Testing begins We have begun testing the Near Death Studios release of Meridian 59. People that are invited into the first wave of testing will be emailed by the end of the day today. Please do not email, post on the boards, or private message anyone from Near Death Studios asking if you’ve been invited into the test or if you could be. If you aren’t selected for the first round of testing you may be added in another group. The first group will be roughly one hundred testers. We’re doing our best to ensure that the test goes smoothly and accomplishes our goals to prepare the game for its second stable launch as a commercial gaming service. Because everyone here is working with the release of the beta Brian's Bug Bashing will be the only update in this week’s newsletter. Look to the Official Meridian 59 Website and the Official Meridian 59 Forums for the most updated information about the game and testing. In closing we’d like to thank everyone that has supported us with our effort to bring Meridian 59 back to fans around the world. We’re all very excited to see people back playing their favorite online game!
	Brian's Bug Bashing Here's a quick rundown of some important changes this week. Changed Rescue to act more like its previous effect. Will teleport you to a safe location after a delay. Length of delay is based on the power of the spell when cast. Incresed protection that Magic Shield gives you. Casting Feign Death now removes a previous Morph enchantment. Having both enchantments caused a problem. As an added bonus, however, you will look like the corpse of the monster you were previously morphed into. Changed it so that you cannot cast spells on another person while holding a token. Change Mana Focus to give bonuses to the new Faren attack spells. Mana Focus is now a bit more potent for Fireball and Lightning Bolt. Qor attack spells are unaffected by Mana Focus. Fixed newsglobe spamming. Players are limited to 2 posts on any newsglobe per 30 minutes. Added the hopefully infamous "Mule Timer". After a target attacks another player, they cannot be targetted by spells cast by an angeled character for a length of time (approximately 9 minutes). This is to prevent mule healing/buffing while not elminating the possibilty that an angeled and non-angeled character can work together to fight monsters.

Source: Near Death Studios - Info@NearDeathStudios.com