The latest Legends of Aria newsletter from Citadel Studios announces, unfortunately, that the planned second alpha test of the game, which I think had been slated to begin this week, has been postponed (though only slightly):

Alpha 2 has been rescheduled to begin on May 12th. This is to allow for final changes & additions in preparation for the upcoming test.

Legends of Aria marks a huge change from the past with a new user interface, vast MMO scale map and overhauls across existing areas of gameplay. All existing and new pledges will gain immediate invitations to the test.

And, if you’d like to see the changes in advance of Alpha 2 going live, you’ll want to tune in next Monday:

Join us at 6pm EST next Monday for a live demo of the upcoming Legends of Aria Alpha! We’ll be live on Twitch and will be posting to our YouTube Channel shortly after. You can also join the Community Discord channel to get involved!

Finally, if you want a bit more detail on the actual development of the game, Citadel Studios have you covered as well, by way of a new development blog post that examines a few of the character classes present in Legends of Aria:

Legends of Aria is built upon a robust core skill system. We believe that ‘train through use’ skills and clear and concise feedback between skills and their effects is what defines our gaming experience. Skill based systems offer the purest platform to choose your desired template for a given character and train that character to the height of his chosen profession. Such worlds are tailored to reward you in your pursuit of your own goals, affording you the tools to accomplish them in a way which suits you.

This framework relies on a carefully crafted system, offering player as many choices in a given situation as possible. In many respects, it dictates a very general approach to game design, avoiding attention to detail or specific character meta which is more common in conventional MMOs. Creating class orientated experiences inevitably comes at the cost of player freedom and damages the real world aspects of skill driven games. Adding specific meta within a skill based system can wreak havoc on balance and scalability. Through Prestige Classes we have created a supplementary system which protects our core gameplay whilst using classes to give players greater options.

If you’d like to get in on Legends of Aria’s Alpha 2 test, all you need to do is visit the game’s website and pledge your financial support of the game’s development. I believe $40 USD is the minimum spend to get in on Alpha 2 and any future such testing.