Twelve Sky Stress Test

Twelve Sky is an oriental style, martial arts based free MMORPG that is centered around three warring factions in China. Right now, the game is in closed beta, but they have recently opened the game up to all Aeria Games members (free to register) so they can stress test the servers before moving to open beta. After this weekend, they will be closing for a couple of weeks for maintenance, so now's the time to get some playing practice in.  Here's the announcement:

This Saturday we will be conducting a large stress test of the
Twelve Sky beta server. For this large event we would like to invite as
many players to participate as possible.

The stress test will take place on Saturday, September 29 from 12-3 PM PST. Prizes will be awarded to a few lucky participants. They will include..

Top Prize:
$75 gift certificate for Best Buy
2000 Aeria Points (AP)
Twelve Sky Poster

Two Other Winners Will Each Receive:
1000 Aeria Points (AP)
Twelve Sky Poster

Make sure to tell all your friends and guildmates to help too. We hope to see you there!

Note: Winners will be selected randomly among players logged into
Twelve Sky during the hours listed above. Winners will be announced on
the Twelve Sky website within 24 hours of the conclusion of the event.
Please do not ask members of our GM team about the list of winners
before the list has been posted because they will not have this
information.

 

Twelve Sky looks like Aeria Games answer to Acclaim's 9 Dragons. The oriental-style graphics look really nice and the artwork that you can download on the site look great. This game is also revolves around faction-based PvP like 9 Dragons, but instead of 12, you have 3 factions to choose from. It also has special level-based PvP zones, and I always liked the level-capped battlegrounds in WoW. From the FAQ:

What is faction based PvP?

Faction-based PvP, similar to RvR, is an advanced form of PVP that
combines large scale battles which encourage players to work together
as a team to compete against other teams.

What factions can I choose from?

The three races are: Guanyin (Good), Fujin (Bad), Jinong(Evil)

Are there special PvP Zones?

Yes. There are the following zones:

• Amhang Valley, Level 30-49
• Samji Island, Level 50-69
• Wargo Valley, Level 70-89
• Yanggok Valley, Level 70+

These zones feature a timed contest, with rewards for race of the winner.

I am downloading now, you can register, dowload, and be playing in a few minutes. Just hit the official Twelve Sky site.  Remember, that after this weekend, they will be closing to do maintenance till open beta begins on October 12th.