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Mike O'Brien: Guild Wars 2's beta weekend 'overwhelming'
Mike O'Brien said that the result of Guild Wars 2's initial public beta weekend was "overwhelming in more ways than one." ArenaNet's president took the time to write up a short blog post reflecting on the outcome of the past beta weekend and the reasoning behind this coming Monday's surprise stress test. According to O'Brien, while the feedback from the event was quite positive, the team had to struggle with unexpected demand for the game. Even after the management temporarily turned off the ability for players' ability to pre-purchase the title through ArenaNet, the game's 48 servers couldn't contain the influx of testers and beta tourists. It wasn't just a PR stunt, however. "This was definitely a real beta, designed to find problems, gather player input, and learn what work still needs to be done before we ship the game," O'Brien stated. The team is anticipating a bigger crowd with the next beta weekend, which is why it's running a seven-hour stress test on May 14th to test new changes.
The Secret World reaches one million beta signups
It's hard to fathom how you can have "secret" societies when over a million new people know about them, but somehow we don't think Funcom's sweating the security breach. In fact, the studio seems quite proud of the fact that a million players have signed up to test The Secret World. The Facebook tie-in is also getting record views, with almost two million visits over the past few weeks. Senior Vice President Morten Larssen sees this as a shining omen for a dark world: "Shattering our previous beta records gives us great hope for The Secret World's launch and its future. Combining this positive number with the excellent feedback we have received from both beta testers and the press that have played the game, make us very optimistic for a successful launch of The Secret World." Anyone who's pre-ordered The Secret World can get in on tomorrow's beta weekend, the first of several that Funcom's planning in the lead up to release. This beta weekend will be focused on the Templar starting experience and the area of Solomon Island.
Guild Wars 2 hosting a surprise stress test next Monday
Are you in withdrawal after the last Guild Wars 2 testing weekend? Feeling the need to get back in the game, even if it's just for one night? If so, you're in luck, as the team has just recently announced that the game will be performing a surprise stress test on Monday, May 14th between 2:00 p.m. EDT until 9:00 p.m. EDT. It's a chance to log back in, play for a bit, and get more of a taste for the game over those seven hours. Worth noting is that the stress test is only for pre-purchasers, but beyond that there are no specific test requirements -- you can continue using the characters you created during the beta weekend. Players may experience some slight performance issues, since the purpose is to try and alleviate issues before the next beta weekend rolls around. So if you've pre-purchased the game, get ready to head back to Tyria in less than a week's time.
The Secret World announces first beta weekend
Beta weekends are all the rage these days, and now Funcom is getting in on the action. The studio has announced that its upcoming fantasy-horror MMO, The Secret World, will be the subject of a series of weekend beta tests, the first of which is beginning this weekend. From Friday until Sunday, players who were lucky enough to get their hands on beta keys via preorders or giveaways will be able to jump into the boots of a Templar initiate. After undergoing the proper procedures for joining the less-than-secretive secret organization, players will be whisked away to Solomon Island, New England, where they will be tasked with finding the source of the ancient evil threatening Kingsmouth. The full details of the beta weekend, including a handy-dandy FAQ, can be found over at The Secret World's official site.
Flameseeker Chronicles: After beta action report
Well there you have it, ladies and gents: The first Guild Wars 2 beta weekend over which people had direct control over their participation has come and gone. It was quite the exciting weekend, and it's amazing to see the volume and content of feedback being provided. If you missed out on a chance to get your hands on the game, feel free to form some vicarious impressions; there's tons of footage out there from oodles of people. Massively has a few streams recorded, and I have a niggling feeling that someone will have plenty of extra footage. It was great to be back in the game, it was great to get to talk about stuff with people and stream and share pictures, but mostly it was great to see the world populated the way it really needs to be to feel alive and whole. Beta being beta, that brought its own set of challenges and learning experiences -- mostly for ArenaNet -- but on the whole I hope that most people agree that this was, if not a truly delightful weekend (I can't expect everyone to share my taste in games), then at least a solid and informative one.
The Daily Grind: Did you participate in the Guild Wars 2 beta weekend?
For those who pre-purchased Guild Wars 2, participated in previous beta weekends or were lucky enough to be the handful selected from previous sign-ups, this last weekend meant you got your hands on the highly anticipated MMO in (most of) its shiny glory. That is, if you were able to log in. While it's pretty apparent that most (but not all!) of us on the Massively team are in love with Guild Wars 2, that's inevitably not always the case when opinions come into play. So we want to know what you liked or didn't like about the game. If it was your first time playing, was it everything you expected? For those playing again, did your opinion change at all? Were you even able to get past the log-in screen? Let us know! Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Guild Wars 2 resumes digital sales, addresses denied accounts
Beta weekends are no strangers to rocky and unexpected events, as Guild Wars 2 can now attest. While many players are currently testing the heck out of the game, some have been shut out due to an error code on their account while others have been unable to pre-purchase the game due to halted sales of the digital product. ArenaNet has addressed both of these issues to help players resolve the matters and get into the beta. The error code (9:4:5:1093:101) that some are getting signifies that the account is not flagged for the beta event. According to ArenaNet, this is either because the players used a pre-order instead of a pre-purchase code and accidentally received an invite email to the event or that a credit card was flagged during the pre-purchase order. In the case of the former, ArenaNet will honor the mistaken emails and allow all recipients into the remainder of the event. The studio also announced that it has increased capacity for the beta event and thus has begun selling digital standard and digital deluxe pre-purchases of Guild Wars 2 once more.
Guild Wars 2 sells out of digital editions
With Guild Wars 2's beta weekend event poised to start today, many procrastinating players may be rushing to the official site to prepurchase their copy of the game and secure a spot in the beta. Those who do so, however, will be in for a rude awakening, as both the standard and deluxe digital versions of Guild Wars 2 are listed as "sold out" on the site for North America. While it may seem head-scratching that a company can sell out of a digital product, ArenaNet says that this was done to ensure enough server capacity for the event. The good news is that GameStop and Best Buy are still accepting prepurchase orders, and it looks as though ArenaNet will resume taking orders through the website once the beta weekend is underway: We limit sales to ensure we have enough capacity for our customers. We're likely to have capacity available after the initial crunch at the start of the weekend. Players who purchase when we're able to resume digital sales at buy.guildwars2.com will still be able to play for the remainder of the weekend. The team has also announced that world transfers will be free and unrestricted during this beta event. [Thanks to FlyinBuddha for the tip!]
ArenaNet reveals world transfer details for Guild Wars 2
To wrap up what's been a very exciting day for Guild Wars 2 beta weekend participants, ArenaNet has published a blog post detailing world choice and the mechanics of transferring worlds. Upon first logging into the game, players will be able to pick any home world server available, including those in a different region from where they purchased the game. All characters thereafter are created on that home world. World transfers are possible, but have both a time and gem cost. A player can change home worlds only once every seven days and must shell out 1,800 gems to do so. Once the game goes live, however, a "guesting" feature will be available to allow players to join friends on any world, although players won't be able to participate in WvW for their temporary host server. Guesting won't be in for the beta weekend event, but players will be able to test out transferring worlds. Each account will be able to unlock 2,000 free gems for the BWE, which will cover the cost of a transfer and a little more. A complete server list for the upcoming beta weekend event is available in ArenaNet's blog post.
ArenaNet prepares fans for Guild Wars 2 beta weekend event
ArenaNet has followed up its recent beta weekend event blogpost with a short video going through the details of the upcoming Guild Wars 2 BWE. The team has also confirmed that emails are being sent out to get BWE participants the information they need to download the beta client and be ready for the weekend. The event, which runs from Friday the 27th at 3:00pm EDT to 3:00am on Monday the 30th, will introduce players to the Charr, Human, and Norn early zones as well as allowing players to get into epic WvW battles and hotjoinable PvP. Lion's Arch, a huge city that's undergone massive changes since the original Guild Wars, will be explorable for the first time. Check out what Martin Kerstein and Mike Zadorojny have to say about it in the video after the cut.
Diablo 3 beta pulled 300K simultaneous players into its special little hell
Diablo 3's weekend beta went about as smoothly as a hamster in a ball rolling down an erupting volcano – which is to say it was completely normal for a high-profile beta test. Saturday saw a peak of 300,000 concurrent players, Blizzard community manager Micah Whipple (Bashiok) tweeted, reporting the full number of testers for the weekend was "a lot."Testers reported login and server errors as early as Friday, and a few complaints centered on the skill UI and other tweakable usability issues. The beta hit its main points, allowing people to play the full demo, leveling their characters to 13 and fighting the Skeleton King. All testing data will be wiped and players will start fresh when Diablo 3 launches on May 15.
Guild Wars 2 gets all social before the beta weekend [Updated]
There's no shortage of players waiting eagerly to jump into Guild Wars 2 beta testing this weekend, but that's still several days away. It's very possible that you really need a steady shot of Tyria a little earlier than that. Fortunately for you, there are options open as the community team pushes interaction in a big way. The game's Facebook page is the center of a rather art-centric promotion: As the page nears half a million Likes, the team is releasing a new piece of art for every 10,000 new fans. Not your cup of tea? That's all right, as the team has also set up a Pinterest page to show off the best game-related fan projects. There are also boards set up on the same page where you can show off screenshots of each race, whether you're opting for the diminutive Asura or the towering Norn. It's a good chance for everyone to get involved in the Guild Wars 2 community before the weekend gets underway, even if it won't make the test start any faster. [Updated with clarification regarding the picture forums.]
Guild Wars 2 briefs players on next weekend's beta event
Excited about next weekend's Guild Wars 2 beta event? We're right there with you, which is why we uttered a sigh of relief to hear some concrete details about the hows and whys of the nitty-gritty details from ArenaNet's mouth. The event will take place from Friday, April 27th, at 3:00 p.m. EDT until Monday, April 30, at 3:00 a.m. While there are various ways to obtain a key for the weekend (such as having gone to PAX East), the only 100% surefire way of getting in the event is to have pre-purchased the game. All event attendees will be emailed next week with instructions about the client download. The beta event will allow players to choose from three races (Charr, Human, and Norn) and all eight classes, to experience PvP and PvE content, and to see Lion's Arch for the very first time. ArenaNet assured us that this will not be the final beta weekend prior to launch and delivered the good news that this event will not be hampered by an NDA of any sort.
Guild Wars 2 announces first beta weekend for April 27th to 29th
Guild Wars 2 fans, prepare to rejoice; the time has nearly come to throw open the floodgates. ArenaNet has taken to Twitter to announce that the first public Guild Wars 2 beta weekend event will be taking place the weekend of April 27th. Other details are scant at the moment, but the team promises that a blog post with further information will be going up tomorrow. If you want to get in on the fun but don't have a beta key, don't fret. The tweet also reminds players that prepurchasing the game will grant instant beta event access for this weekend and others to follow. So that's it, folks: You've got a little over a week to call in sick, stock up on the most dangerously caffeinated beverages you can find, and kiss your sleep schedule goodbye. We'll see you in Tyria.
Amazon offers exclusive mount for TERA pre-orders
With TERA's May launch coming up in under a month, the window to pre-order the action MMO is shrinking daily. Those who are loyal members of the En Masse Army have a tough decision to make at this juncture: Where should you pre-order? Amazon hopes that you'll choose it, of course, and has a unique bonus to tip your favor in its direction. Amazon has worked out a special deal with En Masse to entice players to its store. Those who pre-order with Amazon.com will be guaranteed an in-game horse mount that's decked out in all manner of wicked-looking armor (note that the armor appearance gives no armor bonuses.) It's called the Pinto, and it won't be found anywhere else. In addition to this special mount, pre-orders guarantee a three-day head start to the game, name reservations, and in-game gear. There's added incentive to getting in on any of TERA's pre-orders if you haven't already, as they'll secure your spot in the next beta test, which is scheduled for April 20th. Also be sure to check out a new teaser trailer after the jump that was released exclusively for Amazon for those looking to learn a bit more about the game.
TERA sheds some light on open beta as test weekends draw to a close
TERA's launch is now just beyond the horizon, and that means that it's almost time for the game's closed beta testing to draw to a close. Specifically, it means that this weekend will mark the fifth and final closed beta test weekend, so En Masse Entertainment has put up a new blog post discussing what was learned from CBT 4 and what players can expect from CBT 5, open beta, and launch. One thing that the team is looking at very intently for open beta and launch is the difficulty of the starting experience -- or perhaps more appropriately, the lack thereof. Players have long said that the starting experience is not challenging enough, and the team has been listening. On top of that, En Masse has been working on a number of other changes as well, including tweaks to the enchantment system, some additional equipment and skill options, and even an entirely new tutorial zone that "serves as the precursor to the current Island of Dawn experience." The full details, of course, can be found in the official post over at TERA's official site, so go on and read up and we'll see you in in Arborea again soon.
Guild Wars 2 pre-purchase details announced
Things are just getting more and more exciting for Guild Wars 2 fans. Since ArenaNet's blog post confirming a 2012 launch, things seem to be warming up: We've had a press beta, an intensely busy beta signup period, the promise of another late March beta, and now an announcement about Guild Wars 2 pre-purchase. NCsoft sent out a press release today with some juicy details regarding the game's Collector's Edition and the benefits of purchasing early. From April 10th onward, pre-purchasers of any of the editions (Collector's, Digital Deluxe, or Standard) will be guaranteed access into beta weekend events and a three-day head start for launch, which is awesome if you want to reserve a cool name so you're not stuck with being xLegolasXx. An additional benefit to any pre-purchase is the somewhat mysterious Hero's Band, which will apparently give characters a variety of power boosts to speed them on their way. The Collector's Edition is going to cost you $149.99, but ArenaNet certainly seems to be providing bang for your buck: a 10-inch statue of the iconic Rytlock Brimstone and his sword Sohothin, a custom frame with five Guild Wars 2 art prints, a book on the making of Guild Wars 2, a soundtrack CD, and five in-game items (including a mini Rytlock), all of which should make this a pretty tempting order for super fans of the game. The Digital Deluxe pre-purchase is only going to run you $79.99, and the Standard Edition will be $59.99 -- again, any three of those will secure you the Hero's Band, a place in beta events, and a three-day head start. Pre-ordering Guild Wars 2 from select retailers will reserve you a copy of the game at launch and entitle you to a one-day head start. [Source: NCsoft press release]
TERA's store experiences massive failure, En Masse sending out beta invites by hand
While TERA's second closed beta event is in full swing right this very second, plenty of potential testers are raging at the heavens because the online store won't complete pre-order purchases and deliver the codes. Pre-ordering the title was the guaranteed path to beta, so it's understandable that players who had hoped to be giving this title a test drive are disappointed. En Masse responded with an explanation and solution for the store snafu. According to the studio, the store provider experienced a "massive systems failure" yesterday, which caused the issues with saving purchases to the hard drives. The vendor is attempting to fix it, but there is no ETA on when the task might be completed. The good news is that En Masse is watching the purchase logs and will be sending out game codes manually every two hours to pre-order customers. The studio assures everyone that his purchase will be recognized when the system is fixed and that if anyone accidentally purchased more than one copy by accident, the additional copies will be fully refunded.
The MMO Report: MMOs are Casey's children edition
This week on The MMO Report, Casey (not pictured above) discusses The Secret World's new release date of June 19th, Guild Wars 2's console version and beta weekend, and Star Wars: The Old Republic's expansion into the Asia-Pacific region. He also peeks at the new raid and content coming to DC Universe Online, which still exists. Casey's usual journey into the mailbag may or may not reveal an image of a dog drinking wine and playing World of Warcraft. Finally, The Beard teases next week's special RIFT anniversary episode. All that and more in the video behind the break!
Next TERA CBT weekend brings level cap increase, new dungeon, and PvP
Here we are at the beginning of another week which TERA fans are certain to be anxiously waiting to end because this weekend marks the game's second North American closed beta weekend. During the last test, players got to experience the game's PvE content all the way up to level 22, including the Bastion of Lok instance. Well, this time around En Masse Entertainment is going to be opening up the gates to five additional levels of content, allowing players to progress to level 27. Testers will also gain access to a new dungeon known as Sinestral Manor, and each player will get two character slots per server rather than just one. Oh, and speaking of servers, we hear there's going to be a new one. Players will be able to test their skills against one another on Valley of Trials, the new PvP server. To top it off, En Masse has also revealed a bit of new information on how PvP combat will work. Open-world combat will be initiated when a player uses an ability known as Outlaw Declaration, which does what it says on the tin: It declares the caster an outlaw, allowing him to attack (and presumably, be attacked by) other players for 60 seconds or until combat is over. But single combat isn't the only way to get your PvP fix. Guilds can also declare war on other guilds by using the item Bahaar's Spark of War Declaration, which can be purchased in capital cities. After war has been declared, members of opposing guilds will be able to attack one another on sight. So there you have it, folks. That's what we've got to look forward to this next beta weekend. We hope to see you all on the battlefield.
