Star Vault reveals Mortal Online beta and pre-order details, launch info
by James Egan 
Jun 7th 2009 at 8:00PM
Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Launches, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, Mortal Online
Another competitor in the hardcore PvP niche in MMOs may give Darkfall Online a run for their money: Mortal Online from Sweden-based developer Star Vault. The game is presently in closed beta and is about to get its first test of the release build. The real news here is that Mortal Online has announced its open beta and release schedules.
Pre-orders for Mortal Online will begin on June 29th via the official site, and the actual launch (with monthly subscriptions) is slated for Q4 2009. Anyone who pre-orders the game "in any of the formats available" will have access to all of the beta phases remaining until the title launches. The catch, however, is that the pre-orders are limited to 10,000 people.
Star Vault states: "We have decided to make 10,000 copies of the game available on June 29. The Beta spots will be divided into blocks of 2000. Every second week, starting July 6, we will accept a new block of 2000 players into the beta until we reach 10,000 accounts. This will be done on a first-come first-serve basis, meaning the earlier you book the earlier you'll get in."
As to their mention of available formats, Star Vault says there will be three versions of the game sold in the shop: Digital Download Only; Boxed Version; Limited Edition (999 numbered copies). They clarify that a player's choice of pre-order won't impact their access to the beta phases by stating, "All versions give you free access to the Beta phases. Access to the digital download is not limited to the Digital Download Only version. More info about the different versions will be made available in the shop before it opens."
If this has caught your interest, there are further details in Mortal Online's June announcement from Star Vault, and you may want to check out our previous coverage of Mortal Online as well.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
bartillo said on 9:28PM 6-07-2009
I have been following MO for about a year now and i am very excited to get to pre order and start helping with testing and get ready for launch!
if you dont know about this game come join other MO community members in our irc posted on the website.
Reply
Myria said on 10:19PM 6-07-2009
I had to chuckle at the notion of anyone wanting to "give Darkfall Online a run for their money".
What are we talking about here, ten, twenty bucks tops?
Seems like a slow saunter would be more appropriate.
Reply
Brian! said on 11:07PM 6-07-2009
Anyone want to start a pool on when the "real" beta and release date will happen?
Reply
Halldorr said on 12:06AM 6-08-2009
The whole first person thing turns me off unfortunately....love the sandbox, hate the view.
Reply
Goonja said on 12:17AM 6-08-2009
Same here,love all the other aspects of the game but hate the first person view.
M said on 2:49PM 6-08-2009
Agree
bartillo said on 1:41AM 6-08-2009
FPV will make the game much more immersion, you have to understand that.
No need for invisible stealth.. sound would play a much vital role on if you can move quietly enough to assassinate something or not.
Reply
Jack said on 1:59AM 6-08-2009
MO even make this non pvper want to give the pvp a try!
Reply
Temko said on 6:50AM 6-08-2009
meh.... we shall see how they do, from what i've heard they are only launching with their "core" mechanics... the question is which those are?
- combat
- mounted combat
- pve
- player housing
- taming
- advanced skills
- etc..
if they cut the "core" to steep, people will tell 'm to fuck off and wait for actuall features to be implemented (as many have done with other games)
also they are uctting the line close with more MMO's coming out that time
Fallen Earth, Earthrise, Aion,.... will niche win out?
Reply
Jeetje said on 11:05AM 6-11-2009
As usual you are right Temko.
If my sources are correct almost everything will be cut, except PvP (incl mounted) combat. No player housing, no taming and PvE AI is virtually non-existent as realistic combat got pushed to the front of the development-cycle, so this game will just be another (badly timed) pissing contest for a month or two and then we'll all be off to a new shiny, preferably F2P by that time (let's be honest, item malls and PvP were made for eachother :D).
Nice try using the carrot-and-stick of Beta on potential customers Starvault, but $400K is not gonna pay the bills on your UE3 licence ;)
Rayingri said on 9:55AM 6-08-2009
I can honestly say that the game is pretty cool...but I wouldn't pay to play it, honestly, I don't know what it is, maybe the first person view or something...and so do some friends of mine..the game is Ok for a f2p but, I'm not sure how much success the game will have as a p2p competing with such titles like Aion,WAR,WoW, and other new p2p revolutionary mmos like APB or some others which look like having a little more quality than this Mortal :x
I would like to hear more about this issue..well..
Cheers
Reply
Josh said on 12:17PM 6-08-2009
Well you've obviously given it much thought (ha). Why are you even comparing it to WoW? What sort of comparision? Subscribers? WAR and Aion, possibly, but even that is a stretch. Those are RvR, AFAIK, not open PvP (I did play WAR). Unfortunately the only games to compare it to are dead and gone, or going, or are practically unreleased. I'm talking about UO, Shadowbane, Darkfall, etc.. Nothing will have the success that WoW has, in terms of users, except another bottom-feeder like WoW.
Rayingri said on 9:52AM 6-09-2009
I totally agree with you, I was talking about subscribers, and my idead was, that Mortal wouldn't stand a chance between all the great and big p2p titles, well maybe you're right, maybe those guys that played UO or Shadowbane ,etc will come to Mortal, maybe not, if not, I don't think that Mortal will hold up to itself for long, but..If Mortal was going to micro-transactions payment method it would be like the best one, and probably take some millions from RoM or whatever good f2p is out there..
Well but i'm just guessing without big thinking, so..I might be wrong (probably).
I would like to hear more from you Josh, keep replying.
Cheers
rhys said on 2:49PM 6-10-2009
Can we get a Mortal Online link in the "Upcoming MMOs" dropdown? Thanks.
Reply
Jeetje said on 11:08AM 6-11-2009
I don't think their Unreal licence allows them to deploy with microtransactions ^^
Reply