Original Sin - Post-Funding Update #49

Larian Studios has posted a new post-funding update for Divinity: Original Sin with news the Alpha has a release date, and explains they need feedback from backers.

Divinity:Original Sin’s Alpha Dated! Input needed! Live stream!

We keep on getting the same question – when, when, when ? - and we keep on telling you – soon, very soon, very very soon. Well, no more “soons” from us – we’re ready to put a date on the alpha release, or at least a date range ;) 

Next to that, this update also contains a list of recent previews from our hands-on event, a call for input for the higher level backers and an invitation to a new live twitch.tv session, this friday, and yes, just because it's friday the 13th! 

Here goes:

When is the Alpha coming?

The date is Tuesday December 17th 2013. The date range is next week. If something goes wrong, it might be December 18th or 19th or who knows, it might even be December 16th, but rest assured that it will be next week, unless of course calamity strikes. The exact hour, well that is still to be decided.

Decision time - Live on Twitch

The decision will be made in a live twitch.tv stream on December 13th starting at 17:00 CET, 16:00 GMT, 8:00 PST, 11:00 EST. David & Swen will be playing the alpha, approve, or disapprove things, and then decide if it's ready or not. 

Our Twitch.tv channel is www.twitch.tv/larianstudios

What can I expect?

You can check for yourself in this let’s play video from last Friday in which Swen reviews the state of the alpha. Contains minor spoilers, so consider yourselves warned.

We’ll be releasing a first chunk of the world, good for approximately 10 hours of play, known to the team as The Left Side Of Cyseal. (Which is pronounced by some as "Sigh Seal" while others say "See Zay-All"...)

It’s alpha – that means place holders, rude balancing, some missing features, plenty of bugs etc… But, it’s playable, and you can play quite a lot. But you might also get stuck. 

Don't plan on playing this if you want a polished experience! Wait for the real thing instead! Even if you're tempted!

Also, you need to be aware that savegames will not be compatible between different versions of the alpha and at first we will limit gameplay to single player. Multiplayer will open up but at a later date.

That's a lot of disclaimers, but we know from experience that we can repeat over and over that something is not final yet still get mails from angry people yelling at us that they want us to fix their savegame because they don't want to lose their hero. For the record,  we won't! :)

But, despite all the disclaimers above, we will be very appreciative if you do in fact play the alpha and give us constructive feedback. That's why we decided to spread it to all of you. The group that has played Divinity:Original so far is very limited and we're very much in need of extra opinions on what we did right & wrong and what we should fix prior to release. 

Who can play the alpha?

For the moment, Kickstarter backers only. We might be opening up beta access at a later date for people who preorder, but with 20K backers, we’re sure we’ll know what to do on the short term ;)

How will I get access?

You’ll be able to redeem a Steam key via your Kickstarter account on the Larian Vault. We’ll guide you through the process once again once the alpha is actually live.