The promised head start period is now underway in Riders of Icarus for those who have preordered a Founder's Pack for the mounted combat MMOG. Nexon celebrates the news with a new developer's blog talking about lessons learned in the closed beta and open beta testing that's to begin next week. They also discuss the future and plans for new mounts, a PvP battlefield system, guild battles, and much more. Here's a bit on their efforts at making the free-to-play side aspect of the game more rewarding to better appeal to western audiences:

As we prepare Riders of Icarus for release, the team has focused on tailoring the game to the western audience. Our primary goal with this release is to allow players to enjoy the core game without spending money, and to provide a satisfying experience when players chose to spend. We aimed to achieve that goal in three ways:

• Substantially expand the opportunities for players to earn Elluns, the premium currency, via gameplay
• Lower the costs and penalties for upgrading equipment through tempering or, at some levels, completely remove the penalties
• Overhaul the items available in Ellora’s Shop (the in-game cash shop) so that the items for sale in western regions would not provide a competitive advantage that cannot be achieved through gameplay