August of last year saw Ashes of Creation’s Intrepid Studios announce its plans that it would stop selling pre-order packs of the gankbox MMORPG because it had hit the number of players for its upcoming Alpha Two and wanted to ensure “a glorious experience when it comes to performance of [the game’s] servers and game client.” The original announcement said that September would bring the final pre-order bundles to be sold, but after that sales would end on January 17th.
History became legend, legend became myth, and for several months the news passed out of all knowledge. Until this week, however, when Intrepid Studios reportedly sent emails to backers to remind fans that pre-order sales for Alpha Two access were set to end at the intended date. Reminders were being widely shared around the official AOC subreddit but still caught some people off guard – and saw the company’s defenders mobilize as a result. Others admit that the FOMO plan worked.
If there are those who feel like they’re caught twisting in the wind, crestfallen at the chance to not give Intrepid Studios hundreds of dollars to play an unfinished game, fear not: The studio has confirmed that those who already own a pre-order package can upgrade it to access Alpha Two, as can original Kickstarter backers. Those options will also be available for a limited time that hasn’t been determined yet, though the studio promises it will give everyone “plenty of notice” before that FOMO scheme ends too.
