One game ends, another begins

Taken from Allods Online International CBT

It wasn't too long ago that Philippine game publishers were adding new games at a rapid clip. It seems that these days they've developed a plan of closing one game and adding a new one a few weeks after. A good example would be eGames closing Supreme Destiny and opening the (ALSO currently closed) ZXOnline. With the addition of Allods Online into the Levelup Philippines list of MMORPGs, it looks like the cycle has been broken (IF Hello Kitty Online opens on Oct 2010).

ZXOnline Closes on August 13

eGames closes ZXOnline (Zhu Xian Online) on August 13 (Previously it was set to close July 31--giving notice of closing for only 5 days).

Reason for closing ZXOnline

Their reason? Their contract with Perfect World was terminated. It wasn't stated who wanted it terminated, whether it was Perfect World or eGames, but it doesn't matter now.

The announcement is stated below:

Due to this event, eGames has once again gone under the microscope. Based on the forums, a lot of players have been disheartened in playing in other eGames-published MMOs fearing that it may close as well. Although closing unsuccessful games are the norm in any business, the way they are closed means a lot to the players. It wasn't as bad as what happened to Lineage 2 SEA, but considering that ZXOnline hardly went over two years before it closed gives the gaming public suspect to the publisher's way of managing their games.

Massive exodus to Jade Dynasty

After reading the forums, the large consensus seems to be that instead of transferring to another eGames-powered MMO, they've decided to go to the international version: Jade Dynasty and play in the Billows server. No doubt this will be a boon to both the community and management over there as they will be receiving a lot of experienced players.

The Elves arrive on Runes of Magic PH

Runes of Magic PH is really late when it comes to patch updates compared to it's international brethren (they're already on Episode 3), but at least we get one of the biggest updates ever with the inclusion of a new race and 2 new jobs.



Here's the patch notes for Runes of Magic PH Chapter 2: The Elven Prophecy

Patch notes
Runes of Magic Chapter 2: The Elven Prophecy (Version 3.0.0)

New Features:

• Guild Siege War (Beta)
• New Guild Castle Features
• New Guild Quests
• Vivox Voice Chat System (Beta)
• Party Recruitment Interface
• Monster Card System

New Race: Elf
New Class: Druid, Warden

New Zones and Instances:

• Elven Island
• Kalin Shrine
• Treasure Trove

New Events:

• Spring Rain Festival
• National Day Event

New Item Shop Items:

• Costumes
• Barong Tagalog
• Baro’t Saya

Weapons:

• Kudarat’s Will
• Bonifacio’s Charge
• The Blacksmith’s Masterpiece
• Lam-ang’s Valor
• Defiance of Lapu-Lapu

For those who want to request for a ROM PH Episode 2 DVD Installer, feel free to request it from here.

Jade Dynasty (ZXOnline) New Race: The Athan

With Perfect World getting a new race with two classes, Jade Dynasty / ZXOnline aren't far behind as they've got their new race: The Athan.

My Runes of Magic Ph Alpha 2 Experience

As mentioned last time, eGames was able to get Runes of Magic (RoM), an MMO that's been making waves in the International MMO scene. I was lucky enough to get an invite and a DVD Instaler from RoM Ph's Community Manager, Ms. Bea. Written below are just a couple of my experiences while playing the game.