The Closed Beta testing of Landmark by Daybreak Games Company (formerly Sony Online Entertainment) is rolling bumpily along since the big May 2015 claims-and-characters data wipe--and the current high island population is both good and awful.

The initial crowding of land claims created howls of frustration as the majority of earlier Beta testers showed up to start over on the new servers, now four instead of the pre-wipe nine.  Some islands/continents have freed up in small spots--I fear this is because some players who did find land space simply stopped playing after they conquered the new content.  I also fear this was not soon enough for players who found no land space, who have also stopped playing.  Many who posted in forums are frustrated by their inability to choose the type of land they'd hoped for; some players have posted in Twitter that they found land on their chosen islands only by changing game servers. 

The fact that characters in Landmark are not bound to servers is good design, for not just building but for visiting fellow player's builds.  My thought is that now (in Closed Beta), and at the beginning of Open Beta testing, and at the game's eventual release, the number of servers Daybreak is choosing to run for Landmark will need to be increased for success--the current server to player population ratio is simply too tight.  The paths and structure of achievements make multiple land claims necessary, even if for a short time:  the Seasonal Designer achievement requires the player to place prop items in every biome.  I realize we're in a test state but "no room" is a good way to lose folks in the first days of any version of the game.

On the plus side, a high population on islands makes for more of a community, and more player builds to visit.  Prior to the big May 2015, gamer buddy Tam and I were frequently the sole folk building on our island of Cave on Courage server.  Now there are many sculptures, structures, and oddities to visit any time you log on and want to go exploring above ground.  For below-ground, many more of the player-built ruins contest winners lurk in hidden caverns waiting for your pulverizer's drill to open the way.

Many of the "swap meet" land claims are back up and running, now capable of being more sheerly massive due to the increased cap on root land claims and attached claims.  Swaps are an invented-by-players type of land claim (first informally, then supported by developers in the copy-only land setting), where visitors may copy patterns and structures but are not allowed to take away valuable resources.  If you don't know how to build what you want, you can explore the new swaps for ideas and templates.   Chances are someone's made the right curl, wave, angle, or inlay for your ideas.  The larger claims also make possible a "drop off" donations claim as part of the swap meet without sacrificing security for prior work.

Finally, Terry Michaels' June 2015 Producer's Letter hit a sour note with many players, chiefly because of the announcement that Landmark-game-only features were going to the back burners of development, in preference for developers to forge ahead on the Landmark-related EverQuest Next features.  Landmark is the test bed for the game systems, visual elements, and the very coding which will comprise EQNext.  I'm hoping, while I read the dismay and frustration on the game forums, that rather than being the abandonment of all the Beta testers, that this means there will be progress and programming on the elements that will be shared by Landmark and EQNext--which will be a considerable amount of both games.

Interested in Beta testing?  Go to the Landmark home page and purchase one of the Founder's packs .
 
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