Dragonica Online Closed Beta Test is LIVE!

With the Dragonica Online Closed Beta Test having gone live at 2:00pm PT this afternoon, here's a simple five-step guide explaining how to get started:

1. Register your THQ*ICE Passport.
2. Sign up for CBT.
3. Apply your Activation Key.
4. Download the CBT game client.
5. Install the CBT game client.

If you've completed the first two steps, you are in our tester pool for CBT. This means you will be selected at random to receive an email containing an Activation Key. Waves of emails will be sent out starting today and over the course of this week. Each subsequent wave will bring more testers into the CBT. Be certain to check your Spam filter!

ALL Activation Keys have a set time at which they can be applied to your THQ*ICE Passport. An error message will result if the Activation Key cannot be applied until a later time.

If you participated in the Preview Beta Test, you do not require an Activation Key. You can update your PBT client or download the CBT client and start playing.

If you have more questions on this topic, please ask them in this forum thread.

Dragonica Online Closed Beta Test Start Time

Greetings Dragonicans!

The Dragonica Online Closed Beta Test will begin tomorrow, June 30th, at 2pm PDT (5pm EDT). Information on client downloading/updating, known issues, patch notes and more will be published as launch hour nears.

Your journey to the world of dragons begins soon! If you haven't yet, be sure to sign your THQ*ICE Passport up for CBT by clicking here!

Dragonica Online Exhibiting at Anime Expo 2009

Starting Thursday, July 2nd, the THQ*ICE team will be attending Anime Expo 2009 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, showcasing Dragonica Online to thousands of attendees. Visitors to the THQ*ICE booth, #428, will receive Closed Beta Test access, "Wings of Paris" stickers, an exclusive Anime Expo in-game balloon and be able to set up an account and start playing right there in the middle of the show. If that wasn't enough, all visitors who create their THQ*ICE Passport at our booth and have the chance to win Dragonica Online wallscrolls, two raffled off each day of Anime Expo.

Here is a passage from the press release:

“This is the first time any U.S. anime convention has been incorporated and immortalized in any MMO game,” states Ms. Liyin Liang Anime Expo Convention Chairwoman. “We are happy to work with THQ*ICE and have them bring such an amazing and exciting game to our convention!”

“We are excited to officially unveil Dragonica Online to our fans at this year’s Anime Expo and let them experience new content for the very first time,” said Aaron Dean, Marketing Manager for Dragonica Online. “As part of our commitment to our fans, everyone who stops by our booth will be able to demo new game content, receive special prizes and have the opportunity to get an Activation Key for our Closed Beta Test. We look forward to the event and the chance to get feedback on their experience which we’ll then use to create the best game possible.”

To read the full press release on Anime Expo's website, click here!

1UP Trumpets Dragonica Online's Upcoming CBT

Game news site 1UP.com has published an article detailing Dragonica Online's rapidly arriving Closed Beta Test, slated to launch June 30th. Links to our many social media outlets and a brief summary of the THQ*ICE joint venture lead off the piece. Here's a meaty passage:

For the uninitiated, Dragonica is a combination free-to-play MMO/side-scrolling action game. So instead of mouse-clicking and spamming the number buttons to watch a bunch of combat animations, you actually have to do stuff like run, jump, and attack like you would in an action game. In fact, the game's combo counter even tracks how many successful blows you've landed; a successful string of attacks (let's say 50 hits on the combo counter) usually results in an experience point boost. Another gauge, the monster counter, tracks how many foes you've beaten in succession without being taken down yourself; beating up 100 monsters in a row could earn you a special treasure chest with even more loot than usual.

The article also discusses friend points, crafting, PvP and more. Click here to read it.

Sign Up for the Dragonica Online Closed Beta Test!

Want to get into the Dragonica Online Closed Beta Test? Good! We want you in!

Make sure you're signed in to your THQ*ICE Passport account and then click on the following link:

Click Here to Sign Up for the

Dragonica Online Closed Beta Test!

This will add you to our tester pool for the CBT. Invites will be sent out to signed-up Passport holders at random over the course of the test duration. They'll be received as emails to the address listed in your Passport profile and will contain an Activation Key. Instructions on how to apply the key to your Passport will be included (it will be very similar to how keys were handled during the Preview Beta Test). Activation Keys will be sent out to signed-up Passports in regular, measured waves with increasing quantities per wave.

Dragonica Online Closed Beta Test Starts June 30th!

Hinting? Done.
Teasing? Finished.
Prolonging your eager anticipation to the point you may burst from desperate longing? Well...

The Dragonica Online Closed Beta Test (CBT) launch date is now announced. Our second testing phase will begin on June 30th, one week from now. Over the course of this week, we will release further details on gaining access to this last test phase before our Open Beta Test (OBT). Details regarding client downloading and patching will be released soon. However, here is what we'd like to share with you this very moment:

Dragonica Online's Closed Beta Test will feature...
• New Content: More areas to explore and discover.

• Increased Level Cap: Grow your character to level 60 and proclaim yourself a legendary hero!

• Additional Game Channels: Increased server space for you and your friends.

• Exclusive Events and Contests: More contests, more fun!

• 14 Days of Dragonica Online: The Closed Beta Test will last for two weeks, ending July 14th.

Looking to add yourself to our tester pool for CBT? Click this link!

Show Your Skill at Class Builds!

With the Closed Beta Test start date of June 30th announced and our First Steps character guide contest underway, we're like to introduce our second Closed Beta Test contest, Skilled Builder. This event tasks players to select the base class of their choosing, Warrior, Thief, Magician or Archer, and assemble a collection of skills from that class' skill tree. These skill collections called "class builds" or simply "builds". Many of our active forum members have had some hands-on experience with Dragonica Online and no doubt each and every one of those members have a build that is both near and dear to them and capable of utterly pwning any monster or PvPer who dares confront it.

Ready to divulge your class build secrets for the ability to get your first Closed Beta Test character boosted to level 20 immediately? Then show us you're a:

Author a level 20 character build for either the Archer, Magician, Thief or Warrior. Builds need only list which skills they'd select, to what rank they'd raise them to and why the build is awesomesauce (read: good). This can be due to performance in PvE or PvP but please remember that a summary of the build's function is necessary. Builds can be typed, drawn, spoken, written in invisible ink: the choice is yours. Remember that builds will be judged based on their potency and to a lesser extent on their legibility. After the contest ends, submissions will be judged by THQ*ICE staff. Eight character build submissions will be selected as winners, two per class. Winners will receive a Dragonica Online Closed Beta Test Activation Key and be granted a level 20 character of the subject class of their winning submission. Additionally, winning submissions will be featured in our upcoming Class Subforum sections as a stickied thread.

Detailed information on the four starting classes' skill trees and available skill points at level 20 can be found at these links:
• Archer
• Magician
• Thief
• Warrior

Interested in participating? Follow this link to be taken to the contest thread on the official forum. This contest ends June 28th 11:59 PM PDT (June 29th 6:59 AM GMT-0).

Best of luck to all participants!

Guide Your Fellow Dragonicans' First Steps!

Our Closed Beta Test is just around the corner and with it comes a new set of forum events during which you can win in-game loot and bonuses! First up is our character guide contest, First Steps. If you're on these forums, there's a good chance you've played one or two MMOs in your time and your fair share of RPGs as well. Possibly even some MMORPGs (gasp!). However, not all of your fellow Dragonicans have! For some, their journey into the world of dragons may be their first foray into the realm of gaming. It is time to put your hard-earned experience to work both for you and for your eager pupils. Help them take their:
Author a guide for the first ten levels of a single starting class: Archer, Magician, Thief or Warrior. Guides are to be both comprehensive and easy to follow for the novice gamer. They can be typed, drawn, spoken, etched on limestone tablets: the choice is yours. Remember that guides will be judged based on their legibility, functionality and overall design as a how-to for playing Dragonica Online as the subject class. Prizes include Closed Beta Test access, your submission as the first sticky in our upcoming Class Subforum sections, and for the pièce de résistance, a full set of level 10 armor for the subject class of your submission.

Interested in participating? Follow this link to be taken to the contest thread on the official forum. This contest ends June 28th 11:59 PM PDT (June 29th 6:59 AM GMT-0). Share your knowledge of Dragonica Online and gaming at large, professorial Dragonicans!

Create Your THQ*ICE Passport, Get Invited to CBT

You’ve been waiting weeks, months or even longer and now your wait is almost over! The Dragonica Online Closed Beta Test (CBT) is nearing and you can get a head start on joining in on the fun! All one needs is to create their THQ*ICE Passport for a chance to be added to the CBT. Invitation emails will be sent out in waves as CBT begins and during the test phase. Already made your Passport? You’re already in the running!

So why are you still reading this post? Get over to the Dragonica Online website and sign up for a chance to participate in our second beta phase! While you’re at it, use your new THQ*ICE Passport to join the official forums and get involved early with the prerelease community.

Massively.com Shares Dragonica Online Impressions

As our forum-goers and Preview Beta Test participants heard over the course of last week, E3 2009 was a remarkably frenetic and successful event for the Dragonica Online Team. An impressive number of media representatives came to visit us and experience Dragonica Online first-hand. Massively.com has published a lengthy "impressions" piece on the game, a snippet of which can be found here:

Continuing the somewhat recurring theme at E3 2009 of "what was old is new again," Dragonica Online has taken the traditional 2D side-scroller format and transitioned it to 3D. The resulting environment will be friendly to any of the Night Elves you see endlessly bouncing around World of Warcraft and fans of nostalgic action RPGs like Secret of Mana.

The game sports fast and furious real-time combat, crafting, guilds, dungeon raids, PvP, and a light-hearted atmosphere. It didn't take us long to realize that Dragonica doesn't take itself too seriously. For example, in the demo, we saw an archer battling shark pirates who were wielding swordfish. We're obviously not in Middle Earth here.

The article goes on to discuss the four starting classes and their basic roles. Additionally, the differences between the three types of maps found in the game are addressed. To read Massively.com's entire article on Dragonica Online, click here.

Dragonica Online @ E3 2009

Our second guest blogger from the Dragonica Online Team is our Marketing Manager, Aaron, announcing an event!

Hello Dragonicans! The biggest gaming event of the year starts this week and Dragonica Online will be there!

But before I go into more details allow me to introduce myself; my name is Aaron and I’m a Marketing Manager for Dragonica Online. This is an exciting time for the Dragonica Online Team and we have a ton of cool events and activities planned for the community. This week marks the start our event planning with the biggest gaming event of the year: E3 2009.

Ok, some of you may be asking, “what is E3?” E3 stands for Electronic Entertainment Expo and is an annual video game convention where new games are announced, demonstrated and shown off to gaming journalist and lucky gamers who received a rare ticket to the show. For gamers, the feeling of being at E3 is similar the first time Charlie stepped into the Chocolate Factory or when Dorothy finally made it back to Kansas. E3 is gamer heaven and THQ*ICE will be there showing Dragonica Online to the gaming world!

If you made it into the Preview Beta Test be sure to log into the game Tuesday, June 2nd through Thursday, June 4th to play with the members of the gaming media, E3 patrons and members of the Dragonica Online Team. Help us show off Dragonica Online to the gaming world! Details below:

Event: Virtual E3 2009 Invite – Play with THQ*ICE at E3 2009
Details: Play with the Dragonica Online Team and help show off Dragonica Online to the gaming world!
Duration: Tuesday, June 2nd – Thursday, June 4th

See you online!