Forums had been down due to several DDOS attacks. Since it became an issue, we took the forums down and have taken all appropriate measures to make a recurrence less likely. The game servers have not been affected.

The trial faced some issues during the initial stress test when the volume of the invitees taxed the patching and the login system. This was to be expected and it's the nature of a stress test. Testers experienced periodic low download speeds and various minor errors and hiccups which were soon dealt with. We increased our patching capacity and corrected small errors, until everything was running smoothly. For launch we will have in place a peer to peer system which should greatly improve download speeds and make the downloading and patching run smoothly. There have been a couple of server crashes since we’re still running in debug mode. The issues causing the crashes have been addressed and we have issued a few new patches in this time. Servers are currently down for scheduled maintenance for a few hours tonight, during which we are also running an internal stress test. Servers will be up again right after this.

So far there have been three waves of invites sent out and these proved to be a very good stress test for the download, patching and login systems. We would like to thank the testers for their persistence during this initial stress test and their patience while we corrected the issues that came up. Most players entered the game, and have been playing since yesterday.

Now that things have stabilized, we’ll start sending out more invites. We will keep sending invites out, every day when possible, and until we hit our capacity.

The NDA is still in effect, because this remains a testing period. Even though this is the release candidate client, previews based on this experience may not be indicative of the release quality of the game, especially not while you're consciously trying to break the game during stress testing. The game is still in debug mode so that we can deal with any issues that arise. Other than that, we are trying to simulate the launch, in order to better prepare for it. The testers in-game so far have been sending us very positive reports on their gameplay experience, even so, the NDA will be in effect while there's still testing going on. As soon as we're out of debug, the stress test is over, we'll lift the NDA.

If you haven’t received an invite yet please don’t take it personally. You very well might receive one soon. Please respect the invite process; it was made to be as fair as possible, while also being the most helpful for the game. We appreciate everything the community has done for the game and while we regret that we can’t make everyone happy, it’s impossible when considering the large volume of the applications. Even so, there will be a great number of players allowed to playtest the game. We really understand the impatience, and we’re doing our best to get as many in as possible in the game.

Please do not try to bypass the invitation process by emailing or PMing us. We’re afraid that it’s not possible to do so. This is an automated procedure, and we could not possibly manually process all the messages we’re getting at this stage.

As far as the latest major patch goes, these are just some of the updates included:

* The interface has been completely reworked and re-skinned.
* Camera modes have been updated. You can now use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out.
* Warhulk movement has been enhanced. You can cycle camera modes using F12
* Mount controls have been tweaked
* Rivers will now carry you downstream.
* All character attributes have been enabled and they display signals when they increase.
* NPC animations have been updated
* Rune Stones (recall stones) have been enabled.
* You can buy more slots for starter weapons at a vendor.
* Directional attacks for all melee weapons have been added. You can slice vertically or horizontally.
* Player Journal and Clan Window have been updated.
* High score quests have been enabled.
* Time limit high score quests are enabled
* Massive AI update: Many more monsters have been added.
* AI behavior has received a significant update.
* Wildlife has been enabled. Tigers, bears, lions etc. can be found in nature.
* Underwater monsters are now enabled.
* Dungeon monsters are now enabled.
* Monsters will now visibly taunt you
* Roaming monster packs are enabled.
* Some monsters will send you personal taunts.
* Environment system is fully enabled. Ambience and weather will now change over time and as you travel. One Darkfall day is now approximately 5 hours long.
* In-game help has been enabled.
* Updates to armor graphics.
* Character creator has been updated.
* More player skills have been added.
* Clan cities that belong to your clan have been updated to display on your world and mini map.

There were also numerous smaller fixes and updates included in this patch and in the subsequent few smaller patches.

We’ll follow up with more status reports on the game, and various other updates as needed.

Source: http://forums.darkfallonline.com/showthread.php?t=112662

so with the latest patch, they pretty much turned everything on. cool.

Awesome

This is the topic we should be discussing here, not the troll threads that plague the mmorpg.com df section...

That looks pretty nice..

Now give me my trial..

Loved this one -

Monsters will now visibly taunt you.
 

Thank you so much for the update, and am looking more forward to the 25th of Feb.!

Good stuff

A lot of these features sound great, and the leaks have somewhat given the impression the game is fairly solid albeit its apparently very empty. But it is worrying they are only now turning on the majority of features(which is probably why the leaks all mentioned the world feels empty), such as the majority of mob types, and abilities.

They both seem like features that would need a lot of testing, I dont see how they can release this game in a decent state or even meet their target release date if they are going to leave everything to the last minute like this.

I dont think it is very informative that the majority of the feedback is positive at the moment, they have barely any beta testers which is confirmed by the current testers, most of which are obviously fans already and have pre concieved thoughts of the game. I really think this game will turn out like Vangaurd at this point, ie it has a very rough start and loses a lot of potential customers because of it.

I believe there is a beta tester planning to leak a video soon, so hopefully it shows the game is a lot higher quality than the current information implys. I am sure this game will eventually be good, right now I think the main question will be what it is like in the first couple of months, and how will Aventurine deal with it/how good will their support be?

Woot, hope I get into the beta!

God.. seems the game is still in the middle of beta.

Originally posted by altairzq

God.. seems the game is still in the middle of beta.

The game still is in the middle of beta

Sounds good to me.

I think it's more likely that they have been polishing these things up internally for a while and now they are patching it on to the trial server.

I MADE THE TRIAL WOOOHOOOO!  Sorry just wanted to rub it in, not against the NDA to say so.  Yeehaw, later girls!

Originally posted by altairzq

God.. seems the game is still in the middle of beta.

that's because it is.

nothing wrong with that, unless they release it in a beta state.

oh no.... just checked my email I guess I didn't get in

Originally posted by PatchDay

oh no.... just checked my email I guess I didn't get in

yet

Actually they said the current client is the European release candidate. There's just so much to do. I doubt they are going to be able to do it in time for release. But I still think it's going to be a great game. Defiantly the most successful indy developed game ever.

So we STILL know nobody who is actually currently testing this game?  Come on people... 

Originally posted by AveBethos

So we STILL know nobody who is actually currently testing this game?  Come on people... 

Thats a retarded statement... people in beta are not aloud to even tell you if they are in beta. That breaks the NDA right there.