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RIFT's Telara the Merciless open beta starts February 15th
Let's face it. This time next week, some of us will be entirely sick of all the warm, fuzzy, cuddle-bug lovin' that typically signifies mid-February. Thankfully Trion Worlds is here to remind us that there are plenty of dragons, plate-clad pretty people, and a violent, war-torn world to explore when we've had our fill of Valentine's Day chocolates, truffles, and pink. On February 15th, gamers across the land will be able to take part in RIFT's six-day open beta extravaganza. The event is billed as Telara the Merciless and will feature two playable factions, 42 levels, three PvP warfronts, and several explorable zones and dungeons. Signups are going on now, and you can also get ahead of the competition by pre-ordering and securing a spot in the head start event (February 24th to March 1st). Finally, any dungeon boss that dies by your hand grants you a chance to win a spiffy Nvidia graphics card as well as an in-game prize pack. Get the full details at RIFT's official website.
The Mog Log: Answering unasked questions
Sometimes, you wind up with what amounts to a perfect case of convergence. After a busy and stressful week, there's nothing I'd like more than to have an opportunity to relax with an enjoyable game -- and gee, Final Fantasy XIV came out on Wednesday. Seeing the release means a lot to me for a variety of reasons, but the most immediate reason is it means I have something to do from the moment I wake up Saturday to the moment I go to sleep Sunday. I couldn't be happier about that. Of course, a certain amount of confusion is going to go hand-in-hand with that, so I'm slightly cheating on our regular format, helped by the fact that this month has been a little light on normal questions. The last Saturday of the month always covers questions and answers... but this month, I'm going to be covering the questions that come up most frequently while playing Final Fantasy XIV that don't fall under any of our prior articles on the game. So yes, it's another week without much Final Fantasy XI love. I beg your forgiveness, but I will stay the course.
Final Fantasy XIV's open beta has an announced conclusion
Love it or hate it, Final Fantasy XIV's open beta has given players a fair idea of what to expect when the game goes live near the end of the month. But all good things must draw to a close (or bad things if you're in the other camp), and so too must the game's beta testing. Today, Square-Enix announced that the open beta will close on September 19th, a mere three days before the launch of the collector's edition with its headstart. Although the beta will be fully closed at 5:00 p.m. PDT on the 19th, the beta tester site will remain open until the following day at 12:00 a.m. PDT. While there's only a bit more than a week left of the testing, the steady pace of patches makes it clear that the game will likely be updating straight through to launch. So if you haven't gotten enough of Final Fantasy XIV testing to sate your interest, positive or negative, now would be the time to get to playing.
EverQuest's Underfoot expansion pushed back to December
It looks like EverQuest's upcoming expansion, Underfoot, will not be launching in November as was originally planned. A notice on the EQPlayers website has informed the community that the new launch date is the 15th of December, thankfully not too far from the previously nominated time frame. The reason given for the delay was fairly predictable: "To ensure that we can give our players the best possible gameplay experience and the amount of content that they've come to expect". Hopefully the extra time leads to a better expansion.Just as before, players can still get early access to the expansion by participating in all three of the events in the "Road to Underfoot" series. So far only two of the events have actually been revealed; the first is "Giants, Giants, Giants", and the second is the "Ancient Heroes" event that was introduced with this week's game update. This leaves one more event to be unveiled later on. The cut-off date to participate in all three of them and qualify for the head-start is December 1st, with early access to begin on December 8th. Just remember that you have to pre-order and pay off the Underfoot expansion too! You can visit the Road to Underfoot homepage to get all the details on the events.
Hello Kitty Online Founder's Beta announced
Collector's Editions, in-game exclusives, and headstarts aren't limited to hotly-anticipated MMOs in the fantasy genre. More casual MMOs are now offering additional incentives and benefits to gamers who are devoted to their given IP. A case-in-point is Hello Kitty Online and their newly-announced Founder's offer. The Hello Kitty Online Founder's Beta will allow those selected to play the game ahead of launch while participating in special in-game events. Here's how to become a Founder in two easy steps:1. Sign up for a SanrioTown.com account.2. Using your SanrioTown account, send a BLANK email to hkofounder@hellokitty.com.That's it. Founders should have some new things to look forward to from Hello Kitty Online, according to the official site: "an improved interface, new monsters, new maps, new items, and the opening of London and Paris. The Founders' Beta will also introduce gameplay changes such as an improved skill system, pet systems and team-play oriented enhancements." If you're curious about this title, either for yourself or for one of the little people in your life, don't wait too long to become a Founder -- this stage of beta testing begins on October 8th. If you're thinking about giving it a shot, be sure to check out the full details in the Hello Kitty Online News and Update page. [Via MMORPG]
AoC Early Access program sold out
So it seems that a lot of people want to play Age of Conan a few days early. The Early Access program that was offered to those who pre-ordered the game has sold out for all English versions of the game, with limited spots left for Germany and France. If you have a pre-order code for your in-game items, that will still work, but if you didn't actually register and buy your early access by this point, you're out of luck.This has obviously left many players upset and angry, and the forum thread that broke the news is filled with people lamenting their ruined weekend. Some direct their anger towards retailers who failed to provide their codes in time, others point the finger at Funcom. Regardless of Funcom's reason for restricting early access places, a number of forum posters have highlighted the community site's earlier mention of the limited availability: "Hurry though, because the Early Access is only available while supply lasts!". That won't help ease the pain though for those who had their hearts set on lopping heads off on the 17th.[Thanks, ScytheNoire!]
