Earthrise

The struggling sci-fi sandbox Earthrise is no longer interested in competing in the subscription market, and is instead veering toward a free-to-play model in 2012. As of December 1st, all players will be able to experience the game without a monthly charge as Masthead Studios prepares for a F2P version.

Masthead CEO Atanas Atanasov says that the move is an effort to retain customer trust while the developers shore up the game's weaknesses: "We decided to let all our players unlimited gaming experience until we all are satisfied with the experience in our game. At the moment Earthrise features one of the best visuals, content, and gameplay of all sci-fi MMOs on the market. However, it is missing polish and has annoyances that spoil the fun in the game. We are learning from our experience and that is why we will remove monthly charges until we bring the game to a quality state that is satisfactory to us and our players."

Once the title is brought up to par, Masthead will transition it to a true F2P model, although Atanasov assures players that it will not incorporate pay-to-win purchases. Until Earthrise goes F2P, new accounts will be invitation-only as Masthead restricts the number of incoming players. All current subscribers will be able to invite a few of their friends during the transition, however.

[Source: Masthead Studios press release]

Masthead Studios has just informed us of the latest patch for Earthrise. There's good news for former players too, as the company is re-upping all inactive accounts for a free 14-day trial period.

The patch itself includes new vehicles that can be obtained via quest lines, player crafters, or in-game vendors. The mounts are called hoovers, and when coupled with Earthrise's physics model, they allow players to perform drifts, jumps, and various stunts. Speed is a major factor as well, and Masthead says that explorers will appreciate the new vehicles when checking out the various nooks and crannies across the world of Enterra.

Finally, the patch includes "large numbers of strong monsters" designed to provide more of a challenge for PvE players as well as provide greater loot rewards. You can learn more about Earthrise at the game's official website. Also, don't forget to check out the new vehicle concept art in our gallery.


[Source: Masthead press release]

Earthrise is center stage for today's One Shots with a screenshot of a pretty impressive group effort. Earthrise players aren't limited to large structures, though. Knar, the reader character in the foreground, is also sporting some player-created items:

This is the first base built in Earthrise since the Territory War feature was implemented. All structures and walls in the base are player made, as well as the armor and weapon my character has equipped. It has a such a nice view of the mutated wasteland!

Now it's your turn to show off your items. This week's theme is Some Assembly Required -- a little nod to the newest addition to our column lineup. Some Assembly Required covers player-created content, so we want to see the best of what you've created.

Whether you've built a farm or village in Wurm Online, a particularly impressive ride in Fallen Earth, or something even bigger and better in any MMO, we want to see! Grab a screenshot, tell us a bit about what it is, and send it to oneshots@massively.com. We'll be featuring the best of these all week.

Today marks a significant milestone for Earthrise, the indie sci-fi sandbox from Masthead Studios. A rather large patch has made its way to the live servers, and the changes are so numerous that Masthead's press release labels the update as Earthrise's first expansion.

The big kahuna in terms of new content is the Territorial Wars functionality, and the patch notes mention new zones with bases ripe for the capturing as well as the ability for guilds to construct various economic and military structures. Speaking of guilds, leaders can now make use of a new ranking and permission system, and Earthrise now sports both friend and ignore lists in addition to improved client performance.

The patch also brings a laundry list of weapon effect changes, combat re-balancing, and bug fixes, all of which are viewable via the patch notes on the official Earthrise forums. If all that's not enough to whet your appetite, consider that Masthead has reduced the initial client cost by 40% as well as gifted all previous account holders with 10 days of free play.

Big things are afoot in Earthrise, which is now going worldwide as publisher Iceberg Interactive has launched the English language version in all territories. To tempt players into giving it a try, Iceberg's digital launch will be offered at a hefty 40% discount, bringing the title to $29.99.

Even bigger than that is the news of Earthrise's first free expansion: Territorial Warfare. This content update promises to double the size of the current game world and will let players take over territory, build bases, and fight against opposing forces. These bases can even provide players with resources to further expand their power.

The price drop and expansion will apply to European boxed copies as well. The boxed versions also include a map and poster.

Masthead Studios has been pursuing aggressive updates and fixes to the game as of late, and with the expansion there should be plenty of additional content for players to enjoy.

[Updated: Changed the price to reflect US sales price.]

There are patches and then there are patches, and the most recent Earthrise update was definitely the latter. Masthead Studios has dropped approximately one gigabyte worth of changes on the world of Enterra thanks to the 18143 patch, and if the preliminary discussion thread is any indication, players seem to be happy with the tweaks.

Many of the changes are found in the game's combat engine, with adjustments to core and special weapon damage as well as weapon ranges and substantial updates for assault rifles, precision rifles, flamers, melee weapons, and shotguns. AI line-of-sight issues have also been fixed, and several UI and party-related bugs have been squashed.

There's also an interesting blurb in the patch notes regarding territorial warfare. Specifically, the notes say that "all bases and the environment around them are complete and standing by." While Masthead hasn't publicly confirmed that Earthrise's warfare system is complete and ready for prime time, it's encouraging to see some official progress.

The Earthrise developers may be taking their time and making sure every detail is just right on upcoming patches, but they've promised fans it's going to be worth the wait.

If you've been following the game's progress since launch and thinking about giving it a try, we've got just the thing for you! Masthead Studios has given us three digital copies of Earthrise to pass on to some lucky readers.

Already an Earthrise player? No problem -- we've got you covered too! We've also got 10 spiffy Earthrise t-shirts to share. All you need to do to enter is leave a comment here before noon EDT on Saturday, May 7th. Let us know which prize you'd like to have (specify large or extra large if you're entering for a t-shirt), and Saturday afternoon we'll draw 13 winners!

As always, take a look at our contest rules. Best of luck!

Fans of Masthead Studios' Earthrise MMORPG have waited a long time between patches. According to producer Atanas Atanasov, the wait is almost over. A new post on the official Earthrise boards details what players can expect when the new version goes live toward "the end of this week, or early next week at the latest."

The patch will include fixes for the inventory stacking bug and the problems with party experience gain. The game's shadow renders are also being tweaked, and AI attacks through walls and other solid objects are being addressed. Atanasov also tells us that the previously reported development roadmap has undergone a few revisions, and most of the items on that particular list are being delayed in favor of improving Earthrise's graphical performance.

"Due to changes in our priority list you can expect [a] delay of some roadmap features such as vehicles, inverse kinematics, quest hints on the minimap, and item painting," Atanasov explains. "Our expectations are that you will see them in game in June/July 2011."

What's Masthead Studios been up to lately? Aside from bug-fixing and putting out fires on the forums of its newly released sci-fi sandbox called Earthrise, the studio is finding time to iterate on future features for the world of Enterra.

Player vehicles have been an oft-requested addition since the game's early beta days, and if two new pieces of concept art are any indication, the cries haven't gone unnoticed. Masthead has just published preliminary models for two types of single-occupant vehicles, both bearing the sexy lines and sleek stylings of a futuristic hover-bike, swoop, or insert-sci-fi-motorcycle-analog-here.

While there's no word on when we'll see these new pieces of awesome in the game, we'll keep our eyes (and ears) peeled for further details. In the meantime, check out both images in our gallery below.

It's been nearly two months since the launch of Earthrise, and Masthead Studios is moving forward with long-term development plans for the sci-fi sandbox MMORPG. In a press release this morning, the Bulgaria-based dev team laid out a list of new features planned for integration in April and May.

Citizens of Enterra will be getting some direction in the form of minimap quest hint indicators, alleviating the confusion that often results when searching for various objectives. Earthrise crafters will be able to produce paint that can be used on armor, weapons, and vehicles, and guild diplomacy mechanics will give leaders the ability to both declare war and cultivate allies.

As a result of the February Choose Your Game Feature voting, resurrection mechanics will be coming to Earthrise, and player parties will also be able to share battle points and karma from defeated enemies. Finally, various technical and performance-related tweaks are in the offing, including customizable chat windows, a friends/ignore list, AI improvements, and shadow enhancements.

It's patch time for Earthrise, and the sci-fi sandbox from indie developer Masthead Studios is looking to put the hurt on a few of its early-release gremlins. The patch notes for version 17045 indicate that players should notice a substantial reduction in lag and an overall increase in server and client performance. The patch has also added keybinding functionality to the world of Enterra as well as animation tweaks for strafing and walking.

Exploration rewards have also arrived in Earthrise, and players "will now be able to salvage materials and use them for either crafting or personal advantage." The dev team isn't stopping there, though, and producer Atanas Atanasov drops a couple of tasty hints regarding upcoming updates. "We are actively taking player feedback and requests into consideration for future releases, and have extensive developments planned for completion in the next few months, including the addition of territorial conquests and player crafted vehicles," he said via press release.

When someone says "post-apocalyptic" to people, it can conjure up the idea of an irradiated, desolate landscape full of twisted wreckage and more shades of brown than you thought were possible. However, if you're one of the people enjoying Earthrise, you have a lush future full of all manner of flora. Never mind that a good chunk of it wants to go all Audrey II on you and chomp your face off. Today's lovely Earthrise One Shots comes to us from Atanas M., who didn't write much of a note other than to comment "cool area."

Whatever kind of MMO you love, we're always on the lookout for great screenshots. Players like you make this column possible! So capture an image in your favorite game and email it in to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. Your image could be the next one we post here on Massively!

Prior to taking the plunge with Masthead Studios' new Earthrise MMORPG, ask yourself the following questions: Do you have patience? Do you like to read? If the answer to either one of those questions is no -- regardless of whether you consider yourself a sandbox fan -- the game's current incarnation probably isn't for you.

Earthrise is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi MMORPG featuring two human factions struggling to rebuild in the aftermath of a third world war. In this distant, dystopian future, nanotech, quantum engineering, and cloning are commonplace technologies, and that's a good thing for you since you'll be dying. A lot.

If you're pre-disposed to sandboxes, excited by complexity, and not averse to a little ganking, the game might just tickle your fancy despite its rough-around-the-edges presentation and sub-par performance. We previewed the game a few weeks back over livestream, but today we add to that with a full hands-on with the game post-launch. Join me after the cut for my first impressions after 10-plus hours of gameplay.

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Zomg it's a sci-fi sandbox! You'll have to forgive our somewhat subjective enthusiasm on this one, as it's an increasingly rare occasion when we're able to announce the launch of something other than a themepark with classical fantasy elements. Yes, Earthrise is here to (hopefully) save the day for the sandbox die-hards in the audience, and Masthead Studio's skill-based title is available for purchase in both a retail edition (which features a poster and map) and a digital download from Direct2Drive (which comes with exclusive Overdrive armor).

"Our team has channeled years of dedication and hard work into Earthrise, and we are thrilled for those fans who have been following us this entire time, as well as those who are just now checking us out, to experience the world of Enterra. We are already working on updates and expansion packs to be integrated within the next few months, and are excited to continue to develop and enhance the world," says Masthead producer Atanas Atanasov.

As of press time, the server has not come up, and a couple of us have been unable to enter our activation keys into the account page on the Earthrise website. Fear not though, as we've got plenty for you to do while you're waiting impatiently to check out the world of Enterra. Join us after the break for a launch-day roundup of all the recent Earthrise news, interviews, and videos to get yourself up to speed and ready for action.

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