HITSPARK
Dear Ninja,
It is my pleasure to announce that we are finally moving into closed alpha stage starting tomorrow (14 Oct) at 5:00pm PST (Pacific Standard Time).
Final Alpha? What does this mean?
Because we are soon to reach a point in development where we are confident to start running the game as a service, we are going to keep the alpha online indefinitely for players to play. During this time, we will unveil new content constantly and introduce a cycle of monthly events that will keep the game world exciting and happening! This may take some time. As you know, Nin Online is heavily based on RP and RP Events, while being a PvP combat game, we've spent the past year or so building up the PvP environment with combat that is fast-paced yet tactical, and diverse in choices for fighting styles, but the RP events and systems will take awhile to work out as a community!
The phases of the final alpha
Firstly, we will will conduct a closed alpha from the 14 October to the 18 October. During which we will tackle any remaining bugs inhibiting players from enjoying the game. We will be thankful to all participants who help us find bugs and help us balance the game's combat and leveling pace. This phase will be available for all Early Access, Silver Ninja and Gold Ninja. The server will then be taken down for a few days and re-opened fully as the Open Alpha phase, in which anyone can participate.
Open Alpha expectations
First Hokage will be Rory. There will be a Chunnin Exams held a few weeks post Launch (Open Alpha). When we transition into Beta there may be a wipe. We will try to launch our cosmetics shop feature sometime in Open Alpha. Level cap is 30, jutsus are spread out into their rightful balance. Lots of new features since the last test. Shifts in game design has left certain features untouched (Missions are disabled and will only be reintroduced later as a minor feature instead of being the main game play progression).
1st Chunnin Exams
The first Chunnin Exams is ready to go. Since there are no Jounins nor Chunins to lead teams, players may form teams of 3 ninjas on their own. In order to be eligible, all ninjas in the team must be Level 30 and be Genin rank, there will also be a Ryo fee per team. Registration will be done through the forum. There will be 4 stages in-game - Theory Exam, Forest of Death, Preliminaries and Finals. More detailed will be announced soon.
All illegible ninjas should stay tuned for the Closed Alpha client in the restricted forum!
The client will be out an hour or so before the server goes live for the early access, silver and gold ninjas.