The first closed beta of the Asia MMORPG Astellia is currently running, and some players are a bit confused due to gender lock and various items. The developers have commented on these circumstances.
What confuses the players? In the current version of Astellia, each class has a predetermined gender. As a warrior, you are always male, and as a mage, you are always female. This confuses some players, as the removal of the gender lock was promised.
Furthermore, some players have achieved high levels and corresponding successes. In doing so, they find cosmetic items that sometimes offer better attributes than the actual equipment. Players are now concerned that cosmetic items from the shop will also get attributes.
Astellia has many legacy issues from Korea
What do the developers say about gender lock? The developers have already made a statement about the genders of the classes before the beta. Warriors and assassins are expected to be adjusted before the game’s release and can also be played with female characters.
However, these adjustments are not yet available in the beta. This is also due to the high effort required to adjust all animations and equipment. Therefore, the other three classes will also receive their second gender only after the release.
What do the developers say about Pay2Win? Regarding Pay2Win, the studios Barunson E&A and Studio 8 have a clear stance and forgo attributes for all cosmetic items in the shop.
However, some items have slipped through in the beta, such as Shellac Type B, which could be earned through achievements. In a patch, this and other items have already been adjusted.
What is the purpose of the first beta? The first closed beta of Astellia is primarily to stress the servers and gather feedback from the western community.
From the beginning, it was not planned for the beta to be early access to the game. Currently, there are only American servers and English is the only language available in the game.
This will also change before the release. The game will be released in German and offer European servers.
The real-money shop will come with the second beta
What is planned for the second beta? In the post about the items from achievements, the developers also hinted at what the focus of the second beta test will be.
Currently, the game’s item shop is not available yet. This is supposed to change with the second beta. According to their statement, the test will “focus heavily on the cash shop”.
How long does the first beta last and when will the second one come? The first beta test is still running until Monday, July 1st, at 5:00 PM. When the next test is scheduled has not yet been communicated.
We have already collected initial feedback on the beta, and a summary of our experience will follow.
