f13.net

Bulgaria.

That is all.

I know, I thought the same thing. But at least someone's got the balls to attempt another PVP MMO.

Bulgaria.

That is all.

Disclosure: Masthead Studios is a client of TAP Interactive, who is owned by the same parent company as WarCry.

This game has potential.

This game has potential.

In the aftermath of a catastrophic third world war, Earth lies in ruin, and mankind is all but extinct. In a small corner of the world a new society has risen in the years following, populated mostly by the clones of those stored in a massive DNA database compiled at the end of the war. A corporate government has created a seemingly Utopian civilization, but its heavy-handed control over society, its resources, and even life itself has forced a substantial opposition. These rival factions accuse the government of crimes against humanity in its rampant willingness to abuse the cloning process to its own gain. It is at this crossroads that players will find themselves: fight as a champion of the new world order, or take up arms with Noir, the shadow government sworn to overthrow the totalitarian rule.

I'll come back when they release more info - my vapour MMO quota is full right now (Fallen Earth and The Secret World).

SniperX: First of all I would like to ask you about the idea of Earthrise, why post-nuclear Sci-Fi?

Atanas Atanasov: The Sci-fi MMO genre is clearly underdeveloped. There is a lot of room for innovation and expansion and we wanted to be part of that process. We wanted to make a game which is both fictional and holds the possibility of happening. Cloning, nanobotics and lasers are already a reality – we upgraded those concepts and connected them with the lives of the future human.

SniperX: Can you tell us about the storyline behind the Earthrise? We all know that it is after the Third World War, could you bring us more details?

Atanas Atanasov: The story of Earthrise takes place several hundred years from now on the island of Enterra. It is just after the end of the Third World War and among the only fortunate survivors were those who were part of the Continoma project, a new technology developed by a corporation bearing the same name, which provided a way to preserve the human consciousness and clone an exact replica of a person. With immortality at their fingertips, confidence of a bright future grew but there is always room for error. The leaders of Continoma used their control of the cloning process, playing God on Earth, and introduce a dictatorship on the paradise island. After growing tired of Continoma’s unyielding control, a resistance called Noir formed on the island in an effort to fight to overthrow the government and change the political regime.

Players will enter the game shortly after these events and will be tasked with deciding who will rule the island – the order in the face of Continoma or the chaos in the face of Noir. If unable to decide, there are always the neutrals and criminals who are fighting for their own interest which players can choose to side with.

SniperX: The screenshots of the game look really awesome, have you created the engine from the beginning? What requirements will Earthrise have?

Atanas Atanasov: We are developing our own engine from scratch and the screenshots are the result of three years hard work. There is much more to be done and the final game will look even better.

The minimum requirements are 2 GHz CPU, 1024 MB RAM and 256 MB VRAM video card supporting shader model v3.0.

Concept art

SniperX: The game will be released on PC, but plenty new MMO games will be also released on Playstation 3 or Xbox360; do you have any plans of releasing Earthrise on other platforms?

Atanas Atanasov: We are developing Earthrise for PC and don’t have plans for the time being to release on Playstation or Xbox. The game design is made under consideration that Earthrise will be developed for PC only. If we want to expand the platforms, we will need some time and resources to do that, but our current focus is to deliver the game on time with the promised features.

SniperX: The samples of music from Earthrise are very nice, Shifts and Tides is my favorite – will we hear something similar to those samples in Earthrise? It’s definitely different from common MMO game soundtracks.

Atanas Atanasov: Thank you! From the very beginning of the Earthrise development we wanted to have a soundtrack that reflects the futuristic, post-apocalyptic feeling. Most of the music will be similar to what you have heard and we will release some new tracks for listening in the near future.


SniperX: Let us talk now more about game mechanics, what kind of PvP do you plan to implant in Earthrise? Will it be more like Free-For-All, Faction PvP or Guild-Based PvP?

Atanas Atanasov: Of all options listed above all three describe best the PvP gameplay in Earthrise. Players will be able to find Free-For-All PvP action in every low or non-secure zone on the Enterra island, with the possibility of fully or partially looting their opponent's inventory and equipment. If they decide to bring the action in highly secure zones however, it becomes a Faction PvP where the only way to get away with murder is to take on characters of opposing Factions. Finally, a sizable portion of the game world is dedicated to Guild-Based PvP (or GvG as we call it) where Guilds will strive to conquer land to build their own bases and extract valuable resources from them, while other Guilds scheme to take over their opponents. None of these mechanics are secondary to the others; they all come up together as an integral hole.

SniperX: Guys from Blizzard implanted in their title modes from FPS Games, Capture the Flag, Domination and Assault. What do you think of this move? Do you plan do same those modes to Earthrise? Or add new modes based on other FPS Games like Counter-Strike?


Atanas Atanasov: Bringing new modes of gameplay based on popular games is a great idea, but before we reach out and start implementing ideas and gameplay modes from other games and genres, we ask ourselves what would that feature do to integrity. Earthrise has a serious, realistic atmosphere and all gameplay features are designed to contribute to a cutthroat military and economic competition in a post-apocalyptic environment. Many gameplay modes from other genres are very well suited for closed environments, such as instanced locations, but would not add much in a persistent world environment. We are implementing gameplay that benefits a persistent world first, that is our priority.

SniperX: How does advancement work?

Atanas Atanasov: Players will advance through fighting whatever dangers the post-apocalyptic island poses against them, manufacturing goods to benefit themselves, their guild or the whole economy, and by diligently pursuing their offline career. Of course, one of those cannot complement the others - in fact, Earthrise will have three different pools of experience that the players can accumulate to develop their characters. Each of them will allow them to become a better fighter, a better manufacturer or attain an influential position in the corporate ladder.

SniperX: Plenty of players started RP in MMO games, what tools will you give players who want to create RP Events?

Atanas Atanasov: Probably the best motivation for roleplaying in Earthrise is the sandbox environment where players are free to choose their character's destiny and direction - whether it is military, economic or political - with their own actions, not just follow a carrot-on-a-stick promise of heroism through straighforward PvE questing. When facing real decisions and real consequences, players tend to immerse deeper with their virtual identity. That is not to say we won't offer RP events after launch, but it means that the best RP is where players can define themselves with their actions and gain influence and power above others, and our PvP and GvG gameplay is all about that.

SniperX: Most MMO games force players to increase the level of their character; will Earthrise also demand that players increase their level to become great craftsman? Or will it allow players to skip the fight and do crafting only if he prefers it that way?

Atanas Atanasov: Crafting skills are different from fighting skills and there are no player levels in Earthrise. Players will not feel the necessity to fight if they don’t want to fight. Those who like crafting can do that in the secure areas where they can trade with resources, craft and sell their finished product on the market.

SniperX: Are you planning to create Instance Raids? Or maybe something new for the end-game content?

Atanas Atanasov: We have some great ideas for our end-game content, but it is too early to give away most of that. We would like to address an issue with Instancing and note that Earthrise is a persistent world and our priority is to offer players more world-shattering opponents to face and overcome in a group, rather than multiple closed environments where only a couple of players are allowed at once.


Concept art

SniperX: How big will the world be?

Atanas Atanasov: The world will be bigger than most popular MMOs, but not as big as to feel empty. We want to create a lively environment with numerous exciting locations to visit. I also think that the world size isn’t nearly as important as what you can do there.

SniperX: I know you hate that question, but I promise this will be last question for now, when will we be able to play in Earthrise?

Atanas Atanasov: I don’t hate the question because it is the most important question of all and needs to be answered. We plan to enter beta in Autumn this year. The more we advance into development the more players will be able to beta test Earthrise. The game should be completed some time next year, but it will not be Q1. Please, be patient, we are all players and know how it feels to wait for a game that has caught your attention, but we don’t want to deliver an unfinished product.

» How does Earthrise’s offline advancement work?
In addition to their skills and abilities gained from adventuring, battling, and crafting, characters can take a "career" that will provide them with cash and other perks. Characters will advance in their career whenever they are offline. You can think of your character's career as their "day job": It's how they make money when they aren't killing mutants or battling in the Outer Territories or experimenting with lost technology. Some of the careers in the game include Holo Artist, Electro Sampler and Zero-T operator

SniperX: The screenshots of the game look really awesome, have you created the engine from the beginning? What requirements will Earthrise have?

MMORPG_Kunou: Howdy and welcome to MMORPG.com's Live Dev Chat on irc.coldfront.net! I'm your host, MMORPG.com's Community Manager Richard "Kunou" Cox. Joining us today are members of the Earthrise dev team!

MMORPG_Kunou: Our guests will do their best to answer as many questions as possible, but due to limited time and a high volume of inquiries, they may not be able to answer every single one. Users are limited to one question in the queue at a time, and you will be notified if your question is rejected or discarded. Feel free to add another question to the queue once yours is either asked or rejected.

MMORPG_Kunou: To submit your question, please /msg MMORPGBot yourquestionhere. If your question was deleted, it's probably because someone else asked the same thing first.

MMORPG_Kunou: This room will be moderated during the chat; if you want to talk during the chat, feel free to visit #earthrise.

MMORPG_Kunou: Now it's time for introductions! Feel free to start sending your questions to MMORPGBot while our guests introduce themselves!
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[MS]Ostiak: hi, everyone, my name is Atanas Atanasov, CEO of Masthead Studios, developers of the post-apocalyptic sci-fi MMORPG Earthrise

[MS]RaynerTheApe: Hi all! My name is Apostol Apostolov and I am the Lead Game Designer of Masthead Studios' Earthrise.

Moll: <- Moll, community manager and all around search button advocate

Question: ekaros asks, "When does beta invites start?"

[MS]Ostiak: We are currently eveluating all beta applications. Our plans are to send the first beta invites soon, everyone who is accepted will receive an e-mail

Question: [Legacy]Aeternum asks, "I know you do not give deadlines or specific dates, so to avoid that, this question is generalized. Is it optimistic to believe that beta invites *could* be out by the end of February or the beginning of March?"

[MS]Ostiak: I would say it is more realistic than optimistic :)

Question: aka-shadows asks, "Will water hold any importance and if so will it be tactical or cosmetic"

[MS]RaynerTheApe: Water will have effect on movement speed, but beyond that it would have purely cosmetic feel over gameplay.

Question: Blob asks, "Will it be possible to personalize our weapons ?"

MMORPG_Kunou: Just a reminder, to send in questions, please /msg MMORPGBot yourquestionhere. If your question was deleted, it's probably because someone else asked the same thing first.

[MS]Ostiak: while we are waiting for Rayner to answer, I hope you enjoyed the new screenshots we released yesterday on MMORPG

[MS]RaynerTheApe: Through manufacturing you can personalize your weapons with weapon-oriented designs in the same way you can personalize the properties of many other items. But beyond that players will not be able to change the properties of the items, so crafting will be the important stage.

Question: ZoMBiEXxX asks, "How will time work in Earthrise? Will 1 day in real life be 1 month in game? And will characters have ages?"

[MS]Ostiak: Earthrise will feature day and night cycles, but they will be faster than those in real life. How fast is still under consideration. Characters will not age

Question: Midnitte[1] asks, "How will offline mode work? Something similar to Phantasy Star?"

[MS]RaynerTheApe: No, Earthrise will not have single-player game campaign. Offline Professions will be abstract, simple life simulation that covers how your character spends the time he's supposed to be away from adventuring - he has a daily job that brings him income and rewards.

Question: magiix asks, "what's the infrastructure a big game like this is running on?"

[MS]Ostiak: It is not different than those of other MMO titles. We are partnering with one of the best MMO hosting companies, they know how to handle such type of game really well.

Question: KaizerasBG asks, "How is PvP going to be balanced? Are you aiming for group PvP balance or 1 versus 1 PvP balance?"

[MS]RaynerTheApe: Balancing PvP is a very complex undertaking that's currently ongoing. Earthrise will have be balanced for 1 vs 1, Party vs. Party and ultimately Guild vs Guild combat (Territory Conquests). We can't provide more detail other than we're working on it.

Question: Prince_Ivan_Deamon asks, "How do you feel Earthrise will hold up to competition such as Darkfall and other MMORPGS?"

MMORPG_Kunou: Just a reminder, to send in questions, please /msg MMORPGBot yourquestionhere. If your question was deleted, it's probably because someone else asked the same thing first.

[MS]Ostiak: Earthrise has its unique blend of post-appocalyptic sci-fi setting, skill based system, PvP that matters and crafting being the most important supplier of items. That being said, we are alrady very different than most MMOs on the market. We are making a great game and we will do what players expect from such title. It is the game itself that matters, not its competition.

Question: Mironov asks, "will we have other types of pets, besides robotics, and will they fight with us in batlle, and if yes, then to what extend?"

[MS]RaynerTheApe: At launch, pets available to the players will consist of robotic assistants. We wanted to concentrate on the type of pets that would follow the aestetics of the post-human society, but as Enterran population learns more of its environment, one can imagine a lot other possibilities in the future.

Question: Schierhoge asks, "when we will see first ingame videos?"

[MS]Ostiak: This question is the next big question after beta :) I would say sometime after GDC, which is the end of March.

Question: [JOL]Yuhblah asks, "Will it be possible to personalize the robots who were create by ourselves ? Will can they serve for protecting a sector or other things ?"

[MS]RaynerTheApe: Customization of robots will be limited at launch given the complex role we want to represent for them. Instead, we will provide you with a wide variety of robots you can craft yourself, and some Designs will influence their properties. They will be useful for personal assistance.

Question: tfwarlord asks, "you have talked about the bounty hunter system before but i have 1 quetion to it. Will the hunted know that he was a reward on his head?"

[MS]RaynerTheApe: No. We think this is a very important consequence from the action of player killing. Because every death by player will result in death report, every player killer must assume he has a bounty on his head. Whether it is a small one or a huge one, will make a difference when bounty hunters prioritize their kills.

Question: Soenks asks, "Will there be some sort of capital for each faction ?"

[MS]Ostiak: There is one capital city on the island of Enterra, called Sal Vitas. The mega corporation Continoma rules there. The rest of the factions will have their smaller encampments, towns, bases. Noir for example will have a huge camp located somewhere on the island, only rebels will know where that place is.

Question: Xyleya asks, "regarding the last QoTW: with no friendly fire, how are you going to work against zerg-combat, where everyone is spamming AoE-damage?"

[MS]RaynerTheApe: We are currently testing internally the combat system and we are aware of this situation. Careful balancing and finetuning of the system should cover such situations well.

[MS]Ostiak: we don't want Earthrise to become a FPS game, it is MMORPG after all, however, we will test the currently implemented combat system carefuly just like Raner said

Question: [NERF]Samo asks, "Recently the topic of friendly fire has been discussed and vastly criticized. The majority seemed to oppose having no friendly fire because this removes the battle strategies and leads to it being a "zerg fest". I'd like to know your response to our feedback."

[MS]Ostiak: similar question to the one above. Decisions are not final, beta testing has just started.

Question: koss asks, "Can you list the classes of weapons available and tell us a bit about them?"

[MS]RaynerTheApe: Each of the different styles of play will have their own class of weaponry suited for their destructive needs. Close combat players will have access to variety of energy weaponry, ranged players will have access to assortment of pistols, rifles and launchers.

[MS]RaynerTheApe: While some very specific skills will allow access to holographic weapons that focus mental power, nanobotic swarms capable of disrupting the enemy armor and weapons that shape thermal energies.

Question: Hooters asks, "To what extent will i be able to develop my character ontop of skills abilities and gear? As a former AO player i am thinkinng of customized implants NCU's and other utility slots to further enhance my character."

[MS]RaynerTheApe: Players will also be able to customize their character with a wide choice of appearance options, tactics that customize their abilities, and devices that unlock and aid the execution of the best and most powerful abilities in the game. Change of armor will also allow characters to customize their current access to abilities and will allow for flexible customization anytime.

Question: Xeniph asks, "The Beta Applications ask whether the applicant is a game designer or a member of the press. What are these questions for? Is it because you're afraid of leaks, or the opposite: you're hoping for better media coverage?"

Moll: Please note that we aren't ready for previews or reviews yet. To arrange that sort of thing, or other press information, contact our fantastic PR Coordinator. Those questions are really so we know who you are, just like the other information we ask. :)

Question: Kuhal asks, "Are characters able to equip more than one weapon and switch between them? If so, is it instantaneous or timed?"

[MS]Ostiak: Not at the same time. Switching of weapons will be possible out of combat and will not be timed. While you are fighting you can fight only with the last equipped weapon

Question: shinobido asks, "how many people will participate in the first wave"

[MS]Ostiak: You should undertand that beta is made for testing purposes, not for game demos or free play. The firs waive of beta testers will be limited, based on the testing needs of Earthrise at the moment.

Question: [NERF]Swel asks, "About the shield-healing system: Will it be skill based, tool based ( let's say by using some kind of battery ) or even both ?"

[MS]RaynerTheApe: Every suit of armor has energy generator which uses battery capacity integrated in every piece of protection that the suit consists of. Depending on what choice of armor the player has come up with, he can have low regeneration but higher values in other properties, and vice versa - high regeneration with disadvantages in other properites.

Question: MrCoder asks, "Will player crafted items be better then looted items, will items decay?"

[MS]RaynerTheApe: Player items will be similar to looted items at equal tiers of power, but looted items will have limited selection that will make player-made items vastly more flexible and powerful. Both types of items will decay, with the exception of quest items of course.

Question: mrroboto40 asks, "Can we expect to see multi-passenger vehicles? And if so will there be any flying vehicles?"

[MS]Ostiak: There will be no multi-passenger vehicles upon release, but there are plans for such in the future. There will be no flying vehicles either, but there will be many different types of customizable land vehicles, so people won't get bored :)

Question: amunds asks, "You mentioned a potential Player API last dev chat, is this something that is being currently worked on and can we expect one for launch?"

[MS]Ostiak: yes, we have plans for such interface API, but we are not working on that at the moment, our priorities are those mentioned on the first page of the Earthrise site - the game features.

Question: Shuichi asks, "Are you prepairing to address Sci-fi fans that may not be aware of the MMORPG world?"

[MS]Ostiak: Certanly. Everyone who likes the post-apocalyptic sci-fi setting of Earthrise is welcome to come and try the game. We are writing a lot of lore and making certain that the game looks pretty, so it is not just the gameplay we are working on, so I think people who have not tried MMOs before, but like such settings will find their new virtual home in Earthrise.

Question: Cabbage asks, "Will snipers be featured in earthrise?"

[MS]RaynerTheApe: Snipers will not be featured among the weaponry arsenal in Earthrise for various reasons - we didn't want to turn a dynamic combat system into a Delta Force "hide and seek" game. Instead we opted to make combat within visual range as exciting and brutal as possible and weapons will concentrate on outsmarting your opponent without taking unfair advantage on him.

Question: MangoStar asks, "Will there be any kind of PvP Features? and if so what kind of PvP Features?"

[MS]Ostiak: I would say that the whole game is a PvP feature, but here is a list of more specific ones that come to my mind - the territory conquest, the possibility to loot your enemy, the possiblity to attack anyone even those who are from your own factiona and many others

[MS]RaynerTheApe: Players will be able to involve in three different types of PvP combat - consensual (duels) with no item loss but a great chance to test your character built against others; non-consensual player killing for loot and glory; and Territorial Conquest where guilds will wage wars for control over rare resources.

[MS]RaynerTheApe: Instead providing PvP levels and artifical rewards, we have integrated the reward deep into the economic system of the game.

Question: WWWepdesign asks, "ops new in this. Is it possible to buy a reset skill token to make up skills u didnt want?"

[MS]Ostiak: there is no need for such tokens. Players can learn all skills in Earthrise and don't need to reset or "forget" some skills

Question: Seggallion asks, "will weather affect gameplay?"

[MS]Ostiak: there will be some weather effects like fog for example, which will affect visibility. We will try to make the weather as realistic as possible.

Question: Minova asks, "what sort of ranks and structuring systems will be in place for guilds?"

[MS]RaynerTheApe: Guild Leader will be able to break their members into number of different ranks, each with different privileges and rights for access to the guild bases at conquered Territories, bank accounts and warehouses, lead diplomatic moves towards other guilds, inviting/advertising the Guild among the server population and more.

Question: AlexRacer asks, "So, is leveling going to be instance grind and linear quest based? /sadpanda"

[MS]Ostiak: there is no leveling in Earthrise, it is a skill based game. Players will not advance skills in instances because there are no instances in the game. Quests will have their role in the gameplay, but you will not have to do quests if you don't want to. Other forms of skill advancement will also be possible.

Question: [ANI]Indelible asks, "Have you decided on the server structure yet? Are we going to see a single game server, much like Eve Online, or multiple servers, spread across different territories, such as EU, US and Asia?"

[MS]Ostiak: We have not decided yet. An announcement will be made when we have a decision.

MMORPG_Kunou: Ok folks, down to the last 3 questions!

Question: Lunasick asks, "Since its a post apocalyptic world will Radiation be a problem (like fallout3)."

[MS]RaynerTheApe: Yes. A vast portion of the island is under the biohazardous radiation of a a dangerous nano-byproduct called Xelyte as a remnant from the old wars. It will be highly sought but also very dangerous to extract resource and will require massive mechanoid harvesters to extract and transfer across Enterra.

Question: [ANI]Joker asks, "You have stated before that there will be pvp "safe zones". Exactly how safe are these zones? I.E. will we be able to fight in these zones or not?"

[MS]Ostiak: Players will not be able to fight in those safe zones.

[MS]Ostiak: but those zones will not be much, think of them as social gathering places

Question: Midrak asks, "Will work already most of the features such as base building, or the most features until after the release added?"

[MS]Ostiak: We are working on all features that are mentioned on the Earthrise website: http://www.play-earthrise.com/index.php?action=showstatic&id=6

[MS]Ostiak: That means you should see them on release date :)

MMORPG_Kunou: This concludes the MMORPG.com Earthrise Dev Chat! A huge thanks to all the fine folks behind Earthrise for your wonderful time and expertise! Thank you Coldfront for hosting us! And thank you everyone for joining us! Logs will be posted on MMORPG.com asap.

[MS]Ostiak: Thank you everyone for coming and asking those great questions we'll see you next time :)

Moll: Remember, if you didn't see your question - there were plenty we didn't have time for. http://forums.play-earthrise.com/index.php?topic=1383.0 is a great place for these.

Moll: Who knows, you may see it as an upcoming question of the week :)

I thought you were trying to emphasize something special, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was.

If this turns out to be anything other than a Warhammerish sci-fi 1-0 button masher then I will be very surprised.  And happy.

Isn't that what the whole FPS point-click-shoot thing is about?

a Warhammerish sci-fi 1-0 button masher

I messed that up.

I meant to say that doesn't the whole FPS point-and-shoot thing mean it's not ? I don't think anyone would confuse Morrowind Online for World of Warcraft.

This is all very confusing.  In summary, I suspect this game will be a WOW knockoff with 1-0 buttons signifying some ability you have to spam>  not always a bad thing, but certainly not original.  Maybe I'm not understanding you.

Someone is stupid enough to do such a thing.

Fucking WoW and their inventing of the wheel with 1-0 spamming!  :why_so_serious:

Although I'm with you on the fact of being lost. Where the hell did the FPS remarks come from? My guess is because the thought of not wanting to use 1-0 for skills but rather wishing to have something else such as live and interactive combat maybe? If so, good luck on that one if that is the wish for not having 1-0 button mashing. Even when interactive combat is done it won't be called original, people will be saying 'way to copy Mount & Blade' or <insert game with similar mechanic here>. Also, this definitely isn't the game for that wish to be cast upon anyways as this game is simply a blatant mashing of old ideas that I don't really think have been in effect of recently released MMOs, so they can be passed as revolutionary since most MMO players have only played WoW at this point. The pleasantly surprising part is they aren't taking all the shitty ideas....so far.

Having said all that, if you're hoping for someone to not use the 1-0 mashing system, and want something original, what would you suggest for a skill based pvp mmo?

Where the hell did the FPS remarks come from?

Isn't Earthrise a 1st/3rd person shooter MMO? Like a sci-fi Darkfall, as far as genres go?

Earthrise will use a mix of direct manual targetting at your opponent and some sort of locked targetting that both compensates for technical difficulties such as lag and remains realistic, without taking away the player skill factor we are counting very much on. In fact, we're currently expanding the system to allow for additional tactical planning when it comes to player skill in combat.

Earthrise will be mix of both dynamic combat with a pinch of calculations in order to simplify certain actions. Our combat is dynamic and will be as close to a 3D shooter as possible - your movement on the battlefield will matter and as long as your opponent does not move and you have your gun pointed at him, you're guaranteed to hit every time. But instead of complex calculation of ballistics of your gun, we use simplified mechanics that will allow players to easily guess the outcome of their actions. In the heat of the battle players won't have to bother with exact trajectories of the bullet - they will have to make sure the opponent is in the exact range of being shot effectively (and effective range will differ greatly between weapons) and they point at the target with their gun. When the target is moving however, things get more traditional - based on their movement or move-based abilities, such as sprinting or jumping, targets will gain small passive dodge percentage. Also, we are working on a cover system that will use simplified abstract system, once again easy to comprehend and tough to master. Our goal is to present our players a system that can learn easily and can use instinctively, rather than force them to think over every shot - in the heat of the battle, there will rarely be an opportunity to think before acting, and we want to keep these opportunities for changing combat tactics rather than requiring a degree in balistics.

Earthrise beta sign-ups have started. (http://www.warcry.com/news/view/88458-Earthrise-Beta-Sign-Ups-Begin-New-FAQ)

Protip: YOU DON'T NEED MY HOME ADDRESS OR PHONE NUMBER FOR A BETA TEST. You aren't going to be sending me a thank you card or call me to ask how I'm going. OR I'm happy to give this information provided the devs give out their phone numbers too. I've got some great ideas and love to chat.

"How do you feel Earthrise will hold up to competition such as Darkfall and other MMORPGS?"

How do you even begin to answer such a thing?

When I beta tested Earth and Beyond they sent me all the major iteration updates on CDROM.

How do you even begin to answer such a thing?

Key Features:

A unique post-apocalyptic setting where the cloned remnants of mankind battle to survive and rebuild.
A unique skill-based advancement system.
Deep crafting mechanics that let you design and manufacture unique items from customizable blueprints and raw resources.

And all of it unique.

A key game mechanic that's central to Earthrise's combat is a player's "battle rating" which is a numerical ranking of how tough you are (as presently skilled/equipped) and conversely how tough your opposition is. Your own battle rating and that of your opponents determines the experience you can gain from defeating them, or how juicy a target you are to them.

Your battle rating is determined by a few factors. The armor and weapons you equip and the abilities you've learned largely dictate battle rating. A target's battle rating will be visible to you and determines how much experience you'll get from taking down a mutant or other opponent.

The battle rating system will also give players flexibility in how quickly they advance. For example, you may be very strong but if you want greater experience gains from taking on weaker opponents you can choose to use weaker gear to match. In effect, you lower your own battle rating but earn more rewards by facing a greater challenge. The battle rating system isn't just a system that determines individual gains, it will also carry over to groups. Atanasov says, "I would say it's very unique in the MMO field. Nobody has tried it so far. I hope it will work well and will bring some new ideas to the future of MMO games."

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Bragging that the video was filmed with the in-game engine, then showing action that appears to move at 10 FPS seems like a really bad idea.

It looked generic and dull, which is kind of a bad thing

Given that most MMOs of the past couple years or so have been completely horrific bland in an alpha is a bit of a step up.

Earlier this week, in the form of a creative and elaborate stunt that claimed the Earthrise development team was viciously destroyed by a Jaberwokie, Masthead Studios announced that the release of their upcoming MMORPG Earthrise has been pushed back from their original projection of Q2 2010.

It was in no way elaborate or creative. It was a stupid forum post that made the fanbois LOL. And the fact that it required clarification with a formal "we are delayed" post points out the pointlessness of the original post (http://forums.play-earthrise.com/index.php?topic=6149.0).

That looks fucking terrible. 

How does this game play?  Is it any good?  I think its safe to spill more info since its going to be released soon.

Judging from that Video it consists of:
wwwwwwwwwwwww *for a while through what appears to be several different empty plains*
*you see a mob*
F1 *to target*
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 *etc.. until mob is dead*
F2 *to pick up the LootCube™*

Earthrise Beta Video January 2011 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqmHSBAgdy8)

While better in someways than the other video. I can't get over just how wrong this direction is for a MMOFPS.

They appear to have improved the overall quality of the visuals quite a bit.  It will be interesting to see how it plays, but I'm not expecting much out of it. 

I liked the fact they got their high tech armor, huge guns, and then went out and melee'd space-hogs sitting in the fields. Looks fairly impressively dull, but that seems to be the way of sci-fi MMO's.

The comparisons to DF are abound in gen. chat, but DF is a 'finished' product.   ER is not.  As such, to play ER you'd need a love for DF, a passion for sci-fi, and extreme patience with the client.
In closing, gtfo and just play FoM if you're interested in these types of games.

Wait, you are suggesting Faces of Mankind over this game? Isn't that like recommending AIDS over Cancer or some shit?

Apparently, Masthead is ok with selling your account to someone else.

Did you buy one?  :awesome_for_real:

"The bullets go sideways because it's sci-fi!" they will protest.