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TERA reflects on lessons learned from first CBT weekend
It's been a week since the first TERA North American beta weekend, and European players are getting their first swing at the game as we speak. But before En Masse Entertainment opens the floodgates to NA players once more next weekend, the studio is taking the opportunity to recap the events of the first closed beta test. Overall, the studio seems quite pleased with the results of the test but notes that "the weekend was not without some hiccups." One such hiccup that beta players will certainly be well acquainted with is the chaos that ensued as dozens of players simultaneously tried to kill the quest mob Vekus, which led some players to actually form organized queues to ensure that everyone got a chance at him. But the studio assures us that we need not worry, as "the En Masse team learned a great deal from CBT1 and will put those lessons to good use as we ramp up for CBT2." The studio also brings us a couple of interesting statistics from the first beta test. For instance, the most popular race-gender-class combination was the Castanic female Warrior (which we're sure has absolutely nothing to do with the Castanics' apparent aversion to modesty). And of course, beta participants will be very familiar with the basilisk BAMs in Oblivion Woods, which apparently accounted for almost two-thirds of all player deaths over the course of the weekend. Gotta watch out for those bodyslams, guys. They'll getcha. Ultimately, the studio concludes that "this weekend was a big success both in terms of players getting hands-on time with TERA and for showing the team what they need to refine before the game's May 1 release." To sign up for the game's future beta tests, just head on over to the game's official site, linked below. [Source: En Masse Entertainment press release]
Going toe-to-toe with TERA's first beta weekend
Over the past months, many fans of En Masse Entertainment's upcoming "real action combat" title TERA have been wondering whether the game will ever see the light of day. Between sparse development details and word of legal troubles, TERA's future seemed to be in constant jeopardy as cries of "vaporware!" grew steadily louder. Well, those voices can finally have a bit of a reprieve because over the course of this past weekend, players were able to jump into the world of Arborea and experience TERA's action combat firsthand. I was among those players, and after a joy-filled romp through TERA's gorgeous landscapes (thanks in no small part to my fabulous guild -- hi Territ!), I'm ready to conjure up some thoughts that will hopefully somewhat resemble my impressions of the closed beta weekend. So if you want to know whether the game's real action combat hits the mark or it's a swing and a miss, follow me past the cut and let's take a look.
The Daily Grind: Did you participate in TERA's first beta weekend?
I guess you could say that TERA is one of the most highly anticipated MMOs of 2012. We love the game every time we get our hands on it, but some recent legal and technical problems have cast some doubt in the minds of many potential fans. This last weekend was the first of five closed beta tests for pre-order customers. While our requests for beta keys went ignored, those on the Massively team who did pre-order were plagued by technical problems in the patcher, making the beta weekend unplayable. So as we sit here cursing the fact that we're not able to write about this particular weekend, we're curious about your thoughts. Did you enjoy yourself? Was it more or less than what you expected? There's no NDA, so spill the beans! 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!
Star Wars: The Old Republic approaching the final phase of testing
It's hard to believe that after all this time, Star Wars: The Old Republic is launching in less than a month. As you would expect, the game is making its final testing pushes for players. According to Stephen "Rockjaw" Reid's Twitter feed, players selected for the final testing weekend will be seeing schedules sent out over the next 12 hours, with players allowed to start testing either Friday or Saturday, starting at 11:00 a.m. EST. Existing testers and visitors to the site will also have to contend with some degree of maintenance trouble, as the site is experiencing an understandable groundswell of traffic. The final push also means that the deadline is approaching for players to get in on the Pre-Launch Guild Program, which ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on December 2nd. This means that players who fulfill all the requirements will be able to transfer their guilds straight into the live game -- but they'll have to finalize everything before the deadline. So if you're a guild leader with a few things left to finish up before launch, the holiday weekend might be an ideal time.
SWTOR beta participants log one meeeeellion hours of testing
If it seemed like everyone and their dog got in on last weekend's Star Wars: The Old Republic beta event, well, they did. BioWare invited tens of thousands of Star Wars fans to the TOR testing party, and probably a few Star Trek fans and the blue glowy spirits of dearly departed Jedi Knights as well. The mass invites are designed to strain the servers prior to the game's December 15th launch date, and BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk says this is just the beginning. "One crazy number is we had over a million hours of testing over the weekend. It was a huge test, and there are even bigger ones coming. The key thing is for us to take those learnings, apply them and make the service really stable. We're happy with the game," Zeschuk told Eurogamer. Zeschuk and his BioWare cohorts aren't exactly raising pinkies to lips like an overconfident supervillain, though. "Everyone's cautiously optimistic. We're all very paranoid," Zeschuk said, before going on to explain how BioWare will carefully control TOR's launch availability to ensure a smooth experience.
BioWare sending out SWTOR weekend beta invites
Tired of heathen game journos getting their unworthy mitts on Star Wars: The Old Republic before true fans like yourself? Well, take heart young apprentice, as BioWare is sending out invites to TOR's latest round of weekend previewing beta testing. A new post on the game's official boards says that some invites have already been sent, and more will be forthcoming throughout the evening (i.e., check your inboxes and spam folders). In other SWTOR news, Darth Hater has you covered when it comes to the latest fan site summit in Austin, Texas. The website has a couple of staff members on location to "gather the latest news and details about SWTOR for the community."
Answer your beta-related questions, Star Wars: The Old Republic does
In light of the Star Wars: The Old Republic's beta testing weekends' recent inception, Stephen Reid stopped by the SWTOR official forums to drop a couple of FAQs on the masses. The first deals with the ongoing beta testing, beta weekends, and early access for pre-order customers. The second hones in on the first beta test weekend, which took place last weekend. The beta FAQ begins by outlining the differences between early game access, beta weekends, guild testing, and the normal beta testing. Early game access, of course, is access to the launch version of the game prior to the official launch date; this privilege is given to those who pre-order the game. Beta testing weekends are exactly what they sound like, and Reid notes that the team is aiming for one more test weekend this month, which will host more players than the last test. Game and guild testing are both the normal, ongoing beta test, with the latter differentiated only by the invitation process for guilds rather than individuals. The post goes on to remind players that, even with the advent of the beta testing weekends, the NDA is still in effect, and that a player's participation in one beta test weekend does not guarantee her selection for subsequent weekends. And lastly, we'd be remiss to omit this small detail for our European players: Game testing for European players is "imminent," says the post, and these tests will include localized French and German versions of the game. Beta weekends for European players will begin around the same time. Now then, the beta weekend FAQ. The post declares the intent of the first beta weekend to have been a "small-scale simulation of a launch scenario." The post also discusses the successes and failures of the test and notes that almost every goal set by the team was met or exceeded. However, there were a few hitches with the invite process, which the team has since fixed. For the full details, hop on your speeder bike and head on over to the official forum posts.
SWTOR beta test weekends to begin September 2nd
There you were, thinking this upcoming weekend was going to be another one when you sat around in your underwear, trying to beat that last Challenge level in Peggle, but we're here to tell you to cancel those plans. Starting September 2nd, Star Wars: The Old Republic will begin its beta test weekends for a select few who registered on the game's website. This news was announced earlier today at PAX Prime, including the fact that even those who didn't pre-order can have an equal chance to participate. So get those registrations in if you still haven't, and for Obi Wan's sake, put some pants on.
Put the pedal to the metal with a beta key for Test Drive Unlimited 2's beta event this weekend
You know, we don't get many racing games around these parts. Need For Speed World was one of the first games, for sure, but there was another game before that -- Test Drive Unlimited. Test Drive Unlimited is back with a sequel, and this time it's coming to the PC crowd in addition to the consoles. TDU2 will be taking place on the beautiful Mediterranean island of Ibiza. Just like before, your single-player and multiplayer experiences are blended together in TDU's "always online" M.O.O.R state (Massively Open Online Racing), so you'll pass/meet other players, even if you're choosing to play the single-player mode. This version of TDU also finally allows you to get outside your car and walk around as an avatar, buying clothing and customizing your look. And, if you missed not being able to form your own social cliques in the last game, no worries! This sequel features the ability to create "clubs" -- groups of drivers racing for power and profit. This weekend is a special beta event for the game, and we here at Massively are holding 1,500 keys to give away! Be the first to check out the new Test Drive Unlimited by jumping past the break for your key and the full instructions on how to get into the beta weekend!
WRUP: Aion beta weekend edition
Last week (and to be honest, a lot of weeks) WRUP was all about Team Fortress 2, but thanks to the Aion beta that's on over the weekend, we've found another game that can take up most of our answers this week. If one of us is able to stop playing long enough to ink out some notes, we should have some more impressions to share later on. For now, here's what the team will be playing: Brooke Pilley: One word. Four letters. Angels and demons. Aerial combat. Beta goodness. I speak of Aion! Krystalle Voecks: E3 transcription. Lesley Smith: My weekend - barring a couple of hours of sleep and food - is devoted completely to Aion: Tower of Eternity and it's going to be great! Lemuel Pew: I haven't had any time to touch games during the week lately, so I'm hoping to spend some of my weekend getting my mining and blacksmithing capped in Free Realms. I also have TF2, Left 4 Dead, City of Heroes and an inFAMOUS demo all in the wings if I need some variety. Oh! And for some reason, I didn't know that while my PS3 doesn't have PS2 backwards compatibility, PS1 games play fine. So I've dusted off Final Fantasy VII through IX, we'll see if I ever get the time to put those in. Kyle Horner: Aion this weekend for me, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I wish I could play FFXIV right this very instant. Brendan Drain: Since last week, I've gotten quite addicted to Runes of Magic. When I'm not playing that I'll be catching up on some writing for Massively as I've got a few nice features in the works. In EVE, after being thoroughly disappointed with the state of Faction Warfare not long after my return to it, I've enlisted my corp back into our alliance and we're taking up residence inside another wormhole system. Jon Shute: This weekend I shall mostly be playing Aion while feeling guilty about neglecting my corp in EVE. Colin Brennan: This weekend is dedicated to taking my parents around Pittsburgh as they visit for the weekend, but I think I'll have some time to squeeze in Final Fantasy XI and Jade Dynasty. Jade Dynasty is... oddly enough... interesting... Also, as a side note, I want Final Fantasy XIV right now. Not later, now. But, until that comes out, Final Fantasy XI it is. James Egan: /bandwagon The Aion beta and [FAKE REDACTED: another beta I cannot name and cannot state I am in]. Any other MMO time will be spent in EVE. Also my quest for that batting helmet in TF2 is ongoing. William Dobson: As for me, yep, it's Aion! I might find some time to go and buy a couple of new console games too, specifically inFAMOUS for the PS3 and UFC 2009 Undisputed for the Xbox 360. So that's what we're doing. How about the rest of you? What are you playing this weekend?
