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Mortal Online delayed another month
The world has shuddered to a halt today, as news of a delay for Mortal Online's impending launch hit stock markets and internet forums everywhere. Of course, perhaps it only felt like that to fans who have been eagerly awaiting this game for years at this point. Although the hardcore MMO was scheduled to launch in March, Mortal Online's Henrik Nystrom posted on the forums yesterday that technical issues were forcing an unfortunate yet necessary delay of an additional month: "As you know we have been working hard to solve our desync issue within the game to have a proper release of Mortal Online. We have made some progress but we think we have hit the limits on the current version of the network solution we are using. We believed we had the solution before end of March but we now see that this is not possible at the moment therefore we have to postpone the release for another month. We have been working very hard day and night now for some years and finally started to see the goal and release, we just have to put another gear in before we are going to release Mortal Online. Thank you for your feedback and support that helped us to take this important decision. We will announce a final release date at a later time." You can read the full announcement on the Mortal Online forums, and stay tuned to Massively for upcoming first impressions and a firm launch date of this PvP title. [Thanks Bartillo!]
Mortal Online to launch this month
If you've been watching the development of Mortal Online, you may know that open beta has started at the beginning of February, and the guys at Star Vault have been hard at work improving and polishing the game. Players watching the progression of the game have been pretty curious to know when launch is. Well, we have our answer, and if you're in a hurry for launch to arrive you are going to be pretty happy. Word came to the Mortal Online site yesterday that the game will launch in March of this year. That gives Star Vault just over two weeks to finish all of the final touches, a situation that might make those familiar with the game so far a bit nervous about what to expect at launch. No worries, say the guys manning the controls:"The largest part of problems in the game right now is directly related to the desync between client and server. We are confident that with the next patch on Monday most, if not all of those problems will be solved." More details are in the official announcement, and there's a brand-new game trailer for you to look at after the jump!
Mortal Online's open beta starts February 1st
The upcoming sandbox MMO from Star Vault, Mortal Online, is finally entering its awaited open beta on February 1st. While the game has been in testing for quite some time, getting beta access meant pre-ordering a copy of the game, which turned several people off from the idea. But not only is the game going to become easier to take part in testing starting on Monday, there are two carrots thrown in to help entice players. First off, any existing beta characters will not be wiped upon the commencement of open beta. That means anyone already playing, whether in the closed beta or as part of the game's recent stress test, will get to keep their character that they've worked on. Second, while in open beta the game's price will be dropped by five euros (about $7), which means that if you like the game, it's even easier to decide to make it a full-time home. Downsides? Only one - as community manager Maerlyn points out, the testing will be based on a single server cluster in Stockholm, so their may be server caps or slight connection issues depending on distance. But that's hardly enough to take away from the good news. If you've been waiting for Mortal Online, your day is almost here. [ Thanks to Bartillo and David for the tip! ]
Mortal Online gearing up for stress test
The last bit of news we heard about the upcoming Mortal Online was the sad news that the launch had been pushed back to early this year. Luckily, today's news is significantly happier for fans of the game, even if you're not currently in the beta. The official word from community manager Maerlyn is that they're beginning a limited open beta early next week: specifically, a stress test of the game's servers. They want to get as many people online as humanly possible, and that means anyone with an account set up can log in -- beta tester or not. Maerlyn emphasizes that the event is not meant as an "entertainment" event, although it still promises to be fun -- most likely meaning that those of you hoping to run around unrestrained will be slightly curtailed. The stress test will follow the deployment of a brand new patch to the game, although the content and updates of that patch are as of yet undisclosed. Still, any Mortal Online fans looking forward to the open beta -- or to the release of the game -- should be more than a little excited. Keep a close watch on the official forums for the announcement of exact dates and times. [ Thanks to George for the tip! ]
Mortal Online newsletter announces launch delays, holiday discounts
We all know that launch dates for an MMO are loose targets at best and long shots in the darkness at worst. While it's disappointing when a game doesn't hit the target date, by and large players are used to it and all but expect it to happen -- it's part of the cycle. But it's still more than a little depressing to see that Mortal Online, the upcoming game from Star Vault, is going to be delayed by a month. That's the word in the latest newsletter for the game's fans, which is a bit of a depressing way to lead into the holidays, to say the least. The Limited Editions of the boxed game will also be seeing a slight delay, due to production issues with the artbook included. To compensate purchasers of the Limited Edition, an extra week of free playtime is being added to make up for the delayed ship. And to help take the sting off the entire sad process of delaying the game, Star Vault is offering discounts on both digital downloads and the last boxed editions of the game. Mortal Online's fans and beta testers are still likely to be sad about the delay, of course, but a few little bonuses never fail to take the edge off.
Curious about Mortal Online? Ask the developers your questions
Mortal Online is a game we've been following closely here at Massively. Developed by Swedish studio Star Vault, the game promises some features that are unique to the realm of fantasy MMOs. But we've heard that all before, haven't we? In a time when MMO gamers tend to be more skeptical about new offerings, it's good to see some concrete evidence and first-hand information on games that fly the "unique" flag. With Mortal Online's NDA lift last week, we figured this would be the best time to interview the development team before the game aims for an official launch. Following our recent tradition of gathering questions straight from the Massively readers, we want your questions! Email your Mortal Online questions to shawn AT massively DOT com before Thursday, December 3rd at 8am EST, and we'll gather up the ten best for Star Vault. Once they're answered, we'll post the complete Q&A here on the site.
Mortal Online lifts the NDA
Getting into a closed beta is usually good news for the player, with one unmistakable caveat -- the NDA. You can't talk about anything that's going on when you play the game, either the cool features that are encouraging to anyone on the fence about the game or the horrible problems that make it a miserable slog. Mortal Online has long been fairly quiet to the outside simply because of its NDA -- but that changes now. As of today, the NDA is lifted on the game and it can be discussed freely. Henrik Nystrom on the official forums explains that while the game is still undergoing more polish, the core features have all been implemented and tested, which means that the developers are comfortable having the game discussed and dissected elsewhere. The post also states that the release date might be pushed back a little, as well as the plans for the game to move into a fully-open free-to-play beta as they move on to the next phase of testing. It's certainly good news for people interested in Mortal Online who didn't want to purchase the game sight-unseen. So, if you've been playing the game in beta so far, what are your thoughts? You can tell us all about it now. [Thanks Mortal Online Radio!]
Mortal Online devs appearing on MO-Radio
MO-Radio, the fan run Mortal Online radio show, has boasted some familiar names as guests on their Tuesday Night Talk Show for the past few months. Quite a few members of the Star Vault development team have visited, including concept artist Hannu Kokkonen, programmer Max Lindgren, and sound design dev Henrik Ekholm as well as a few others. The weekly show topics have covered some great details of Mortal Online design, and it's great to see the dev team being so involved with a fan endeavor. Their latest guest is Andreas Springare (level design). He will be appearing on tomorrow's show, titled "It's not the next level, it's the fourth wall!" While the show airs for the first time tomorrow, reruns will air three times on Wednesday for anyone who missed it. Take a look at the official show site for a full schedule, and on the Mortal Online forums for an overview of Tuesday Night Talk Show.
Mortal Online interview explains game's concept and design elements
Mortal Online is a new fantasy MMO, presently in beta, from Sweden-based developer Star Vault. While Mortal Online is a game we haven't learned a great deal about so far at Massively, we have gathered a few things about the title. We know Mortal Online has an emphasis on PvP, with comparisons being made between this title and Darkfall, but it would be inaccurate to say it's only going to be a game that PvPers will enjoy. MO has a deep crafting system as well; in fact, all game items can be crafted by players. Star Vault is also dispensing with some of the conventions typical of fantasy MMOs in favor of new or different approaches: no levels or experience points; no quests or instances; first person view rather than third person; combat that requires manual aiming/targeting; no NPCs that drop items they couldn't possibly have -- bears won't drop golden coins, for example. There's now some more info about the game in an interview at MMORPG.com with Mortal Online Creative Director Mats Persson. He explains some of the basic concepts behind the first-person sandbox of Mortal Online, and how it's "a niche skill-based fantasy game for a mature audience."
Mortal Online beta stage 2 opening August 3rd
Star Vault's Mortal Online seems to be progressing quite nicely as their second stage of closed beta is set to open next week. On August 3rd, 2,000 more players will be unleashed on the beta servers with even more to come in the following months. As previously mentioned, these blocks of beta players will be let in according to a schedule posted on their site. With 10k total slots available in the beta, players who pre-order the game are being allowed in every other week from July 20th to September 14th.If you're curious about this highly-anticipated MMO, check out their website or our recent coverage for more information on how to play and how to pre-order and secure your own spot in the beta.
Mortal Online's beta testing starts today
In a world where 2,000 people have entered, one man will... actually, I don't think I need the epic movie voice opening for this post. I think I'll go with the Kermit the Frog style opener. Mortal Online's closed beta has started today, yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!This first block, beta block A, welcomes the initial wave of players into a cut-down version of the game to make sure that the back-end systems are working properly. Of these 2,000 players, 999 of them holders of the limited edition copies of the game, and one of them is the guy who paid 5,100 dollars for the first copy of the game to be made. The other 1,000 players are pre-order players according to the "first come, first serve" schedule.However, the sales of MO didn't go off without a hitch, as the overwhelming demand crushed their professional sales partner, GlobalCollect. GlobalCollect's servers were struggling over all of the intense pressure from buyers, causing the store to be temporarily closed while Star Vault collects the first sales information from GlobalCollect.But, for those of you who have gotten into the beta, enjoy the game while the rest of us sit outside, waiting for the shop to re-open.
Mortal Online pre-orders to begin Monday, July 13
Mortal Online is the upcoming massively multiplayer online game being developed by Star Vault, one that will have a deep crafting system in addition to a heavy emphasis on PvP. We've mentioned the details of the limited run of Mortal Online collectors editions and the subsequent delay of Mortal Online pre-orders. The second time's a charm though, we're hoping. It seems that Star Vault is on track to begin pre-orders on Monday, July 13th (at 20:00 GMT +1), according to the announcement in the latest Mortal Online news update. In addition to the pre-orders, Monday will also bring announcements from Star Vault about the game's first beta phase and Mortal Online's system requirements. You can check out the full details in Star Vault's announcement on the official game site.
Mortal Online pre-orders delayed by two weeks
We announced some details about the Mortal Online pre-order which was slated to kick off today in the game's online store. However the Mortal Online developers, Star Vault, announced there will be a two-week delay with the launch of the Mortal Online online store. Star Vault CEO Henrik Nystrom announced: "On the 25th of June we brought you some good stuff, but today we have to bring you bad news. We have been working very hard to get the shop up and for it to accept different methods of payment, however it's not obvious we have been too optimistic this time as we have encountered several last-minute problems.More information and a new schedule will be announced on the Mortal Online game store soon." (Thanks for the tip, Rhys)
The Daily Grind: Will you be picking up the Mortal Online CE?
When we heard about the all the goodies in the Mortal Online Collector's Edition - combined with the especially cool one that's up on eBay, with 100% of the proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders - we were pretty impressed. Not only are Star Vault starting off on a great foot PR-wise with their special charity auction, but it sounds like the extras in their CE version are pretty cool - at least, if you were planning on buying Mortal Online anyway! So if you're one of the hardcore PvP MMO fiends, is this on your list of things to get? Are you frustrated by the extremely short notice? Or are you psyched to finally get some details on it - and chomping at the bit to get into beta?
Star Vault reveals Mortal Online beta and pre-order details, launch info
Another competitor in the hardcore PvP niche in MMOs may give Darkfall Online a run for their money: Mortal Online from Sweden-based developer Star Vault. The game is presently in closed beta and is about to get its first test of the release build. The real news here is that Mortal Online has announced its open beta and release schedules. Pre-orders for Mortal Online will begin on June 29th via the official site, and the actual launch (with monthly subscriptions) is slated for Q4 2009. Anyone who pre-orders the game "in any of the formats available" will have access to all of the beta phases remaining until the title launches. The catch, however, is that the pre-orders are limited to 10,000 people.
Analyzing Mortal Online: Is it for you?
Mortal Online is a game that has piqued the interest of many bored or jaded MMO gamers lately, as it has a few features that promise to be different. What's that? You've heard it all before, dozens of times? Yes, but this time it's different! Seriously though, don't take our word for it (because none of us have actually played the game...), but as we get closer to the game's launch, we're still getting a lot of info on the game to possibly even excite us. Yes, even the jaded among us.In a recent feature article at IncGamers, they take an in-depth look at what the game has to offer, thanks to a recent presentation by Star Vault, Mortal Online's developer. "We would like you to please forget your preconceptions of MMORPGs." Star Vault begins the presentation by saying. "Mortal Online deviates from most modern fantasy MMO's, and although it contains a lot of elements from let's say World of Warcraft or Age of Conan, the playing experience is very, very different from those games." Check out the complete 3-page article to learn more about what Mortal Online has to offer. You might find it's just the game for you, if released with everything they claim.
Quick Mortal Online preview
Mike at MMOCrunch has a short look at Star Vault's Mortal Online, a Swedish MMOG still in development. He doesn't get in depth, but does a good job of summarizing the game's selling points. The game appears to hail from the open world school of design, offering open looting; real-time, Elder Scrolls-esque combat; and level-free advancement (it's still a class-based game). What sticks out here is the Deva system: "There is a third type called Deva Skills," he says, "which is a skill that links all your created players. For instance, if you learned "Poison Making" and made this your Deva skill, any future characters you create will automatically have this skill so you don't need to retrain them."Mortal Online is due out sometime this summer, but given how quiet the official site is - and the fact the game isn't yet in beta (sign up here)- a summer release likely isn't in the cards.
Mortal Online reveals beta signups, new video, and well rendered buffalo
So you guys flooded our in-boxes with requests for us to cover Mortal Online's beta registration opening up. So, without further ado, Mortal Online's beta registration is open. Also, they have some new in-game footage on their front page.What? You were expecting something more? A few paragraphs at least? Ok, ok, you twisted our arms enough. Mortal Online is the new PvP MMO that everyone's squeeing about -- one that's set up to attempt to out Darkfall, well, Darkfall.Sporting game systems very closely related to Darkfall's, such as skill based progression and action based combat, Mortal Online is a PvP, action based, first person MMO being run on the Unreal Engine. From what we've been able to see from the in-game footage, MO will be a bit slower combat-wise when compared to Darkfall, but will feature more interactivity between the user and the environment through well placed camera angles and the ability to see your own body.The video shows horse riding, dungeon crawling with a torch in one hand and sword in the other, mounted combat, and even a peek at siege weaponry through the use of a ballista. If it sounds like something you're interested in, jump on over to their main webpage or download the official video through their torrent.[Thanks, Jonathan, Daniel, Amisch, and Brian!]
Star Vault announces new MMO: Mortal Online
Swedish developer Star Vault has officially introduced the world to its first game, an MMO by the name of Mortal Online. The game's official site has launched, and visitors are treated to the above trailer upon arrival -- and as far as first impressions go, we'll say that the graphics certainly do look good (a disclaimer at the start even promises that what we're seeing is real in-game footage). Higher quality versions of the teaser can be found here.Of course, it takes more than just pretty graphics to have a successful MMO, and from looking at some of the proposed features of Mortal Online it would appear that the developers are well aware of this. The game will be played in first-person, and one of the primary focuses will be hardcore PvP, with a real-time combat system. Couple this with the fact that there will be no leveling at all, and you start to realize that we're looking at a very different game here.
