The time has come again for you to join us in the world of OrbusVR! We're super excited to have you back with us, and we've been hard at work on a ton of new features, content, and more to get us that much closer to launching into Early Access.

The beta test will begin tomorrow at 12 PM (Noon) US Central Time. See the handy Countdown Clock to find out when that is in your timezone.

If it's your first time in the Beta

Everyone who has backed the game at the Founder tier and above has the ability to participate in Closed Beta testing.

Be sure to check out the Getting Started Guide on the Wiki. There is now an in-game tutorial as well that you will see when you first log in on a new character, but the Guide is still worth reading.

Download the launcher to install the game: https://community.orbusvr.com/t/closed-beta-launcher-download/2687/

If you don't already have access to the Beta, you can purchase access on your My Account Page at any time.

For our testing veterans

This test's feedback thread is here: https://community.orbusvr.com/t/closed-beta-3-feedback-thread/2952

If you missed it, we previewed the things coming in this test in our previous two blog posts, which can read here and here.

And if you want the deep-dive on the specifics, the Patch Notes will be updated with all the details when they are released later today.

What's New?

A quick summary of the major new stuff in the game includes:

Newly improved networking layer that should result in fewer disconnects

More than 10 hours of new questing, including the conclusion of the "main story" quest as well as some of the "main side quests" that are available to play.

5 new "overworld" zones added, including the level 20 PvP-enabled Wilds zones. (The overworld map is now complete!)

The Airship route is now fully established and will take you across many different locations in the world.

Dozens of new enemies to fight with advanced and unique combat mechanics to challenge our high-level players

The new Artificing class

Breaking down weapons and gear into shards, used in Artificing, as well as the ability to sell shards and ingredients to NPC vendors so you can now actually start making money in the game outside of questing.

Level cap increased to 20

Complete itemization of the Alchemy and Fishing classes, with a dozen new potions to make and fish to catch. (Note: Although they are implemented, not all of the recipes will be available right away simply because some of the potions are intended to be acquired later in the game cycle and we don't want to spoil it during the Beta).

New lure parts to get from monsters to catch the new fish.

Plus a lots of new bug fixes and quality of life improvements!

That's a lot of stuff! Whew!

In general, the game has taken a large step forward in terms of being "launch ready." I can't say it's "feature complete" at this point, simply because there's always so much more on our list that we want to add (more pet mechanics, housing mechanics, guild mechanics, additional Runemage spells, etc.). But, you can now visit every zone in the world, there is content from Level 1 through Level 20, there is a full main story quest and the beginnings of side quests, all of the major crafting classes are implemented and fully itemized...it really feels like a game full of things to do and places to go at this point. Which is an amazing accomplishment for the team and the community. So take a moment to pat yourselves on the back, and just marvel at all the amazing things we've built together over the past year. It's really incredible!

See you in-game tomorrow!