New terrain with the low angle of the sun looks... Not Bad™
makes for more scenic sunrises/sunsets in the mountains.



Aren Today at 1:30 PM Dec-5th
Just to give you guys an idea of the reason behind the continued delay of the update release, short version is I'm basically trying to make it more Windward-like.
Long version is, I want there to be long-term progression in the game for those that wish it. On the released last version atm, you get to tier 3 weaponry, finish research, and you're basically done. Progression stops. That's what I've been trying to change.
So, just a quick overview of major changes: by default the world will no longer have hostile NPC outposts (can change in options). Default mode will have the entire world will be up for players to explore and populate like a year ago.
Instead, I'm in the process of adding support for instances, like back in Windward. When you want to siege an NPC outpost, you will start an instance, which will effectively teleport you into a remote region where there will be a ready-made NPC outpost to conquer. You can invite friends into this raid, like in Windward. There may or may not be a boss fight. Drops will be catered to the player, based on the player's existing gear, as well as the chosen raid's difficulty.
Players out in the world will still be able to do quests, traders, protect random NPCs from pirates, etc -- and acquire basic and rare quality loot this way, but it's the instanced raids that will progress past +6 gear (with difficulties to match).
Of course player tactics and composition (healers, tanks etc) will help a lot, but I'll try to scale it in such a way that good equipment will matter greatly in such encounters.
All this is a biiig change, which is the real reason for the continued delay.
With the system I have in place, gear will go up to +20 quality for the absolute top-tier raid drops from bosses, although I'll have to change it to primarily boost health and damage instead of other stats.

I'm thinking of implementing my original idea of there being 1-3 starting spots to choose from for new players, so everyone starts at specific locations and moves out from there. This way players that are there first on the server will get to build things that players that come after will be able to visit. And with the questing in place, the outposts in question will be giving new players a way to progress even without having to build outposts, until they find a spot of their own.
Of course how it ends up being in practice remains to be seen/tested. We'll see.
But one thing I do want to bring back is the feel of adventure, of being the first to visit a part of the world. This feeling is missing if the entire world is populated by NPC outposts.
Perhaps as players expand into the world, add new starting spots on the "frontier", to keep the line moving forward without forcing new players to drive through hours of populated terrain.


Aren Dec 24th at 11:14 PM
I'm beginning to see the light at the end of this long tunnel... might even get the update working some time this century <_<
Instances will need some serious balancing, I'm sure... but they do work. It's nice being able to just start a random raid from anywhere, even while sitting at your own outpost, without having to travel anywhere.
The way I set them up is the difficulty scales up with the tier of the instance, which in turn is based on the player's desired difficulty (but can't be chosen too high above the player's current average loot tier) -- and while inside, you not only have to capture the outpost, but also defend yourself from constant harassment of NPCs trying to take you out.
Each player gets attacked independently, so having 10 players in an instance won't necessarily make the instance easier, as you will literally be getting 10 times the number of assailants.
The NPCs do drop loot, rarely, and even if your luck is terrible and RNJesus hates you, you will still get 2 items for completing the instance itself.
Higher tier instances have a chance of spawning tougher NPCs, even bosses. Bosses are tough (and adds actually don't spawn while a boss is out), but drop loot for the entire group of players when defeated, not just 1 item.


Aren Dec 26th at 1:03 AM
Here's a fun random addition... as I was adding a conversation dialog to the pirate encounter, I decided it would be cool if you could bribe them like in Windward. So I did. You can now bribe pirates, and they will become allied to you, following you around and helping you in combat.
You can even attack other pirates and they will help. I imagine more peaceful-minded players like @Black Cat will find this handy.
They follow you around for 8-12 minutes, then leave -- and you can only have one following you.
if you bribe another, you get an item instead.