Greetings Fellow Avatars!
This week’s update brings us an entirely new adventure scene — Spindelskog! Located in Mistrendur, this new scene is for Episode 2 Access holders, and features a new quest and several new creature variants! Also, many changes are coming to how we process Player-Owned Town vouchers. Dynamically scaled scenes have received a new style tier marker, and subscriber reward login items will receive more varied themes going forward. For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:
News Announcements
Community Updates
New Adventure Scene: Spindelskog!
Spindelskog is an entirely new Episode 2 adventure scene in Mistrendur! Spindelskog is located far to the northwest of the continent on the westernmost island. Hidden within the tangle of an ancient forest, this adventure scene contains dangers never before faced by the Avatars of New Britannia! Shadowy beasts lurk within, such as the Onus and Feram Cavas! These vile creatures posses terrifying abilities sure to thwart any trespasser!
Skarde, a brave traveler from Tanglemire stands just within Spindelskog’s entrance and awaits the arrival of any Avatar brave enough to test their mettle beneath the sun deprived canopy of this accursed wood. He speaks of the “pale ones” and warns newcomers of the curse which plagues this blighted land.
Currently a Tier 10+ adventure scene, Spindelskog will soon be adjusted to offer a variety of additional scaled difficulties. The scaled versions of the scene should patch in shortly, but in the meantime, please enjoy the first available version at “Easy” difficulty. Upcoming difficulty tiers to be added are tentatively Normal (Tier 12) and Hard (Tier 14). Only players with Episode 2 Access will be able to adventure within this new scene. Will you aid Skarde upon your visit to Spindelskog? If so, bring your companions, oh brave ones! The dangers here are not to be taken lightly.
Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!
Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, June 26th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears, and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream!
To enter the prize drawings, type “soaking up the rays” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT!
Player-Owned Town News!
New Player-Owned Towns Available: In celebration of Lord British’s birthday and in the foreseeable future, players will once again be able to purchase new Player-Owned Towns on the web add-on store. The player town feature of the game is one of our most intriguing and enjoyable systems, and now more players will have a chance to become a governor. All new towns can be placed directly on the overworld in Novia and Hidden Vale, but Mistrendur placement is still exclusive to those who purchased Episode 2 transfer vouchers or Episode 2 new town vouchers in the past.
Town Service Voucher Changes: Until now, there were two town service vouchers. The $50 Player-Owned Town Transfer Voucher allowed players to transfer an entire town from account to account and the $25 Player-Owned Town Submission Form Unlock Voucher was used for all other POT-related tasks. Both vouchers are being replaced by the new ones described below:
- $25 Player-Owned Town Minor Work Request: Tasks that are covered by this voucher include:
- Add or change the targets for up to 3 interconnection teleporters (balloon, wagon, boat, or hatch, as appropriate for the POT biomes). Note that Mistrendur POTs still have the exclusive ability for unlimited distance in their interconnection change requests, while Novia and Hidden Vale towns will still be limited to interconnection locations within a geographical proximity. (Since Mistrendur still lacks much in terms of nearby content for those governors, we thought it best to allow them to keep and even add interconnections regardless of distance. Future plans include allowing POT governors to set up their own interconnections thereby minimizing the need for interconnection-related vouchers.)
- Slightly adjust the location(s) and/or orientation(s) of their interconnection teleporter(s). (Note that interconnection teleporters must remain by the central hub of each POT but can be moved, for example, from one side of a bridge to the other, or from one side of the docks to the other.) POT owners with multiple interconnection teleporters of a given type can request that they be replaced with a single list teleporter. (For example, a POT with 5 boats can request they be replaced with a single “list teleporter” that links to the same 5 targets.)
- Move an overworld POT to a new overworld location, or from one nested location to another nested location. Mistrendur POTs can move to Novia or the Hidden Vale if they so choose, but Novia or Hidden Vale towns cannot yet move to Mistrendur without an applicable Episode 2 Town voucher.
- $50 Player-Owned Town Major Work Request: Tasks that are covered this voucher include:
- Transfer a POT to another account.
- Change the POT’s name, biome, or both. Note that the POT will need to be emptied prior to implementation otherwise all belongings in the POT will be moved to their respective owners’ banks. Also, all interconnection teleporters will be migrated to the newly created version. (Previously biome and name changes were available with purchase of a $25 voucher, but after much consideration, these requests now require the $50 voucher due to the amount of work required to perform these tasks. In both cases, the town must be entirely reset, which takes a considerable amount of developer effort and time.)
- Merge two POTs. (NEW!) Now, governors can request the merger of two Player-Owned Towns! If both POTs are owned by two different players, as with a transfer between accounts, both parties must provide permission for the merge to customer service (at support@portalarium.com). The owner(s) will designate which POT will be removed from the game, and which POT will receive the value of the town to be removed. A town’s value cannot exceed the value of a Megalopolis, which currently is the largest town size available.
- Change a nested POT to become an overworld POT. POTs nested within Novia or the Hidden Vale can move to the overworld map of either Novia or Hidden Vale. POTs nested within Mistrendur can move to the overworld maps of Mistrendur, Novia, or Hidden Vale. (As a goal, we’re providing a means for all nested towns to find their way onto the overworld map. Expect more placement options to become available as continents continue to be added to the game in upcoming episodes.) Note that POTs without Episode 2 access that move to the overworld may find themselves too far from old interconnection targets, so please keep this in mind when choosing an overworld location.
- Two minor work request items may be requested with a major work request voucher, but each voucher is still limited to 3 interconnection changes/additions. For instance, with the major work request, a governor could also include as many as 3 interconnection changes (as the 1st minor work item) and a teleporter change from balloon to a wagon (as the 2nd minor work item).
Player-Owned Town Crown Upgrades: Players may now officially request town upgrades using Crowns of the Obsidian (a.k.a. Crowns or COTOs). We’ve managed to perform some of these upgrades in the past, and now the process is completely refined and ready for full implementation. Simply put in your request through customer service (at support@portalarium.com), indicate which town is to be upgraded and in which character’s inventory the appropriate amount of Crowns is available. Customer service will remove the Crowns from your character and initiate an upgrade request. Also, your town’s record will be updated such that if you choose to purchase an upgrade via the web store, this option will still be available. This upgrade option is exceptionally helpful to teams and guilds who upgrade their towns through a collaborative effort. These upgrade requests must be performed by the governor and the governor’s character must be the one holding the Crowns used for the upgrade.
Town Form Changes: Very soon, the online POT form will be revamped. When players access or unlock their online POT form, we sometimes receive feedback or notice confusion about certain aspects of the form. Through the years, portions of the form have become either obsolete and/or misleading to governors making change requests for their town. We want to improve and streamline every governor’s experience, and the changes to this form is a part of that desire.
Expect all of these town service changes to become available as we approach Lord British’s birthday. We hope governors enjoy the improved experience, and we welcome any upcoming new governors to the Player-Owned Town system.
New Scene Difficulty Tier Markers!
With the arrival of the new dynamically scaled difficulty concept for Episode 2 adventure scenes, players will start seeing a new type of difficulty tier marker to provide a graphical representation of the player selected difficulty just inside the entrance of each applicable scene. The difficulty levels available are “Easy,” “Normal,” “Hard,” and “Extreme.” The old tier markers had up to 5 skulls on a spike–the more skulls, the harder the difficulty. Also, a ribbon on the top meant “plus” in that there was at least one large section (not just one enemy) within that same scene that was a notably higher difficulty.
These new tier markers include five shelves. A skull on the bottom shelf means you’re in the Easy version of the scene. A skull in the second shelf from the bottom means you’re in the Normal difficulty. Third from the bottom means Hard. Fourth from the bottom means Extreme. The top shelf is reserved for the “plus” marker or some other future use.
Tier markers also appear in the overworld, and Mistrendur’s tier markers are handled in a special way. For example, if the scene has a Normal and a Hard difficulty, the overworld tier marker will have skulls both on the Normal shelf and the Hard shelf to let you know both modes are available. We hope you enjoy these new tier markers. As more scaled scenes arrive in the Episode 2 continent of Mistrendur, these new markers will be a great indicator to the dangers players are about to face.
Reward Item Collections!
Recent player feedback about the decoration and gear login items created each month for Rewards Program subscribers has led the team to rethink what types of rewards are delivered in a given release, in order to appeal to all different types of players. A desire for more immersive or functional gear items became evident as we read through the feedback. Moving forward, players can expect a more varied selection of items in order to provide a balance between intriguing gear, immersive decoration, and vanity/fun type login rewards.
To further enhance the login items provided for the Rewards Program, a collections type concept has also been implemented. During Lord British’s Birthday Bash in 2017, a unique plate helm was delivered to players which never received any other plate armor counterparts to complete the set. In the months ahead, one additional piece of Lord British Plate Armor will be forged by master artist Damon and delivered to players amongst their Rewards Program login items. The Lord British Chest Plate Armor arrives this month as our first piece in a collection of new Lord British-themed items. For the time being, the helm will still cycle through the Vault periodically as a rare and more difficult item to obtain. When this collection is fully delivered, expect other amazing collections to become available to subscribers in the future. Also, reward and monthly login items will become available in the Crown Store towards the end of each month in case subscribers want to receive addtional copies of these items, or if non-subscribers would like to acquire them separately without a subscription.
Crowns, Deed Upgrades & Two Hour Flash Sales!
In celebration of Lord British’s birthday, various sales will begin on Friday morning and extend throughout the holiday. Crowns will be on sale for 20% off. Deed Upgrades will be 30% off! To upgrade a deed, place the deed into your inventory, then right-click the deed to reveal upgrade options. But that’s not all! Two Hour Flash Sales will also commence on Friday morning! So watch your clocks, Avatars! A new batch of 9 sale items will rotate into the in-game Crown Store every 2 hours!
Players have until Monday, July 6th at 1PM CT to take advantage of these great discounts, at which time all 3 sales events expire. Happy shopping, Avatars!
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Developers are currently hard at work designing a PvP Queue System which will greatly aid players in PvP matchmaking. The system will be designed to provide fair match-ups as well as ease of gameplay. Albeit some of these items could change significantly as the system continues to develop, here are some of the initially planned components to the system currently in design:
