OPEN BETA - NEW BATTLEDOME

[Daze]

5th October

•Battledome News! - In the next week or so, we'll be taking down the current Battledome permanently to make way for a NEW BATTLEDOME coming later this year! We'll be providing more information in the weeks to come, but for now, take this time to say your final farewells to an old friend. *tear*

We had some good times, old Battledome. We had some good times.

We also thought we'd open sign-ups for the Battledome Closed Beta. We're a ways away from that still, but if you're interested in participating when the time comes, check out the sign-up page!

Hi, TNT. Wow, a new Battledome -- I'm sure you are already getting tons of questions about it. So, here's mine: while I am looking forward to seeing the new Battledome, I am now pondering whether the weapons I own will still be useful later on. I already saw some boards telling people to "quickly sell their weapons before they become worthless junk." I think that this would do quite a bit of damage to the Neopian economy, and I'm also positive that many Neopians will feel incredibly bad about all the NP they spent on their (No longer useful?) BD set. So, are you already able to tell us if the current weapons will still be useful when the new BD comes? ~maliechen89
Please don't do anything hasty! We have information coming your way that will answer a lot of your questions. Please don't panic and sell off your weapons.

----

Hooray! You've successfully signed up for the Battledome Closed Beta. Thanks for that! We're excited to hear all the feedback from our beta testers. You'll be notified via Neomail if you're selected. Happy battling!

I can't wait!!

11th October

•Battledome Update! - We wanted to let you know that we are currently planning on shutting down the old Battledome early next week. Unless that changes (we'll let you know), you'll have through the weekend if you want to spend some time fighting for old time's sake. We've also put up an FAQ Question with information on what you need to do before the old system is shut down. (The short answer is nothing! There's nothing you need to do!) More information will be released as we get closer to the betas!

17th October

•Goodbye, old friend! - The (old) Battledome is now officially closed. It has sacrificed itself so that its brother, New Battledome, may soon live. ALL HAIL OLD BATTLEDOME! Anyone interested and able can join us on the Battledome Neoboard as we say goodbye.

And for the technical stuff: when attempting to visit any Battledome pages, you'll be forwarded to an error page. You'll also receive an error when trying to equip items from your inventory. Next up will be Closed Beta and we'll announce that here in New Features when we start sending out invitations.

[domo_hello_kitty]

Sound pretty cool! I'm kinda looking forward to it, but I hope it doesn't have an arcade game feel to it.

[Siniri]

I signed up for the closed beta, too. I should try to complete DoN and any outstanding battledome avvies now, before the old 'dome closes. Like I have time to do it... Anyone want to lend me some decent weapons? (Just kidding, mostly...)

ETA: Finished both DoN series (as far as they've gotten) -- they were actually pretty easy. I just need the Shoyru and Darigan Tonu avatars; I'll probably have to transfer a pet to my side and adopt a Shoyru, and hopefully I'll be able to find a nice Darigan Tonu owner to fight on the Neoboards.

[Blue]

I am really trying to decide if I want to more with DoN. My lab pet will need to be cured (Healing springs faerie isn't being cooperative), but probably not much more without spending a lot of NP for super weapons.

[Daze]

FAQs
Neopets > Battledome >

Is there anything I need to do before the old Battledome is shut down to make way for the new one?



Nope! There is nothing you need to do unless you want to battle in the old system one last time for posterity, taking screenshots to print out later and clutch in your arms while crying yourself to sleep at night. Not that we've done that or anything.... O_o

To be a bit more specific:

All your records and stats will remain intact (though they won't be viewable during the downtime).
There is no rush to train or defeat certain challengers before closing. You can train during the downtime if you wish.
Any equipment attached to your Neopets will be right where you left them when the new Battledome launches. However, you won't have access to the unequip page during the downtime! If you want access to these items during that time for whatever reason (to sell, trade, stare at, etc) you should unequip them now. If you want to keep them safe from REs and the like, it's better to leave them equipped.
More information on what's changed/new in the new Battledome will be coming as we get into Closed Beta!

[Dyl]

On the one hand, it needs it. It's a very cobbled-together system full of weird behaviours and unintuitive navigation.
On the other hand, I haven't gone into the battledome since the last plot that had battling which is approaching a year ago now.
I don't think this will get me much more interested unless there's a plot to go with it. I've never been a PvP type.

On the other other hand, I just remembered I'd put off spending my points from the last plot because I suspected those strength potions would shoot up in price. They certainly did. If I can get them to sell, yay.

[Blue]

The battledome is now down...

Sorry, the Battledome is down! But don't worry, we'll be launching a brand-new Battledome soon! (-ish)

[Siniri]

I probably won't do very many PvP battles after the revamp, either. I did one for an avvie yesterday, and it had a weird pop-up explaining how long it'd been since each player's last move. I don't remember that from the last time I did a PvP (which was exactly once, years ago, also for an avvie). I really hope that's not the new BD, though -- it was pretty lame.

I really just hope that the new battledome makes things faster during plots (please let it not be Flash-intensive). And that I can snag some better weapons in the meantime (though I read on the Neoboards that some players got a preview and slowly started buying up weapons before it was announced to the general public, in anticipation of renewed interest in battling once the new BD is released, and many midrange weapons have actually gone up lately). Anyway, I think I should upgrade my set while it's down, because waiting until it's back will just cost me more NP.

I've invested heavily in training because it's just a little at a time, but I'm very slow to make big purchases. My level 250 pet (w/ 500 boosts by the time the BD's back up) has dual Ylanas blasters, Downsize!, sink, burrow, drain life, a heavy robe of thieving (bought last week)... and a leaf shield, earthen scorchstone, and greater healing scroll for defense/healing. No freezer (well, a freezer that never worked in the old BD; maybe it will now?). Only the semi-fragile moderate-strength reflectors (given out in TFR). My set needs some help. I was able to cap out in the last plot, but it was a struggle for some baddies, and it took more time and healing potions than it needed to.

[Daze]

Hopefully this means the testing of the new battledome is closer to being released.

27th and 28th October

•Closed Beta! - Are you ready to test the new Battledome? Closed beta has begun with very small groups for now. If you are one of the "chosen" Neopians, you should receive a Neomail soon with all the details. (Neomails will be sent as we add new people, so keep an eye out.) We will see you there! *secret handshake*

There is also a dedicated Closed Beta Board, that only those doing the testing can access.

*At this point, I have not got a nmail.


** Boosts have increased.
** Agility hasn't changed (yet)
** No end of fight healing!
** Easy, Medium, or Hard Mode for 1P challengers.
** Once you selected a weapon you dont need to select it again.

[Siniri]

When you say boosts have increased, do you mean the value of each boost? Or the maximum boost?

[Daze]

Boost levels. 700 is the max, but battledome chat is suggesting maybe another level or 2, so maybe 800 and 900.

No-one is sure, but TNT did confirm that boosts were increased.

Taken from the battlechat board:

Staff: Question - Have boosts been increased and does agility have an impact on battling?

Snarkie: @Mario: Yes to your first question. As for the numbers, telling you would be cheating. XP For agility, the mechanics are /pretty much/ the same as they were before with tweaks here and there. So agility is no more impactful than it was before... at the moment.

I am not testing (yet! But I am hoping to). So I am only going off what I am reading on the boards.

[Siniri]

Thanks, Daze. I haven't gotten into the beta yet, either. I wonder how the easy/medium/hard thing will work for plot challengers.

[Jelani]

I'm really interested in this. I'm a bit miffed to not have been chosen for the beta (I notice those cads over at Jellyneo got invites - not that I'm bitter or anything ) but the Battledome has been in dire need for a revamp for a long time. I hope it's more than just an art change, though, and some of the mechanics are improved - a rebalancing of faerie abilities, a proper use for agility, and make the billion or so useless weapons actually good for something.

The Battledome has been largely ignored for years. When it came out, there were only eight worlds - no Meridell, Lost Desert, Altador, &c. - and only thirty-nine Neopet species.¹ Petpets couldn't even be painted at that time. Since then, we've seen the introduction of Neopet customisation (April 2007), the introduction and discontinuation of the trading card game (2003-2006), and three separate versions of Destruct-o-Match.

The Battledome code dates back from a time before the Euro (2002), the completion of the Human Genome Project (2003), and the 'Boxing Day' tsunami (2004). It is three years older than Facebook and four years older than Youtube.

The Battledome is dead, long live the Battledome.



¹That's approximately right, I don't have an exact date for the full release of the Battledome. It was just before the Tyrannian Invasion, though beta testing had begun in 2000. I realised in checking this that although the Tonu was released in February 2002, over ten years ago, I still think of it as 'one of the new pets'.

[Blue]

I'm really interested in this. I'm a bit miffed to not have been chosen for the beta (I notice those cads over at Jellyneo got invites - not that I'm bitter or anything )

Hmmph. I apparently wasn't chosen, either. Jellyneo.

[Jacob]

I've talked about it for years, and it's finally happening. Looking forward to what TNT brings forth.