Maybe the lengthy beta will pay off...

MightyUnclean

I was skeptical at first as to whether Albion Online really needed an 8-month plus closed beta.  However, it looks like they really are planning to make a lot of changes and add content to the game.  I may have judged prematurely.  Here's what they plan:

Major Game Improvements
Note: the below does not list all the changes planned. Also, not everything listed below will make it into the final game.

• New, Expanded and Immersive Game World
  
  • Significantly increase world size
    
  • Make cities and zones more unique
    
  • More and better dungeons
    
  • Different biomes (snow, swamp, etc
    

• Zone Rework
  
  • Introduce Reputation and Crime System for yellow and red zones
    
  • Strongly increase the number of black zones
    
  • Remove fast travel to non-safe zones
    
  • Introduce “naked” teleport as an alternative to fast travel in PvP zones
    

• PvP
  
  • Introduce an Ultima Online inspired Reputation and Crime System for yellow and red zones
    
  • Special perks and titles for virtuous and evil characters
    
  • Armor System Rework
    
  • Enchantment Rework
    
  • Tons of new items and abilities
    
  • Kill mails
    
  • Conquerable/Destructible open world structures
    
  • Improved ranking system
    
  • Scouting mechanics and items
    
  • GvG respawn timer
    
  • Larger variety of Hell Gates and better rewards
    

• PvE
  
  • Allow lower tier mobs to provide fame towards combat progression
    
  • Increase the number of higher tier mobs
    
  • Fame bonus for group play
    
  • Make dungeons and gateway dungeons more rewarding
    
  • More and better dungeons and boss fights
    
  • Random spawning of special mobs
    
  • Armor System Rework
    
  • Enchantment Rework
    
  • Tons of new items and abilities
    
  • Rework faction and mission system*
    
  • Introduce Expeditions*
    
  • Introduce unique item blueprints and expedition maps as special drops/rewards*
    
  • *details to follow in seperate developer update
    

• Gathering
  
  • Introduce special items and abilities supporting gatherers
    
  • Provide gatherers with better stealth and escape options
    

• Economy
  
  • Remove excess supply of items from the market via training option at crafting buildings. Sneak Peak
    
  • Fast Travel Rework
    

• Farming
  
  • Animal produced fertilizer to increase plant yield
    

• Fishing
  
  • Details to follow in seperate developer update
    

• Player Made Open World Structures
  
  • Details to follow in seperate developer update
    

• User Interface and Quality of Life Improvements
  
  • PC optimized HUD
    
  • Friends List
    
  • Repair all button
    
  • Fast Salvage
    
  • Shift Click to move items
    
  • Smart Casting
    
  • Spell Range/Skillshot Indicator
    
  • Guild management improvements
    
  • Improved rights management system for guilds
    
  • Auto-sort/stack for banks
    
  • Allow items to be stackable
    
  • Better “mute” system to combat spammers
    
  • Outline characters/mobs that are hidden by objects
    
  • Bank asset overview
    
  • Transaction Log
    
  • Improved Mount/Dismount
    
  • … and many many more

Loke666

Well, a short beta is bad so it certainly wont hurt... How well it pays off remains to be seen but 8 months+ beta surely won't hurt as long as people don't have to pay for it.

MightyUnclean

Oh, you have to pay for it.  It's their paid closed beta.  Minimum buy-in is $30.  But that includes a copy of the final game, which is now buy-to-play.