Alpha release date & timeline
Hello everyone!
We’ve done a lot of server testing over the last month. I’m glad to say that we’ve been able to fix the bugs that came up, and implement the necessary server administration features. We believe we’re ready for a first alpha, where we will invite people from the community to test our server.
The first alpha stage will begin on October 26th, 2017.
We’ve mentioned before that we’d like the alpha selection process to work in a fair way, and we’ve come up with a process that we think will help with this.
We’ve decided not to base alpha access on giving out keys, but instead via applications. Everyone who wants to join the alpha can submit an application describing why they want to join, and after filtering out spam we randomly select from the submissions. This will help with duplicates, and complications with people asking for keys.
We’ve decided to start low with 20 slots available for the first alpha stage. This is so we can analyze how well the server responds to multiple players playing simultaneously, and possibly optimize the server to work more efficiently under these conditions. After we complete our analysis, and implement bug fixes and optimizations, we will expand the alpha in later stages to include more players and features.
To explain the process, here’s a timeline:
| September 30 (Today) | Alpha application phase starts. From now on, people are able to submit their application for alpha. |
| October 14 | Alpha application phase ends. People will still be able to submit applications, but they will count towards a later stage, not the one beginning on October 26. |
| October 21 | After filtering out spam and randomly selecting applications, we announce the selections on October 21. Selected applicants will be notified via mail about the next steps. |
| October 26 | Alpha Stage 1 starts, with 20 selected people. |
| Later | Once testing with the initial group of 20 people is successful, we will open up the alpha to more people in later stages. |
We’ve written up some more detailed explanations in our Alpha FAQ. Check it out if you’ve got a question, or post in the forums.
You’ll be able to submit your applications to the first stage starting now, until October 14. Click below to start your application for a chance to be selected.
We’ve been wanting to do an alpha for a while now, and we’re glad we’re now able to start the process. Check back on October 21 when we announce the selections.
See you all in game!
– lcdr