Commenter Ardenya wrote up a fantastic description of how Spellborn will be published in Europe (aside from the UK and the other Commonwealth countries (Australia, NZ, South Africa), which seem to be lumped in with North America in this case). I’m copying it here because it’s the most concrete info I’ve heard so far about the game’s launch, anywhere.
Considering packages and payment, earlier tonight I have recieved an email with some details and amazon preorder links. Unfortunatly, Im not at my desktop atm and will be as early as tomorrow so bear with the little details I have preserved in the twists of my mind… =) I’ll verify the info as I get home.
There will be two boxes: a regular edition coming with the game client on DVD, a world map and 1 month subscription time for around 15 euro (dont nail me on that… yet) and a special edition with the previous content and additionally an art book, some special ingame item and 3 month of subscription time for 39,90 euro.
The monthly rates will depend on the billing model you choose and will lower the longer the cycle. Itll start at 12,99 euro using a 1 month cycle and goes down to 10,99 euro per month using a 6 month cycle. Additionally, there will be 60 days Game Cards availible for 26,99 euro.
So, does that mean that we here will get a box in two weeks from Amazon?
No, no box for us. No collector’s editions, no nothing. In fact, for a major MMO on the edge of a worldwide release, you’d hardly know they were publishing it at all.
This isn’t a game that is underhyped. This game has no hype whatsoever. Aeria Games’ Pi Story has more hype, and that’s a 2D scroller MMO. The only information we have about the game at all is what Frogster and Spellborn NV are releasing into the European market.
All we know about how the game will be operated outside Europe is contained in this very short FAQ, which was written by a fan, not an official Acclaim rep.
This is the entire section dealing with obtaining and subscribing to the game.
- Will The Chronicles of Spellborn be Free 2 Play?
- Yes and No. TCOS will be free to download, and will have a free zone where you will have the chance to learn the game. Should you decide you wish to continue into some of the higher areas, there will be an option for you to subscribe monthly to the game.
- Will there be an item mall?- No. Although TCOS has the F2P area, it is a predominately a P2P game, and thus will not have any sort of item mall in it whatsoever. In fact, there will not be any shops of any sort since there is also no item selling in TCOS.
- How much is the monthly rate going to be?
- TBD
- What is the official release date for Spellborn?
- November 27th, 2008
- What countries will Acclaim be hosting for Spellborn?
- North America, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa
I am prepared to spend a lot of time in this game, but, this close to the game’s release, I’d like to know that Acclaim is prepared to promote this game. Maybe they feel it’s pointless to do much promotion when so many other MMOs are being released or expanded. Maybe they want to see how it does in Europe before trying to build an audience elsewhere.
I want this game to succeed, but, Acclaim, you HAVE to give us something. Your games are largely free to play; this one is not, so the regular Acclaim players likely won’t be that interested – they can’t even spend the Acclaim Coins they buy in the game. Your NA launch is probably the best kept secret in MMOs. Those of us who have been looking forward to this game for YEARS want info. You won’t be having an open beta, so word of mouth about the game will be virtually nil. We have no server lists or anything that would let us build a community before the game launches, aside from some anemic forums.
Frogster is adding community staff for the European launch; do we in NA even HAVE a community staff?
Seriously. Get in touch. Point us to your promo stuff. Give us an open beta, just a week or two, so we know it’s real.
Low hype is a refreshing change. NO hype is scary.