Battle of the Immortals

It's a big day for Battle of the Immortals, as the open beta has finally started on the most recent Perfect World Entertainment game. Closed beta was quite successful, with the development team rolling out requested features like improved access to the high-end Soul Gear and improved keybinding (complete with standard WASD movement schemes). To celebrate the occasion, and to give players who haven't been following the game too closely an idea of why they might want to start, the game has released its fourth video developer diary today, this time focusing on the content found within the game.

Jon Belliss, Product Manager for the game, focuses on the game's dungeons, starting off with one dubbed Knight's Jail. Everything from gameplay to rewards gets covered, complete with a semi-snarky reference that "you can complete it in ten to fifteen minutes, as long as you have a group that isn't full of idiots." He goes on to discuss the later Dragon Emperor Catacombs, which can switch between a low-level "easy mode" and a more rewarding "normal mode," and Spectre Island even beyond that. Take a look past the cut for the full diary, and keep your eyes open for more news on the open beta for Battle of the Immortals.

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One of the best things any MMO developer can do is listen and respond to their players, particularly during beta testing. Perfect World Entertainment seems to be fully aware of that, as last night an email was sent out to everyone who participated in the first round of closed beta testing for Battle of the Immortals: "We've been collecting a ton of feedback from our players and last night, we delivered!"

Beta testing in this case did exactly what it was supposed to: tracked down bugs and drew player feedback on what they did and did not like. The majority of the player base, for example, disliked things such as click-to-move only and the ability to bot in-game. The bot has now been removed, and WASD movement has been added.

That's just the beginning, however. Follow along after the jump for a peek at the email from the Battle of the Immortals team, and be ready for open beta on May 4th.

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We've been hearing quite a bit from the guys over at Perfect World Entertainment in anticipation of the launch of Battle of the Immortals lately. The game has been given a fair amount of hype, thanks in large part to the promotion of innovative twists on standard game features such as mounts, pets, and gear.

Does the game live up to the buzz? Well, closed beta began on the 14th, and I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to check it out. Follow along after the jump for a look at Battle of the Immortals.

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Perfect World Entertainment has unleashed the closed beta for their upcoming Battle of the Immortals MMORPG. To celebrate, PWE is offering up a pretty spiffy launch trailer, embedded below after the cut, as well as a couple of contests designed to show their appreciation for hard working beta testers.

The first is a leveling competition, wherein the highest level characters of each class will win 10,000 Zen for their account. Additionally, testers can participate in a survey contest by filling out various e-mail surveys. If you complete them all, your name will be entered into a pool from which five winners will be drawn, also culminating in a prize of 10,000 Zen.

Be sure to grab your beta key, and don't forget to hit the jump and check out the launch trailer.

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We've been hearing quite a bit from Perfect World Entertainment's upcoming free-to-play MMO Battle of the Immortals over the past few months. The developers originally planned for a closed beta in early February, and wound up delaying it until April 13th to ensure a well-produced game. This move bodes well for Battle of the Immortals, considering some of the ambitious features added to the game.

Several of these features have been mentioned and described this year, such as Soul Gear, the intricate mount system, and a highly unusual pet system that allows you to potentially make a pet out of any enemy in the game.

Perfect World Entertainment has released a new video developer diary featuring Product Manager Jonathan Belliss, and he's got some more details on all of these features. If you're anxiously waiting to see how all of this is going to pan out in beta, you'll enjoy the video for both the information and the gameplay footage. Follow along after the jump to see for yourself!

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Massively Speaking Episode 95 returns this week with Sera, Rubi and special guests Jason Varden and Jonathan Belliss of Perfect World Entertainment. Discussions include the upcoming Battle of the Immortals and the general state of free-to-play games. There will not be another episode for two weeks, so look for the next to drop on April 28th.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

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Read below the cut for the full show notes.

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The crew over at Perfect World Entertainment have been hard at work localizing their upcoming action MMO, Battle of the Immortals. But as we find out from their Product Manager, Jonathan Belliss, this isn't just a question of localizing the story or converting the in-game text over from the original language to English -- the ramifications are far further-reaching.

In their most recent video developer update, we're not only treated to some in-game eye-candy, but Belliss informs us that the team at PWE has been really doing their homework on the differences between Eastern and Western gamers and what they enjoy in their games. One of the major things many were wondering about is how the cash shop will be utilized. In China, players expect a "pay for power" model, which Belliss clearly states that they know Western players "absolutely hate." As such, they've put in a lot of time doing a massive overhaul of the game, placing the power upgrades in as drops, and instead gearing the cash shop towards "convenience" -- something much more palatable to the Western gamer.

Add to that, we've now gotten word that the plans are to start up the Battle of the Immortals closed beta on April 14th for players to get a chance to start testing these new gameplay changes. So if you've been curious about getting your hands on this beautifully-detailed upcoming Diablo-esque action MMO, then you'll want to be sure to head over to the Perfect World Entertainment site and get signed up. If you're curious about everything Belliss had to say in the recent developer update, we've embedded that video behind the break for you to check out. We'll also be talking with Jon Belliss and Jason Varden from PWE on an upcoming edition of Massively Speaking, so you'll undoubtedly be hearing more about this game soon!

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Perfect World Entertainment's upcoming PvP focused hack-n-slash MMO Battle of the Immortals now has a gameplay trailer showing off its goods. You're probably wondering whether or not this game is up your alley. Well, this video will probably help answer most of that question for you.

Did we mention the game will have demonic hot rod mounts as well as kung-fu pandas and ninja master turtles as pets? Don't get too worked up just yet, because the closed beta isn't coming until mid-April. We're sure to have more videos and information about Battle of the Immortals leading up to the beta process, though. So if your interest is piqued, at least you'll be able to maintain that insatiable lust for knowledge.

Find the rather lengthy gameplay trailer after the break.

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In a day and age where we all seem to have mobile devices kicking around, podcasts are great for keeping up with news and opinions on your favorite topics while still being on the go. Needless to say, we're a bit fond of podcasts around here, so we're happy to announce the first full episode of Perfect World Entertainment's official podcast, In a Perfect World, is available for download. Covering the full range of Perfect World Entertainment's products, the first show includes discussion on Battle of the Immortals, Perfect World International, Ether Saga Online, and Jade Dynasty.

Unsurprisingly, the centerpiece of the Battle of the Immortals segment is an explanation of the game's delay until mid-April. There are also previews of the next few Perfect World International events, discussion of the recently-added player-made mount in Ether Saga Online, and in-game events in Jade Dynasty. Various download and aggregator links for the podcast are available on the official blog entry, along with a small contest to win a Barbarian Tiger statue. If you're a fan of the multitude of free-to-play games the company offers, it should be worth the time spent listening.

The developers at Battle of the Immortals are continuing to work on their game to prepare it for the planned closed beta in mid-April. Between now and then, the Perfect World Entertainment blog offers glimpses into what they're up to.

The latest entry for Battle of the Immortals delves deeper into mounts in the game, something that we've touched on before. The focus is on the system of leveling and progression of your mount, as well as offering screenshots of several of the available mounts (someone's been watching Ghost Rider!)

As your mount progresses from level one to level five, it receives various improvements, both cosmetic and functional. Visual upgrades are accompanied by more practical things such as a default skill and customizable skills that become available to your mount as it levels.

From the looks of things, mounts in BoI go way beyond what we've grown used to in so many games. Check out the full blog entry for more screenshots and information on what's to come!

We recently brought you the news that the closed beta for Battle of the Immortals has been delayed until mid-April. Several reasons were cited, including details such as Windows 7 support, revising the item shop and the AI behavior, and so on. The Perfect World Entertainment team took some time to expand on those reasons for us this week.

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The pace of information released about the upcoming Battle of the Immortals is increasing, no doubt to raise anticipation for the game's swift-approaching beta. The most recent post on the official Perfect World Entertainment blog offers more details on the game's mounts and pets, which look to be an integral part of the game's structure and offer a few interesting twists on the features. Mounts, for instance, can be upgraded for increased speed... but each upgrade also allows the mount to learn new skills. The example given was of a mount that learned to teleport short distances as well as running, a helpful trick to be sure.

Pets, on the other hand, can be almost any monster encountered in Battle of the Immortals. Players will have the opportunity to turn a defeated enemy into a pet "every now and then," which is a bit light on details but suggests either a long cooldown or a limited-supply item. Each pet can apparently have their skills slotted for a variety of roles, allowing them to be viable in both PvP and PvE combat. There's a week left before the closed beta begins, so if you're interested, take a look at our closed beta key giveaway to start out early.

Perfect World Entertainment has spent a fair amount of time talking up their upcoming PvP-focused game, Battle of the Immortals. The game certainly looks gorgeous, but we've only heard bits and pieces about how it will actually play. The most recent update, however, certainly provides a fair bit more information on how the game, as it details the game's classes -- Berzerker, Heretic, Magus, Slayer, and Champion. Each class is given a brief writeup of their strengths, weaknesses, and preferred opponents.

In no particular order, Slayers deal a mix of physical and magical damage at close range but have next to no defensive abilities. Heretics are a combination of priests with more sinister magics, dealing damage and healing as well as inviting a few obious comparisons. Magi (or maguses, if you prefer) are... well, okay, they're kind of obvious. Berzerkers have an errant "z" in their name and focus on dealing out physical damage at the cost of some defense, and Champions wield a weapon and shield to be all but indestructible. The classes seem set to provide a fair mix of the usual "holy trinity" mechanics and PvP skills, so take a look at the official preview to get a clearer picture of what you might want to play once the game goes live.

Perfect World Entertainment is taking over the world! Or at least in the MMO world, it seems that way. The publisher and/or developer of games like Ether Saga Online, Jade Dynasty, Kung Foo! and of course, Torchlight, PWE has announced the closed beta for yet another title: Battle of the Immortals.

If PWE's name isn't reason enough to raise interest in this "2.5D MMO", we thought we'd help with 10,000 beta keys to give out to the Massively readers. Simply head on over to our giveaway page and grab yourself a key. Follow the directions there to get ready for the closed beta, which doesn't start until February 10th. Want to know more about the game before spending your time in their beta? Check out their main site or read a handy bullet-point list of features after the jump.

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With three F2Ps up and running, and Kung Foo and Torchlight underway, you'd think that the folks at Perfect World Entertainment would be content to rest on their laurels. But no, it appears that they've got yet another game in the wings called Battle of the Immortals, which will blend little bits of Eastern and Western mythology together as the old gods play for power against one another.

According to the Perfect World Entertainment site, Battle of the Immortals will be a "2.5D MMORPG" that will feature things such as 5 different playable classes; PvP including Territory War; PvE content with both an auto-quest-navigation system and high-end raids; pets; mounted combat; and more. The story is said to cover everything from Norse mythology to the Qin Empire, which should be interesting to see.

If your curiosity is piqued, why not pop on over to the PWI site and check out the story & concept art. Alternately, you could just skip to the meatier features or gear screenshot post if story-lines aren't your thing. They also hint that they'll be posting about the beta for Battle of the Immortals soon, which we'll be keeping an eye out for.