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AoC beta: a tale of two clients
Frustrated with the Age of Conan open beta's serious performance problems? Worried that the game won't be ready for retail in just a couple of weeks? Don't worry too much; not it is all as it seems. Word on the virtual street is that the open beta client is an old build with issues long since resolved in the closed beta version.When the IGN beta event finally began on Thursday, thousands of excited gamers ended up more frustrated than entertained. The experience has been marred by low framerates, stuttering, and frequent hard crashes. Admittedly, it's a beta; some of that is to be expected. But it's bad, and since the game's retail release is less than three weeks away, there's an air of concern that Age of Conan will hit retail in an unplayable state. The reality is more complex than that.
WRUP: May Day edition
All right, so May Day was yesterday, but MMO holidays never take just one day -- they usually last a whole weekend. So we're extending Massively May Day to all this weekend, and as usual on Friday afternoons, we want to know: What aRe yoU Playing in the world of MMOs?Tons of you are probably headed into the Age of Conan open beta -- even if you haven't finished downloading the patch yet (13 gb?!?), Massively's got the hookup with pics, video, and good time guides to what's going on in there. Personally, I've got an invite to the exclusive beta of Hello Kitty Online to break open (don't be jealous), and I'll be continuing leveling up in Guild Wars and World of Warcraft as usual. And if all that wasn't enough, I'll be continuing to pour my time into a decidedly non-MMO game that nevertheless has one of the most, if not the most, detailed open world environments I've ever seen. The multiplayer on GTA IV may not actually be massive, but it is just incredible running around that open city with 15 other players.So what are you up to in terms of gaming this weekend?Previously on WRUP...
Jrgen Tharaldsen explains the Age of Conan open beta
A lot of Age of Conan fans have felt slighted over the recent Fileplanet "Open Beta" happening on May 1st. The reason? You have to be a Fileplanet subscriber to have access to the beta, which means you have to pony up some cash. We feel it's important for Funcom to explain the reasoning behind the Fileplanet beta and apparently, so does Jørgen Tharaldsen, Funcom's product director.Jørgen begins his explanation by citing the fact that up until this point, nobody has been charged in any way for beta access. It's true, in fact thousands of players have participated in the Age of Conan beta without paying a cent. The reason being that these players are supposed to be helping Funcom out with testing and not only playing the game for their enjoyment.
Sho Online journeys west
Korean MMO developer Lizard Interactive has announced that Sho Online, a fantasy MMO loosely based on historical events in ancient China, will begin open beta testing on April 30th. The open beta will kick off with three events -- 'Quest for the Mysterious Talisman', 'Who's the best?' and 'The King of the Forum' -- which will allow testers to win unique in-game items, available only through these events. Sho Online is actively played in South Korea and Japan, following its initial release in 2006. The 7-day closed beta testing of the English client last month introduced 1000 players to siege warfare between factions of the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, as well as Sho Online's rank promotion and item enhancement systems. Byung-Wook Kim, Project Manager for Sho Online, recently spoke with IGN about what makes the game distinctive from other fantasy titles on the market.
Mythos bids farewell to Bangladesh
Farewell, Bangladesh. The Mythos closed beta was not made for you. And best wishes to Japan. Really, though, the Mythos closed beta was meant for North American audiences, and we have discovered that North America is not where you are. So we must say ciao to China as well. We're about to open up the beta to far more people, and those of you in Eastern Europe and Asia just won't be getting the kind of localized experience we really want to provide. Even though English is your official administrative language, we must say so long, Singapore. We can't have you on American servers when we're shopping Mythos to overseas partners, and thus, we are leaving Lithuania.While the news that Flagship Studios' Mythos is drawing very near to open beta is good news, the reaction on the Mythos forums has been muted disappointment. Some wonder why the non-English speaking countries of Western Europe were allowed to remain in the beta; others wonder if this decision had something to do with the gold farmers who flocked to Mythos as they flock to all MMOs. We prefer to feel that their last listed reason, that they are looking for a publisher in these regions, is the real one, and that there will be news of localized versions of Mythos in the near future.
Sony's Home delayed yet again, open beta starts fall '08
Being that the Home service plans to tie into every facet of the Playstation Network -- such as games, downloads, etc -- we're not entirely unsurprised about news of yet another delay. Especially since this time, the delay is for further refinement of Home. The closed beta has been extended into summer and more invites are apparently being sent out soon. Meanwhile, fall 08 is now the time to expect an open beta event.We follow a lot of different MMOs and virtual worlds here at Massively, but most of them -- in fact about all of them -- are specific to personal computers. One of the more interesting virtual worlds in development has been Sony's Home service, which is of course being developed for the Playstation 3 exclusively. Because of this we have to admit our curiosity is somewhat piqued.So while the full official launch may be delayed into uncertainty, it looks like PS3 owners can expect to be trying out Home this fall one way or another. Hopefully all the delays are worth the wait. We have to admit to being overly curious as to how Home will eventually turn out.[via Joystiq]
Age of Conan hits exclusively open beta on May 1st
This is it! Funcom, in partnership with Eidos and IGN have announced the Age of Conan open beta, available at FilePlanet.com and other IGN partner sites. Now, being available on FilePlanet means it's more of an 'exclusively open beta' -- you will have to be a member to receive the download.Additionally, from the press release: 'Funcom would like to point out that the primary function of the Open Beta is to stress test Age of Conan prior to launch. This means that Funcom will not make the entire game available to the Open Beta testers, and a level 13 cap will be applied.' So no matter how quickly you progress through the content, you're not going to be able to see any of the higher-level stuff; this might mean no siege warfare, or city building, or ridable mounts. But you've waited this long for decapitation-related joy, and here it is!
Cinemassively: SocioTown gameplay
Yesterday, Outside the Box released a gameplay footage video of their virtual world, SocioTown, which recently entered open beta. Described as a cross between The Sims and Animal Crossing, players are able to experience this social space right from their browser. As a member, you can socialize, level up, play games with other players, take missions, own an apartment, and even get a job!Being a machinimator, this blogger was interested in the cinematic abilities of Sociotown, so we put it to the test. While the camera isn't as easy to manipulate as is Second Life, you can use the up and down arrow keys to change your views from front to back, or use the left and right arrow keys to move the camera horizontally in increments. However, it doesn't look like you can turn off the user interface. For a closer look at the gameplay, check out the high quality version of the video![Thanks, Chris!]If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.
Battlefield Heroes to release with only 2 maps
In a Gamasutra interview with Battlefield Heroes producer Ben Cousins, the news was slipped that the MMO will launch its open beta with only two maps in place. For those of you unfamiliar with the genre, maps are different locales upon which matches can be played, selectable before entering the action. Cousins' reasoning behind only having two maps at launch was the trend for players to typically pick only two or three favorite maps to spend their time on, leaving the rest to go unplayed; why not, then, just release the best two right out of the gate?Of course, it's not the developers who can decide which maps will become popular, and with only two at launch, there's the distinct possibility that players might become bored with the offerings and leave earlier than usual. Perhaps anticipating this reasoning, Cousins went on to say ' ... we already have another map quite far along in development which will be included in an update soon after launch.' The game looks like it could be quite fun, and of course, 'free' is a great price for any endeavor.[Via EvilAvatar]
SocioTown hits open beta
SocioTown, first mentioned last December, has now gone into open beta, and if you liked the look and sound of it when we first talked about it, then you're likely to want to join right up, as it seems all of those features have remained intact.SocioTown's aesthetic has a kid-friendly, cereal commercial sheen to it that some will find appealing, and others, off-putting. The website makes much of the burgeoning social networking that can be had, as well as ways to graph and quantify that experience, which leads us to ask exactly to whom this game is targeted -- pre-adolescents, or professors? Visit the above link for more of SocioTown's features, as well as our initial take on it all.
Three Rings' Whirled now in open beta
Three Rings, the makers of Puzzle Pirates, has just gone live with the open beta of its browser-based, 2D social space, Whirled. Whirled has all the features that have become de rigeur for a virtual world these days: minigames, a personal page-embeddable room for your avatar, purchasable objects, and basic creation tools.Also, how can you not love a VW where the default avatar is an adorable piece of tofu? Yes, tofu. And it dances. Expect a First Impressions post for Whirled in the near future, boogieing soy critters and all!
Dekaron to enter open beta on April 2nd
A post at Gametribe's forums informs us that Dekaron is set to commence open beta on the 2nd of April. You may not have heard of Dekaron before, so here's a quick rundown from the official site. It is a free-to-play fantasy MMO set in the Middle Ages, and is already out in the Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese markets. Gametribe is doing an English localization of the game for Europe, and Acclaim is doing the same for North America, changing the name of their version to 2Moons.While 2Moons is kind of a dumb name (though it does land the title at the top of many game lists, probably not by accident), it's certainly not unheard of for a game to be named differently in a separate region. It's more than just the name that is different in this case though, with Acclaim's adaptation of the Korean MMO having entered open beta in July last year. With David Perry at the helm of the North American version, we're interested to see what else will set it apart from Gametribe's offering.
German WAR box confirms CE and preorder info
We've already seen rumors about what might be coming in the Warhammer Online collector's edition, but now a German site (not the same one as before -- what's with the Germans getting this stuff early?) has apparently posted more information on the CE and what a preorder of the game will get you. The box apparently confirms the previous rumors of the exclusive miniature, the comic book, and the bonus quests (along with the player titles), and the preorder of the CE will net you "guaranteed access" to the open beta (so open beta confirmed, apparently), a head start to the live game, and two bonus in-game items.A German-speaking friend of mine (who actually does professional translation) tells us that the in-game items are a "Knight's (?) Portable Camp," which, "receives your tired soul and heals your wounds between battles." And the other is the "Guards of the Amber Ring," or at least a ring of some kind, that "improves your attributes" and casts a spell called "Touch of Earth," which we're told adds a chance to hit. Sounds pretty cool, though there's no information on when the preorder will be available, or even if it will be in America (the box is obviously labeled for Europe).Any of this entice you to jump in on Warhammer, or were you already convinced? The collector's edition stuff doesn't sound too exciting, but jumping into the beta and the live game is definitely worth a preorder, if you ask us.[Via K&G]
World of Kung Fu grants married characters double experience for combat
World of Kung Fu gets more and more interesting every time we hear about it. It recently went into open beta, then started up a new webcomic, and now they've just announced the ability for characters to marry! According to the press release, the engagement begins with matching rings, then a trip to the matchmaker. The actual wedding itself can be celebrated with decorations, guests, and fireworks, after which time each character receives a title identifying them as married.But wait, here's the best part: the 'Couple Cultivation Skill' lets couples receive double experience for team combat! There is probably more to it than we might glean on the surface, and we'll do our best to find out what that might be. WoKF is in open beta, kids. Check it out now![Thanks, Andrea!]
FilePlanet IP Blocks download; thinks domestic computer is foreign
Okay, the only thing that got me through Wednesday, a day fraught with meetings, numberless revisions, and a never-ending cold, was the thought that I'd be playing the Mabinogi open beta that night. So I visited the homepage, only to be told that the client was exclusively available to FilePlanet users. Fine, I'm a FP user, I'll get it there. Once there, I clicked the download link, only to be told 'Sorry, this program is for North American users only!'Now, I've been accused in the past of not living in reality, and that's an argument with some merit to it. But my corpus has always inhabited North America; indeed, I live in San Francisco, which, unless FP knows something about a new secession that I'm unaware of, is located in California, which is one of the United States. Where does FP think I live?Running it down reveals that FP's IP Blocker seems to think that while my home computer resides somewhere outside of North America, trying access from my work computer works fine. Just in case, however, I'll be downloading the client directly from Nexon. One night of downloadus frustrationis is quite enough.
Mabinogi in open beta in March; Euros and Ozzies left out
Nexon, maker of Maple Story and other, weirder MMOs, has announced that their intriguing title Mabinogi will hit North America with an open beta on March 5th. However, this is for residents of North America only; gamers in Europe and Australia will be s.o.l. [note: adult language] until such time as Nexon feels they're ready to hit the rest of the world.There's apparently more to Mabinogi than previously suspected -- more than just aging the character over weeks, time is a much more involved element to the game. The storyline itself will evolve over generations, and a character's diet also affects its appearance. I'm all crazygonuts excited to play this, so expect a First Impressions from me shortly after launch!And make sure you check out the videos on their website -- they're short tutorials on how to get around and do things in the world, presented by a girl and her sheep. While a little broad in its humor, it's still cute and has some good tips in between the silliness.
Saga open beta begins today
Saga, which bills itself as the "world's first collectible online real-time strategy game," is throwing wide its doors for Open Beta 2 starting today. You can head over to their site to sign up; they mention that account creation is not quite ready yet, but it might not be a bad idea to get your foot in the door. (And for what it's worth the sign-up form did allow me to create an account with no fuss. You can just ignore the "promo code" field.)But what, you ask, is a collectible online RTS? We've only covered it once before on Massively, so I looked around the developer's site to see what they have. Here are some key points: it's an RTS (of course), but it's persistent, so you won't have to rebuild structures every match, and your units stay dead until made otherwise. The setting is standard fantasy. The game has no subscription fee, using a microtransaction model: players buy their troops in booster packs, which cost $2.95; the game itself is currently on pre-sale for $20. You can also trade troops with others, which highlights the "collectible" nature of this game. The site claims that they are aiming for a Q1 2008 release. I'm not so much an RTS player, but it is an interesting business model. Will you try it out?
The Daily Grind: Paying to play... in beta?
While Richard Garriott only recently figured out that open betas were more for marketing, and less for testing, it is a strategy that's been in use for some time. The Matrix Online was also one of the titles that did the "put $5 down for a pre-order and get a beta key" deal -- and while theirs felt more "finished" from a bug standpoint -- it came back to haunt them as well. Several people we know won't even try it again due to that experience, even with large changes to the game including a complete overhaul of the combat system. More recently, the folks at Flying Lab finished their beta and then entered a "pre-launch" phase (wisely avoiding calling it "beta" at all) and allowing people to level to 20 before today's launch of Pirates of the Burning Sea. (We can't speak for you, but several of us have had a blast in the pre-order.) So this morning we ask you -- have you ever "paid to play" in a MMO beta by going the pre-order to get in route? What was your experience like? Do you think that the idea of paying even a nominal fee to get into a beta makes you evaluate a game more harshly? Are you also unlikely to give a game a chance later after a bad beta experience? For that matter have you ever bailed on a game pre-reservation after a bad beta?
The Daily Grind: Are you a collector?
I admit it. I'm one of those crazy people who went absolutely nuts for a World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Collector's Edition and shelled out the extra cash. I read the book, watched the DVD, ripped the CD to my drive and then put it back on the shelf where it has been ever since. Now, I don't regret the purchase at all, but I'd also firmly class myself as a collector when it comes to certain geeky things. (Heck, if you look at my office, you can figure that out pretty quickly.) With all the great new games coming up this year -- Age of Conan, Warhammer Online and the rest -- it got us to wondering... Are you likely to pick up the Collector's Edition of some of these upcoming games? Are there any features in a CE that make you more interested in getting it? (For me with Burning Crusade it was the DVD install option, the nifty art book and soundtrack.) Do you like the idea of more useful items being included like the ring that gives a bonus to XP? Should getting a CE land you a spot in the late open beta, or do you prefer the pre-launch "level before everyone else gets here" idea? Should CE in-game items remain harmless like the special pets were for both World of Warcraft CEs?
Age of Conan: There will be an open beta
At this year's CES, an Age of Conan Developer stated they would forego the traditional open beta process and would instead draw more players from their applicant pool as the beta expanded. We know that a month ago over 10,000 invites were pushed out, that number is currently at 15,000 according to the AoC beta fairy. With over 100,000 in signups finding testers isn't a problem, and as word from CES spread the AoC forums erupted in nerd-fury. Today, a new happy day, Shannon 'Pharamond' Drake, AoC's community manager posted that it was all a misunderstanding. "We are planning to have an open beta for the game as we get closer to launch, however, it will be through specific partners and require an application/registration process, much like most of the other betas for most other games." So there will be some type of an open beta. Well, this message stinks of Fileplanet. It seems to be the cool thing to do nowadays for those looking to run an 'open beta.' I'd prefer some early type of pre-order beta or early launch that Pirates of the Burning Sea are doing, and Hellgate: London did. Age of Conan's beta is definitely one of the more secretively run in the past few years. I don't know anyone in the beta, nor do my friends know anyone in the beta either. Do you? It should be interesting to see whether or not a smaller beta test is more beneficial than larger open betas that normally last for several months on end. I hope so. It sucks not getting into a MMOG beta you want to play, but the negative buzz created by players early-on is not helping traditional pay-to-play MMOGs succeed in a genre dominated by World of Warcraft. Age of Conan is due to launch on March 25, 2008. Let's hope that is not when the real open beta begins. Be sure to check out our AoC coverage from CES if you are looking for our latest infos and some exclusive videos.
