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Over the last few days a number of new features have become available to us in Europe for addition in to Mir 3.
We are now faced with a dilemma, Do we wait until these new features have been tested or do we “go with what we have” and introduce the new things as we test them out.
Both of these have pro's and con's and what ever we do some people will be unhappy. Let me try and explain.
Wait for new features.
If we adopt this strategy then we will have to delay the public beta program and just continue with the “Alpha” testing. Now while that may not sound like a BIG deal to us at QGO any delay in bring Mir3 to you the players is not something we want to do. The Advantage of this approach though would be that we did not have to patch and introduce new versions of the game as these new features become available.
"Go with what we have"
Now this sounds fine and we can just add the new stuff as it comes online to us. The significant disadvantage from our point of view is the potential to introduce major Bugs/exploits in to the game as well as the risk that we may have to restructure the databases to accommodate the new features, this would mean a DB wipe. The biggest advantage of this approach though is it gets you the players in to the game as soon as possible.
So there you have it that's our problem/situation.
Now what have we decided to do.
We are going to go with the “Go with what we have” approach and slightly modify the beta program to accommodate this approach.
So from Monday the 30th Of August we will be opening the registration servers to allow general registration and playing of the game. The version of the client will require a small patch and this will be available for download via auto patch and FTP etc. (details on Monday).
For the next few weeks during Phase 1 of the Beta we will continue to debug the Game and to add new content and features. There are a number of drawbacks to this approach and as such we may have to reboot the servers at short notice to apply fixes as well as introduce several auto patch updates. It's also fair to say that the Guide and Website will be out of synchronisation with the game as it can take a few days to get the changes authored.
At the End of Phase 1 (sometime in September) there will be a Major update to the Client side programs. A downside of this is we will have to completely WIPE the character databases as well as reset all starting values back to their initial settings.
Once that's done we will then enter Phase 2 of the Open beta which will include a new client and other things as well as.(its not planned for a wipe during Phase 2)
So what new features are we adding.
New Interface: This is the very latest Korean interface as has greater performance than the Mir 3 version. In addition this new interface offers you the opportunity to customise the layout of the screens as well as select the way in which information is presented to you.
Anti Cheat system: The nProtect system of Anti Cheat/hacking software will be added. This will be a mandatory updated and nProtect will be required to be running before you can login to the game (it's also needed while you're in the game).
Daily Events: The new daily event engine will be added & updated. This allows daily events/quests for those players who wish to partake.
Additional Maps, Mobs & NPC's: several new NPC's and Mobs etc will be added to the episode 1 story line. This is independent of the Episode 2 “Mystery Ship” that will be added as soon as players reach a high enough level.
24/7 Customer support and Help Lines: On Monday we will release 2 temporary phone numbers as well as email details for our Beta Help Desk. Initially the help desk will only be open from 08:00 GMT to 23:00 GMT so as to allow time for bug fixing and testing As we move forward from Phase 1 to Phase 2, additional numbers and addresses will be made available along with the ability to interact via the web in real time with the customer services staff.
Passport System: The Passport account security system will be introduced. The passport is set out via s-mail to the account holders registered address and provided for complete security of accounts (provided someone doesn't get there hands on this document).
Additional World Sets: Initially we will enter Phase 1 with only one world set, as we move towards Phase 2 we will add more.
As you can see we have a significant raft of new features to add in and hope that you will agree with us that the approach we are taking provides a fair balance between peoples desire to test out the game and our need to make sure that we deliver a high a quality product as possible.
All of us here at QGO look forward to seeing you in Mir 3 at the earliest opportunity.
QGO Beta Program