Spellborn Open Beta Update!

[Mrbloodworth]

To gain access to the Open Beta click here and enter your Acclaim User ID to activate your account. Upon successful activation download the game and login to start playing. If you have already downloaded the game just login and play.

Current Closed Beta testers will be automatically granted access to the Open
Beta and will not need to download a new game client nor activate their
account.

We added a new PvE server in addition to the current PvP server.

In all regions, Spellborn is a "Freemium" game, with a Free to Play zone and
a required premium subscription service in order to access the full game
past the Free to Play zone. The premium subscriptions are now available for
the game click here

For game updates check the forums http://phpbb.acclaim.com/spellborn or follow the Spellborn twitter at http://twitter.com/tcos

Please report an bugs you run into in the forums http://phpbb.acclaim.com/spellborn

Join us for a Live Spellborn Webinar Friday, March 20, 2009 at
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM PDT

Meet with the Acclaim Team behind Spellborn and get the latest news and information. We will be covering various aspects of the game and taking time to talk to you, about your thoughts, ideas and concerns with The Chronicles of Spellborn.

Talk Live With:
Howard Marks Acclaim CEO, David Perry Acclaim CCO, Matthew Florianz Spellborn Sound Designer, El Drijver Spellborn Lead Game Designer

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/598716576


Acclaim provides Spellborn game service to players in North America, South
America, United Kingdom, Albania, Andorra, Australia/New Zealand, Bosnia &
Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Poland, Romania,
Serbia & Montenegro, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey

Enjoy The Game!
Acclaim

Link

[sam, an eggplant]

From my (very) brief research scanning their forums and such, it looks like the newbie areas are free, and then you need to pay a standard monthly subscription fee to continue playing past level 7. Which is probably like, an hour. Fair enough, fine. What's interesting is how you pay for that subscription.

1 month = 1500 "acclaim coins"
3 months = 4200 "acclaim coins"
6 months = 7800 "acclaim coins"

Annoying, right? Just like microsoft points, etc. But the real kicker is that you can only purchase coins online in US$10 increments. Ten bucks buys 1005 coins. So you need to spend $20 to get 2110 coins (I believe you get some kind of graduating "bonus" to coins when you buy in bulk) to pay for a one month subscription, leaving you with 610 coins in your account just begging to be spent on micropayments. Or you can call a 1-900 pay telephone number to get 500 coins for $5, and miss out on the small "bonus" you get for purchasing online. Also you need an "acclaim membership", which costs ten bucks, to get 30% off coins. And it's unclear if the prices above include that discount or not. It's a real anti-consumer mindfuck.

So, like, is the game any good?

[Mrbloodworth]

I don't know yet, it always sounded interesting.

[Azaroth]

I thought so too. I'll probably try this.

[sam, an eggplant]

The mechanics look interesting, with the guildwars-like hand of cards limited abilities and such, but the sheer audacity of that payment scheme turns me off. I'll wait for someone else to take one for the team.

[Azaroth]

The maximum number of activated open beta accounts for today has been reached, please try again tomorrow.

Guess not.

And that'll probably end my time with.... The Chronicles Of Spelllllbornnnnnnnnnnn.

Epic.

[Nevermore]

That payment structure just makes me laugh. 

[Signe]

I won a bunch of their thingies in a contest once.  They don't seem to be there anymore.  Fair enough.  I've said some awful things about their games!

[Lantyssa]

Well, I did want to try this out.  Someone let me know if they get rid of the stupid pricing scheme.

[Hawkbit]

Looking at the math of it, paying by month means you'll be paying nearly $20.  If you know you're playing for a long period of time, spend the $10 for a membership.  That way you get 30% off a big purchase of coins.  I think that can get you down around $12-15 a month. 

[Strazos]

Or just pay $30 at a time for 2 months.

[Zzulo]

This game felt very mediocre to me when I played it some month ago

Too much questing for my liking, and I didn't like the artstyle of the characters or the world.

[LC]

Game was total shit when i played the European version.

[Cadaverine]

Game was total shit when i played the European version.

This. 

The game just felt mediocre all the way around.  Add to that the asinine pricing scheme, and Acclaim can fuck right off.

[Signe]

It's in open beta now.  Isn't everyone just allowed in?  You don't have to deal with the wonky pricing scheme yet or anything.  There is also an "invite friends" option on the main web page.  Is that of any use anymore?  I don't know if it's total shit anymore.  I played the Euro version briefly a while ago but I barely remember anything.  It was in my thumbless days or something, maybe.  I've evolved since then.  Maybe the game has too.  I'm doubtful but then, I'm always a little doubtful with MMOs. 

[Hawkbit]

It's not a $15/month title.  But it has a decent visual appeal and I really like the skill loadout wheel.  That's a really cool concept that other games need. 

[Signe]

Wait.  I thought this was an open beta.  It seems that even now you have to pay to progress beyond level 7.  How is that a beta? 

[KallDrexx]

Wait.  I thought this was an open beta.  It seems that even now you have to pay to progress beyond level 7.  How is that a beta? 

Darkfall's in beta and you have to pay to play any part of it :P

[Signe]

Well, there IS that.  At least the Darkfall people call it a release even though it's obviously still in seriously early beta state.  Also, I was wrong.  This isn't the game I played the EU version of - I don't know what I was thinking.  I must have confused it with something else! 

I'm also a bit confused about the EU and Acclaim versions.  Evidently, they used to have an IP ban on NA, UK, and AUS but lifted it.  Does this mean there's a way to circumvent Acclaim all together?  That would probably be helpful for people who hate Acclaim - which might be almost everyone. 

PS  I made a really nice fat warrior named Bertie on the PvE server.  That's something else I don't understand.  The PvE servers aren't really PvE at all, are they?  I looked at the official website but no one seems very sure about anything there, either.  Most of the FAQ stuff reads like nonsense.

Edit:  It is the same game I played before.  I don't know what's wrong with me.  I don't remember it looking like this.  Anyway, you can use the Euro version now with does circumvent Acclaim at the moment, though I'm not sure you can subscribe through it.  Everything surrounding this game seems out of whack.  I read a post on the EU site that said there won't be a need for "coins" soon.  I don't think the EU servers are well populated from what I've read.  I still don't know if PvE is really just PvP with some safe zones or not.  I read that areas where you gather resources are all PvP.  If that's true, I don't get it really.  Anyway, I'm not remembering that I liked this game so I assume I didn't, though maybe it changed since then.  I don't think I'll bother with it any more until someone I like says it's nice.   

[PalmTrees]

Played a few hours this afternoon and was not impressed. Low spawn rates, kill x quests, and the newbie rush do not mix well. "Where are the young bears?" Get used to hearing it.

The combat requires some twitch as the mobs seem to go: move to you-pause-attack. In that pause phase you can back up out their range, then go in for a hit once they whiff.

[Shatter]

I played for a couple hours as well over the weekend and also wasnt impressed.  Overall I found everything to be bland, nothing exciting about it.  Combat was annoying even after I got used to it, I didnt like how any race looked even with the customization and the graphics were standard.  Quests were the tpyical pick up x and deliver to Y or kill X amount of something.  Maybe it gets better at higher levels but if nothing jumps at me after a few hours I have little hope for it and I wont be playing it. 

[DLRiley]

At first this game was  5 levels in and I'm feeling  with a good helping of  for the kicks. All the while my friend is talking about how great this game is and I'm going  and than  when i finally figure how this game is enjoyable. Like Age of Conan, first and for most these guys are selling you a combat system take it or leave it and just like Age of Conan don't you dare play a spell caster. The first few levels of the game feel like a horrid grind simple because monsters spawn ever 1 minute. 1 minute is 60 seconds, your fights last on average maybe 10-20 seconds, so imagine how much time you spend killing 10 monsters. There remarkably low amount of actually monsters, with the only group of monsters not obeying the 1 minute rule is what i take is the bandits and the wolves (more or less). Maybe i'm to used to shiny arrows pointing toward the quest destination on my map, or maybe, just maybe I'm way too old to be pve'ing like the pro 13 year old I once were every so long ago, but I'm sure that long travel times + no map clues = log off. Nothing like a fedex quest that takes 20 minutes to solve because it takes 10 minutes to get from one portion of the map and back again.

I was excited about this game till i heard it botched its European launch. It feels like a half a game, half way between being something better than a mmo even next gen if you look at what its trying to do on paper, but still very much like a mmo in the most annoying ways possible. For example giving you attributes that are all important to your character. Step forward. Not telling you in what way each attribute effects your skills and not allowing you to reset your attributes at will? Two steps back. Deck like skill system, with swappable skills for each slot. Step forward. Not letting you get more than one skill per level? Two steps back. Pvp area in the newb land. Step forward. No exp for pvp'ing in that area at all even in the pvp server? Three steps back even worthy of an uninstall.

[Hayduke]

moar liek Spellbore amirite?  I was kind of interested in this game, but it doesn't fill me with confidence when developers try to tack on minigames to accepting payment.  It sure as hell doesn't seem to be working for Aventurine and GOA.

[Hawkbit]

Payment issues with the coins didn't sit well with me. 

What actually made me uninstall was the spawn rates on the very first quests in the game.  With another person or two in the same area, it would take an hour or more to complete one quest.  In reality, there were 20 people in the same area, so all I really did was run around and look at how pretty the first zone is.  Played for an hour, killed three mobs the whole time.  Uninstalled. 

Gotta up those spawn times in the newb zones. 

[PalmTrees]

I made my way out of the newb zone into the semi-newb zone. Got a quest to deliver a letter, gave it to the guy then he asks me to go kill boars to fill up his larder while I wait for a reply, oh and the boars don't always drop meat. That's when I said "Oh go fuck yourself" out loud to the screen. No way is this worth a 15/mo sub. If I want a quest grind I can go play Rune of Magic for free.

[DLRiley]

I've already took one for the team, so in about a week or two I'll see if this game gets better.

[Nonentity]

Bad game is bad.

I tried it out. It is a bland and uninteresting game, that nobody should waste their time on. I am confident in being this blatant.

[DLRiley]

Bad game is bad.

I tried it out. It is a bland and uninteresting game, that nobody should waste their time on. I am confident in being this blatant.

How far you get?

[Malakili]

Its alright.  I wouldn't pay money for it, but then again, there are less and less MMOs that I WOULD pay money for.

[Nonentity]

Bad game is bad.

I tried it out. It is a bland and uninteresting game, that nobody should waste their time on. I am confident in being this blatant.

How far you get?

I got to whatever level you get to after leaving the tutorial. I would have gotten more levels, but there were no low level spawns to actually level on. Yeah, that's something that can be fixed, but my first impressions of just the overall ebb and flow of the game are sour. It's just not interesting.

[Falconeer]

I'm with Non here. To elaborate, I'll copy paste here my review of the game, in case someone was looking for some kind of BIIF:

No no no... just no NO!

My gawd NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

There's a longer version too:

I'm allergic to this game. Had to quit in a rush and now I am fighting the urge to uninstall and wipe it from my hard disk for good.

Pretty much the same feeling I had with Dark 'n Light and Darkfall.

Got that?

[Sutro]

Looks like it's up to me to stick up for this poor little Danish thing.

I'm paid and in on the advice of a crew of gamers I've been hanging around for about 12 years now. The newbie zone and experience doesn't do the game much justice at all. The devs realize this and are going to expand the cap to level 11, when you get, among other things, a larger skill deck and your first third tier skills.

The second adventure zone (Aldenvault) is somewhat better than the first, and a little less crowded. I haven't made it past there yet, but the reports I'm getting from my peeps further in is that it just gets better from there. The levelling curve stays steady at about the 5-10 rate.

Definitely don't give up on this game until you try to fight some humanoid mobs. The AI in this game is... well, it's different. You'll see. Just fight some.

I'll keep you guys posted as I sally further in. I'm due to hit the first non-freemium zone tonight.

[rk47]

That payment structure just makes me laugh. 

Hmm,doubt it's something to laugh at. It's an attempt to scam in my opinion. Just trying to grab that extra dollar or two from customers who quit early and did not subscribe beyond the first month. Feels disgusted by it.

[PalmTrees]

Definitely don't give up on this game until you try to fight some humanoid mobs. The AI in this game is... well, it's different. You'll see. Just fight some.

Too bad that in the two newbie zones you have access to all the humanoid mobs are in camps and agro together, making them group content.

Heh, reminded me of the orc and dervish camps in EQ. Solo players hanging around the edge trying to pick off a loner until a group of newbies eventually forms up just to get routed once they agro the whole camp.

They also need to lower the agro ranges. Ugh, I couldn't go anywhere, even sticking to the roads, without having 2-3 mobs chasing after me and nipping at my heels. I was never in any danger of being killed, it  just annoyed the hell out of me.

Oh well, enough griping, it's uninstalled now. When they go fully f2p (there's just too much f2p competition offering just as good a level and quest grind for this to survive as a p2p) I might give it another go when I have another gaming lull.

[Sutro]

I don't know how much you messed with the groups, but each group of 3-4 are considered equivalent to a single monster of the same level, maybe a little higher. Almost all of them are "minion" types.