Launch of Alpha
This week marks the anniversary of ten months since we came together from all corners of the world to start this project back in June of 2015. It has been a long and tiring journey with many challenges along the way, but with the hard work of the team and the support of all of you, our community, it has been more than worth the effort. With that being said, the team at Big Picture Games is very proud to announce that today, Friday April 8th, marks the start of our official Alpha phase of development!
The team wanted to put together an Alpha launch video for you guys and we hope you enjoy it!
Alpha Invites
We will be sending out the first 500 Alpha invites randomly throughout the day. The selected players will receive an email that contains a link to activate their Alpha Key, along with a Non-Disclosure Agreement you agree to when activating your account. The NDA is necessary for the first few weeks, but we will be lifting it as soon as possible. This is ensure that we can get everything ready to release footage and streams to the public. Please note that the Account ID needed to log into your game lobby is the same account name used to sign into your Account Management page.
This initial wave of invites will allow us to perform stress testing on the servers, lobby and website functionality. As soon as we can confirm that everything is stable and working well we will begin sending additional waves of invites based on many factors including chronological sign-up times and forum activity. For those who did not immediately receive an invite, our goal is to push the servers to their limit, and that will require a lot of players so everyone registered will get in at some point!
Purpose of Alpha
The initial focus of Alpha is to stress test our servers along with all other systems associated with account management and our website. Once this testing is completed we will move onto the server and client optimizations and begin implementing some initial changes from our early development roadmap.
We will also be using Alpha to address bugs and any major game issues that are uncovered during this phase. There will be a private Alpha forum for submitting bug reports, feedback and support for all alpha participants. Your feedback and reports will be paramount to our development and game design teams, and we want all of you to get involved!
With all that said, we know that everyone has been waiting long enough to get back into Agon. We want you having fun and helping us test the game without all the grinding and skilling up. For this reason, all alpha characters will have max stats and skills and also be provided with resources to use out of the box. Once we move into Closed Beta the game will be wiped clean along with our redesigned skill gains implemented for testing.
The marketing team plans to organize and record videos in-game for many of the projects that they are working on. We hope you join us in making some amazing videos, stay tuned for more information!
New Website & Online Store
With the launch of Alpha we are also officially opening our new Website and Online Store! One of the great features about our new website and forum structure is that we are able to tie together your account and subscription. In addition, it also ties into your account management page on the new website, where you can check your Alpha status and eventual subscription status once Closed Beta begins. The website has updated functionality, including our FAQ, Support, Careers, Manage Account, and Store pages.
In our Store, as discussed in our Pricing and Development Structure, we will be offering three Founder Packs will different levels of access to Closed Beta and Public Beta depending on the pack selected. These packages are designed to provide our early supporters with a reduced price for full access to beta development, including some added perks and titles as well.
Agon is Rising
Your support and passion for this game has been amazing and continues to inspire us to work as hard as we possibly can to make this all happen. We are excited to be starting the next chapter of Darkfall with all of you, and look forward to what the future holds!
...IT’S TIME TO GO HOME.
- The team at Big Picture Games