Haelgror has a dubious sense of style...
Hail and well met, Elyrians all,
Welcome to 2017! What is your resolution? We at Soulbound Studios have selected 'kick so much ass' as our New Year's Resolution and we are feeling good about it.
The team had a week off at the end of the year and, so, we are beginning the new year rested and ready. The next few months will see us preparing a playable demo for PAX East and building more of the core gameplay systems in SpatialOS in order to make progress toward the Prologue, ElyriaMUD, and Kingdoms of Elyria.
In a previous update, I showed some of the concept sketches for some hairstyles we were going to be adding. We've modeled a couple and I'm certain you will enjoy seeing the finished product. Each hairstyle can take a character artist anywhere from 2-6 days depending on complexity. We'd like to include a variety of hairstyles for people to customize their characters with in game, so our character artists will be sick of hair at some point. These ones were done by Van.
The team fell in love with the hairstyle Heat used for the female adventurer for the store so we insisted Van model it
You will also begin to see additional equipment in the screenshots from our play throughs.
The team is becoming obsessed with finding Silver Run because the map is really huge and the spawn point is in New Haven. Several of us raced through the countryside to find it, and one of us even made it in the hour we spend playing every Friday. Did I mention the map is huge?
Haelgror is summoned to the New Haven keep
Haelgror prepares to deliver an urgent message to Silver Run
Haelgror checks the weather toward Silver Run before heading out
Haelgror goes over the river and through the woods to Silver Run
Haelgror makes it to Silver Run at last
Keveth heads to the bar for a stout ale and hearty stew
Keveth feels restless
Keveth's wanderlust makes him melancholy
Keveth celebrates as he sets of on another adventure into the unknown wilds
Soulbound Studios is still growing and we haven't updated on our new team members since I joined. While we are still looking for candidates, we have some new additions to introduce!
An animator who joined the team in November after we hit the Gambling stretch goal, Colin has been in the game industry since 2006 on PC, console, and mobile games. Notable games include Star Trek Online and City of Heroes, where he used his talents to put tentacles on enemy's heads, among other accomplishments. He's hilariously deadpan and his sarcasm is over 9000 - a great fit for the team!
Michael is a software engineer who's spent the last 4 years working on gameplay and online modes at EA Sports, but spends the majority of his free time playing RPGs and strategy games. A graduate of the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, Michael has abandoned the sunshine of Orlando and traveled 3000 miles to help make the massive, dynamic world of Elyria a reality. He described the interview process at Soulbound as 'the weirdest' and 'probably the best'.
It's a boy! This week we welcomed our first production baby; a time-honored tradition where real-life expansion packs for project team members are released. This one is named Kai ChenHao and provides several exciting new mechanics for designer Jason 'Death' Welter. Death is a natural min/maxer so we expect great things.
The first true-born Elyrian
I have a lot of thoughts about the discourse that has gone on about the new packages and, largely, I've been impressed with the reasonable debate and supporting facts. Not many communities can tout such maturity! Still, it is clear that even with the transparency about the valuation of the new packages, there are still concerns. First, that the Kickstarter Exclusive rewards were included in the valuation of the package when it is felt that the risk that our first backers took was the real cost. Second, that manor is just too. damn. sexy!
Allowing our fans to doubt their decision to back us, question their value, or feel cheated is not something that was our intention and is entirely unacceptable to me. It is a simple and easy decision then to retroactively add housing to the Kickstarter pledge packages.
The fully-furnished Villa will be added to the following Kickstarter pledge packages:
These Kickstarter pledge packages will receive an upgrade to a fully-furnished Manor instead:
This will be reflected in an update to the store soon, so your patience is appreciated in the meantime. I know I can count on you all to make sure folks don't get the wrong message in the meantime!
In addition, we may make some adjustments to the EP when we get closer to the launch of the EP store. The EP tables were not yet balanced - nor could they be - without more of the items designed. So please ignore any of the previously posted EP prices for anything and, instead, hold onto this: our intention is that the amount of EP in your package is designed for the average player to be able to buy exposition items suitable for that tier. For example, a Merchant will be able to get what equipment they need to function as a merchant, a Count will be able to design an average County and cover their Barony as well. A King or Queen will be able to provide an average set-up for their Kingdom, Duchy, County, and Barony. That's the intention. We're not trying to bait and switch an up-sell for more EP - it wouldn't be in our best interest. We will be relying on the folks in Exposition to build their civilization so it behooves us to make sure you all can do it!
We pushed out some fixes today for a few issues on the website. Most of these were features from the store update in December.
There are some other things we will be adding soon, in addition to retroactively improving the Kickstarter packages. Namely, itemizing the individual rewards so that greying-out functions between old and new packages correctly, and setting up a way to select one's server so that we can begin to definitively assign kingdoms, duchies, and counties to the intended server. This will help with things we are planning for settlement selection, as well as putting the appropriate caps on nobility packages.
We are getting very close to the end of the contest and we've seen some awesome entries! It's been very cool to see what the community has come up with and what Elyria means to you. Submissions will be accepted through Sunday, January 15th. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, January 18th.
As a reminder of how to enter, upload an image and tweet it to @SoulboundStudio with the hashtag #ElyriaOnEarth! Entries must be submitted by January 15th to be eligible. To remind you about the fabulous prizes, they are:
If you were waiting for the last minute to enter, then now is the time! Show us what #ElyriaOnEarth looks like to you!
Our last Q&A on Biomes has been edited down to a more easily digestible size and is now available to watch here on our YouTube channel. It's got nifty camera angles and I'm pretty sure you can make out the mind map Souzou tried to show from his journal. You can still watch the full version here as well.
It's also time to announce our next Q&A! Please join us on our Twitch.tv channel on Thursday, January 26th at 12pm PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT for another Live Q&A session. The topic this time is Settlements!
Caspian will hopefully be joined by designer and new father Jason “Death” Welter to answer your questions in this 1-hour-ish Q&A live stream. We will be taking both pre-voted questions on reddit, as well as responding live to follow-up questions from those watching.
There have been some design journals that have touched on settlements before in different ways. They are here, here, and here. Check them out ahead of time so you can be well-informed!
For those who miss it, the recording will be watchable on Twitch.tv for a limited time afterward and on our YouTube channel forever. So even if you can’t make the live session, your question from reddit may still be answered.
Please follow these rules when posting questions for the Q&A.
In addition, many of the most common questions about CoE can be answered by reading over our design journals. If you're new to CoE, there is a wealth of information to begin with there.
We hope to see you Thursday, January 26th at 12pm PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT!
Pledged to Your Continued Adventures in Life, Both Actual and Fantasy,
Vye
This site - game - FAQ - "PvP and other Unsavoury Activities" - Q: What about gold farming ?
"We recognize that not all players can (or want to) spend the same amount of time per week farming gold for that special armor. We also recognize some people have a ton of free time, but not a lot of money. We're attempting to equalize this by having an in-game exchange market."
so how is this implemented in the game ? did i get it wrong ?
Posted By Grubish at 06:20 AM - Sat Jan 14 2017
This site - game - FAQ - "PvP and other Unsavoury Activities" - Q: What about gold farming ?
"We recognize that not all players can (or want to) spend the same amount of time per week farming gold for that special armor. We also recognize some people have a ton of free time, but not a lot of money. We're attempting to equalize this by having an in-game exchange market."
so how is this implemented in the game ? did i get it wrong ?
Grubish, i think it is meant as a literal in game market, where you can go exchange goods and barter for the things you want with other players. Think of it luke an auction house in most other MMOs except it's not connected to anyplace else in the game and players have to actively be there to sell their goods
So, I want to thank you for reconsidering the housing on the Kickstarter pledges. I was a little upset by the development. This makes me very happy and I really appreciate that you took feedback into consideration (even if you had not come to the same conclusion). This speaks volumes. Thanks again
Count of Sigil's Light, oathed to Duke Damius Kymerion and the Duchy of Thorne
I have never followed a game this much. I am so excited! Hope you guys can pull this off. I'm not worried though something tells me this game is going to be great.
happy new year! and a furnished villa? Do want!
Stay Focused, Stay Alive. Don't fear the unknown, delve headfirst with no regrets. Every risk that you don't take is a potential reward lost. Never be afraid to stand against those who doubt you.
Posted By Grubish at 06:20 AM - Sat Jan 14 2017
This site - game - FAQ - 'PvP and other Unsavoury Activities' - Q: What about gold farming ?
'We recognize that not all players can (or want to) spend the same amount of time per week farming gold for that special armor. We also recognize some people have a ton of free time, but not a lot of money. We're attempting to equalize this by having an in-game exchange market.'
so how is this implemented in the game ? did i get it wrong ?
This has been removed from the FAQ. We had the idea for a different system a year or so ago that allowed people to pay for additional skill training while they were offline, or to allow their OPC to work as guards or other higher paying jobs as a way to gain extra in-game coin.
This was removed in favor of Bolstering, an in-game mechanic allowing you to work better with your in-game family.
I'm not sure where the text for that FAQ item came from as it doesn't accurately reflect the previous idea. Again, it's been removed to avoid confusion.
Free Villa, woohoo!!
Nice blog post, too. Made me chuckle a couple times, hehe.
Congrats and Blessings on the arrival of a new "tax deduction"
A beautiful Baby it is too.
Congrats on your beautiful bundle of joy! X
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Upvote :x
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Hi, I've been following CoE since the New Year (found it through multiple Facebook shares). From what I've been reading, the concept and model is phenomenal. I am beyond stoked, especially coming from D&D player. I have been reading alot in terms of combat, but will there be any sort of Magic, spellcasting, or wizardry of any form involved? I'm really intrigued by the idea of family, laws, and man-made towns. How will towns, land, leadership, and society start out? Will certain players be gifted positions prior to game release? (Same question for land as well) Other than those questions, I am ecstatic for updates, community input, and the upcoming release! Elyrians, let me know what you're most excited for? Thank you in advance!
Not for quite some time yet. In the PAX interview from awhile back, they mentioned their currently planned schedule. A demo for this PAX event, then moving into first phase of closed alpha mid-late summer with a final release hopefully at the end of this year.
There are a total of four phases of testing before the final release, alpha I, alpha II, beta I, and beta II. by this schedule, I would expect beta 1 to be somewhere around September or later.
Edit 1: also the architect tool is set to be launched between the two alpha phases.
Hey man, for your question on magic, see any reference to talents. Magic is confirmed, but will be rare with roughly 5% of the population on a server capable of these powers. In an interview at PAX last year, The Creator mentioned that part of the lore is that people fear or look down on magic. This might be part of the story later on. I've read that both the souls and the characters are the ones with latent talents, but it should only be one or the other... still looking into that....) Regardless, no one will know that they can perform magic until a trigger happens.
Current towns and land will be pseudo-generated. Most of it will be procedural, but a good amount of the largest capital cities will apparently be hand crafted by the artists for a specific zone called "Titan's Steppe". This zone is supposed to be in every server while the rest is procedurally generated.
Those buying packages that guaranteed them land or titles before the start of the game will go through the exposition process. They will pick servers and be given a choice in what land they want to take over with those that have the highest number of influence points getting first choice.
Edit 1: changed Caspian to "The Creator" for flavor.