MMORPG News: Lost Ark Open Beta, Bless Online Shut Down, Lineage II Classic, Aion 6.0 Update And More!

There’s been a lotta news in the past couple weeks and although Wiggy attempted to cover some in last week’s Byte of MMORPG news video, today, I plan on covering everything she missed, and then some!

Smilegate’s latest media conference in Seoul revealed a tiny bit of information I’m sure everyone will be interested in.. and that is that Lost Ark is finally launching into open beta, albeit in South Korea only – but that’s a start.
The game will launch officially on November 7th, after which additional content will be released regularly by large updates referred to as “Seasons”, smaller updates referred to as “Episodes”, and basic, general patches.
Additional content in the works include things like classes, new regions and islands to explore, various visual improvements, optimization improvements, and more.
An official Western release is still a ways off – if we ever even gain access to it, but for those of you wanting to get into Lost Ark.. be on the lookout for an official guide in the near future.

In a move I didn’t see coming, NCSoft announced that next month, Lineage II Classic will be hitting players with a huge nostalgia trip as it launches in all its original grindy glory.
NCSoft’s goal is to release the server within the current Lineage II client, and have the game retain
“Many of the graphical and technical improvements that players enjoy in Lineage II today,” but “the available races, classes, leveling experience, and systems are reminiscent of an era before the release of Lineage II: Goddess of Destruction.”
NCSoft have stated that additional content and features will continue to be released steadily over the course of future updates.
As far as the level cap, they went on to state that the Classic servers will have a level cap of 70, and the majority of the features added to the game over the years will be removed to retain consistency with the original.
Finally, Lineage II Classic will remain free to play with in-game cash shops. So for all you Lineage II fans out there.. get ready.

I remember playing this back in 2009.. has it really been 10 years? Wow, how time flies.
In celebration of Perfect World International’s 10 years of life, Perfect World Entertainment, the team behind the game is releasing a new expansion titled “Redemption” that brings with it new areas and zones, updated graphics, a new dungeon bestiary feature, a sixth boundary tier and more.
Unfortunately for players there is no new class this time ’round, though. In addition to the Royal Sky Boundary and Dungeon Bestiary, Perfect World are overhauling their lighting and water effects.
Various events will take place in-game every single day for the duration of the 10th anniversary celebration. Players can redeem little codes they receive through logging in daily for a selection of unique prizes, chosen at random.
There are quite a plethora of events and prizes to win so if you haven’t already.. get to logging in to claim your prizes!

We’ve actually just begun recording a new Aion video featuring this new content, but for those of you that weren’t aware.. Gameforge, the European publisher for Aion released a large content update titled “A New Dawn” earlier this week.
The “New Dawn” update adds a new zone, new dungeons and some huge, very highly sought after and welcomed quality-of-life improvements to the free-to-play MMO.
A New Dawn takes players into Lakrum – in an attempt to stop Ereshkigal before she steals the holy treasures of Aion. On your way to stopping her, players will be able to progress through two new dungeons, Prometun’s Workshop and Kubrinerk Cube Laboratory.
But this isn’t where I believe the update really shines. See, the leveling process of Aion was one of the grindiest chores I’ve ever had the pleasure, or displeasure of experiencing. In upwards of 40 hours we had reached somewhere in our level 30s.
With this new update, not only are the altering the enchantment system, but they completely overhauled the leveling system from 1 to 75, ensuring a “rapid and entertaining ascension”.
To put things into perspective, though, in 3 hours, my wife MrsStix and I are level 28. We have almost caught up to where Wiggy and I were in one tenth of the time.
A New Dawn is not live on the North American servers, however, and does not have an ETA on when it will go live at all.
Expect our video on the new 6.0 update in the next week or two!

Everyone’s favorite MMORPG publisher Neowiz has announced that on November 19th, they will be shutting down its Korean servers for Bless Online. This is quite disheartening news for players and fans of the game, regardless of how little of them remain.
If you recall, the game went into beta testing in South Korea in 2014, had delays, then launched into open beta in 2016.
Neowiz merged servers a mere month after the launch, then proceeded to go through various merges over the course of the year, finally dropping down to two remaining servers. Then the Russian version launched and closed down last year.
The Western version of Bless also struggled as both Aeria Games and Gamigo tapped out, no longer wanting any part of the publishing, and Neowiz then took it upon themselves to launch the game over here in the West.. which they did quite well.
If you weren’t aware, yes I’m being facetious. Do note that even the official Western release of Bless Online is averaging barely 700 concurrent players at its peak.

Similarly to Aion, my wife MrsStix and I have just begun recording footage of the new Warden class introduced in Blade and Soul’s newest content update, Warden’s Fury that went live last week.
The update brings with it Act 9 of the game’s main storyline, various balance updates, system changes, a new dungeon, and most importantly.. the new Warden class itself.
Which let me get this out of the way right now – is eerily reminiscent of the Destroyer class, but ridiculously powerful. Like, I’m 1-shotting everything right now and it’s gratuitous.. yet overwhelmingly satisfying.
Shadowmoon is a new six-player heroic dungeon added, having players face off against Captain Mookwan, the undead pirate and his crew of.. and yes this is incredibly cheesy, but scurvy sea-dogs.
Additionally, the update brings with it the Way of the Warrior event, running until October 17th.
The event will task players with completing varying challenges and earning Fighter’s Fortune chests that contain Upgrade Emblem event tokens and other shiny rewards. Like always, you can exchange those for a variety of cosmetic items and gear.
Expect our video on the new Warden class in the next week or two!

I feel like we never really do any news on The Elder Scrolls Online.. so with that in mind, let’s talk about their new DLC Murkmire for a moment.
The new DLC game pack brings an entirely new zone to explore – a zone fans of the franchise should be quite aware of, the Black Marsh, featuring none other than our favorite reptilian lizard-people the Argonian’s, complete with a new main quest line, a new group arena to conquer and more.
Additionally, Update 20 brings with it various Cyrodiil changes such as destructible bridges and Milegates, housing improvements, changes to combat and other quality-of-life improvements.

The team over at MapleStory 2 in preparation for the launch of MapleStory next month are allowing players to go ahead and download the game via the Nexon launcher. Although it’s not currently available on steam, it “may show up at some point in the future”.
Players are then capable of reserving their character names by creating their character for the Mushking Royale battle royale PvP map coming along with the launch of MapleStory 2.
Furthermore, on September 24th, Nexon will be holding a launch registration event including “exclusive prizes for those that sign up.”
Finally, players who went ahead and purchased their Founder’s Packs will be able to hop on in-game on October 1st and enjoy a 10-day headstart over everyone else, as the game will launch officially for everyone on October 10th.