Announced today, and thanks to Tierrunner for catching this, the Acclaim hosted Chronicles of Spellborn is now in open beta. Also announced is their pricing plan, which is managed via Acclaim Coins, their RMT currency, to tie it in with other Acclaim games.
The game is available for free download, and lets you go to the first two zones and reach level 7 before being asked to pay. I’d urge prospective players to use the free download and level a char or two to 7 before deciding whether or not to subscribe to the game.
The subscription rate, being based on the variable price of Acclaim coins, ends up being slightly cheaper than the normal $15/month MMO subscription, which is admittedly still more than, I believe, most people want to pay for an indie MMO. But it depends upon how you acquire your Acclaim coins; buying enough of them at once could make the end cost substantially cheaper.
I don’t know if players will be charged to level past 7 in the open beta (if they are, just what is the difference between open and the live game?). Acclaim has added a PvE server along with their already existing PvP server that was wiped at the end of Closed Beta. I am currently playing on the PvP server because lead designer El Drijver made it very clear that a lot of the Spellborn lore would be revealed through PvP objectives. We’ll see how that works out.
UPDATE
Here’s the official announcement from Acclaim:
The Chronicles of Spellborn Open Beta Begins March 20, 2009
To join the Open Beta for The Chronicles of Spellborn, players can activate their Acclaim accounts on the activation page located at:http://spellborn.acclaim.com/ActivateGameTracker.html
If you haven’t already, click this link and download the game client: http://spellborn.acclaim.com/downloads.html
Once you have downloaded the game client activate your account and start playing the game.
For the Spellborn Open Beta, a new PvE (Player vs Environment) server called “Dorzhan” will be opened. Meanwhile, players who want to experience PvP (Player vs Player) action can join the “Deiquonril” server. And with the transition from Closed to Open Beta, all player accounts will be wiped so everyone must start their characters again from scratch.
In addition, Premium Subscription service will be enabled allowing players to experience the full game past the Free to Play zone restrictions. Premium Subscriptions will be available for purchase from the Spellborn website, with a special limited-time introductory pricing offer on 30, 90, and 180 day subscriptions.
Have Fun!
Acclaim Games, Inc.