War of Legends
Encyclopedia
War of Legends is a massively multiplayer online strategy game set in "a world of ancient Chinese mythology
" and was published by Jagex Games Studio
on January 19, 2010. It is the company's first full online strategy game, the first game to be published by the company rather than produced by them, the first game published by Jagex not to be written in Java
, and the company's first microtransaction
game.
Players are able to choose the gender of their lord as well as either the Monk, Seer, or Warrior avatar. Players are also able to choose what sort of terrain their landscape is built on. Gender has a purely cosmetic effect whilst avatar and landscape type alter their abilities in game. The Lords are "Legends", who are "great heroes" who lead the armies in the game. Players are able to recruit further NPC
Legends by reaching set game criteria.
The player starts with one city, but with a higher position in the game, they can build 'sub-cities' on flat ground. The maximum amount of sub-cities a player can have is determined by their official position, to a current maximum of five (Six cities in total, including the capital). Players have the option of creating buildings, harvesting resources, and training an army. Every building is rated by a "level" system, the maximum of which is 20, but outskirts buildings can go up to the level of 25 with the use of advanced sketches (an in game item), and famous cities (special sub-cities that can't be made by players) can go up to 25 or 30 on both city and outskirts, depending on what type it is. There are 3 areas available to players, Their city, outskirts (where resource buildings are kept) and the map where other players cities and wildlands are among other things. There are five different resources: Gold, stone, copper, food, and wood. A player's city is always "live
" in the game, which means the city can be attacked even when the player is not logged on. War of Legends offers new players a "new player protection" where they are protected for the first seven days of their gameplay. This prevents them from being attacked by other players. This protection wears off after the seventh day of play or if their palace (central building) is upgraded to a level of 10 or higher.
The game ranks players and alliances based on their reputation while also ranking Legends based on level and stats and cities based on level and population.
If players successfully build an 'ally base' they can join player alliances, bringing new tasks, items, other players to talk with, to help or be helped or simply chat. Players can donate gold and WoLcash to their alliances to help raise their levels and help towards research. With a level 2 ally base players can create their own alliance allowing 7 people in it. This amount can be raised by upgrading the ally base in a player's city.
This is the first time that Jagex has used a microtransaction system.
Fansites
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written tradition. These include creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state...
" and was published by Jagex Games Studio
Jagex
Jagex Games Studio, based in Cambridge, is the UK’s largest independent developer and publisher of online games. Jagex is best known for RuneScape, the world's largest free-to-play MMORPG....
on January 19, 2010. It is the company's first full online strategy game, the first game to be published by the company rather than produced by them, the first game published by Jagex not to be written in Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
, and the company's first microtransaction
Virtual good
Virtual goods are non-physical objects purchased for use in online communities or online games. They have no intrinsic value and are intangible by definition....
game.
Gameplay
The game is a real-time strategy game in which players take the role of a "Lord" who controls a kingdom. The aim of the game is to develop the kingdom through the construction and upgrading of buildings in cities, recruit armies with which to defend their cities and attack other players, the research of various skills to perform tasks more effectively & to gather resources with which to pay for these activities. Players can also choose to complete Tasks to gain various stat and item bonuses.Players are able to choose the gender of their lord as well as either the Monk, Seer, or Warrior avatar. Players are also able to choose what sort of terrain their landscape is built on. Gender has a purely cosmetic effect whilst avatar and landscape type alter their abilities in game. The Lords are "Legends", who are "great heroes" who lead the armies in the game. Players are able to recruit further NPC
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
Legends by reaching set game criteria.
The player starts with one city, but with a higher position in the game, they can build 'sub-cities' on flat ground. The maximum amount of sub-cities a player can have is determined by their official position, to a current maximum of five (Six cities in total, including the capital). Players have the option of creating buildings, harvesting resources, and training an army. Every building is rated by a "level" system, the maximum of which is 20, but outskirts buildings can go up to the level of 25 with the use of advanced sketches (an in game item), and famous cities (special sub-cities that can't be made by players) can go up to 25 or 30 on both city and outskirts, depending on what type it is. There are 3 areas available to players, Their city, outskirts (where resource buildings are kept) and the map where other players cities and wildlands are among other things. There are five different resources: Gold, stone, copper, food, and wood. A player's city is always "live
Persistent world
A persistent world is a virtual world that continues to exist even after a user exits the world and that user-made changes to its state are, to some extent, permanent...
" in the game, which means the city can be attacked even when the player is not logged on. War of Legends offers new players a "new player protection" where they are protected for the first seven days of their gameplay. This prevents them from being attacked by other players. This protection wears off after the seventh day of play or if their palace (central building) is upgraded to a level of 10 or higher.
The game ranks players and alliances based on their reputation while also ranking Legends based on level and stats and cities based on level and population.
If players successfully build an 'ally base' they can join player alliances, bringing new tasks, items, other players to talk with, to help or be helped or simply chat. Players can donate gold and WoLcash to their alliances to help raise their levels and help towards research. With a level 2 ally base players can create their own alliance allowing 7 people in it. This amount can be raised by upgrading the ally base in a player's city.
History
War of Legends was released on 19 January 2010 as Jagex's first non-Java based game, and first to feature microtransactions. It was officially released out of beta on 31 March 2010 with a large update released simultaneously, players registered before this time were given in-game items (gold charm, divine boon, coffer) as a reward.Business model / WoLCash
Whilst the game is free to play, players can choose to purchase a variety of in-game items through the use of the "WoLCash" / Jagex microtransaction system. The in-game items can be used to speed up development, train new skills, and make more money, giving paying players an advantage over non-paying players. Players can, with the completion of tasks, obtain 'vouchers' which work the same as Wolcash, but can be obtained for free; however, they cannot be used to buy all items.This is the first time that Jagex has used a microtransaction system.
External links
OfficialFansites
- Recognised Fansite: LegendsHQ
- Recognised Fansite: LegendsTower
- Recognised Fansite: War of Legends Wiki
- War of Legends at DotMMO