zOMG! Over 500,000 players try the open beta in two days
By Matt Warner - Fri Dec 5, 2008 2:06pm
Is it fair to lump games that harness social networking sites and web technologies like Flash and Java into the MMOG category? Games built on this technology aren’t as robust as your traditional MMORPG but in some cases can be just as popular and profitable. RuneScape is a good example, it’s been around for quite some time and yet it was one of the top ten searches on Yahoo! in 2008 – beating out World of Warcraft.
Gaia Online, an anime themed social networking site that sees over seven million unique visitors a month is looking to repeat similar success. So far, they are off to a great start with over 500,000 users playing zOMG! So what’s this game like? It’s got action, it has spells, quests, and it’s like an old school Super Nintendo RPG with other players.
The game is free to play, uses Flash, thus no standalone client is needed. The graphics aren’t fancy and the game is 2d but the overall vibe is very cutesy. My biggest gripe isn’t with the graphics but the awkward movement. WASD is default for movement, and always a bonus with us diehard gamers but it’s easy to become stuck on the edges of certain objects.
The story is fairly linear and dozen of Chapters to progress through are planned as it expands over the year. In the open beta players take part in Chapter 1, where inanimate objects have come to life and won’t stop attacking the humans.
Players use rings that grant special abilities that make them become more like a tank, healer, or damage class. Rings also have 4 rage ranks, rage builds up in combat and it’s a special power-up ability that comes in handy during tight situations. There are no character levels but rings and statistics do rise as you progress further through the game. Up to six players can form a crew or group and huge incentives such as better loot chances are used as incentives to get players to do so.
Is it fun? It’s okay – not bad for Flash technology and killing time. It will be interesting to see how well the game does and how much revenue is earned off the item shop (real money trade) model. Some people will buy anything...
Gaia Online, an anime themed social networking site that sees over seven million unique visitors a month is looking to repeat similar success. So far, they are off to a great start with over 500,000 users playing zOMG! So what’s this game like? It’s got action, it has spells, quests, and it’s like an old school Super Nintendo RPG with other players.
The game is free to play, uses Flash, thus no standalone client is needed. The graphics aren’t fancy and the game is 2d but the overall vibe is very cutesy. My biggest gripe isn’t with the graphics but the awkward movement. WASD is default for movement, and always a bonus with us diehard gamers but it’s easy to become stuck on the edges of certain objects.
The story is fairly linear and dozen of Chapters to progress through are planned as it expands over the year. In the open beta players take part in Chapter 1, where inanimate objects have come to life and won’t stop attacking the humans.
Players use rings that grant special abilities that make them become more like a tank, healer, or damage class. Rings also have 4 rage ranks, rage builds up in combat and it’s a special power-up ability that comes in handy during tight situations. There are no character levels but rings and statistics do rise as you progress further through the game. Up to six players can form a crew or group and huge incentives such as better loot chances are used as incentives to get players to do so.
)
)
Is it fun? It’s okay – not bad for Flash technology and killing time. It will be interesting to see how well the game does and how much revenue is earned off the item shop (real money trade) model. Some people will buy anything...
More News
Suggest News
RSS Feeds
Digest Subscriptions
