Launch date: 27-10-2008 (zOMG Head Starter Ticket Holders)
The older Gaian members four years plus will in waves will gradually get access to zOMG.
06/10/2008 Halloween Hysteria announcment
Our favorite holiday is coming up soon! No, not Lung Health Day (Oct. 24th), Reptile Awareness Day (Oct. 11th) or World Menopause Day (Oct. 18th)-- we're talking about the greatest holiday of them all, the grandest Gaia event, the day you've all been waiting for... Reptile Awareness Day! Wait, no, I mean HALLOWEEN!
Join us from October 23rd to 31st for a monstrous free-for-all, a new storyline update, some incredible new items for your avatar, and quite possibly a big surprise at the end.
Furthermore! We'll be holding a special avatar costume contest soon, so watch this space for all the latest info on our biggest event of the year:
Join us from October 23rd to 31st for a monstrous free-for-all, a new storyline update, some incredible new items for your avatar, and quite possibly a big surprise at the end.
Furthermore! We'll be holding a special avatar costume contest soon, so watch this space for all the latest info on our biggest event of the year:
"quite possibly a big surprise at the end." whee Surely this is a hint that zOMG is coming!
Qixter
It's been a while...
Howdy there, folks,
I haven't been posting journal entries for a bit. The team and I have been *that* busy with getting the game done. But we had a really good day yesterday here at our little "zOMG! HQ" section of Gaia, so I wanted to share it a bit.
As many of you know, some of the recent tests have been pretty rocky. We had a nice, stable game for a while, but then the main site went through some major changes in the way they handle data (very good changes, btw, that *needed* to be done), and we had to shift our data handling to match...which was a very complicated process where many things broke for a while as we adapted. It was a struggle to get things back to a stable platform...but...
...yesterday was a new plateau in stability for us. We had invited a huge number of new beta applicants into the fold. (117K+) Then we asked them to all join at once to help us test our server config (webservers, auth processes, game servers, etc.)...and they showed up in happy hordes to help.
Our previous online record was 1 server with 550 people. Yesterday, we pushed this up to over 5500 people on four servers. We're fairly certaiin we can push that number up even further with the same number of servers.
What that all means is that we're getting very close to the server stability and density to meet our launch criteria!
So I know that was all kind of dry to read, but we're excited to be at this point. Launch day approacheth!
-- Q.
Howdy there, folks,
I haven't been posting journal entries for a bit. The team and I have been *that* busy with getting the game done. But we had a really good day yesterday here at our little "zOMG! HQ" section of Gaia, so I wanted to share it a bit.
As many of you know, some of the recent tests have been pretty rocky. We had a nice, stable game for a while, but then the main site went through some major changes in the way they handle data (very good changes, btw, that *needed* to be done), and we had to shift our data handling to match...which was a very complicated process where many things broke for a while as we adapted. It was a struggle to get things back to a stable platform...but...
...yesterday was a new plateau in stability for us. We had invited a huge number of new beta applicants into the fold. (117K+) Then we asked them to all join at once to help us test our server config (webservers, auth processes, game servers, etc.)...and they showed up in happy hordes to help.
Our previous online record was 1 server with 550 people. Yesterday, we pushed this up to over 5500 people on four servers. We're fairly certaiin we can push that number up even further with the same number of servers.
What that all means is that we're getting very close to the server stability and density to meet our launch criteria!
So I know that was all kind of dry to read, but we're excited to be at this point. Launch day approacheth!
-- Q.
Reading from this journal makes me think that the additional beta was not for the sake of bug testing but it was most probably a form of bandwidth throttling and assessing the lag and connectivity issues when a mass amount of users are online like during peak times.
I hope the launch is coming soon as stated "Launch day approacheth!"
IGN
Gaia Online Golden Ticket Holders Gearing Up for Exclusive Early Entry into zOMG! Open Beta
A gradual Gaian rollout gives community members play-dates for the casual MMO.
October 22, 2008 - Gaia Online, the world's most active online community, today announced its development team is making final preparations for the zOMG! Open Beta and will begin rolling out game access to Gaia community members on October 27th. 8,500 lucky Golden Ticket holders will be the first entrants, scoring exclusive early playtime in the casual MMO before the first wave of Gaians flood the game's gates. zOMG! was created in response to requests from the Gaia community, and their feedback has been the principal driving element in every step of the game's development. Fervent members participated in focus groups and closed beta testing sessions, and even held a contest to choose the game's name. Now, the community is getting an opportunity to explore the zOMG! Open Beta before anyone else.
"We know users are anxious to get in and play, and we're firing on all cylinders to ensure our servers can meet the incredible demand," said David Georgeson, Senior Producer of zOMG! at Gaia Online. "We're squeezing Gaians in as quickly as possible, but are 100% dedicated to delivering on our vision of a beautiful, immersive and entertaining casual MMO for players of all persuasions."
Gaia has utilized Golden Tickets throughout the game's development to increase community involvement and select participants for the zOMG! Beta program. Enthusiastic Gaians took part in booth promotions at NY Comic Con and Anime Expo during the Closed Beta, and purchased zOMG! Rumble Boxes in the virtual goods marketplace for a shot at Golden Tickets for the upcoming Open Beta. These dedicated virtual world denizens are thirsty for a taste of the action, and clamoring for the prestigious prize of first in-game access.
"We received over 120,000 applications for the Closed Beta from our virtual world community, but obviously couldn't let them all in," said Craig Sherman, CEO of Gaia Online. "Members complete hundreds of thousands of micro-transactions per day in the marketplace, and we think the Golden Tickets are a great way to choose which loyal users win this very cool opportunity."
As Gaians begin lining up at the entry gates of zOMG!, the development team is busy making sure zOMG! can accommodate the rush of eager avatars. Everyone can't possibly fit through the door at once, so seniority will pay off big-time for Gaians when zOMG! begins rolling out its Open Beta next week. After Golden Ticket holders, virtual world community members with the longest active accounts (4+ years on Gaia) get the first spot in line. The complete rollout schedule will be announced shortly, and general public access will be established once the Gaia community is safely in-game. zOMG! will likely be out of Beta later this year and will continue to grow and evolve over time, as members offer feedback and continue to shape their world.
About zOMG!
Explore the epic adventure within the Gaia Online MMO,zOMG!. Discover interesting and beautiful worlds, engage in combat with monsters, interact and play with friends, and more in this casual online massively multiplayer game. Designed for the PC as a free to play game with no download requirements, the MMO is accessible and easy to navigate for everyone. More than a game, zOMG! incorporates elements of social networking and entertainment for community members. Featuring streaming music, a unique storyline and characters, and engaging gameplay, zOMG! is an open environment for people of all ages to play games, meet friends, and explore. Visit www.zomg.com for more information.
About Gaia Online
Founded in 2003, Gaia Online is the leading teen hangout on the web. More than seven million visitors come to Gaia every month to make friends, play games, watch movies in Gaia Cinemas, Gaia's virtual theaters, and participate in the world's most active online community. Gaia provides a fun, social environment that inspires individuality and creativity. With everything from art contests to discussion forums on poetry, politics, celebrities and more, to fully customizable profiles, digital characters and cars, Gaia is a place where teens can create their own space and express their individual style. For more information, visit www.gaiaonline.com.
Original source
This is it, the moment we the zOMG Elite have been waiting for an announced date! I know many of us have been waiting for this moment since 2004 or even 2003 for some this ought to be a very happy occasion for us.
Panagrammic
Rollout Specifics
The specifics for the rollout will be announced pretty soon. The zOMG Head Start ticket owners will be the first into the game, and they'll have an exclusive amount of time to play the game: not a full week, but at least a couple of days, with some provisos:
- since the Head Start ticket owners paid cash for their Head Start ticket (at least nominatively), we want to guarantee them the ability to play the game exclusively for some period of time. So, if there are teething problems in the first couple of days, we'll extend the Head Start duration by the time that the game was unavailable for play.
- the Head Start tickets are freely transferable (and are on the marketplace now), but one of your tickets will be frozen when you enter the game.
- as we do for most of our features, we'll be slowly metering people into the game, based on a number of possible criterion
Are the Head Start tickets worth it? It's really up to you, depending on how much free gold and desire you have. We deliberately limited the tickets, so if you have a Head Start ticket you will be able to play the game when it is relatively uncrowded. If you're seriously into zOMG you'll be able to stay ahead of the main crowd simply by virtue of the fact that you'll have had time to build up your charge levels.
More information regarding the zOMG Head Starter Ticket, I'm sure glad I've got one. However apparently Zeta testers will not get a head start because Lanzer made a mistake when he said this, however this has not been confirmed yet.
Qixter
10/21/2008 8:30 pm
Qixter
When Closed Beta ends (our current phase of testing), we will move to Open Beta instead.
When Open Beta begins, the *only* people that will be allowed onto the servers will be the Head Start ticket folks.
After their Head Start period ends, we have another metered entry program that will take place, letting in groups of people onto the servers until finally, everyone can play.
Original source
According to the recent information when zOMG Head Starter Tickets are used they can begin but there may still be bugs and as a result their head start period maybe extended depending on circumstances. The as the servers gain more stability starting with older accounts like 03, 04, 05 and so on will gradually in waves begin to gain access for general use.
