Quest Online has launch a new Alganon Trial Server System that lets players try out the game for free to see if they're interested in purchasing the fantasy MMO. Players who would like to access the trial server must create a MyAlganon account.

So how long does the trial last? According to the FAQ, "individual trial characters more than 30 days old will periodically be deleted," so it looks like you have a month to try out Alganon with each character. There is no limit on the level you can reach on a trial server. You can read the full FAQ after the jump.

"We will be announcing further details about the possibility of a character transfer from a trial server to a subscription server in the future," Community Manager Tork said on the official forums. You can discuss the trial on the Alganon Trial General Discussion forum.

Quest Online has announced that Alganon is now available for digital download on Impulse. The game is currently on sale for $19.95 on Impulse and the official Alganon site, so now is the perfect time to pick up the newly launched MMO.

The full Impulse announcement can be found after the jump. For more information on Alganon, check out our launch day interview with Community Manager Jim "Tork" Younkin.

Every year, MMO gamers have one month that seems to be dedicated to the launch of stand-alone games and follow-up expansions. December seems to be that magical month this year, and we’re seeing a batch of expansions from games like EverQuest and Lord of the Rings Online, but we also are heralding the release of the independently developed MMO, Alganon.

To celebrate the launch of Alganon, the ZAM staff sat down with Jim “Tork” Younkin, Community Manager and Evangelist for the title, and we discussed some of their pre-launch promotions and what kind of features made it into the release of their MMO.

After being pushed back from Oct. 31, today marks the official launch of Alganon. David Allen, the president and co-founder of Quest Online, has written a letter to celebrate the occasion and thank his team and the players for their support.

"The next few weeks are going to be the toughest as we begin to troubleshoot specific issues and refine the game and server systems," Allen said, noting that the team will work directly with players to resolve all issues. He also mentions that Quest Online already has years of content planned, including "Deities, Crusades, Consignment, Domain Control, PvP, and a ton of other systems."

You can read Allen's full letter after the jump. Will you be picking up Alganon?

Alganon is scheduled to launch tomorrow, Dec. 1, and Quest Online has announced the winners of its recent Immortal Contest in celebration of the big day. The contest asked players to obtain pre-order and subscription referrals for the game, and the winners get to design an NPC that will be a part of the MMO forever.

Four winners were selected, which means players should be on the lookout for four new NPCs in the world of Alganon. Hakiem, the legendary title winner who obtained five 12-month pre-paid referrals, is designing an NPC that will appear in Asheran or Xanjuix Karr.

With the launch of Alganon still firmly set for Dec. 1, Quest Online has published a State of the Game letter to address some common topics within the game's community. According to the letter, the majority of negative feedback surrounding Alganon is focused on its similarities to World of Warcraft. "We aren't trying to take another game and change it - we're just making a game with as many asked-for features as we can fit in," the team wrote.

The team also admitted that there have been issues with the game as the beta draws to a close. "We have since fixed nearly all of these issues and are indebted to our loyal and steady players for both their help and patience," they said.

You can read the full letter after the jump. Will you be purchasing Alganon when it launches next week?

The Alganon open beta is officially under way, and Quest Online has published instructions on how you can try out the game before it launches on Dec. 1. Basically, all you need to do is head over to the open beta page and create a MyAlganon account to get access to the open beta. You will then be able to download the client.

The full instructions can be found after the jump. The nondisclosure agreement was lifted last month, so let us know what you think about Alganon if you decide to try it out. You can also check out our recent "What We Know So Far" article for more information on the fantasy MMO.

Following the announcement that the launch of Alganon has been pushed back from Oct. 31 to Dec. 1, Quest Online revealed today that the open beta is set to begin on Nov. 11. This will be the final stage of beta testing before the game's launch. Players will be able to gain access to the beta via Direct2Drive, FilePlanet, Curse, and the Alganon and MyAlganon Web sites.

You can view a list of the recent beta updates that have been added to Alganon after the jump. You can also check out our recent "What We Know So Far" article for more information on the fantasy MMO.

As we reported the other day, the developer Quest Online finally lifted the NDA regarding Alganon, its upcoming MMO. Since the game launches later this year, it means that beta test participants can now share in-game media like screenshots, videos and other specific gameplay details in an "official" capacity, although unofficially, we've known quite a bit about the ambitious MMO for some time.

Yet many gamers who haven't vigorously followed Alganon's development throughout the last few years still don't know what to expect from the game, or what it hopes to add to today's vast lineup of MMOs. Pending ZAM's own preview of Alganon—until we've spent a little more time with the post-beta launch—our "What We Know So Far" feature format aims to explain the upcoming MMO in broad strokes. Have you heard of Alganon, but still don't know what it's really all about? Interested by the occasional news blurb or comment you’ve read, but haven't had time to sift through forum threads and read pages of archived news? Keep reading.

The Alganon nondisclosure agreement may have just been lifted on Monday in preparation for the game's Halloween launch, but it looks like players will have some extra time to discuss the game before it goes live. Quest Online just announced that the release of the game has been pushed back from Oct. 31 to Dec. 1 to give them time "to refine the game, test on a larger scale, obtain additional visibility, and run some great contests."

Players who already pre-ordered the game will get a month of free play as compensation for the delay. As far as the "great contests" are concerned, the Immortal Contest is scheduled to begin on Nov. 2. Players who obtain a specific number of pre-order and subscription referrals will get the chance to create a permanent Alganon NPC.