but they've already announced that they're going to "re-develop" the game as a free-to-play title. Acclaim Games stated on Monday: "The development is planned to carry into 2010 and will include several enhancements and changes to the current game. The enhancements and development of the new model will be carried through a joint venture between Spellborn NV and the development studio of Frogster Asia Co. Ltd based in Seoul, the Korean studio bringing its expertise in the field of free-to-play and micro-transactions." Once this re-development is complete The Chronicles of Spellborn will cease to be a subscription game and will switch over to the free-to-play model. We're not sure if there will be any further development on TCOS as it exists now, but a post on the game's EU forums by community manager Kelas stated, "For now, the servers and system (subscription) will remain the way it is. There are still people available for running the daily work and systems."
One Shots: From the front lines
We don't often get to look in on The Chronicles of Spellborn, so it's great to get a report back from a Spellborn player for One Shots. Today's beautiful-yet-almost-psychadelic screenshot comes in to us from Eric who writes in: Looking down at the docks as I venture, for the first time, to The Vaults. The first thing that drew me into the The Chronicles of Spellborn was the atmospheric scenery. The area I'm traveling to is used to further the lore of the game, and the long trek up to the top of the mountain really gave me a perspective much like a pilgrim. Really well done! If your MMO travels have taken you to a world we don't often see, why not send in some screenshots and share your journeys! Email them to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a brief description. We'll post them here and give you the credit. %Gallery-9798%
One Shots: To the vault
We haven't had many looks into this world as yet here on One Shots, which is a shame. The armor artwork and texturing is really quite interesting to look at! Not sure where this lone adventurer - Rayko Silverthorn of the guild Sacred, level 14 Trickster of High House Shroud - stands? He's exploring the world of The Chronicles of Spellborn, and writes in to tell us a bit more about the scene we're seeing - and why he likes The Chronicles of Spellborn. My first trip off of Parliament led me to Atheneum, home of The Consanguineous Vaults or just The Vaults. The ever increasingly difficult Vaults are were young adventurers go to hone their skills to become the heroes of tomorrow. This game features arguably the best combat system ever, The best way to handle death via Pep levels and a refreshing theme that breaks away from the oh so common style of fantasy MMORPGs.If you're traveling in a world we don't see often - or haven't really seen at all - then we want to see some screenshots from you! Just email them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a brief description - or your thoughts on why your favorite MMO is awesome! We'll post them out here and give you the nod for sending the image and note in.%Gallery-9798%
The Chronicles of Spellborn art book now available as free PDF
The newly launched fantasy game The Chronicles of Spellborn is a (air quote) freemium massively multiplayer online title from Acclaim, where three areas of the game are available for free, while subscriptions truly open the game up for its players. Those gamers in the EU who jump into The Chronicles of Spellborn are able to buy the title as a boxed product and thus get the art book which accompanies the box release, but no such luck for North American players. That is, until now. Acclaim has opted to release the art book as a free PDF file, which you can find over at MMORPG.com. It's a nice, in-depth look at the game spanning 151 pages of art content and lore. The High Houses, the game's myriad Inhabitants, and of course weapons and armor are all included in The Chronicles of Spellborn art book. If you're already into TCoS or are just curious about it, be sure to grab your free download at MMORPG.com.
The Chronicles of Spellborn interview explains game's unique aspects
The Chronicles of Spellborn is a game we've been hearing more about lately. We recently noticed an interview by Nolvadex at the Italian gaming site Gamesource with The Chronicles of Spellborn's lead community manager Pierre-Yves "Mirage" Deslandes. Mirage discusses a relatively smooth European launch for the title and some of the complexities of their publishing deals, insofar as they affect the European market. The challenges of balancing PvE and PvP content in the game comes up, and Mirage also addresses why The Chronicles of Spellborn shipped without an auction house, stressing that a marketplace is indeed on the way. In terms of building upon the game's combat systems, Netherlands-based developer Spellborn NV doesn't plan to make any major changes to the game's combat system, which Mirage states is the trademark and backbone of The Chronicles of Spellborn. Adding greater depth to what's presently offered instead of simply adding more races and classes to the game is clearly a priority for the developers.
What does Spellborn still need for a successful US/UK launch?
Here we are a month after the European launch of The Chronicles of Spellborn, and we find ourselves gearing up for the US and UK launches very soon. What has changed since the EU launch and what have the developers learned throughout the month after launch? MMORPG.com's Patrick S. Marshall takes a look and gives us his opinions on what the game still needs to make it in this hard-knock era for start-up MMOs."The bottom line is that the game could use some more players, especially on the international servers, which are considerably less populated than the French or German servers," Marshall says in the article. "The UK is separated from Europe publisher-wise by a territorial IP-ban (Acclaim is publishing TCoS in the US and the UK - Frogster does the rest of Europe and Asia)." For more information on The Chronicles of Spellborn and their upcoming US/UK launch, check out their main website.
The Chronicles of Spellborn scores 8/10 in an early review
Although a great deal of the world is still playing the beta version of The Chronicles of Spellborn, continental Europe has had access to the retail copy since the 27th of November. Since Eurogamer has had a couple of weeks to put the game through its paces, they've posted a review. Now, we're sure you know the various problems with MMO reviews in general -- the two biggest being that most (good) MMOs are updated frequently post-launch, and that there's usually too much content to get through to provide accurate insight to all levels and areas of a game -- but it's worth nothing that this one comes with a rather healthy eight-out-of-ten score at the end.The art style and environments get an approving nod in the review, and so do the action-based combat mechanics. The "Skill Deck", which is the replacement for the traditional action bar you might be used to from a huge number of other MMOs, is both praised and knocked for its complexity. The primary criticisms that the review levels against TCoS are that it can be a bit generic at times, and that it lacks the glossy polish that you see in big-budget titles. Obviously these complaints were not significant enough to stop the reviewer from enjoying the game, and we look forward to seeing how it shapes up by the time it's released to the rest of the world in January.
The Chronicles of Spellborn's open beta impressions
Since the launch of open beta in Europe and removal of the NDA this weekend, The Chronicles of Spellborn has now entered the public eye on a much larger scale. MMORPG has been providing some in-depth coverage of the game recently, including one of the first extensive looks at the character creation process.However, sometimes it's good to get a "regular-guy" perspective on these first impressions, so we're particularly interested in a recent run-down from the A Ding World blog. In this thorough look at the current state of open beta, Sente runs through character creation, control, user interface, questing and much more. It's a great read if you're interested in learning more about this upcoming MMO, set to launch on November 27th in Europe and in January for the US.
Release date announced for The Chronicles of Spellborn
The Chronicles of Spellborn developers Spellborn NV and publisher Frogster have just announced that the eagerly-awaited fantasy MMO will be hit retail release on November 27th, 2008 in Europe. This includes the German, English and French versions of the game. In preparation for this release date, Spellborn has entered into the next phase of closed beta and introduced a large content patch on this last Wednesday, September 17th.If you've not been following The Chronicles of Spellborn, this would be a good time to see what the game has to offer. Set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy setting, the game uses the Unreal Engine to create an "authentic living world" for players to enjoy. Check out their forums for information on the beta and more details on the game's upcoming launch.
PVP details revealed for The Chronicles of Spellborn
The Chronicles of Spellborn is approaching its release date and we have a bit of news regarding how the PvP servers will work, and the Fame system they have in place. As noted by a recent press release, all regions will be enabled for PvP except Hawksmouth, Aldenvault and the major cities. There will also be special PvP caves within the safe zones on all servers for low level PvP.The Fame system will work much like experience in other MMOs. You can not only gain it by questing or aiding others in their quests, but the amount of Fame your character is awarded from killing enemies has increased. They decided to make this change so that players don't need to rely solely on questing to level their characters.
Peruse the history of the Chronicles of Spellborn
Following on the heels of the first part of the timeline, this second chapter in the history of the Chronicles of Spellborn brings things further into the present. Known as "Death's Dream", the period following "The Great Collapse", this era is delineated by the fragments of the Ancestor World: "To most scholars it is unknown what has happened in this period. Some of them are not even convinced it lasted a full 500 years. What is known is that the remnants of the world - the various Shards and Fragments - are covered in Undying Ice during this period and that all survivors of the Great Collapse are frozen in time, trapped within a deep slumber."And what's further known is that the Chronicles of Spellborn just keeps looking better and better the more we learn of it. [Thanks, Katrina!]
The Chronicles of Spellborn close in on a North American Publisher
In a recent interview over at Ten Ton Hammer, Pierre-Yves Deslandes, the Public Relations Manager for The Chronicles of Spellborn answered some interesting questions about the upcoming fantasy MMO. One of the first questions on the minds of those at TTH and the minds of most players is why the game's launch has been post-poned another six months until autumn of 2008.Of course, as with most game-launch delays, the development team is still working out some bugs. Plus, to complicate matters, the game is still without a North American publisher. But in addition to this news, we get treated to some wonderful information regarding the unique features of the game, including the "Dress to Impress" gear system. Head on over to TTH to read the complete interview.
