Dragon Nest: 2011

Friday, December 2, 2011

The Future

There been discussion about when the new update/patch for Dragon Nest (North American) is coming out. Some believe maybe a few days from now and some believe after the New Year. No one knows for sure but everyone knows what contents are new stuff is going to come out. Because Dragon Nest is not originally made in America, it was made in Korea and later translated into English. According to Dragon Nest Wiki, official Nexon’s wiki site, players will be stuck in Saint Haven till they reach level 40.

From the mmosite forum, it is listed that a new town name “Lotus Marsh” will come after Saint Haven. Players will be able to go there when they reach level 40. Also more points can be added to the players’ current skills. Also the new level cap will be level 40 so that players can go to Lotus Marsh but they will be stuck there until another update. Spadow’s blog provided some evidence from Dragon Nest Korea that players will need to pay more gold to learn new skills. The skills are powerful and strong but will cost a lot of gold and sometime even some in game items.

Lotus Marsh will be a town with a lot of trees and grass. It almost looks like a forest according to the video provided by dragonnestosoruce from Dragon Nest China. The bosses and dungeons will be longer and tougher. Fortunately so will be the characters that the players play. Players will be able to craft new gears set called “Apocalypse”. The materials that required crafting the set will be provided in a new nest. The materials and items required to craft this set is already listed in dnarmory.com. That will be the future of Dragon Nest; until next time.

Citation:

- Lotus Marsh - Dragon Nest Wiki. (n.d.). Dragon Nest Wiki - Dragon Nest Wiki. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://www.dragonnestwiki.com/Lotus_Marsh

- New MMORPGs,Hot MMORPGs,General MMORPG,MMORPG Pub,game pub - MMOsite.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://forum.mmosite.com/thread/2/217/20110210/NEW_NEST_BISHOPS_NEST_Lotus_Marsh_New_Job_Advance_Information-4dac375f9d30b8b13-1.html

- Dragon Nest: Lv. 40! « Spadow's Blog. (n.d.). Spadow's Blog. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://spadow.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/dragon-nest-lv-40/

- Dragon Nest Source - Dragon Nest CN - Lotus Marsh Town. (n.d.). Dragon Nest Source - Your #1 Dragon Nest Online NA & SEA Fansite . Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://www.dragonnestsource.com/forum/videos/general-1/dragon-nest-cn-lotus-marsh-town-48.htm

- Class. (n.d.). Items - Dragon Nest Armory. Dragon Nest Armory - Home. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://dnarmory.com/items?name=apocal&minlevel=33&maxlevel=40&type=Headgear&item_quality[]=4

The Present

A few months after open beta, according to mmosite the game was launched live on September 28 2011. Unlike closed beta, the players who played open beta won’t get their items and characters wipe clean, they are able to keep their items and characters. That the reward they get for being the open beta testers. When the game went live, a new town was added “Saint Haven”. Saint Haven is currently the town all the players are in because it was the latest update. According to Nexon, players are currently at level 32 and new pvp modes were provided. Saint Haven is the 4^th town Nexon have added and currently the last town since there is no updates yet. According to Dragon Nest Wiki, players are currently doing main story line and discovering about the ancient dragons. Massively, a famous forum for games provided a video of a NPC turning into a big giant dragon and players had to fight along with the dragon. Players enjoyed that and now excepting to see more dragon fights.

Currently, there is new nest called Cerberus nest where players go in to hunt the big bad dog with three heads. Players can gain materials and items upon defeating the three headed dog. Eventually they can use those materials and items to craft the latest epic gears in the game and become a super strong player. According to dnarmory.com, the players are required to gain a ton of materials and items before they can fully craft the latest epic gears called Cerberus Set. But when players have fully crafted the set, they will be at their strongest in the game.

Players are stuck at level 32 and trying to craft Cerberus Set that is what is currently happening in Dragon Nest.

Citation:

- Dragon Nest | News - Welcome To Saint’S Haven. (n.d.). Dragon Nest | The Fastest Online Action RPG!. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://dragonnest.nexon.net/news/news/00Cxx/welcome-to-saint-s-haven?page=4

- Dragon Nest(NA) Release Date Announced - MMORPG News - MMOsite.com. (n.d.). MMORPG News - MMOsite.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://news.mmosite.com/content/2011-09-21/dragon_nest_release_date_announced

- Saint's Haven - Dragon Nest Wiki. (n.d.). Dragon Nest Wiki - Dragon Nest Wiki. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://www.dragonnestwiki.com/Saint%27s_Haven

- Class. (n.d.). Dragon Nest Armory. Dragon Nest Armory - Home. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://dnarmory.com/set?i=13660160

The Past

Nexon announced about Dragon Nest during the game Expo. There were a limited about of close beta testing applications and applications closed on June 1^st, 2011. According to onrpg, Nexon sent emails to their players about the close beta applications and extended their service to Canada and Australia. A few weeks after the applications were closed; Nexon selected a limited numbers of testers and launched the close beta. According to BROWSERGAMEZ, Nexon declared that the testers will be rewarded when the game goes open beta. The closed beta was launched on the June 15^th and ended at June 20^th.

Davy Garaix, Dragon Nest Produer at Nexon America says that "The closed beta test exceeded our expectations considering the participation levels and the feedback we've been getting from players. The data we collected from the players and the responses they are providing via the Dragon Nest forums is proving invaluable as we continue to refine the game and make adjustments to the content and features." (mmosite) The close beta was a huge success that it didn’t take much time to release the Open Beta. According to Dragonnestosruce Open beta was launched on July 26. Many players joined open beta since the first hour it was launched. The game was free to play but players can donate money to support the company to be able to provide good services. According to mmorpg some failure Nexon had when they launched Dragon Nest is the classes are gender lock and it takes a large about of time to get to a higher level. Well that was Dragon Nest’s past when it was in Close/Open beta. Thank you and see you next time.

Sources:

- Dragon's Nest NA Closed BETA Applications - Closing June 1st - OnRPG Free MMORPG Forums. (n.d.). Free MMORPG Online Games & Free MMO RPG Directory - OnRPG.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://www.onrpg.com/boards/182364.html

- Dragon Nest NA Closed Beta Commence on June 15 - MMORPG News - MMOsite.com. (n.d.). MMORPG News - MMOsite.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://news.mmosite.com/content/2011-06-12

-Dragon Nest: Applications Are Closed and the Closed Beta Testing Has Begun | The latest news daily at browsergamez.com. (n.d.). Dragon Nest the free Online Game. Play Dragon Nest now for free | browsergamez.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://dragon-nest.browsergamez.com/news/1/764-dragon-nest-applications-are-closed-and-the-closed-beta-testing-has-begun.html

- Dragon Nest: Applications Are Closed and the Closed Beta Testing Has Begun | The latest news daily at browsergamez.com. (n.d.). Dragon Nest the free Online Game. Play Dragon Nest now for free | browsergamez.com. Retrieved December 2, 2011, from http://dragon-nest.browsergamez.com/news/1/764-dragon-nest-applications-are-closed-and-the-closed-beta-testing-has-begun.html

"Speed Run" podcast

In this post, a podcast/a video will be provided to explain the meaning of "speed run" and why its very important in the game. Have fun and I hope you like the podcast/video. This is my very first podcast, leave comments and tips for improvements and what not. Also a script is provided if you can't hear my voice well.

The Script:

Hello everyone, Yarsin here. Today you are going to learn how to speed run a dungeon. Speed run is very important in the game. Not only it helps you level up quick; you can also farm for materials and such. The best dungeon to speed run if you are below level 24 is Astral Coven Laboratory. Astral Coven Laboratory speed runs give you a lot of experience points and materials except you can only start doing it when you hit level 16. You won’t be able to speed run the dungeon by yourself before you hit 24. So you need to make a party with other people to speed up the process. But in this video, I am speed running the dungeon by myself because I am level 32 and have higher attack range. There are 3 sectors in the dungeon.

First Sector:

Kill the yellow spider mobs and go through the gate. More mobs will show up only this time with a mini boss, kill the yellow spider mobs and the mini boss and go towards the portal. You are done with the first sector and will be teleported to the second one.

Second Sector:

Go through the entrance, more spiders will appear, kill them. Go through the gate; more mobs will appear. But only kill the big yellow spiders and the mini boss then go toward the portal. You are done with the second sector and you will be teleported to the final sector.

Final Sector: The boss will appear with a cut scene, skip it to save time. Quickly try to kill the boss. When the boss is death, you are done. You receive your rewards and experience points. Keep speed running the dungeon till you are bored or tired of it.

Thank you for watching, see you next time.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Interview with "ArchDangel"

Aaron Young, in game and character name "ArchDangel", is one of the best guild member that is in my guild. We sat together in the game world and I had an interview with him about Dragon Nest. Aaron is one of the best player in Dragon Nest, I even call him "The Expert". I call him "The Expert" because he play Dragon Nest every day and very active in that game. He always try to find better gears and improve his skills. He probably know a lot more about the game than I do. Listed below is our little interview.

Me: Would you say that Dragon Nest is one of the best mmorpg games you encounter?

Aaron: Yes, I can say that Dragon nest is one of the best mmorpg games I have encountered.

Me: What advice(s)/tip(s) would you give to the people who just started playing Dragon Nest?

Aaron: One advice that I would give to new comers is that if use your real life and in game money wisely and monitor it.

Me: On a scale of 1-10; 10 being the highest, what would be your rating for Dragon Nest and why?

Aaron: I would rate Dragon Nest 8-9 out of 10 because it is an awesome game but some aspects can be improved to make it better.

Me: Is it necessary to spend money in this game?

Aaron: Not really, unless you don’t want to spend time farming for materials and gears.

Me: How many hours per week do you spend playing Dragon Nest?

Aaron: I spend at least 24 hours per week playing Dragon Nest.

Me: Were you in close beta testing for Dragon Nest?

Aaron: Unfortunately I wasn’t in close beta testing.

Not only Aaron try to make the best gears for his character; he helps other people in the group as well. Well that all for now. See you next time.

Interview with "Variare"

Today I interviewed Tara Intyrath, a university student that plays Dragon Nest. Her in game and character name is "Variare". We never played together in Dragon Nest since we both are on different servers. Tara is an average player, she don't spend much time on dragon nest, only plays when she have free times. Our conversation is shown below.

Me: What is Dragon Nest?
Tara: It's an MMORPG playable on the computer hosted by Nexon and created by Shanda and Eyedentity Games Companies.

Me: When did you start playing Dragon Nest?
Tara: I started playing Dragon Nest when it first launched its closed beta test, which I was accepted to play in.

Me: What class is your favorite and why?
Tara: My favorite class to play is Archer because of how fast the character is and that she can do close range attacks as well as far range.

Me: How did you find out about Dragon Nest?
Tara: I found out about Dragon Nest through a friend.

Me: How long have you been playing Dragon Nest?
Tara: Since the close beta opened during last summer.

Me: Is it necessary to spend money in this game?
Tara: No, not really.

Me: On a scale of 1-10; 10 being the highest, what would be your rating for Dragon Nest and why?
Tara: I would scale it a nine because the game has a great storyline as well as great graphics/animated cut scenes for being a free online game. It's also MMO and has the option of PvP, which is player vs player so if you're not into the whole story thing and more into beating other players up, you can do that.

Me: What advice would you give to the people who just started playing Dragon Nest?
Tara: Find friends to play with.

Me: Would you say that Dragon Nest is one of the best mmorpg games you encounter?
Tara: I think it is one of the greatest game I encountered.

Interview with "Dinrai"

Today, I interviewed Devin Leonard, the person who told me about Dragon Nest and got me addicted to it. Devin's in game and character name is "Dinrai". But I like to call him, "The Veteran" because he played Dragon Nest and his account was deactivated by Nexon due to inactivity. Below is the Q&A during the Interview.

Me: When did you start playing Dragon Nest?
Devin: Since the first close beta testing.

Me: What class is your favorite and why?
Devin: Warrior because I like close combat with fierce play style.

Me: How did you find out about Dragon Nest?
Devin: Through friends from Mabinogi/Vindictus (other games from Nexon).

Me: How long have you been playing Dragon Nest?
Devin: For about 5-7 months because I went inactive.

Me: How many hours per week do you spend playing Dragon Nest?
Devin: When I was playing, I play 30 hours or so per week.

Me: If Dragon Nest was pay to play, would you still play it?
Devin: Probably not, I like to play F2P (free to play) games.

Me: Is it necessary to spend money in this game?
Devin: It depends; you can spend money in this game if you really want to.

Me: On a scale of 1-10; 10 being the highest, what would be your rating for Dragon Nest and why?
Devin: I would rate this game 8 because some of the quests and dungeons get repetitive.

Me: Would you say that Dragon Nest is one of the best mmorpg games you encounter?
Devin: The game is fun and all but I would have to say no.

Devin is the person that introduce me to most of the mmorpg games. We usually play some mmorpg games together and have our own group.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Saint Heaven

Saint Haven

Saint Haven is a new town that was recently added to the Dragon Nest when Nexon updated the game. Saint Haven is a fortress; it has high walls to keep out intruders, monsters, enemies and a castle right in the middle. The king and the royalties live in the castle. The only way to get to Saint Haven is by traveling in an air ship. You have to board the air ship in Caderock Pass and ride it all the way to Saint Haven (image shown below).

Along with Saint Haven came the increase of level cap; players were stuck at level 24 but now they can go all the way up to level 32. Players were also given new quests, story lines, items and dungeons that are related to Saint Haven. One of the popular dungeons that is in Saint Haven is Cerberus Nest. In Cerberus Nest, players have to fight multiple bosses before they could get to the main boss. The main boss is a three headed Hellhound. Players have to slay the Hellhound in order to finish the dungeons and receive epic rewards and new items (image shown below).

Unlike the other towns, Saint Haven is a huge town with lots of Non- player characters (NPC). Non-player characters are computer generated and designed so that the players can interact with the game. The players can receive quests, rewards, and friendships from the NPCs throughout the game. One of the NPC that is well known and famous amount players is "Irine"; she is located in every town unlike other NPCs (images show below).

Saint Haven Map