Archive for November, 2009

This weekend, I went to a friend’s place and saw him playing Runescape. I wondered to myself why a 25-years-old adult would play a web-based, notably dated MMOG? I mean, he played the well-known World of Warcraft for years, and then he switched to Runescape? I found this surprisingly odd, so I asked him about his reasons.

Runescape does not required a subscription fee in order to play. There is no installation at all and instant access to play in anywhere. And best of all, the game has offered numerous impressive features since its launch in 2001.

Even though the graphics of Runescape cannot compete with many installation-based MMOGs, it has millions of users whom you can play with, over 150 quests for fun, and 24 diverse skills to practice. Runescape sure is dedicated to their users with new content updates when many other FREE to play MMOGs could care less and would rather focus more on cash items for their own benefits.

“So, M.Knight, what are we writing about tonight?” I asked myself this morning. It took me quite a while to come across it, but then I realized: we here at Bunch of Gamers aren’t just here to tell you about the latest and greatest news that every other site pounces upon. We are quite literally a bunch of gamers, and with that comes all the discussion that a bunch of gamers might have.

Once I was hit with that revelation, it was pretty simple to come up with something to write about: There are just some things that I’ve always wanted to share with others. Which brings us to Red Moon Rising.

Red Moon Rising is set in a world more than a bit steampunk-esque in nature, filled with intrigue, mystery, and a nice, hefty dose of dry wit. Well…I use the term “dry” loosely. It’s quite rainy in Ashul, the opening location of RMR, and it’s from the beautiful dreariness of that weather that the webcomic gets its first chapter’s title.

The visuals are stunning, and the dedication that Rose Loughran, the creator of Red Moon Rising, has to this artistic endeavor equals that, going above and beyond merely presenting her tale. She takes an active part in her community, answering questions in the comments section of almost every page, occasionally posting up art tutorials, and hosting Livestreams where her fans can watch her work on the next page.

Meanwhile, each of those pages maintain that beautiful quality throughout this well-thought out plot, with a very regular delivery that perseveres through hard drive, laptop, and tablet failures, blue screens of death. With grace and determination, Ms. Loughran one-ups even her story’s heroine it seems.

Red Moon Rising can be found at http://www.redmoonrising.org – with all the airships, gorgeous vistas, and kickass heroines a growing gamer needs to fulfill this part of a healthy diet of awesome.

Lord of the Rings Online is offering their upcoming expansion, Siege of Mirkwood, for free to users who buy a multi-month subscription.  If you’re already buying your playtime in bulk, then it’s an easy win for you, and purchasing three months is about the cost of a standard subscription anyway.

If you’ve got a lifetime subscription, you’ll need to pre-order the Adventurer’s Pack to get the free expansion – not bad, considering that you’ll get some nifty in-game items, extra character slots, and a way to pass items between alts in the deal.

Dragon Oath Online is a popular 3D martial arts MMOG from China and is being localized in North America. The game has finally announced that it’s going Open Beta on November 5, 2009. There are nine classes to choose from and each class has unique and exciting magic skills. The pet system in this game is quite interesting, in which you can capture monsters as pet and use them to help fight.

Even though I’m not a big fan of MMOGs from China, Dragon Oath can be very entertaining with its unique crafting system, story, cities, roles, and other social features.