[DN] Dragon Nest Open Beta Launched

It’s not arguable that Dragon Nest has achieved massive success across Asia since it was first launched in Korea in March 2010, accumulating over 60 million registered users and 800,000 concurrent users in just 16 months. Incredible. Now it’s time for the world’s fastest growing action online game to take on the North American market. Nexon America has opened the game’s first three North American servers as of midday on Tuesday, July 26, 2011.

This hasn’t exactly been a smoothly running first day of open beta though as there is a lot of lag currently being experienced by many players, including me. Many players also cannot even get onto the game and some are even having problems patching their closed beta client. Oh well, it IS beta.

There are three servers currently open for North America players, Velskud (Western North America), Argenta (Eastern North America) and Gerrant (Eastern North America). Why there would be more Eastern servers than Western, I don’t know, but I’m sure Nexon knows that they’re doing.

Open Beta Update Notes

Dev. Blog – Come One, Come All to the OBT

I’m Desmodeus, the lead producer for Dragon Nest. Initially I was just going to let Lucius and Princess K unleash their crazies here and only interject on this blog occasionally. However, I’m absolutely in love with this game and I love sharing what gets me so pumped about it. So this week I wanted to talk with you about the Open Beta test that begins on July 26.

The Final Countdown

Beginnings can be a nerve-wracking time for game developers. For all the work my team and I have put into Dragon Nest over these many months, we haven’t even reached the starting line – launch day. Everything has been going well – we’ve launched our new website, developed a vibrant community on Facebook, received positive press attention, had a successful Closed Beta test, and hit all of our internal milestones. All of that means nothing though, if everything falls apart on launch day. That’s why we have one last major hurdle to overcome before the race can truly begin – the Open Beta test.

You may remember a few weeks ago at the start of the Closed Beta test, I talked a bit about how beta tests are viewed differently by developers than by players. Beta tests are run for a variety of reasons, including bug hunting, stress testing, game balance testing and marketing. It’s important therefore that the development team and the company at large understand exactly what they want out of the test before they run it. This is particularly critical for the Dragon Nest Open Beta test.

What Do We Want This Time?

Our priorities are a bit different than they were during the Closed Beta. The game has changed and expanded and we’re looking for different feedback:

•    Stress Testing: This is the big one. Our Open Beta hardware environment is as close as possible to what we’ll have on opening day, and we want to see how the servers handle stress. So tell your friends, your enemies, and your friends’ enemies, because the more people we have putting stress on the system the better we can balance it to avoid having to much or too little server capacity at launch.

All you need is a Nexon account to get into the Open Beta! If you haven’t signed up for one, now’s the time.

•    Marketing: I’ve always thought that good word-of-mouth is the best advertising and I really believe that people who play the game during the Open Beta will become fans who return for the launch. The request here is simple. If you like the game, tell a friend. If you don’t like something, tell us so we can fix it.

•    The Dragon Vault: This is the answer to the frequently asked question: “How do you guys make money?” The Dragon Vault is Dragon Nest’s in-game store, offering a whole bunch of fun cosmetic and convenience items. To make sure the store is ready for launch, we decided to give away 5,000 “Scales” – the in-game Dragon Vault currency – to each player just for logging in to the Open Beta on top of the 1,000 Scales per daily log in for the first week of Open Beta . Get ‘em, use ‘em, and keep whatever you buy. Who doesn’t love free money?

•    The Event Systems: Here’s a little MMO developer secret – you can usually tell what’s going on behind the scenes by the events the company is holding in the game. In this case, we’re running a bunch of fun events during the Open Beta. The common denominator? They’re all about guilds and grouping. One of the things we noticed in the Closed Beta was that most people were playing solo. We want to test the group-oriented systems this time around, as well as get people to experience the fun of playing Dragon Nest together.

•    Bug Fixing: If you see a bug, let us know. Every bug you report helps us to make the game even better for launch.

Opening the Gates

Of course, the big attraction for you is the chance to finally play the game much as it will be on opening day. Indeed, Open Betas are often the point when many people who will eventually become long-term fans of an MMO first develop their love for the game. That, naturally, is why all of us on the Dragon Nest team are about as nervous as a squid in a sushi bar. On the other hand, I know that we’ve got a great game here, and Open Beta is when everybody will really get to see it.

Open Beta Launch Center

The Dragon Nest Open Beta has begun and you can find everything you need to know right here!

The Essentials:

• If you have not yet signed up for a Nexon account, click here.
• If you have not yet downloaded the Dragon Nest client, click the “Play” button on the upper left-hand side of the website or head over to our Game Downloadpage. For step by step information, see the Getting Started guide.

When you enter the Open Beta, to enjoy the best possible game performance, please select the server that is geographically closest to your location.

• Velskud – West Coast server (recommended for players in Western US and Canada, and residents of Oceania)
• Gerrant – East Coast server (recommended for players in Eastern US and Canada)
• Argenta – East Coast server (recommended for players in Eastern US and Canada)

More Information Resources:

• Forums: Connect with other Dragon Nest fans and talk about the game!

• Guides: Get started in the world of Dragon Nest with helpful in-game information!
o Classes:Choose your destiny.
o Quests & Dungeons: See where to fight monsters and find treasure.
o Townsfolk & NPCs: Meet the people who will help you become a hero.

• Customer Support:Get assistance with issues.

External Resources:

• DNArmory.com:Search this all-inclusive item database for the game’s live content!

• DragonNestWiki.com: Discover a wealth of information on this encyclopedic site!

Dragon Nest Social Media:

Facebook:Join the Dragon Nest Facebook community for game updates, news, contests, and much more!

Youtube: Check out the latest trailers and videos on the official Dragon Nest Youtube channel.

Enjoy your time in Dragon Nest!