This morning, NCSoft announced that the Blade & Soul closed beta testing will begin on October 30th! A total of five beta weekends will occur, typically running from Fridays through Mondays, giving players around 20 days to help test both gameplay and performance of the game. The 2015 beta weekend schedule is available here.
This morning, NCSoft and Carbine Studios have announced that WildStar will rocket into its Free-to-Play launch on Tuesday, September 29, 2015. The second phase of CBT of the FTP transition kicks off today, which will have a focus on final fine-tuning touches, including testing out the new in-game store. Testers who purchase NCoin during CBT2 will have that currency transferred to their live characters when the FTP transition goes live.
This morning NCSoft revealed the Blade & Soul Founder's Packs, which are now available for purchase in both North America and Europe. Each pack has its own set of perks and will not be available after the game's 2016 Q1 launch.
“We have been hard at work to bring Blade & Soul to North American and European players, and today’s announcement brings us one step closer to our Closed Beta Test this Fall,” commented NCSoft Producer Nicolas Coutant. “Our Founder’s Packs offer players meaningful bonuses and extras that will enhance their experience with the game before launch and well beyond.”
This morning Carbine announced that the WildStar F2P closed beta test has gone live! The CBT is open to all current subscribers, as well as non-subscribers who obtain a closed beta key. Click the "Sign Up For Beta" button on the main site to register for a chance to obtain a key.
“We can’t wait to have players get into beta and check out all the new content,” said Carbine's Product Director Mike Donatelli. “Inviting players to test all these systems is key to our success. We're looking to them to provide critical feedback that will enable us to launch free-to-play this fall.”
WildStar will be transitioning to free-to-play this fall, and we took the time to speak to Product Director Mike Donatelli and Creative Director Chad Moore during E3 for more information on what the change will offer new and existing players.
The game will be getting a host of changes to make it more user-friendly, with the first one being the tutorial options. Currently there's one tutorial zone that everyone goes through, and while that will still remain as a choice, players will now also be able to choose to bypass it or begin a step prior to it. Focusing on the player's MMO experience, tutorial options include Novice (never played MMOs before; extremely basic knowledge), Intermediate (the current WildStar Arkship tutorial experience, though streamlined to be quicker), and Expert (bypass the tutorials while being granted experience and gear that you would have gained from it).
Last month, NCSoft announced that Blade & Soul would be coming to the west, with closed beta anticipated to begin this fall and releasing this winter. During E3 we took the time to catch up with Producer Nicolas Coutant and NCSoft Community Director Omeed Dariani to find out more details about the F2P MMO's business model.
Carbine's WildStar team has poured their heart and soul into shaping and expanding the sci-fi MMO into the diversified gaming experience it is today. The last several content drops have focused on a multitude of playstyles, from newbie to casual to raider.
With the game so fleshed out, Carbine has now decided that the time is ripe for it to soon join the ranks of free-to-play MMOs. We sat down with Product Director Mike Donatelli and Creative Director Chad Moore last week to learn more about WildStar's new frontier.
"It's a big decision, a big change, and not one we went into lightly as a studio. Carbine's commitment to WildStar has never been stronger; we will continue to release AAA updates for the game, the experience that players have come to expect they will only get more of as we head into the future."
Released in South Korea back in 2013 and since expanded to Asia, Taiwan and Japan, Blade & Soul, developed by Team Bloodlust, is an action-based martial arts wuxia MMO, with its gameplay, business model and more adapted to its respective territory. Since its release, NCSoft has received petitions, emails, PMs and more from western players wanting to be able to play the game. Today it has been announced that Blade & Soul will be coming to both North America and Europe this winter.
We spoke with Blade & Soul Producer Nicolas Coutant and NCSoft Community Director Omeed Dariani earlier this week about the game and its readiness for a western audience.
Lineage II: Infinite Odyssey has gone live! The free content expansion has launched as part of the game's 11th anniversary celebrations. Level cap has been removed and players are encouraged to explore the latest content.
NCSoft has announced that the Lineage II: Infinite Odyssey expansion will release on Wednesday, April 22, 2015. Launching as part of Lineage II's 11th anniversary, Infinite Odyssey demonstrates NCSoft's commitment to creating quality content for its long-running franchise. Key features and content of the expansion include:
