At the end of each year, I sit down and write a year in review to look back on the multitudinous highs and lows. One thing that struck me looking back on 2010 is that there really weren’t that many lows. I believe we had a solid year and am quite proud where Lusternia is right now. (Maybe I’m wearing rose-coloured glasses, but, if so, I’m sure some of you will point that out!)
There were quite a few new releases this year, most notably four new guilds: Illuminati, Institute, Templars and Sentinels. I love the themes that run through these guilds, from Paradigmatics which is based on chaos magic to Aeonics which revolves around the manipulation of time itself. I think the guilds are solid in terms of combat and also rich with roleplaying potential. As you may recall, the guilds were slowly released throughout the year (as we planned). I know some people wanted them released faster than they were but in the end, I think we did the right thing. My biggest concern was that we didn’t have the playerbase to support all the new additions; however, with some exceptions, I think we absorbed the guilds nicely.
Another big release was the skillflex system, which allows you to make your skills dormant rather than forgetting them completely. Thus, if you decide to change guilds or take new trade skills, you can keep your old skills in reserve. As part of this, we got rid of the magic skillset which was folded into lowmagic and highmagic. This was a bigger deal under-the-hood than people imagined (we completely reworked how the code handles skills), but it gave us a more stable and flexible skill system than we had before.
A passionate push was made by players to overhaul demigods, ascendants and avatars. The new system has more powers and many customizable options. We relied on input from the players for most of the updates here, and we think the system of demipowers is a pretty unique offering. The trick, of course, was not to make it overpowered and yet have enough roleplaying enhancements as to make reaching the elusive level 100 still desirable.
Our final release was hopefully unexpected: the conflict system for aetherspace! This has actually been on the drawing table for a very long time (well over a year). I had always wanted a village-like conflict system in aetherspace and, after the failure of the nexus world conflict, I also wanted to bring back bombarding, constructs and colossus in some form. As we were planning the Gnafia year-end event, it seemed like a logical progression to release the aetherspace conflict. Unfortunately, it wasn’t coded so we -- well, okay, Sior -- coded the system in record time, and, yes, last minute testing and debugging was occurring right up until just before release! Phew! Fortunately, the release went smoothly and I think the aetherspace conflict will offer an exciting dimension.
Speaking of events, we enjoyed quite a few this year. The Ascension Event last year saw Ceren Valtyros of the Geomancers ascend as Lord Fillin of the Realm of War. Ethereal archways were activated on Faethorn, the Saints of Celestia revealed the Mysteries of Holy Light, Ethildora Varrim overthrew the dwarven kingdoms, Yirit Iborchi returned and was found experimenting with cockatrice, the Leprechaun King died and the leprechauns chose a new leader (with the drunken help of the people of the Basin), Worrel Fleece the tae’dae travelled to Snow Valley in search of a lost tribe, the Dominators invaded the Basin through a rift in space-time but were finally driven back, bandits swarmed the highways and a series of waystations were constructed to keep them in check, the Throne of Urlach was discovered, the mysteries of Jagrerox was unearthed (along with some ancient history), an invasion of slime infested Serenwilde, cairns of a special historical significance were uncovered in Serenwilde, Mahalla’s past came back with the deathwatch beetles, the Elder Gods Nocht and Maylea battled over a child, and the repository of treasures of the ancient Celestine Empire was discovered (along with a lot of history for Celest). And that wasn’t even all the events we had!
Probably the most legitimate complaint was that many of our events were overly whimsical. We try to balance whimsy by setting it in with some kind of background or that lends itself to roleplaying gravitas. But, even so, I understand that some players find it questionable or difficult to suspend one’s disbelief. However, once the Gnafia was introduced during the invasion of slivven and the dumping of waste in the oceans, our imagination was captured. You’ll note the Gnafia kept reappearing throughout the year, stealing a piece of the Spiritsinger’s sundial and staging an elaborate kidnapping ruse, setting up a racketeering scheme in Talthos, and trying to steal the treasures of the Meliashmora of Imperial Secrets.
It all ended with the Great Gnafia Caper at the end of the year, wherein the Gnodfather was revealed and the Basin of Life was under the Gnafia’s thumb. The event lasted about two weeks and culminated with the revelations that the Gnafia was using the ruins of artifacts from the Elder Wars (which then became the basis for the aetherspace conflict system). Jolly Bundy was freed and many days of present giving ensued. So even though the Gnafia had a whimsical, tongue-in-cheek background, they certainly were no pushovers. I have actually had a lot of positive feedback from the event so am overall happy with how it played out. (Yes, we could have done some things better but that happens in all events.)
Many of our events released areas or quests (the Chancel of Clangorum, the waystations, Worrel Fleece, the Eternity Labs, the remains of the Great Tyrant, the Tar Pits, Majalla’s organ, the Meliashmora of Imperial Secrets, etc., etc.). But perhaps the greatest impact (whether you realized it or not) was the release of four new villages -- Talthos, Rikenfriez, Ptoma and Ixthiaxa. With the Gaudiguch and Hallifax released, we knew we needed to release more villages and thus more commodities. As part of this, there was a big overhaul on how villages produce the commodities. It took us some time to rebalance production but it seems to me to be on an even keel right now.
The Havens has seen a bit of activity. Lisaera briefly awoke (but then promptly went back to sleep). Lyreth and Shikari both returned with a vengeance. And we saw a few new faces in the forms of Kalikai and Hoaracle. Our other active divine include Eventru, Fain, Terentia, Elostian, Maylea, Nocht, Morgfyre, Raezon and Viravain. This is a great crew of volunteers and I enjoyed working with them immensely. I’d like to give a special shout out to Eventru who not only now codes but remains a true adept at building and running events, and I’d also like to recognize Lyreth who has been doing a lot of building and work behind the scenes. Everyone helps and I do think of this as part of my extended family. It cannot be said enough that the volunteers are our unsung heroes. Volunteers work hard and get very little in return, except for the satisfaction of knowing their creative endeavors are enjoyed by others. I cannot understate how much they are truly appreciated.
Finally, I’d like to thank our coders, Roark and Sior, for their continued work. I know I’ve pushed Sior into the role of being in charge of the Envoys, which is no easy task! But he’s certainly risen to the occasion. I’d like to again thank Eventru and also our hidden mortal coders (you know who you are) whose work has not only helped us keep on top of bugs but also to release many of our special projects.
And a deep thank you to all our players, newbies and old timers and everyone in-between. You’ve brought Lusternia to life and it is my privilege to be a part of it with you.
Love you all,
Estarra
P.S. If there are questions about the past year that I haven't answered, I'm still open to doing more 'Ask Estarra!' videos on Youtube Channel! Just submit your video questions!
There were quite a few new releases this year, most notably four new guilds: Illuminati, Institute, Templars and Sentinels. I love the themes that run through these guilds, from Paradigmatics which is based on chaos magic to Aeonics which revolves around the manipulation of time itself. I think the guilds are solid in terms of combat and also rich with roleplaying potential. As you may recall, the guilds were slowly released throughout the year (as we planned). I know some people wanted them released faster than they were but in the end, I think we did the right thing. My biggest concern was that we didn’t have the playerbase to support all the new additions; however, with some exceptions, I think we absorbed the guilds nicely.
Another big release was the skillflex system, which allows you to make your skills dormant rather than forgetting them completely. Thus, if you decide to change guilds or take new trade skills, you can keep your old skills in reserve. As part of this, we got rid of the magic skillset which was folded into lowmagic and highmagic. This was a bigger deal under-the-hood than people imagined (we completely reworked how the code handles skills), but it gave us a more stable and flexible skill system than we had before.
A passionate push was made by players to overhaul demigods, ascendants and avatars. The new system has more powers and many customizable options. We relied on input from the players for most of the updates here, and we think the system of demipowers is a pretty unique offering. The trick, of course, was not to make it overpowered and yet have enough roleplaying enhancements as to make reaching the elusive level 100 still desirable.
Our final release was hopefully unexpected: the conflict system for aetherspace! This has actually been on the drawing table for a very long time (well over a year). I had always wanted a village-like conflict system in aetherspace and, after the failure of the nexus world conflict, I also wanted to bring back bombarding, constructs and colossus in some form. As we were planning the Gnafia year-end event, it seemed like a logical progression to release the aetherspace conflict. Unfortunately, it wasn’t coded so we -- well, okay, Sior -- coded the system in record time, and, yes, last minute testing and debugging was occurring right up until just before release! Phew! Fortunately, the release went smoothly and I think the aetherspace conflict will offer an exciting dimension.
Speaking of events, we enjoyed quite a few this year. The Ascension Event last year saw Ceren Valtyros of the Geomancers ascend as Lord Fillin of the Realm of War. Ethereal archways were activated on Faethorn, the Saints of Celestia revealed the Mysteries of Holy Light, Ethildora Varrim overthrew the dwarven kingdoms, Yirit Iborchi returned and was found experimenting with cockatrice, the Leprechaun King died and the leprechauns chose a new leader (with the drunken help of the people of the Basin), Worrel Fleece the tae’dae travelled to Snow Valley in search of a lost tribe, the Dominators invaded the Basin through a rift in space-time but were finally driven back, bandits swarmed the highways and a series of waystations were constructed to keep them in check, the Throne of Urlach was discovered, the mysteries of Jagrerox was unearthed (along with some ancient history), an invasion of slime infested Serenwilde, cairns of a special historical significance were uncovered in Serenwilde, Mahalla’s past came back with the deathwatch beetles, the Elder Gods Nocht and Maylea battled over a child, and the repository of treasures of the ancient Celestine Empire was discovered (along with a lot of history for Celest). And that wasn’t even all the events we had!
Probably the most legitimate complaint was that many of our events were overly whimsical. We try to balance whimsy by setting it in with some kind of background or that lends itself to roleplaying gravitas. But, even so, I understand that some players find it questionable or difficult to suspend one’s disbelief. However, once the Gnafia was introduced during the invasion of slivven and the dumping of waste in the oceans, our imagination was captured. You’ll note the Gnafia kept reappearing throughout the year, stealing a piece of the Spiritsinger’s sundial and staging an elaborate kidnapping ruse, setting up a racketeering scheme in Talthos, and trying to steal the treasures of the Meliashmora of Imperial Secrets.
It all ended with the Great Gnafia Caper at the end of the year, wherein the Gnodfather was revealed and the Basin of Life was under the Gnafia’s thumb. The event lasted about two weeks and culminated with the revelations that the Gnafia was using the ruins of artifacts from the Elder Wars (which then became the basis for the aetherspace conflict system). Jolly Bundy was freed and many days of present giving ensued. So even though the Gnafia had a whimsical, tongue-in-cheek background, they certainly were no pushovers. I have actually had a lot of positive feedback from the event so am overall happy with how it played out. (Yes, we could have done some things better but that happens in all events.)
Many of our events released areas or quests (the Chancel of Clangorum, the waystations, Worrel Fleece, the Eternity Labs, the remains of the Great Tyrant, the Tar Pits, Majalla’s organ, the Meliashmora of Imperial Secrets, etc., etc.). But perhaps the greatest impact (whether you realized it or not) was the release of four new villages -- Talthos, Rikenfriez, Ptoma and Ixthiaxa. With the Gaudiguch and Hallifax released, we knew we needed to release more villages and thus more commodities. As part of this, there was a big overhaul on how villages produce the commodities. It took us some time to rebalance production but it seems to me to be on an even keel right now.
The Havens has seen a bit of activity. Lisaera briefly awoke (but then promptly went back to sleep). Lyreth and Shikari both returned with a vengeance. And we saw a few new faces in the forms of Kalikai and Hoaracle. Our other active divine include Eventru, Fain, Terentia, Elostian, Maylea, Nocht, Morgfyre, Raezon and Viravain. This is a great crew of volunteers and I enjoyed working with them immensely. I’d like to give a special shout out to Eventru who not only now codes but remains a true adept at building and running events, and I’d also like to recognize Lyreth who has been doing a lot of building and work behind the scenes. Everyone helps and I do think of this as part of my extended family. It cannot be said enough that the volunteers are our unsung heroes. Volunteers work hard and get very little in return, except for the satisfaction of knowing their creative endeavors are enjoyed by others. I cannot understate how much they are truly appreciated.
Finally, I’d like to thank our coders, Roark and Sior, for their continued work. I know I’ve pushed Sior into the role of being in charge of the Envoys, which is no easy task! But he’s certainly risen to the occasion. I’d like to again thank Eventru and also our hidden mortal coders (you know who you are) whose work has not only helped us keep on top of bugs but also to release many of our special projects.
And a deep thank you to all our players, newbies and old timers and everyone in-between. You’ve brought Lusternia to life and it is my privilege to be a part of it with you.
Love you all,
Estarra
P.S. If there are questions about the past year that I haven't answered, I'm still open to doing more 'Ask Estarra!' videos on Youtube Channel! Just submit your video questions!
New smilies make me a happy Eventru...It feels like Ceren's Ascension was a couple of weeks ago...
But anyways! This year was when I really started exploring the guilds(not too much, but I moved out!) and the summer was when I really started spending time in Lusternia. The releases were all amazing(yes, all of them) and I think this has been Lusty's best year so far! Go go Admin, you guys are awesome(except maybe that one golden-y guy, he's okay)!
P.S. The forums received the most ground breaking change with the addition of this:
But anyways! This year was when I really started exploring the guilds(not too much, but I moved out!) and the summer was when I really started spending time in Lusternia. The releases were all amazing(yes, all of them) and I think this has been Lusty's best year so far! Go go Admin, you guys are awesome(except maybe that one golden-y guy, he's okay)!
P.S. The forums received the most ground breaking change with the addition of this:
I re-read all of the older years in review just so that I could get lost in the memories for a moment. I must say that the latest character I've been playing, and this year (well, since May of 2010) has been the best experience I've had with Lusternia since I first started back in 2005. Hated the two-week Gnafia event, but hey - I still logged in, so it wasn't that bad!
I'll add my thanks to everyone! I've had some amazing RP this year with Meleris, Marinus, Terentia, Lyreth, Eventru, and still my favourite little merian girl Rymthi (even if she did turn out to be a member of the Gnafia!). Here's to 2011!
I'll add my thanks to everyone! I've had some amazing RP this year with Meleris, Marinus, Terentia, Lyreth, Eventru, and still my favourite little merian girl Rymthi (even if she did turn out to be a member of the Gnafia!). Here's to 2011!
I was only here for the last few months of events, but as one of the few remaining people who's still around since open (even closed) beta, I really think this year will stand out. I guess in no small part due to all the shiny new places and Hallifax and Gaudi =) And because I got a system.
I feel so old
I feel so old
I said this in Tweets but I doubt you read that thread so I'd just like to express that the end of the Gnafia event, with the destruction of the clockwork machines on the eight bubbles, was one of the absolute best finales I can remember from all the events I've participated in. 
Thanks to Estarra and all the volunteers who made my first year playing Lusternia a fun one. 
Special thanks to Elostian I think are also deserved, Hallifax wouldn't be the same prickly city of crystal we all know and love/hate without him. 
Special thanks to Elostian I think are also deserved, Hallifax wouldn't be the same prickly city of crystal we all know and love/hate without him. QUOTE (Eventru @ Jan 6 2011, 03:46 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Yes! Estarra expressed some concern at how hard they were to kill (nearly a thousand hits each machine!) but you guys killed them pretty quickly (about 15 or so minutes I suppose to finish them all).
There were 138 people on at the time, and nearly 115 people were on aetherbubbles fighting. Was pretty impressive!
There were 138 people on at the time, and nearly 115 people were on aetherbubbles fighting. Was pretty impressive!
I missed the final event due to sleeping.
And it was at the last stretch of it, too! Next time I don't have to sleep, I'm not!
It's easy to get frustrated at some things in the heat of the moment, but the care and design put into the game makes me want to keep playing despite not having access at home.
