So, after being delayed several times, Snail Game has finally announced a very detailed article about Age of Wulin China’s beta schedules. Players waiting for the English server under gPotato Europe (link) may not be too happy about it, unless the game is being localized while tested. Why do I say so? Well, the Open Beta phase for the China server doesn’t begin until April next year! So, here is the schedule below.
Both Closed Beta phase will require the fabled Closed Beta key to participate, with phase 2 allowing players from all over China to enter the game. With beta keys now selling for around USD 80.00 in the China forums, the regional unlock sequence for Closed Beta 1 is a worry which put me off from buying a key for the moment as Snail Game might be detecting IP of sorts. Well, the 80 bucks did put me off as well, so if anyone is willing to donate the sum, please let me know 😀
Further down, if you have remembered, the Closed Beta packages (link) included both Cash Points card and a Monthly Payment card. Nothing much was disclosed, except that the Monthly Card is used for the “offline” features and some training system. Not detailed yet at this moment, but I am guessing the “offline” features will have something to do with automatically gaining skill points or experience, since there is no character level in the game. Snail Game’s CEO also mention they have removed several items from the Cash Shop after receiving some suggestions at the recent summer camp event (link).
Now, the Cash Shop will hold mostly costumes, mounts and potions. Some items will give extra stats, for example mounts having higher movement speed. There are also no jewels in the Cash Shop, which is usually used to craft equipments in China’s online games. The combat system in Age of WUlin is kind of complicated, so I will not go too much into it. There will be a internal chi system for all characters, which are actually the 8 chakra gates you see used by Naruto’s Rock Lee and his master. As you progress in the game and learn more stuff, more gates will open up, which are the requirements for learning certain skills.
The current Closed Beta build for Age of Wulin has 3 instances, called “Forbidden Wulin Grounds”, which is a tiny fraction of the over 70 planned. Before I forget, there are no skills which will add to health, aka no healing skills. From the long Closed Beta phases, you can see how much Snail Game is aiming to perfect Age of Wulin, but also at the cost of players’ patience. How long will it take before the English server sees light? Well, let’s wait and see. You can read more about the game here (link).
