FURY $2 Million Challenge Details and Updates; New Trailer; Beta

Last week, Shawn told you about The FURY Challenge from Auran Games. This weekend FURY will reach the pinnacle of its beta testing testing with the first competition weekend of its Open Beta event. The event kicks off with full-on competitions spanning seven ladders and will have players competing for over $2 Million in prizes.To allow for two full weekends of competition and mid-week practice sessions, the release date is now scheduled for October 16, 2007. Auran is opening up the field to everyone before the game even hits the shelves by inviting all players, from veteran FURY beta testers, one-timers, and FURY virgins. The FURY Challenge gives players their first real chance to experience the game the way it was designed to be played – and to covet some cool swag.

Everyone knows the angst that occurs when you are trying to learn a new game only to get pwned by a more seasoned player . This will not be the case with FURY – Auran has been working hard on addressing issues such as these to ensure that every player, of every rank, gets the chance to mix it up in a well balanced match. Auran feels that “more fun brings more players, more players improve the whole matchmaking process, and thus we start a snowball effect which will help push FURY to critical mass this weekend”.

Here’s a list of some recent improvements that will smooth the learning curve and help players experience FURY:

• Test out multiple Incarnations prior to battling against human opponents. Players can roll a new character and test drive all the Incarnations by picking up a FURY Challenge Authentication Code here.
• Equip Points for Reborns, Initiates and Disciples have been increased so you can immediately buy additional starter abilities and customize your incarnation.
• It is easier and faster to go through the Ranks so that even after just a few hours, you have reached a competitive level (and for FURY Challenge we have capped Ranks to make things a little more balanced)
• Bloodbath and Vortex matches are smaller (16 man FFA BB and 8 v 8 VTX teams). This ensures a tighter grouping of player Skill Ratings for the match and thus more even matches.
• Player Skill Rating calculations (used by the Matchmaker) have been amended to ensure a wider spread from newbie to expert. This makes it easier for the matchmaker to find similar skilled players.
• Numerous balance changes have been made in response to player feedback which should enable a variety of effective tactics to be employed to counter “flavor of the week” builds.
• A “Newbie Offense and Defense” bonus has been added to help players who die frequently build up their offensive and defensive ratings to help make them more competitive. This works off Avatar Rank not Incarnation Rank so will only affect new avatars.

Of course the other big motivation for getting into FURY Challenge is the prize pool, which has grown to over $2 Million.

Check out a sample of the prizes being offered, the beta, event dates, the ‘School of Decay‘ trailer and more after the break.

Prizes

• Dell XPS computers – Desktop 720 and M2010 Notebook
• NVIDIA GeForce 8600 Graphics Cards
• Logitech Peripherals – G15 Keyboards and G5 Mice
• Ideazon Gaming Keyboards
• Gamestop Vouchers ranging from $10 to $500 dollars
• Thousands of CybershotsZ 12 packs
• 100,000 GameRail subscriptions
• IGN/Fileplanet subscriptions
• And more…

FURY Challenge prizes will be rewarded for player-skill rather than time spent playing. Players may participate in any particular Battle Type as many times as they like, but only their 10 Best Performances are used to determine the position on a relevant ladder. Using this method, each of these ladders will evaluate the best player/best clan whom will each receive the appropriate prize package. The full prize list can be seen here.

There are 7 different ladders to compete in:

• Individual ladders for each of the three Battle Types: Elimination, Vortex and Bloodbath.
• Clan ladder for each of the two team based Battle Types: Elimination and Vortex.
• An individual “All Battle Types” ladder
• A Clan “All Battle Types” ladder

FURY Challenge Events:

• First Competition Weekend – Sept 28-30th
• Mid-Week Practice Period – Sept 31st – Oct 4th
• Second Competition Weekend – Oct 5-7th

*Mid Week Practice sessions available only to players who have pre-ordered FURY from an authorized retailer.

For more information regarding the FURY Challenge, from registering and downloading the client to a complete prize listing and tournament details, please visit The FURY Challenge website. Good luck to all who enter, and if you win anything, be sure and let us know. While you are here, enjoy the new trailer and download the beta.