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Albion Online kicks off its summer alpha event
You could be forgiven for thinking it's a bit too late for "summer" events to take place right now, but Albion Online is forging ahead with its summer alpha event. The closed alpha client is now available for players to log in and explore all of the available systems, from gathering and trading resources to engaging in large-scale PvP battles. If you're not at one of the game's higher Founder tiers, of course, the alpha test is closed to you; all you can do is look on with interest and wish you were playing. Streams and reports will be coming out of this test, including one planned by our own MJ Guthrie at 2 p.m. EDT this afternoon. If you like what you see, you can pick up one of the Founder Packs, or you can just keep watching and waiting as the alpha test rolls on. [Source: Sandbox Interactive press release]
Skyforge trumpets Paladin class
The mix of sci-fi and fantasy themes in Skyforge marches on, as the upcoming MMO announced its latest class: the Paladin. Heavy armor? Big sword? Giant shield? Divine backing? Yes on all counts. According to the reveal, Paladins "are the spiritual heirs of Aeli and a true weapon of good." As would be expected from this type of class, Paladins are tank characters with high health, fast regeneration, the ability to shield allies, and plenty of defensive skills. The Paladin builds up righteous anger to unleash in the form of special abilities and must pretty much always fight in melee range. We've got the Paladin trailer after the break, so give it a look-see and let us know what you think!
H1Z1 takes out starting axe based on player feedback
This past month's conventions and player hands-on have been influential to the development of H1Z1, according to a new post today by Senior Game Designer Jimmy Whisenhunt. "After much discussion and some debate, we decided to make several targeted and deliberate changes to how the player will be dropped into our world," Whisenhunt wrote. "One of the biggest changes we've made is to the starting equipment your character spawns into our apocalypse ridden world with. Being a massive sandbox MMO without XP patting you on the back, progression mechanics have to feel solid and early game combat needed to be more challenging." The biggest change revolves around the removal of the starting axe in order to get players more involved in crafting, exploration, and combat paths. Instead, players will fight with their fists, which can actually trigger combos if done right. Another significant change is the decision to spawn weapons on top of counters and crafting items inside of objects so that finding weapons on the fly is easier to do.
Wakfu heads to Steam on September 18th
If you've lamented the fact that Steam currently has a distinct lack of isometric tactical-ish MMORPGs available at the moment, you'll be happy to know that Wakfu is heading to the platform on September 18th. The game is currently in closed testing until September 16th, with no character wipes planned between now and the launch. Closed beta players will receive a special reward in the form of an item inspired by Valve's properties. A thread has been created for the developers to share places where keys are available, for those who want to get in on the Steam testing before it's too late. If you'd rather just wait a little bit until the launch on the 18th, that works too. [Source: Ankama press release]
PAX Prime 2014: Trove moves at the speed of lightrail
Probably one of the coolest features that I've seen in an MMO in a long time came during a Trove demo at PAX Prime this weekend. The devs were keen to show off the game's magriders, which are tracks that players can lay down to take others on a pre-planned route around the world. Think of it as a combination of rollercoaster, lightrail, and slip-n-slide, and you might have a notion of how insane these can get. Magriders can obey the laws of physics or not and have several options for speeding up and slowing down passengers depending on the creator's intent. After a dizzying five-minute ride through one of Trove's biomes that ended with a thousand-foot plunge into the heart of a volcano, I was sold on the potential for this new in-game toy. But as neat as magriders are, they're not the only card in the devs' deck as the game nears beta later in September. The team recently introduced Trove's fourth class, the Dracolyte. This is a fireball-wielding mage who fills the need for the pyros out there. The Dracolyte also has a little familiar dragon hovering over its shoulder that can charge up a fiery attack and then unleash it at will. The class to follow the Dracolyte couldn't be more different, however: The Neon Ninja looks to be a cyborg sword-wielder who stepped straight out of Tron. There's so much more to talk about with Trove's development, including the addition of clubs. Clubs are like mini-guilds, only you can join up to five of them, and each one gets its own world to modify and keep. The team is also working on a transmog system to allow players to collect and permanently store skins. From crazy candy biomes to lightning-quick rides, this underdog title might end up surprising us all.
Albion Online opens its next alpha test on September 15th
Excited to get your mitts on Albion Online? If you've got alpha access, you'll get your chance on September 15th. Developer Sandbox Interactive is opening up the game to testers so they can explore the game, hunt for bugs, and find out what's changed in the most recent build if they've tested before. The current test window is for 14 days (until September 29th) but it may be extended depending on performance, feedback, and player numbers. If you're not already a tester, you can buy one of the game's founder packs to get in and start testing when September rolls around; the $50 pack is the lowest priced option to allow for participation in this particular alpha test. Or you can nab a key during a giveaway elsewhere, that will work too. [Source: Sandbox Interactive press release]
BioWare announces Shadow Realms, a D&D-inspired co-op dungeon crawler
BioWare has just announced a brand-new IP for the studio: Shadow Realms, a "4v1 story-driven online action RPG" that was inspired by the team's love of tabletop Dungeons & Dragons. Shadow Realms isn't a full-fledged MMO, but will put players in the shoes of contemporary Earth heroes who will jump between our world of technology and another of magic. The twist for the game is that a team of four heroes will be opposed by one player who will assume the role of a dungeon master-like Shadowlord. "With Shadow Realms, we decided that the Shadowlord should interact with and see the gameplay world in a similar way to the hero players –- albeit with better tactical knowledge," BioWare wrote. "Their objective is to stop the group of heroes by haunting them, setting traps, casting spells, summoning monsters, and controlling any monster in the level." The game will grow with episodic storytelling, offer "deep combat customization," and feature six classes. Shadow Realms is set to go into closed beta this fall.
The Crew revs up for second beta test on August 25th
Gas up those cars and wipe down the upholstry, because the second beta test for The Crew is set to begin on August 25th and end on August 29th. Ubisoft promised to hand out more keys for this second round of closed beta testing, saying that players will now be able to register for it through Steam if desired. You can get into the beta by pre-purchasing The Crew prior to the start of this next test, having played the first beta test, or snagging one of the new keys. Ubisoft announced that there will be no NDA for the beta later this month. According to a new infographic, over 237 million miles were driven during the first beta test, in addition to 387,113 police chases and over a million skill challenges attempted. You can view the full infographic after the jump.
Nosgoth free this weekend, enters open beta in winter
Publisher Square Enix has announced that its Legacy of Kain spin-off MMO Nosgoth will enter open beta testing at some point this winter. Nosgoth, a free-to-play multiplayer game that pits humans against vampires in a player-versus-player battle for control of the gothic online world has been in closed beta since February. Square Enix has yet to reveal a release date for the game, but the publisher is currently hosting a free beta weekend for anyone with a PC and a valid Steam account. According to the publisher, anyone who takes part in this free weekend will earn double experience points and an exclusive in-game badge. Full details can be found on the Free Weekend FAQ, though keep in mind that this gratis gameplay periods ends at 3 a.m. ET on Tuesday, August 11. [Image: Square Enix]
Tree of Savior delays closed beta, talks classes
Classes are the hot topic for this week's Tree of Savior community Q&A, with many of the questions concerning the different roles that players will assume in the upcoming title. The Q&A was coy on a few specifics, such as which class only has five skills, but was more open on other topics. The Alchemist was singled out as a class that synergizes well with crafting, the Wugushi was noted as a class with a strong poison bent, the Pardoner was shown to be a scroll-producing Cleric, and the Peltasta was revealed as a sword-and-shield fighter. For those hoping to get some beta action in this summer, we have bad news: It's been delayed. "We focused on the development so that we can launch CBT within this year's summer, but more time was needed than we had expected on the overall balancing of the game so we think CBT will be delayed a bit," the devs wrote.
Destiny infographic reveals massive beta numbers
We already know that Destiny's beta was big -- on the order of 4.6 million testers big -- but a recently released infographic by Bungie piles on the numbers to give you a clue as to what this avalanche of fans has been up to during the testing process. Among the stats revealed were 6.5 million characters created, an 853K concurrency rate on Saturday, 3.7 billion kills, and 777K users of the official phone app. "At its peak, the Destiny beta became the most simultaneously played Bungie game of all time," Bungie said. "There were more people online at the same time to play Destiny than any other game in our history." You can check out the full infographic after the jump!
Watch MapleStory 2's feature trailer
Even if you don't understand Korean, chances are that you can grok some of what's going on in this new MapleStory 2 features trailer. The video shows various systems in the game, including player-created content, housing, customization, and (oh yes) minigames. Check out the video after the break and let us know what you think of MapleStory 2's look and offerings!
ArcheAge's second closed beta event is live right now
ArcheAge's second closed beta phase is officially underway! This time around, you can play through 1:00 p.m. EDT on Monday, August 4th. If you played CBE1, you don't need to download the client all over again, but you will need to update your build to 4.3 via the 161 MB patch. You may also be pleased to note that all of your CBE1 progress will carry over, including your crop timers and taxes. Trion says that CBE2 is expected to be "three times the size of the first."
ArcheAge's second beta event starts July 30th
With one jam-packed closed beta event out of the way, ArcheAge is revving up for another one. The title's second closed beta event, Settling Sail, will take place from Wednesday, July 30th, through Monday, August 4th. Trion Worlds announced that the first closed beta's servers filled up within 18 minutes, and as such, it will be expanding the second beta event to be "three times as big" as the first with more invites rolling out. The good news from the packed beta event last weekend is that the hardware performed great on Trion's side and that the devs have made changes to improve the game: "You also helped us to identify and fix challenges with some of the custom integration for our version! During the event, we were also adapting our own anti-spam and anti-bot software in real time. With your input, we're reviewing a number of systems with XLGAMES, including use of labor while you're hunting and looting, labor regeneration rates for online and offline players, and the availability of Archeum. We're also looking into the feasibility of XLGAMES adding an ability queue and mouse inverting."
Take a road trip through The Crew's beta features
The Crew's closed beta test began today and will continue through Friday, July 25th. Since there are plenty of features to this online racing title for testers to explore, the developers have put together a six-minute video to point players in the right direction. The beta features tour begins with story missions and continues through skill challenges, PvP missions, customization, free roaming, co-op connections, and a few more. You can get the full beta features overview after the jump.
The Crew's PC closed beta starts July 21
Ubisoft's open-world racer The Crew kicks off its PC closed beta on July 21st. The firm has posted a news blurb on its website stating that the first test phase will run through July 25th, which is earlier than previously announced. Players will be able to "explore the entire United States with no loading screen" including all missions and skill challenges in the Midwest, all skill challenges on the East Coast, and free roaming in the South, Mountain State, and West Coast regions. The Crew launches on November 11th.
Open-world racer The Crew to reach PC beta two days early
Though Ubisoft originally planned to launch the closed PC beta of The Crew on July 23, the publisher has decided to kick things off a bit early by moving the beta launch to next Monday, July 21. "Since we've announced The Crew last year, we've received many messages from players around the world, eager to get their hands on the game," reads a notice posted on the game's website. "We've heard you loud and clear, and as we can't wait for you to play, we announce [to] you that our PC Closed Beta will be starting earlier than what we first announced. Get ready to play from Monday 21st of July to Friday 25th." Additionally, Ubisoft has revealed that the closed beta will include full access to The Crew's abridged map of the continental United States. Missions and skill challenges will only be available in the Midwest and East Coast regions, but players can still tour the Rockies, the American South and the West Coast at will. [Image: Ubisoft]
ArcheAge begins beta with one million sign-ups [Updated]
The world is ready and eager for ArcheAge's beta program, as evidenced by the million-plus sign-ups on the site. The first closed beta event started today and will continue through July 21st. "We're also happy to announce today that over one million of you have already joined our community of ArcheAge supporters, even before the first beta event began!" Trion Worlds posted today. In fact, the beta launched to far more players than Trion anticipated, prompting the studio to open up two new servers to handle the demand. To bring the Korean MMO overseas, Trion has translated two million words, set up technical infrastructure, and localized quests. The closed beta event will feature the version 1.2 patch for both North America and Europe.
ArcheAge's closed beta begins on July 17th
The time has finally come: ArcheAge fans who've been been anxiously awaiting a beta date now can mark their calendars and start canceling other plans. Next weekend the closed beta doors will swing open at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday the 17th and remain so until they close at the same hour on Monday the 21st. Founders and invited testers will have a chance to dive in and experience ArcheAge's sandbox world, including -- but not limited to -- pirating, farming, questing, crafting, fishing, PvPing, or even just in gliding from the mountaintops. With so many possible adventures by land and by sea, it may be impossible to get to them all during the first beta weekend. But don't despair -- there will be more! We sat down with Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman to chat about the upcoming beta tests. We've also got the beta trailer for you.
ArcheAge closed beta coming in mid-July
The good news for fans of the approaching ArcheAge is that the game will be using update 1.2 for the game, news that brought forth much rejoicing. The bad news is that as a result, the game's beta has been somewhat delayed. Trion Worlds has outlined the state of the game in a recent blog post explaining where the game is in testing and what players can expect in the future. In order to get the new version into testing as soon as possible, the developers are not adding in the Trion-specific features to the game which were mentioned previously on the forums. Closed beta events will be starting in mid-July, with a separate alpha server available to see how the 1.2 play environment plays and what benefits it offers. If you're interested to hear about the state of development, take a look at the full update and get ready for the paradigm shift.
