2024-12-22 - State of Elanthia Followup Q&A (log)

December 22, 2024

From the TownCrier team, hosted on the TownCrier ESP channel. On December 22, 2024, Wyrom released the State of Elanthia at Jara's YouTube Channel. You will want to see that video (probably) before reviewing the followup from the Q&A below. This log was sharing a live Discord voice chat with other players who could only be in-game.

Luxelle summarized the questions, Leafiara summarized Wyrom's answers (and sometimes another GM).

Log

Lead-In

Leafiara: "Q&A starting up in a minute, says Wyrom!"
Newsby: "I will hush for a while and let the Newsies cover the State of Elanthia Q&A."
Rovvigen: "Again here are the links before Leafiara tracks questions live - Questions only for SoE: https://discord.com/channels/226045346399256576/1320444001836335320/1320444006584291530 Voice channel here: https://discord.gg/Q8uE34UE."
Leafiara: "Starting up with some Platinum questions because there were a lot of them."

A Wide Variety of Platinum-Related Questions

Luxelle: "Q: Platinum boxes capacity?"
[Platinum's going to have boxes into which people put their items right before migrating to Prime.]
Leafiara: "Answer: aiming for item limit."

Luxelle: "Q: Can platinum characters not use migrated items?"
Leafiara: "Answer: Migrated Plat items are account attuned and marked as Plat items, so it's essentially making sure that only Plat characters can use Plat items."

Luxelle: "Q: Platinum silvers will transfer over?  And locker expansions?"
Leafiara: "Answer: locker expansions will come over, though there are limits that will still be intact."
Leafiara: "I think I missed the one on silvers, if anyone heard it."
Rovvigen: "Silvers will transfer over."

Luxelle: "Question: Is the same race/prof to merge only for existing characters or also for merging into level 0?"
Leafiara: "Answer: make the character on Prime be the race/profession you want to be because that's what it'll be."

Luxelle: "Question: What happens to the Plat Instance?"
Leafiara: "They expect to do a couple waves of transferring people from Platinum to Prime in January, then a break in February, then more in March."
Leafiara: "Hasn't been decided how long they'll continue to do migrations, but things like pay events pose an obstacle because they don't want many more items created in Plat before migrations are finished."
[Elaborating now after the fact, Wyrom brought up the possibility that migrations could even be throughout 2025. He's easing into it because of any bugs or issues that could pop up with the first wave.]

Luxelle: "Question: Are there plans to provide unattuning services on Plat transferred items once in Prime?"
Leafiara: "No unattuning Plat items."

Luxelle: "Question: Lumnis brooch in both instances - what will happen?"
Leafiara: "'Item collisions' are expected to happen and will have to be worked out on a one-on-one basis. (Other examples include temporal weapons or Sorrow.) Wyrom will work with people individually to figure out a solution."
Leafiara: "But for the specific example of Lumnis brooches, he thinks they might be able to combine them with an ASSIST."

Luxelle: "Question: What are the plans for the Plat instance after Migration."
Leafiara: "Players can stay in the legacy Platinum instance if they want, making it what they want to be, but there'll be no GM support. If it ever got shut down fully, there would be lots of advance notice."

Luxelle: "Question: Wouldn't it be [easier] to transfer Plat characters and all their things without doing all these things?"
Leafiara: "It would be easier, but it's not as feasible as they'd like and they wanted to have tools like the ones they've made just in case they needed to be able to move characters over in the future."
[That's what I said live. Clarifying, the idea was that in case they had to fully shut Plat down one day due to lack of activity, they needed tools to expedite the process, so they might as well have them now.]

Luxelle: "Question: Family Vaults and Locker expansions from Plat?"
[We didn't catch the answer live, but Rovvigen got it from others, so representing that here:]
[TownCrier] Rovvigen: "regarding family vaults and locker expansion for plat migration - it would happen, but there was limitations behind it."

Fourth Society

Luxelle: "Question: Status on the Fourth Society?"
Luxelle: "(I think he's done with the Plat questions and moving on)"
Leafiara: "A fourth society is something Wyrom would like to see and be very different from the others, though he thinks Sunfist is also different from the others, but the fourth should be a bigger roleplay opportunity."

Long Term Exp Rewards

Luxelle: "Question: Will the new long term rewards be retroactive?"
[This is referring to new increases in exp pool size and exp absorbed per pulse as a reward for staying subscribed and logging in at least once a month.]
Leafiara: "Nope."
Leafiara: "(Jara's video also covered that)"

Platinum Coin Hands

Luxelle: "Question: Another Plat Transfer question about coin hands and stuff."
Leafiara: "Plat coin hands will transfer easily, so you can store silver in there instead of in pockets if you want, but it shouldn't matter."
Leafiara: "Beta run of Plat to Prime migration early in January, then real migrations commence in mid-January."

New Titles

Luxelle: "Question: Can we get some new Titles?"
Leafiara: "Titles are easy to add, 'so probably.' (This was specifically in the context of reaching Transcend Destiny thresholds.)"

Warrior Service

Luxelle: "Question: Is there a plan for GRIT review?"
Leafiara: "They're open to it."

Upcoming Roadmap

Luxelle: "Question: What can we look forward to in 2025 that has not already been announced?"
Leafiara: "Usually Creating Adventure, happening in June, is more of a roadmap, but Wyrom does want to get to it in January instead and then a followup in June. So look for more on that early next year."
Leafiara: "Err, clarifying... 'get to it' = 'talk about future plans.'"

Empath Service

Luxelle: "Question: Is there an update [on] the Empath Service?"
Leafiara: "Empath work is already being planned."
[This was misspeaking or mishearing; what I meant is that the empath service is already being worked on.]

Content Creators

Luxelle: "Question: What's the criteria for the Content Creator program?"
Leafiara: "A mutual benefit thing where people help promote the game and staff helps promote content creators. Initial plan was marketing more than just any type of content, but Twitch streaming has also been discussed behind the scenes."

Empath Review

Luxelle: "Question: Empath Class Review in 2025?"
Leafiara: "Not something they'd commit to because it would be a comprehensive update. It's possible, though, and they're often looking to update spells and abilities even outside of full reviews."

Discord Envoys

Luxelle: "Question: What is the future of the Envoy program?"
Leafiara: "Envoys were made to relay information from players to devs, but it went toward a moderator role and GMs didn't want it to be that degree of work. So they're working on a plan of whether to continue and/or how."
[Clarifying: They'll continue in the sense that Whirlin's staying, as he got a callout for doing well. The question is whether they'll continue in the sense of adding more Envoys.]

Society Exclusivity

Luxelle: "Question: Would the Fourth Society be mutually exclusive to the others?"
Leafiara: "Yes."
[Elaborating, they said exclusivity is how societies have been balanced in the past and likely would for any future ones.]

Marketing

Luxelle: "Question: Are there any marketing efforts to attract new players?"
Leafiara: "They did Adsense for a while and banners on various MUD sites, but a problem has been that people get excited when they see GS listed and then refresh, burning through the Adsense. Regardless, marketing is being planned and they're in talks with Stillfront, but their [Stillfront's] games are mostly mobile and not in the GS wheelhouse as much, so it's an ongoing discussion. Also a website revamp planned, though can't commit to any timeline."
Luxelle: ""Maybe in 2025! He said it!"

Premium Points and Sadie

Luxelle: "Question: Updates for Premium Points?"
Leafiara: "No plans at this time."

Luxelle: "Question: How goes the Sadie revamp?"
Leafiara: "Not sure on that one due to staffing changes. Wyrom will check in on it."

Mounted Combat

Luxelle: "Question: Plans for Mounted combat?"
Leafiara: "No plans for mounted combat. Lances and most polearms have the DF for mounted combat, so you can just simulate that you're on a mount while using polearms!"

Society Rebalance

Luxelle: "Question: Will there be any rebalancing of existing societies?"
Leafiara: "There was talk about reworking CoL and some desire to do it. Wyrom personally doesn't like its lore in the context of the modern world of GS. Voln's pretty packed. No current plans for society reworks, however."

Bard Review

Luxelle: "Question: will there be a Bard Review in 2025?"
Leafiara: "Same as empath review: wouldn't commit to that, but it's a possibility."

Spell Sever

Luxelle: "Question: What's the word on the extra spells added to folks in spell sever based on their MIU/AS?"
Leafiara: "Still not ready [to implement or act on], but just in consideration. They (Estild and team) can look at it."

Finnia

Luxelle: "Question: Any updates to the new area that was once planned to be the new player experience area?"
Leafiara: "Finnia grew out of control in scope and started having its own words, like no acantha being there. They didn't want players to explore this whole different world and then get transferred to the unfamiliar area of Elanith. They wanted to make Finnia different and have lore reasons why we haven't been there, but it didn't seem the proper direction for new or especially returning players. So they're planning to scale Finnia down to be more easily digestible."
Leafiara: "Finnia will eventually get out there, but not as the new player experience they wanted it to be initially."

New Pay Events

Luxelle: "Question: Will it be the same paid events in 2025 (DR, RW, EG) or are there any plans for something new?"
Leafiara: "They're working on a new event, but not ready to talk about it yet. All the current ones are still planned for 2025."

Sailor's Grief

Luxelle: "Question: Is there any information that can be shared about the Ship Graveyard/Ascension KF area?"
Leafiara: "No promises that Sailor's Grief will be unique to KF. Creatures are about half-done. Expected by summer 2025."

Ascension Archetypes

Luxelle: "Question: Awhile ago - Archetypes were shown and then pulled back and talked about putting into the Ascension system  - is there any word on this?"
Leafiara: "Currently focusing on Gemstones, but some properties they've come up with [for Gemstones] spawned some ideas for working with future things. No promises at the moment, though."

Unreleased Mania Items

Luxelle: "Question: Will the items from the last mania ever that didn't go out in prime be released in some way this year?"
Leafiara: "They still exist, so they'll be released in some capacity at some point."

Shield Maneuvers for Non-Squares

Luxelle: "Question: Is there any chance of adding a small list of shield maneuvers for non-squares? Similar to how combat maneuvers has done?"
Leafiara: "Some GMs on dev do want to see more options for characters."

Pay Event Schedule

Luxelle: "Question: rumor woods still in April?"
Leafiara: "Same event schedule as 2024, but with less straddling of months and keeping entries on sale in two different months."
Leafiara: "More plans with WPS wagons for raikhen or silver, plus citizenship merchants doing WPS."

Ascension Kobolds and Hobgoblins

Luxelle: "Question: Any chance for a kobold/hobgoblin Ascension ground?   I want to die because a kobold tripped, while a hobgoblin was laughing at me."
Leafiara: "Probably a no."

Thrown Weapons

Luxelle: "Question: Thrown Weapons - some love/techniques coming up?"
Leafiara: "Nothing being worked on for thrown recently. It's difficult to make unique, though Auchand would love to see something done eventually."

Synergistic Gear Script Sets

Luxelle: "Question: In recent times [we've] seen a few older weapon and armor scripts receive some companion scripts that apply synergy when used in tandem. Will we see more of these in 2025, namely, Voln shield and/or weapon script?"
Leafiara: "It's possible, but ultimately depends on whether a GM gets interested in working on any given script."

OSA Updates

Luxelle: "Question: Is there any plan to release more advanced customization of OSA ships? Ie: custom ship names or descriptions, perhaps even nouns to encompass other cultural designs within the same class of ship."
Leafiara: "Don't think there's anything currently in the works, but a lot of pending things need to get done [first] that were talked about or left standing. The captain's chest, for example."

Phyon Lockers

Luxelle: "Question: Will current players have access to the Phyon lockers at some point?"
Leafiara: "Wyrom wanted and still wants to do more with locker space, but there's a hard limit to locker space and he's trying to figure out what he can do."

Rings of Lumnis

Luxelle: "Question: Will there be Rings of Lumnis this year?"
Leafiara: "They want to update RoL, but if they bring it out in 2025, it'll probably be as-is."

Feats or Other Updates for Non-Squares

Luxelle: "Question: Are there any plans for adding some feats for pure classes? Or magic reduction similar to redux?"
Leafiara: "Various GMs playing semis and pures want to see more. Nothing currently in the works, but conceptual discussions have been taking place."

Two Weapon Combat Benefits

Luxelle: "Question: Any plans to give TWC users TWC training points/abilities like armor and shield gets points, or how training in weapons get their own weapon techniques?"
Leafiara: "Nothing currently planned, but a good idea to float on Discord and maybe can be worked on one day."

Halfling Lore

Luxelle: "Question: Will there be any halfling dev/lore review? There could be some interesting history and roleplaying opportunity to explore in the Shirelands/Khesta Dahl/Fraelshire."
Leafiara: "Yes, Auchand expects more halfling lore maybe in spring. He knows they're underdone on holidays and will be picking the ball back up."

The ALAE

Luxelle: "Question: Does the Architectural & Landscaping Association of Elanthia exist? I've still yet to see or get any answers about this program via email. Is this no longer a feature provided to Platinum describers? Anything similar exist or going to exist in Prime?"
Leafiara: "Wyrom thinks they've retired it."

Bank Heist

Luxelle: "Question: What is the status of the Heist Update in Duskruin?"
Leafiara: "The plan was to change the heist to something you buy into with bloodscrip instead of entries, but Wyrom hasn't put enough time into revamping it yet. It's only gone for now, though, and it'll be back at some point."

Limited Roleplay Events

Luxelle: "Question: With the success of the Evermore Hotel event, are there more plans for limited roleplay events?"
Leafiara: "The Evermore Hotel was based on past things they'd done with the Wavedancer. Wyrom considers it a success, albeit a lot of work for a limited ticket sale, and wants to continue more things like it. He acknowledges mixed feelings about the feathers in the treasure system too."

Divine Inspiration or Paladin Updates

Luxelle: "Question: Before Viduus left, there was a plan for Divine Inspiration, a series of physical and magical boons for paladins.  Any chance this will happen or some version of this profession review?"
Leafiara: "Auchand says he'd expect the team to keep looking at paladins."

Magic Item Flag on Gear

Luxelle: "Question: There was discussion of updating 925 (Enchant Item) to be able to impart +Magic state to items. Is this still being worked on, or planned to be worked on?"
Leafiara: "Not at this time."

Palestra and Demons

Luxelle: "Question: What's the word on Palestra Trials and demons?"
Leafiara: "They'd have to ask the dark elf guru on trials, but one new demon type is coming this year. They can look into the Palestra trials."

Isle of Ornath

Luxelle: "Question: What's the status of the Isle of Ornath release?"
Leafiara: "More work has been done on Ornath than Finnia. Wyrom will check on it and make sure we have news on it soon."
[Thandiwe would revisit this sixteen questions later, but for ease of reading, I'm moving that point to here.]
Luxelle: "Question: This is the almost inaudible followup on Ornath. (good luck Miss Leafi)"
Leafiara: "Back to Ornath for a moment, Thandiwe has to connect up the ocean (new OSA areas), get the port out, and get one thing through QC and then it'll be open. RoL won't be open all the time, but some (not all) of the Angora Promenade shops will be open, including some new ones. Others will be permanently closed."

Playershops and Citizenship

Luxelle: "Question: Can we please have citizenship and player shops untied? It's limiting."
Leafiara: "Wyrom thinks citizenship is the one thing they want to keep as one of the only barriers to owning a shop, stopping people from just buying and selling without restriction. There are plans to change playershops around a little bit, though, and some work has been done toward that end--like taking away the premium requirement to have three rooms."
Leafiara: "Wyrom notes that it was possible for items in playershops to just poof in the past, so they'd need to make sure to prevent that possibility with any major changes."

Gem Bounties

Luxelle: "Question: when will we be freed from the scourge of gem bounties?"
Leafiara: "No plans on that, though Wyrom would personally like to see them go."

Private Properties and Items

Luxelle: "Question: On Private Properties: There was mention somewhat recently of private property item counts being restricted-- Can you speak more to the plan and timeline for this and what our options are as property owners for how it affects us and our container design?"
Leafiara: "They're trying to think of a better way to store items than the current private property system. They don't currently have a plan, but nesting a bunch of attached items in a container can cause problems as things currently are."

Holy Scourge

Luxelle: "Question: Speaking of weapon scripts: any chance of Holy Scourge whip script being updated to allow flares?"
Leafiara: "Wyrom can look at it and there's something else he wanted to update about the script, but it's a niche item. He'll look at it."

Mount Carts

Luxelle: "Question: Will we see anytime soon the addition of carts to be drawn by our mounts. Like a portable locker of sorts and possibly group fast travel if fast travel has been unlocked?"
Leafiara: "They could probably do something with it."
[I hadn't noticed live how the player had originally phrased the question, so clarifying after the fact, "it" here refers to carts. Group fast travel wasn't specifically addressed.]

Thrown Weapons Again

Luxelle: "Question: Thrown Weapons Improvement?"
Leafiara: "There's always something they can do, but it's a matter of future-proofing. Thrown weapons currently has 'bandaid' weapon scripts like bandoliers and returners."

New Metals and Transmutation

Luxelle: "Question: Since some of the newer metals (somnis, vethinye, etc) now come in the form of runestaves, bows, and UCS gear, can we reassess the transmute restrictions, placed on older metals with less significant properties, for those armaments?"
Leafiara: "They can always review them, though one issue he saw with unarmed combat was JAB making it so easy for flares to proc."

Temporary Hunting Grounds

Luxelle: "Question: Ember Vale seemed like an interesting area that a lot of work went into.. and it proved to be only temporary. Have we seen the last of it (and similar temporary hunting grounds)?"
Leafiara: "Temporary hunting grounds generally aren't balanced well. They typically just scale up a creature that might not have much going for it, like arch wights, so they're easier than they should be; likewise on mechanics not necessarily scaling well with level. It's a matter of getting better with which creature profiles to use and how to balance."

More Private Properties

Luxelle: "Question: Will there be plans to open more Private Properties soon?"
Leafiara: "They wanted to give private properties a slight break after releasing a lot of them, but they'll be coming back, maybe in raffles or the Trove or the like."

Coraesine and Other Flare-and-Script Scenarios

Luxelle: "Question: Will we see the Coraesine rework maybe this year?"
Luxelle: "Question Followup on the coraseine: thought we were going to look at the script and flare slots?"
[The followup was because GMs didn't know what rework the player was talking about, so they clarified.]
Leafiara: "Not sure about any work on coraesine, but he knows that other scripts have stopped taking up both slots (ability and script), so they can look at it."

Platinum Followup

Luxelle: "Not exactly a Question: There were more platinum questions and ... he'll start a discussion on the Plat Channel."

Premium Homes

Luxelle: "Question: Will there ever be a revamp for Premium Homes?"
Leafiara: "Wyrom thinks the best play would be starting fresh."

Savants

Luxelle: "Question: Savants?"
Leafiara: "Savants are still a thing and some work has been done on the spells. One day. Wyrom wants it not to be a lukewarm release when it does happen, like monks had been underdeveloped at first, so make sure savants are fleshed out."

Harassment and Policy

Luxelle: "Question: New measures to deal with player [harassment] and response/measures through the Staff. Player Safety, in general."
Leafiara: "It's important to assist in these situations to create a paper trail. GMs need to assess each on a case-by-case basis to identify what's truly going on. Harassment also happens to GMs as well as players. They do recognize the seriousness and are taking steps to nip it in the bud across the board. While they don't police lnet per se, they do monitor it since it still happens in-game [in] a sense. They've heard the recent suggestion of blocking whispers and will be looking into more tools along those lines. Wyrom does recommend using Discord blocking tools, likewise. Also important to let staff know. Sometimes records or logs can be pulled, though it takes a very long while."
Leafiara: "There have also been some updates to policy have been pending for five years, going back to David Whatley. They were trying to mirror Dragonrealms, but the game communities and situations are a bit different, so they won't be doing that anymore. Wyrom got approval to make a new policy, including some new numbers, and is partway through it."
[A specific example cited was that Dragonrealms is typically stricter on AFK scripting than GemStone.]

Halfling Towns

Luxelle: "Question: Halfling Lore - is there another town part of that?"
Leafiara: "There are other halfling towns, as they come from east of the Dragonspine, but we just haven't seen them in-game. Nothing planned in terms of making a new town, but some things have been discussed about a halfling festival."
[I was slightly unclear on whether the "they" here referred to all halflings or specific halfling cultures.]

Elemental Gowns

Luxelle: "Question: Any thought about adding air or water or earth gowns to the mix, because yes, this is important to some of us!"
Leafiara: "Gowns are always a big hit, so just a matter of getting them coded because they're very wordy and need to be done justice."

Fishing from OSA

Luxelle: "Question: What about Fishing from OSA Ships?"
Leafiara: "Auchand's updating the fishing system and is looking at fishing from OSA ships as part of it, but can't promise anything in the first wave of updates. However, he thinks that said wave of updates will make it more likely to get it up and running sooner than it otherwise would have been."

Accessibility and Front Ends

Luxelle: "Question: Accessibility question - Readers and such."
Luxelle: "Note: 11 minute warning."
Leafiara: "It would take a lot of updates to Wrayth. Wyrom wants to start working on a new front end entirely, which would be much better about accessibility, and has been talking about it and hopes to have one eventually."

More Shield Properties

Luxelle: "Question: Adding WPS to shields and things?"
Leafiara: "Various things are possible, like how there are resistance cloaks, but no current plans."

Dual Citizenship

Luxelle: "Question: Will there be updates to ... something I could not make out. Hopefully  Miss Leafi did."
Luxelle: "Question: Citizenship in multiple towns."
Leafiara: "They can look at dual citizenship, but the game code currently can't handle it."

Do Dwarves Have Knees

Luxelle: "Question: Dwarves and knees ..."
[Help] Rovvigen: "Dwarfs have no knees from State of Elanthia [conversation]. Wyrom confirmed it and its a solid NO."
Leafiara: "Dwarves have no joints."
>find chamorr
There are no adventurers questing that match the names specified.
Leafiara: "Where's Chamorr in his finest hour?"

Combat Numbers Flag

Luxelle: "Question: New SET flag with combat numbers only possible?"
Leafiara: "It would be difficult to implement due to so many scripts, for example. Something they can look at, but no promises."

Cooking Items

Luxelle: "Question: Will there be more Cooking Stuff?"
Leafiara: "Yes."
[More specifically, they said it's already cooking. Ba dum tish.]

Elite and Legendary Ascension

Luxelle: "Question: perhaps already asked/answered...  but is there anything planned for Elite/Legendary ASC in 2025?"
Leafiara: "Like with Transcend Destiny, if they come up with a good idea, they won't hold off on it. Auchand expects at least another skill or two next year since they've been talking about it and since Transcend Destiny smoothly went from concept to rolled out in a few weeks."

Camel Mounts and Bear Mounts

Luxelle: "Question: There have been camel mount requests."
Korsare: "Any thoughts about putting GSIV on steam?"
Luxelle: "Go ask on Discord real fast! Ending is ticking down fast."
Leafiara: "No camels this year since they usually start working on the next mount right after each year's Rumor Woods due to the amount of messaging, but maybe at some point."
Leafiara: "The next RW theme is the Bear and the Bee. Bear mounts incoming."

Temporal Weapons

Luxelle: "Question: Temporal Weapons Stuff?"
Leafiara: "Gotta figure out the secrets of temporal weapons on your own! Wyrom does have plans and coding to let people take away some properties so people can work on them with profession services."

End of Year Premium Event

Luxelle: "Note: Last Two Minutes."
Luxelle: "Question End of the year spending spree for premium?"
Leafiara: "No end of year premium event planned."

Next Auction

Luxelle: "Question when is the next auction?"
Leafiara: "Auction planned next year, as of Wyrom saying it just now."
[Due to being so close to the end, I was rushing a bit to make sure the answers got out, but he elaborated that he thinks it's good to have them every now and then.]

Platinum Subscription Benefits

Luxelle: "Question: Updates on what Plat Subscription will include?"
Leafiara: "The Plat subscription benefit list will be refreshed and updated when it's updated."

Areas You Can Get Stuck

Luxelle: "Note: Some GM is talking about Happy Trails - must be Marstreforn."
Leafiara: "Marstreforn wants to look into anywhere people can get stuck, like the boulders previously around Zul Logoth where you could get injured and then be unable to exit either way."
Leafiara: "Pass along any places you know of in that vein!"

Wrap-Up

Luxelle: "And they've taken the last question! Watch for more Platinum questions in the Platinum thread."
Luxelle: "He's thanking everyone and wrapping the event!"
Rovvigen: "Thanks Luxelle and Leafiara for the live updates and questions <3."
Leafiara: "And we're done here!"
Luxelle: "I want to thank Mister Rovvi and Miss Leafi for their excellent help with the TownCrier simultaneous coverage today!"
Luxelle: "And Miss Newsby! We will return the channel to you!"