MMORPG News: Astellia Closed Beta 2, Neon Exile, Path of Titans, Seconds from Silence

This week, we got plenty to satiate your appetite for MMO news.
From Astellia Online’s second closed beta to the new medieval sandbox MMO Seconds from Silence to a brand new VR MMO called Neon Exile and more.
So sit back, close your eyes, go to your happy place and revel in all the glory that is this week’s Weekly Byte of MMORPG News.

With their first Closed Beta out of the way, the team over at Astellia Online have revealed the date for Closed Beta 2: July 30th.
And like Closed Beta 1, we have plenty of Closed Beta keys to give away to a bunch of you lucky viewers!
All you need to do to win one is head on over to this link, apply using the methods there, and you’ll be entered for a chance to get into the beta!
The first Closed Beta was to test out PvE progression, functionality of the game and overall performance.
Closed Beta 2 will test out the PvPvE battleground, the cash shop, and will roll out a lot of tweaks made in response to player feedback from the first beta.
As stated, Closed Beta 2 will run from July 30th until August 6th, a complete week. So you’ll have plenty of time to make use of those keys if you win one!

For those of you waiting in anticipation for Caravan Stories’ PS4 release you’ll be a little disheartened to hear that the launch, which was scheduled for July 23rd has been delayed.
Open Beta was expected on the 16th but both Open Beta and the official release have since suffered delays.
The reasoning that has been given is that they are looking to put in “additional work” as to not have the game launch prematurely.
We all know that first impressions are everything and a poor launch is enough for people to condemn the game forever.
Honestly, I’d much rather they touch up whatever issues they’re having as opposed to rushing their release and giving us a flawed product.

Finally, new Ashes of Creation news! And it’s exactly the info you guys were after!
Intrepid Studios, the team behind Ashes of Creation have announced that as they make progress towards Alpha One they will be re-opening the Apocalypse Battle Royale.
On August 20th, they plan on testing critical systems and improving the game as a whole. Apocalypse is expected to continue throughout all of August, ending in September.
If news of re-opening the Battle Royale doesn’t get you all excited then maybe this will: Intrepid have introduced escort missions into the game.
Now you can take part in walking alongside a caravan as you.. walk alongside a caravan. I mean, it’s something.

This is.. honestly a new one for me. an MMO I’ve never even heard of. Seconds from Silence, a medieval sandbox MMO is opening registration for its very first Alpha.
Registration is handled via the games official website which you can find via this link.
How many Alpha keys in specific are being sent out is currently unknown and the exact size of the Alpha has yet to be announced but what we do know is that the Alpha in question will take place next month in August.
When in August is unconfirmed. But it’s always good to see new games releasing, especially into Alpha and Beta testing stages.

As of Tuesday, July 16th Square Enix have released the first stage of 8-player raids in their 5.01 patch. MrsStix and I have both completed all 4 of the fights for the week and they were immensely fun to take part in.
The new raid brings with it new gear to obtain and new bosses to slay on a weekly basis while waiting for Savage modes to unlock at the end of this month.
So if you’re on the way to finishing the story know that there is new content ready and waiting for you to farm with more coming at the end of the month.

In Anime related news, the AAA funded MMORPG Blue Protocol not only has their upcoming Alpha test slated for next week but they’ve also went ahead and released new character creation trailers.
And the character creator looks to offer quite a lot in the way of customization.
There’s some in the background right now but if you’re looking for a detailed character creation video you’ll have to wait until Monday where I have a brand new Blue Protocol video ready for posting!
Man I hope this game is good you have no idea. It looks so impressive and has such a good developer behind it.

I’m aware a lot of you don’t play Wizard101 but for those of you that do you’ll be happy to know that their summer update featuring the highly anticipated Crab Alley overhaul is currently in testing.
Additional improvements come in the way of an overhauled new player experience, providing new players with an updated look at the game instead of.. well, you know.

Here’s another brand new title – Neon Exile.
Not only is it a brand new title I’ve not heard of literally ever, but it’s supposedly a “persistent VR MMO set in an open world” – Yes you heard that correctly, a brand new up-and-coming VR MMO. Their goal?
Create a game focused on storytelling that supports thousands of players at any given time. While the game has yet to launch it is expected to go into Early Access later this year.
From what I can tell the game allows you to build and survive in a pretty large, open scifi environment.
It seems more like a multiplayer survival game to me but at the same time they promise it’s an MMO that can house thousands of players. Either way, could be interesting.

You know what? I don’t believe I’ve ever done a video on this. I went ahead and checked Youtube for it and it came up empty.
So now that Life is Feudal: MMO is going free to play I figure it’s as good a time as any to jump into it and see what it’s all about, considering it was only released around a year and a half ago.
Its free to play conversion patch is already currently live, and they have various tweaks planned for the coming months in preparation for the influx of new players.
Are you guys interested in trying it out or has that ship already sailed?

Fresh off of their announcement of an impressive 12 million player total thus far, Phoenix Labs, the team behind Dauntless announced that as of a couple days ago, their latest update titled Fortune and Glory rolled out.
There is plenty in the way of content to partake of so if you’re looking for something a little more.. dedicated, then it might be better to go on over to the official website.

Here’s an interesting one. While kind-of but not-really an MMO, Path of Titans is being developed with support of up to 200 players concurrently. The game looks like ARK: Survival Evolved and honestly plays like ARK as well.
The difference being that you’re able to become a dinosaur and you know.. live your life as one if you want.
Like most survival games, you’re going to have to forage for food, hunt, and attempt to survive the harsh world you’re now stuck in.
Honestly, the game looks alright, I wouldn’t get too highly invested in it but it has the potential to be a fun game.
One thing worth noting though is the fact that it’s going to be cross-platform between PC and Mobile, meaning the game will launch onto mobile devices eventually as well.

If you weren’t already aware after last week’s Weekly Byte of MMORPG News then let me remind you: Gameforge is releasing the next large update for Aion, update 7.0 – it brings with it a lot of new content but mainly, the new Painter class.
It’s a unique looking class, honestly, and almost feels a little out of touch with the theme of the game but nevertheless I’m excited to hopefully get the opportunity to jump in and see what the new class plays like and potentially even run the new content.