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Trove enters open beta, ArcheAge deploys Auroria in the EU
Have you been looking for another pixel-polygon building game to call your home? After being in the test phase for so long that you could be forgiven for speculating that it would never be released, Trove has hit open beta, letting everyone log in and try the game for both bugs and just for the heck of it. There will be no more wipes of the database, so you could easily regard this as something of a soft launch for the game. If you're not feeling that particular sort of building and you're over in the EU, you can instead try your hand with the latest update for of ArcheAge, which mirrors the patch deployed earlier this week on the US servers. Hopefully the EU rollout will not include the same login issues that hit the US servers as well. The patch is scheduled to go live today at 5:00 p.m. GMT. [Source: Trion Worlds press release]
Pokemon TCG Online app deals to Canadian-type Pokemasters
Canadians looking for a card battler beyond Hearthstone can search iTunes' deck for Pokemon TCG Online, The Pokemon Company's free app that hosts both player-vs-computer and online Pokebattles. In Pokemon TCG Online, players can unlock cards, earn booster packs and build custom decks as they accumulate spoils from battles, all of which are tied to a Pokemon Trainer Club account. Newcomers will find support in the app's tutorials, though they'll face the same question for their starter decks that so many routinely face in the Pokemon series: water, fire or grass? In order to play, Pokemasters will need to match or excel the base hardware requirements of an iPad 3 or iPad mini with Retina display. Hopefully Pokemon TCG Online's soft launch will lead to an iOS debut in other territories soon, but if you need a more immediate way to play a few battles, there's always the version for PC and Mac. [Image: The Pokemon Company International]
Archlord 2 turns on Archlord system tomorrow
Has Archlord 2 officially launched yet or is it merely riding that nebulous open beta soft launch train? It's hard to tell with this title, but what we do know is that the MMO will be releasing its first major content update tomorrow. This update includes two new world zones, a contested area, the titular Archlord PvP system, four additional dungeons, a flexible dungeon system, and plenty of equipment sets. To go with the update, the team is running a login event from September 16th through October 13th during which players can receive a four-piece avatar set by logging in at least once a week. We've got the official launch trailer for Archlord 2 after the break, which is perfect for those of you with eyes or ears or an acceptable substitute.
Trove will rejuvenate MMO worlds by blowing them up
I'll confess that even after having chatted with Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman about this new Trove project and reading Shawn's very early impressions piece, I was still having difficulty understanding what, exactly, this game was about. Was it just some sort of kiddy LEGO hack-and-slasher with a nod to housing thrown in? How was Trion going to make good on its promise to continually provide a sense of new adventures? And was Trove just a blatant ripoff of Cube World, as some have claimed? Because Trove isn't quite a typical MMO, I needed another phone session with Trion to get a clearer picture of this game. Creative Lead Andrew Krausnick spent an hour with me patiently answering any and all of my questions. The big one had to be asked from the get go. Were you really going to be blowing up the world all the time? Krausnick confirmed that yes, Trion will be doing exactly that. More than that, he said that it would be the factor that would set Trove apart from all of the other games out there right now.
Blade Hunter transitioning to beta tomorrow
Blade Hunter is preparing to transition from its alpha test to beta tomorrow, December 19th, and is inviting players to check out the beat-em-up MMO. The game had an extremely short alpha period that started just a week ago. The new beta test begins at 9:00 am EST and could be considered a soft launch for Blade Hunter as characters will be permanent from here on out. Blade Hunter features three classes that engage in side-scrolling action and the option to play solo or with parties. There are also time-limited events that players can engage in to strive for top rankings and special rewards. [Source: R2 Games press release]
The Soapbox: Stop hurting the people who love you
Over the last few years, we have been witness to dramatic shifts in the way the video game business does its...erm...business. Crowdfunding appeared out of nowhere and turned people like Chris Roberts into money tornadoes. Digital distribution created an environment in which anyone with an internet connection and a laptop can create and release a game. Here in the MMO niche, early access, paid betas, founders packages, and extended soft launches became the norm. My opinion on soft launching and paid betas has been well established on this site. I dislike the idea that players must jump in to aid a flailing development team while it buys time on a project the team clearly should have reigned in. I also hate the environment soft launching creates in which studios are not accountable for their mistakes; a game like Firefall can have its entire PvP system wiped while its developers say, "Oops, our bad, beta! But thanks for all the money." However, there is another enormous problem with the prevalence of the soft launch system. Namely, it kills fans.
Ask Massively: The order of all the things
This week in Ask Massively, we're fielding two queries about how we position games in some of our weekly roundup columns. As an obsessive list-maker, I understand the need to make sense of list chaos, believe me. I actually have lists of my lists. I'm not kidding. Our first question is from Siphaed, who wondered about the entries in our Week in Review: I'm a bit confused why The Elder Scrolls Online and Star Citizen got above FFXIV. Don't get me wrong, I honestly don't like either game and still prefer the one above all three (Guild Wars 2). However, I see that FFXIV has four key articles dedicated to it this past week and the other two have only three each. I would think that it would get a slight priority in the pecking order based on that. If not, what are the credentials for one game getting priority over the others in the article listing? I love that you guys think we're sitting around steepling our fingers trying to decide which game should go on top and get the golden star sticker for the week, but unfortunately, it's nowhere near that much fun!
The Perfect Ten: Obnoxious studio buzz words
So say that you write for Massively. Or say that you work for another news site while wistfully refreshing Massively's front page hoping to see a "we're hiring!" notice pop up. Or say that you're a two-headed frog that has a respectable blog that one head writes for while the other one eats flies. The important thing for this example is to imagine that you write news. Because you write news, a good chunk of your day is spent prowling for stories. Some of them you find while browsing. Some of them are sent to your email. Once in a great while your cell phone registers a call from California and a way-too-peppy voice tries to sell you on the notion of writing a 2000-word feature on a game that only the mole people have heard of. In all of this, you are exposed to a great amount of PR-speak. You see the same phrases pop up, again and again. You understand how words can be hollow shells wrapped around a complete lack of meaning. You start to go mad until your other head tells you to snap out of it and eat some more flies. So today you're going to join me here on this side of the news desk as we look at 10 of the most obnoxious buzz words or phrases that studio PR and devs like to toss our way. You could get really cynical reading this list, but I suggest that you make a bingo sheet instead to turn this into a fun game that never, ever ends!
Massively Exclusive: Red 5 talks pay-to-win and Firefall's open beta
If you haven't yet noticed, Red 5's open-world, MMOFPS, action-adventure, jet-boot-featuring Firefall is now in open beta. The sci-fi shooter saw an extended closed beta period marked by major overhauls to core systems and a slow-but-steady trickle of new content, and last week's open beta launch is the next big step in pushing Firefall toward its eventual release. We posed a few questions to Red 5 about the nature of beta testing, the complications brought on by monetizing a game in progress, and the future of Firefall.
The Soapbox: The soft launch scam
Back in the golden days of video games, there was no such thing as a soft launch. Nintendo didn't send out test copies of Super Mario World to special "backers," and Sega didn't ship half-finished Sonic games with promises of further content updates. Games, for the most part, were played only after they were finished, printed, packaged, and shipped. Even on PC, beta testing was more of an earned honor exclusive to players that showed dedication to a title and its community. Here in these modern times of Internets and always-ons, however, things are different. It would seem as though developers need only make enough game content to shoot a reasonably convincing trailer before the publishing team can begin collecting money by slapping a "BETA" sticker on the webpage and offering fans early access. Over the last few years soft launches have become increasingly common -- especially for creators of online games. The line between "in testing" and "done" is becoming blurred, and publishers are reaping the benefits while players suffer.
Ask Massively: A new era of soft launches
Neverwinter soft launched this week. What's a soft launch? It's when a game really shouldn't be launching yet and knows it and yet has to launch anyway for reasons probably involving money. Soft launches are incredibly confusing to old school gamers who are used to a certain kind of testing and release cycle, the uncomplicated kind that involves, you know, some testing and a release. Soft launches make games writers uncomfortable too. Why won't your weird special snowflake of a game launch fit into our perfectly planned box? Massively reader zmeul expressed his annoyance with us thusly: "I can't understand why some games get this 'soft launch' from you and others do not, even if the criteria are met." It's a brave new world out there, zmeul!
Neverwinter's open beta soft launches today
Ever wonder what the heck an MMO soft launch actually is? Me too, which is funny because you'd think I'd know, working for an MMO site and whatnot. Soft launch implies that somewhere out in game land there's also a hard launch, which is a term that I've never heard once despite following the industry for decades now. Is soft launch merely a marketing construct, or perhaps devspeak for a free-to-play MMO that operates in some sort of perpetual beta in spite of a working cash shop? Or is it simply a term that denotes the beginning of an open beta period that is free of character wipes, as is the case with today's Neverwinter pseudo-release? The definition is up to you, I suppose, and while you're mulling that one over, you can also click past the cut for a roundup of our best pre-soft-launch Neverwinter coverage.
Neverwinter founder early access begins today [Updated]
If you're a diehard Neverwinter fan (i.e., you threw down $200 for the Hero of the North founder's pack), you're probably sitting at home in your PJs, notebook full of character names in hand, ready to hit the Neverwinter open beta running. Or you might be at work/school wishing you played sick this morning. Either way, Cryptic Studios' and Perfect World Entertainment's D&D-based MMO Neverwinter is celebrating a soft launch this morning as the open beta early access period will begin at 12 p.m. EDT (9 a.m. PDT). For those who purchased the Guardian of Neverwinter founder's pack ($60 US), your early access begins at 12 p.m. EDT (9 a.m. PDT) on April 27. Good luck to everyone and watch the open beta trailer after the jump below to get you pumped up! [Update: We've altered this post to remove a bit about stressing over character name reservations since Neverwinter allows you to grab any character name you want under your global handle. Sorry for the confusion!]
Warframe soft-launches open beta, celebrates with Update 7
Digital Extremes has soft-launched Warframe into open beta. This most historic occasion has been marked with the launch of Update 7, which brings with it a host of fixes, updates, and new features. Two new warframes, the poisonous Saryn and sonic Banshee, have been added to the game along with a few new weapons and melee stealth attacks. A new training challenge and endless defense mission have been thrown in as well. The game's mod system has undergone pretty significant changes. Weapons have see tuning and balance updates, and a large list of fixes have been added. Check out the forums for a full list of changes in Update 7. Thanks to intrepid internetter Ken for the tip.
Vanguard soft launches free-to-play a week early
If you've had your calendars marked for Vanguard's F2P launch on August 14th, you might want to get out your eraser. As of today, SOE has soft launched the title's free-to-play version for any and all to enjoy. Along with the soft launch comes a shiny new website to mark the occasion. The good news is in today's update notes: "The free-to-play matrix is now in effect. Anyone should be able to download the game for free from our new site." Vanguard's latest update also marks the beginning of the in-game marketplace, freedom from race and class restrictions, and a massive sweep of re-itemization. [Thanks to MikeyMoo for the tip!]
Tribal Trouble 2 plows into open beta
Although GameSamba players have had access to Tribal Trouble 2's beta since the beginning of July, the company is now throwing open the door for any and all who want to try out this colorful MMORTS. This is, of course, the sequel to 2005's goofy Vikings-vs.-natives Tribal Trouble. Tribal Trouble 2 allows you to customize a personal chieftain who can set out to try to conquer the world, one village at a time while building one of his or her own. While we question the game's merits as a self-proclaimed MMO, the title boasts both single-player missions and PvP modes, as well as an achievement board. Plus, the game has units like the fearsome Chicken Punishers, so you know it's got to be good. If you're interested, you merely need to hop over to Tribal Trouble 2's website and sign up for the open beta. The game's both free-to-play and browser-based in order to be accessible to all. Additionally, hit the jump to check out the trailer!
David Allen leaves Alganon
It's been a strange ride over at Alganon of late. The game's announcement of a shift to a subscription-free model came out on the heels of David Allen's statements that the game would never go even remotely free-to-play. It seems that it didn't exactly happen on his watch, as Quest Online has just announced Mr. Allen's departure from the company. There's no reason given, although speculation can (and no doubt will) run rampant. Replacing David Allen is Derek Smart, creator of the Battlecruiser 3000AD game series, and something of a contentious figure in the gaming world. The company continues to push forward that the game's "official" launch is in mid-April, after having retroactively turned the opening in December of last year into a "soft launch." What this means for the game as a whole is still uncertain, although the number of shakeups of late certainly don't suggest that it's been a resounding success thus far. Alganon players should keep their eyes peeled for any news about the game, as a new president usually means that there will be some significant changes in store.
Walmart to test iPhone sales with employees starting today
Engadget is featuring an image allegedly showing details of Walmart's "soft launch" for the iPhone, scheduled to go on sale at 9 a.m. on December 28. The note indicates that 488 Walmart stores were chosen for a "pilot" exercise, whereby each store will be given five iPhones to sell to Walmart employees between now and the 28th. Associates will be able to purchase the phones for "full contract price and a two-year service agreement," but they can take advantage of a 15 percent discount on the contract as employees. The purpose of the pilot program is to sort out any issues with the sales or activation process prior to the public launch date. If anything, it will make for a happy holiday for 2,440 Walmart associates.
