Defiance FPS Beta Keys Available
Defiance is a science fiction drama and multi-platform FPS MMO by Trion Worlds and Syfy, where humans and aliens live side by side..
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed7j3_xHxBw] (more…)
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Beta Access Expands
Blizzard have now expanded the Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm Beta to include customers who pre-ordered the game digitally on Battle.net on or before 18 December.
Steam for Linux Beta Opens To All
Valve have now opened up the Steam for Linux beta to all! To participate, download the client here.
Hawken Enters Open Beta
Hawken, the free to play mech-based shooter by Meteor Entertainment and Adhesive Games, has now entered open beta.
Players take on the role of the pilot of a giant robotic war machine, battling against other mechs across ruined cities and desert canyons. Mechs are customisable, with differing chassis sizes and weapon loadouts, and can be upgraded as you progress and unlock bonuses.
The beta client is available here.
Steam for Linux Beta Now Available
Valve have now launched a limited access beta for the new Steam for Linux client.
The client is initially available for installation on Ubuntu 12.04, as the majority of beta applicants use it; support for other distros will be added in the future, based on user feedback.
The Steam for Linux client supports Team Fortress 2 and a number of other Steam titles; the client also includes the beta for Steam’s Big Picture.
Mists After the Brazier
Over the weekend, I got caught up in a second bottleneck during the quest called The Challenger’s Fires.. as masses of players clustered around the Brazier of Flickering Flames, so thoroughly blocking it that nobody could click it and make progress.
Diablo III Beta
Although the Diablo III Beta was made available on Friday, we weren’t able to get in right away. Unsurprisingly, there was rather a lot of interest in the game, and Blizzard had to limit the number of concurrent logins while dealing with various server and login issues.
The beta contained the first four chapters of Act 1: after defending the town against the rising dead, players go to the Cathedral to find out what happened to Deckard Cain, go in search of the mad King Leoric’s crown, and then put an end to the Skeleton King and free the land from his army of the dead!
All five classes were available to choose from, though you could only level each up to level 13 during the beta.
Panda Crush
Last night’s foray into the Mists beta was an eye-opener. So many people.. so much shouting, yelling and of course the spamming of broken macros over and over. I had hoped a Saturday morning would have meant a little more space to breathe on the server.
My quest at hand was The Lesson of the Burning Scroll: snatch a flame from the Master and go to the top of the temple and burn the Edict of Temperance.
Note: you don’t do any snatching as the flame is simply added to your inventory as you accept the quest.. I saw lots of people spamming chat asking about the Flame, not realising that it had been added to their inventory. Perhaps the quest has been done this way because players are clustering horribly on all quest givers and items, and if you had to actually click something in the Master’s hand, you’d be having problems like those trying to burn the Edict upstairs..
Uncountable masses of players were standing right in front of the spawn point of the Edict, some jumping, and many spamming “/c interact Edict of Temperance”. This is part of a macro started as a joke that apparently doesn’t work at all.. not that it stops any of these people from trying, over and over again.
Mists of OMG So Many Pandas
I finally got my own invite to the Mists of Pandaria beta this morning, having checked my email only minutes after finding out that the Diablo III beta is open this weekend as well! Another weekend of beta gaming? I nearly picked up some Relentless when we went shopping, too.
I’d been told the Pandaren starting area was busy.. but I don’t think I knew the meaning of “busy” before now!
Diablo III Open Beta Weekend
Blizzard have announced that the Diablo III Beta will be opened up this weekend!
From Friday, April 20 at 21:01 CEST, until Monday, April 23 at 19:00 CEST you’ll be able to log in, team up with friends, and play each of the five heroic classes to level 13 as you fight to save the world from the impending demonic invasion.
Woop! 🙂