From the Developers
Welcome to the Beta Release Newsletter!
The long process of creating a
playable game is complete. Now, to refine and improve!
Think of Beta as the wooden framing of a house - you get an idea of what the house will
look
like, but it's nowhere near complete. The grunt work is mostly done and the fun part is coming - adding in all of the details, improving the artwork,
and
watching to see what direction the
players want to go.
We're waiting to see and chat with you online
in the Wraith: The Ironhorse world!
-The WTG Team
Wraith: The Iron Horse BETA 1 RELEASE
DISCLAIMER
WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO PLAY IN NO WAY REPRESENTS THE FINAL STATE OF THE GAME. YOU CONSENT TO THIS AND UNDERSTAND THAT THIS SOFTWARE IS USED AT YOUR OWN
RISK.
IT MAY TOTALLY FORMAT YOUR DRIVE AND CAUSE YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN TO CRY, BUT YOU ACCEPT THAT AND UNDERSTAND THAT WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER YOUR TEARS OR
OVER ANY ACTS OF GOD THAT MIGHT CAUSE YOU TO EXPERIENCE DISPLEASURE.
PHASE ONE BETA
The Wraith: The Iron Horse team is pleased to announce the release of our first phase beta. In this beta, we hope to play test with you not only the
software frameworks that we've merged together, but also game rules, design, and the varied other assortment that goes into making an online game.
Beta, as mentioned before, is set to go through a number of phases that eventually get us to a point where we can say that the world is stable
enough that the specter of character and inventory wipes no longer cast a wide shadow over regular game-play. In the midst of these phases, we are not forcing
Non-Disclosure Agreements. As we.ve mentioned before, an NDA makes sense in many different situations. Here, we just don.t see it. We have a small, but
growing fan pool interested in participating in various levels.
We think everyone should have an opportunity to be in the pool.
Much of the technology that you will be enjoying is the result of a combination and working with existing frameworks or technical frameworks
that no
longer exist. It is significant to note that much of the content and potentially some of the underlying technical features may change significantly
over the course of play as our vendors finalize licensing terms.
CHARACTER AND INVENTORY WIPES
During the beta process it may be necessary to perform full character, inventory and account wipes. Typically, you will know in advance via the forums
when such a wipe is necessary, why we need to do it, and what our general outline is for not doing another one anytime soon. Your character name,
favored item, and loot will not be retained, nor quest status or any of that, in the event we have a wipe.
MONSTERS & PLAYSTYLES
We attempted to structure the zones to gear around two types of play right now, with a couple more waiting in the wind. The first type of play is
'solo' play, which is an engaging experience to go around and see the world. As it stands, the zones that you have access to make travel fairly easy.
We expect some areas to become much more difficult to move around in over time.
The second type of play involves group oriented dynamics. There are two zones setup where a group would be fun to have and useful for
testing
purposes.
We also have put in a healthy number of monsters, factions, and loot tables for you to run around on. Let us know how you find the balance
strikes you.
QUESTS
We ask that you try out:
Brawler Assault Skill quest
Scorpion Research Note quest
Junk Debris quest
One of the Ranger path quests
There are others, but the quests above use a handful of systems that would give us a good idea on what is going on in the world.s underlying
technology.
ZONES
As mentioned before, there are only a handful of zones that we.ll be putting into this first phase beta. Only one of them will you recognize from the
website.
--The Graveyard
--The Outskirts
--Maplerun
--Halfblood
--Ruins
--Sualdemark
As the technology matures, we will gradually put in the other zones listed on the website and those not.
CLASSES
We have additional information about these classes on our forums and on the website. We value your input and feedback in tuning these classes
and their associated skills!
--Brawler
--Medium
--Ranger
--Vicar
--Tradefolk (Tradeskill class)
--Citizen
We recommend staying away from the last three classes right now, as they each have functionality not yet fully implemented in the beta client.
GAMEPLAY NOTES
Type: /tell Conscious how do I get started? For friendly advice on how to get started.
Spells: Are you a Medium? Speak to Scribe Claus to get the spells appropriate for your level. Note that as the spells enter the game, they will be
transitioned
away from the Scribe.
YOUR FIRST QUEST
Experienced at these games? Try Jonathon's simple junk debris quest to get a feel for how things work.
Read/Comment on the above text on the Forums.
Back to Newsletter Main Page