DarkOrbit
| DarkOrbit | |||
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| Strategic online browser game | |||
| Publisher |
 Bigpoint
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| Senior Developer |
Bigpoint
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| Erstveröffent- lichung |
December 11, 2006 |
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| platform | Web browser , Adobe Flash | ||
| genre | MMOG | ||
| control | Mouse , keyboard | ||
| language | English , German , French , Italian , Spanish , Russian , Turkish , Polish | ||
| Age rating |
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DarkOrbit is a browser game from Bigpoint . It has been online since December 2006 and claims to have over 96 million registered users. In fact, only a low six-digit number of players is still active. (As of September 2017) The game is available worldwide in various languages.
Structure of the game
In DarkOrbit you play as a pilot of a virtual spaceship on space maps on which aliens , non-player characters (NPC) or enemy ships can be shot down. By collecting so-called experience points and solving tasks, so-called quests, you can reach higher and higher levels and buy better equipment. However, you can also achieve the best possible equipment at any time during the game by wagering money by purchasing play money, so-called uridium, with real money.
The game mechanics are two-dimensional with a 3D look and are based on Adobe Flash . DarkOrbit can be played with all common web browsers on which this plug-in is installed.
There are several cross-border game instances (global instances) as well as separate instances for the strongest countries. There are currently seven instances in Germany. Due to the falling number of players, a reduction in the number of instances (currently 61) by merging several national instances is in progress.
Game objective
The game does not have a specific main objective. However, goals include, for example, owning the best possible equipment and reaching higher levels, the latter being possible by collecting "experience points". Until July 2015, the main goal for many players was to win the “Jackpot Arena” (previously: Jackpot Battle). You had to compete against several players in one-on-one knockout duels. The winner received the sum of the jackpot previously collected in bonus boxes (maximum € 10,000) in real money. The “Jackpot Arena” was abolished in July 2015.
Several add-ons have been published on CD for DarkOrbit , including one in the magazine Computer Bild Spiele issue 06/2009, each of which contains exclusive ship designs as well as free equipment and premium access for a certain period of time. A test project also linked the game to the iPhone via GPS using an application . The player could go to marked locations in the real world to collect ammunition and goods for the game.
Game details
Companies
There are three companies fighting against each other. The player must select one of the three companies when registering. The companies are Mars Mining Operations (MMO), Earth Industries Corporation (EIC) and Venus Resources Unlimited (VRU). Depending on the choice of their home company, players start on different playing cards. In addition, a change of company is possible after registration. The costs amount to 5000 Uridium and a loss of honor points of 50%, which can be a big loss after a long playing time.
Clans
Each player can create a new group ( clan ) or join an existing clan for a certain amount of play money . If you join a clan, you usually support each other there in order to solve missions together or to compete against hostile companies or NPCs (non-person characters). Clan members must (if ordered by the clan head) pay a certain percentage of their game money (credits) daily into the clan treasury, which the clan head can later pay out to a member if necessary. Members with the appropriate authorization can also pay out credits. Most of the time the clans are limited to one company. However, there is also the possibility of forming cross-company clans, which have received a strong influx in recent years due to the falling number of players.
Ranks and titles
In DarkOrbit there are ranks that show how "good" the player is. The rank with which every new player starts is called "Basic Space Pilot". The highest rank is that of a "general", although there is only one in each company, so a total of three per game server. Ranks are earned by the player through so-called "rank points". You get this z. B. by shooting aliens, by missions, by locking so-called galaxy gates (see below) or by shooting down enemy spaceships of another company. The amount of experience and honor points also has an influence on the ranking points.
There are “achievement titles” for achieving certain goals (“achievements”), e.g. B. the godfather when shooting 100,000,000 experience points.
Galaxy Gates
In the game (as of September 2017) outside of events, completing so-called Galaxy Gates is the main element of the game. These are roughly comparable to simplified dungeons . Various items of equipment can only be obtained in them except for real money. They are also important for reaching a higher rank, as they bring in a lot of honor points compared to other game methods (e.g. PvE or PvP ), which make a big contribution to the ranking.
Every Saturday and Sunday there are special promotions, for example doubling the reward received from Galaxy Gates or a 50% bonus on honor points.
Game costs and addiction factor
Registering and playing DarkOrbit is free. According to PC-Welt , Bigpoint's slogan should actually be “test all games for free”. The search for respect and the expectations of clans can put pressure on the player to create a strong avatar. You can only buy high-quality virtual equipment with the so-called "Uridium". This high-quality raw material can only be found rarely and in small quantities in the space of “Dark Orbit”, which tempts you to buy it with real money. In the regular promotions "Mega Happy Hour" (tripling the purchased Uridium) or "Helix Hour" (variable percentage between 350% and 400% by which the purchased Uridium is multiplied) and in various special promotions, the Uridium and game items are clear to get cheaper. In 2008, ambitious gamers sometimes spent up to € 30,000 and more on top equipment. If you didn't want to be one of the best players, but were satisfied with being a "good" player, a budget of around € 1000 had to be budgeted at this point. In a press release in 2009, the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer center warned against several games, including Dark Orbit, as a “perfidious rip-off of children and young people”. Players have the option to pay or get shot while collecting Uridium, which is easily done. A premium package costs € 6 (term: one month), € 30 (term: six months) or € 50 (term: one year), which means that a subscription for the continuation of the package was automatically taken out at the time. This practice was later abandoned. According to the managing director, it is possible to win all items of equipment without spending money, it only costs more time. Recently (as of September 2017), due to the falling number of players, various facilities for new players and special promotions were launched in order to reduce the cost of a fully equipped account.
Bigpoint achieved total sales in the three-digit million range in 2009, with Dark Orbit being one of the company's three most popular games.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Home page of the game ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Activity statistics of the individual DarkOrbit instances
- ↑ Important changes in the development of DarkOrbit!
- ↑ Announcement of the producers - JPA paused until further notice!
- ↑ Fly through space for free with “Dark Orbit” , Welt Online, June 3, 2009
- ↑ Dark Orbit: External mission with iPhone in the real world Golem.de, October 22, 2009
- ↑ a b Damian Robota: No Age Control - Payment Made Easy , PC-Welt, November 23, 2007.
- ↑ a b Damian Robot: Captured under a spell , PC-Welt, November 23, 2007.
- ^ A b Damian Robota: Free Online Games , PC World, November 23, 2007.
- ↑ a b Damian Robota: Virtual goods for 1580 euros , PC-Welt, November 23, 2007.
- ↑ Ulrich Dunst, Manfred Neuper: Free games as expensive fun ( Memento from September 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), Kleine Zeitung, August 28, 2008.
- ↑ Warning against free games on the Internet: Perfidious rip-off with childish instinct to play ( memento from June 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) , North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Center, October 8, 2009.
- ↑ Lisa Hemmerich: The latest recipe for success on the Internet , Der Bund, July 28, 2010.
