Filed under: Betas

Betawatch: May 12 - 18, 2012

by Brianna Royce May 18th 2012 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, Betawatch, Miscellaneous

This week on Betawatch, we say farewell to Diablo III, which (at least nominally) moved on from beta to official launch on Tuesday. Bizarrely enchanting new MOBA SmashMuck Champions takes its place, joining our list with a closed beta planned within the month. We've also added MechWarrior Online to the alpha list, as reader mblakeman2001 rightly pointed out the game is in a friends-and-family beta!

CCP has begun sending out DUST 514 beta keys and opened registration, and we've also learned that Blade & Soul will leave beta and launch in July... but only in Korea. Sadface.

Finally, The Secret World's second beta weekend kicked off earlier today, but if you're not in it, you can content yourself with our hands-on with the game's combat and mission system.

Enjoy the entirety of our Betawatch roundup post-cut!

The Firing Line: World of Warplanes producer talks matchmaking, progression

by Jef Reahard May 18th 2012 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Historical, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, War, Free-to-play, Massively Interviews, World of Warplanes, The Firing Line

The Firing Line - World of Warplanes producer interview

Last week I talked a bit about a couple of flight sim shooters coming soon to a PC near you. One of them is World of Warplanes, the followup title to Wargaming.net's ubiquitous World of Tanks hit.

The World War II action MMO masters are slipping the surly bonds of earth with a new lobby-based battler that's currently flying through the early phases of its global alpha test. I had a few burning questions for the devs, including specifics on the matchmaking system, progression, and the possibility of historical scenarios. Producer Anton Sitnikau was gracious enough to answer those and more, so head past the break to see what he had to say.

New DDO Menace of the Underdark video profiles Druid class

by Jef Reahard May 18th 2012 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Classes, Expansions, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries

Dungeons and Dragons Online - Druid wolf form

Turbine continues its Menace of the Underdark info blitz this morning with a new video centering on Dungeons and Dragons Online's maiden expansion. If you've been hiding in a troll cave for the last month, you may not be aware that the devs are taking players from Eberron to the Forgotten Realms starting on June 25th.

There's also a new Druid class, which is the focus of today's dev diary clip. Executive producer Fernando Paiz calls the Druid the single most requested feature by the DDO playerbase over the last six years. Click past the cut to learn more about the class and see if it measures up to your expectations.

[Source: Turbine press release]

Some Assembly Required: I saw the wilds of Salem (and lived to tell about it)

by Jef Reahard May 18th 2012 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Economy, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, Previews, PvP, News items, Opinion, Free-to-play, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on, First Impressions, Some Assembly Required, Sandbox, Crafting

I spent an hour romping through the woods of Salem last Friday with Seatribe head honcho Bjorn Johannessen. The tiny indie company (current dev population: two) is hard at work on its followup to Haven and Hearth, an acquired taste of a sandbox game notable for its no-holds barred approach that includes permadeath and the ability to summon (and kill) criminal characters -- even while their lulz-loving puppet-masters are offline.

Publisher Paradox bills Salem as "the crafting MMO," and boy it's not kidding. Over the course of this particular dev tour, I saw crazy amounts of tradeskill functionality, all kinds of cool world-building stuff, and ultimately, more than enough reasons to spend time with the game when it launches later this year.

Spirit Tales launching Crisis of Jade Forest next week

by Eliot Lefebvre May 17th 2012 at 5:30PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Patches, Previews, News items, Free-to-play

It's really hard to imagine anything in the saccharine world of Spirit Tales being properly termed a crisis, but the game's newest update is aiming in that direction. The Crisis of Jade Forest goes live on May 23rd, giving players a chance to tackle an extra-difficult version of the normal Jade Forest area with extra boss-enriched goodness. Successful players have plenty of motivation, however, as the reward for completion involves a chest that could contain items normally reserved for the game's item mall.

Groups of up to five players can enter the battle once per day, which fills the area with deadly monsters and 10 special bosses. Successfully defeating all of these bosses will grant the chance to earn both rewards that would normally cost real money as well as other little trinkets. it's also meant to be a great way to level up, so if you're already in the open beta, you may want to consider a look at the dungeon.

MechWarrior Online dev Q&A covers beta, grouping, and combat damage

by Justin Olivetti May 17th 2012 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, PvP, Free-to-play, Community Q&A, MechWarrior Online

MechWarrior Online's devs aren't quite ready to disclose specifics on the game's minimum specs or beta process, but news for both is coming "soon." These vague assurances were the anomaly in a recent community Q&A, during which Piranha Games President Russ Bullock and Creative Director Bryan Ekman spilled on all of the minutia that fans were dying to know.

The duo said that they're "working very hard" to get MWO servers into every major region and that information about beta will be coming next week. They did confirm that there will be an open beta at some juncture, however.

Other details disclosed included the fact that players can form groups of up to 12 'Mechs, that legs cannot be blown off (but can be immobilized), and that the launch matchmaking system will be very basic and won't take into account player skill or records.

Reserve your Guild Wars 2 character name today

by Justin Olivetti May 17th 2012 at 2:30PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Guild Wars, Launches, Guild Wars 2

Everyone seems to freak out about grabbing his or her special character name at the launch of a new MMO, and we imagine Guild Wars 2 will invoke the same emotions. Instead of leaving this oh-so-important action to Day One, ArenaNet is giving players a chance to reserve their Guild Wars 2 names... starting today.

The way it works is that ArenaNet will be reserving all current Guild Wars names for the launch, and players attached to those names can then swoop in and collect them from the start. Three caveats are attached to this process, however: You have to log into Guild Wars sometime in 2012, you have to claim your names in Guild Wars 2 by launch day, and you can't secure Guild Wars 2's single names (as Guild Wars forces you to make two-word names).

The studio says that there are 20 million two-word names in use at this point, and we suspect that list will grow much longer after today. These names can be reserved at any point from now until whenever ArenaNet decides to compile its master list. After launch, ArenaNet promises to free up the unclaimed names for others to take.

PlanetSide 2 video features night ops, 23 minutes of alpha gameplay

by Jef Reahard May 17th 2012 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, News items, Free-to-play, PlanetSide 2, Sandbox

Curious about the current state of PlanetSide 2? TotalBiscuit recently traveled to Sony Online Entertainment's San Diego headquarters for some hands-on time with the upcoming MMOFPS. What he saw was pretty impressive (we know this because we saw it too, thanks to his video, which we've embedded after the break).

While the game is still in early alpha, we think there's plenty to be excited about, judging by the 23-minute clip. We get a good look at night-fighting, ground and air combat, and an interesting tank vs. foot-soldier matchup that doesn't turn out like you might expect.

Aeria launches new Ignite F2P platform

by Jef Reahard May 17th 2012 at 11:30AM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play

Aeria Games, publisher of Eden Eternal and Lime Odyssey, has a new digital distribution platform. The service, known as Ignite, is officially in beta as of today, according to a company press release. The application gives gamers access to Aeria's free-to-play portfolio, social features, and friend lists all at once; it also grats developers an effective platform for communicating marketing messages to Aeria's global audience.

The company plans to bundle Ignite with all of its games going forward. Plans are also in the works to bring the app to various tablet and mobile devices.

[Source: Aeria Games press release]

Hands-on with The Secret World's mission system

by Jef Reahard May 17th 2012 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Horror, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Previews, PvE, Opinion, The Secret World, Massively Hands-on, First Impressions, Guides

So The Secret World's mission system treads well off the beaten MMO path. It's pretty cool, actually, though portions of it may irritate quest-grinders who just want to blow through zones on their way to the game's equivalent of a max-level toon.

For the rest of us, there's a nifty interface, some challenging puzzles, and plenty of well-written quest text and dialogue to keep us entertained for weeks at a time.

DUST 514 handing out first beta keys tomorrow [Updated]

by Justin Olivetti May 17th 2012 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Events, in-game, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, DUST 514

Did you drop your name into CCP Games' hat as a potential tester for DUST 514? Then tomorrow might be a lovely day for you, as the studio is emailing out the first round of closed beta keys for registered participants after a short delay from its original key-handing-out schedule.

It is unknown how many keys will be sent out and to whom. Last month, CCP told Fanfest attendees that they would be among the first to test the anticipated MMOFPS. The DUST 514 website states that the studio is sending out Fanfest keys first and keys to standard registered players "soon after."

To celebrate the release of the closed beta keys, CCP is holding a "special event" over the weekend. The details of this event are forthcoming.

[Update: CCP has confirmed that beta registration has begun today and that EVE players and Fanfest attendees will get first pick.]

Free for All: Planet Cyrene adds to the high-stakes worlds of Entropia

by Beau Hindman May 16th 2012 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Launches, New titles, Previews, PvP, Opinion, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, Humor, Free for All

I'm not much of a shooter fan and probably never will be. Sure, I have as much fun blasting my way through monsters as the next gamer, but I rarely have the patience or physical stamina to overcome the pains and frustrations of shooter PvP. After all, my first rule of PvP applies especially well to shooters: There is always someone better than you. Planet Cyrene, the new world being added to the impressive portfolio of Entropia Universe, tasks players tasks similar to those found in Planet Calypso and mixes in PvP arenas that promise to frustrate (or delight) players, depending on their skill level. I sat down with Ed Robles III, lead developer for Planet Cyrene, to see just how nasty and expensive things might get.

Remember, this is the Entropia Universe we are talking about, and that means players will spend real money on bullets, armor, and practically everything else. Fortunately, players can earn items that are worth real money as well. Call it gambling or whatever you want, but it still seems to be a pretty successful formula.

Player's real-life journey honored in Guild Wars 2

by Justin Olivetti May 16th 2012 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Events, real-world, Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars player Kelly Wells became inspired to go on a real-life adventure due to her explorations of Tyria and an encouraging TED talk -- and so she did it. Starting from Maine, Wells and her faithful dog crossed America to California by foot, ending the trip with a visit to ArenaNet in Seattle. The developers were so impressed by Wells' journey that they decided to make her part of Guild Wars 2.

In a new ArenaNet blog post, Lead Content Designer Colin Johanson shares how bowled over the devs were when they met Wells and why her epic journey had to become part of Guild Wars 2. "If we all took that perspective on life, deciding to make positive changes and refusing to let anything get in our way, it'd be amazing to see how much we'd all be able to accomplish," Johanson said. The team then collaborated to come up with a similar figure for its upcoming title.

Thus was born Ameranth, a Sylvari explorer who traverses the width of Tyria with her trusty dog, Anna. When players encounter her, Ameranth is known to say, "Ever since emerging from the Pale Tree, I've had the itch to see what the world has to offer. And what better way than with my own two feet?"

Guild Wars 2 writers talk (at length) about MMO story

by Jef Reahard May 16th 2012 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Guild Wars 2

What's it like to pen the narrative for one of the most anticipated MMORPGs, well, ever? It's quite different from writing a novel or a screenplay, according to ArenaNet's Angel McCoy. She joins Guild Wars 2 lead writer Bobby Stein and Peter "The Explorer" Fries for an MMO story-flavored sit-down with fan site Under the Pale Tree.

The interview is a lengthy one (who knew that writers could be so wordy?), and it covers a bunch of ground including the megalithic sprawl of GW2's narrative, the challenges inherent in writing particular races, and the differences between in-game dialogue and cutscene exposition. There's more to it, of course, but honestly the thing is so huge that we're going to go finish reading it after we've jotted down this here news post.

Hands-on with The Secret World's combat system

by Jef Reahard May 16th 2012 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Horror, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Previews, PvE, Opinion, The Secret World, Massively Hands-on, Guides

The Secret World's press beta hasn't been what I expected. To be frank, I'd say there are times I wish I didn't have to play it. See, my guild pals are on either the closed beta server or the public beta weekends server, both of which are quite crowded and therefore offer quite a different experience from the forlorn existence endured by my Massively Templar.

There's also the whole I-don't-get-to-keep-this-character thing, not to mention the wow-this-is-cool-and-I-don't-want-to-spoil-it-for-myself-post-launch thing.

On the other hand, I've had plenty of time to muck around with game systems and minutiae, something that my card-carrying membership in the crazy carebear immersionist secret society often precludes. For this week's press beta article, then, I thought I'd give you guys a primer on The Secret World's combat system.

Massively Features

Events Calendar

Name	Date
Cataclysm Launch	Dec 7, 2010
DCUO Launch	Early 2011

Massively Staff

Name	Title
Shawn Schuster	Editor-in-Chief
Brianna Royce	Senior Editor
Rubi Bayer	Community Manager
Brendan Drain	Contributing Editor
Eliot Lefebvre	Contributing Editor
Jef Reahard	Contributing Editor
Justin Olivetti	Contributing Editor
Krystalle Voecks	Contributing Editor
Larry Everett	Contributing Editor
Beau Hindman	Columnist
Edward Marshall	Columnist
Greg Waller	Columnist
Jeremy Stratton	Columnist
Karen Bryan	Columnist
MJ Guthrie	Columnist
Patrick Mackey	Columnist
Ryan Greene	Columnist
Lisa Poisso	Columnist