July Update
1. Continue RP events
2. Releasing the major new area.
3. Classleads
4. Release Merc tournaments.
5. Cults, Sects, and Shrines
6. Commodity Work
Okay, here is a quick update on what we are currently working on.
EVENTS
Obviously we have been doing more in this arena. This last month we had three events; the Necromancer event, the Ouroboros event, and the current event with Gordul. There were also a couple small sect events. Events were the number one thing people have been asking for, so that has become a major focus. As stated last month, we have planned out several for the next few months, with a major story lines developing from the events this month.
We are trying to keep events in shorter time lines of about a week at most. This should hopefully help with people getting burned out on them. We are also slowly working in some historical information in these events, in particular the Gordul event will be dealing with the Eastern history.
I think people were mostly happy with these events. In particular people seemed to enjoy the game like mechanic of gathering dead entity essence. We will do similar events in the future.
NEW AREA
The new area is done. The bosses are coded, the quests are in, and the event is ready to go. I am currently spending all my time testing the bosses and the quests a final time. This will probably only take a couple more days. When the time is right we will run the event and release it. This area is aimed at level 100 characters who like bashing, questing, figuring out bosses, honours, and so on. I am semi considering making the entire area open PK, but I have not thought this out completely.
CLASSLEADS
Garryn is finishing this up and will release it once player testing is done. This is currently taking minimal amount of code work from Garryn.
MERCENARIES
With Jesse moving over to Achaea, mercenary development has obviously slowed. Garryn has just started delving into the code and we will have tournaments out for players very soon.
CULTS, SECTS, SHRINES
I am plugging away on this. Still in a design phase, but as soon as the new area is out, this is all I will be working on. I really, really want this to be a very cool system so I am taking my time on it.
COMMODITIES
As mentioned last month, Garryn will start into this earnestly after the merc tournaments. You can read the general ideas of his plans in last months post here: http://forums.imperian.com/discussion/377/june-plan-of-attack
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Comments
My only comment would be that I don't think any new endgame area should be open PK - and I say this as an admitted PK whore. We have plenty of ways of generating conflict when parties are interested, and that very very rarely coincides with bashing. Maybe have some objectives that can be contested/render someone open PK, but I think placing that on the area as a whole will just discourage others from exploring it - and if the area is as exciting as you've described, that would be a shame!
wheeee
excited to see how my mercs are compared to others
If you make that area open PK, I will kill everybody who goes into it that I am capable of killing and I will do so without shame or remorse, and if they cry about wanting to quest there or about how they just wanted to hunt I will laugh at them. If I am lucky, they will insult me and I will get to kill them again when they're in a regular bashing area.
Most everybody here knew that already, of course, but I wanted to say this upfront before you decide on what to do with the area. As much as I'd like an open PK area like this, it's probably a bad idea because, well, people like me exist.
What I'd like to see as far as open PK goes are things that are profitable to do but which provide PK reason. A anti-magick crusader camp in the area, say, whose commander is a boss and allied with Antioch/Ithaqua. Other circles also have camps, and those camps can give out quests to attack another camp. Sabotaging siege engines, burning supplies, gathering resources, etc. People in the opposing camp or working on these quests can totally be killed for them.
The quests take a decently long time to do, so that if you decide to do them you've got to hang around the area for half an hour or so. And they provide a fairly decent reward, so there's incentive for people to do them. "If you want this reward you have to risk being killed" is a way better idea than "If you even peek in here you will get dogpiled".
"On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."
I imagine it is something like this:
"On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."