View source for Creating Adventure - January 2026

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== Words of Wyrom ==

[[File:Wyrom.png|thumb|left|90px|<center>The Wyrom</center>]]Hey gang, looking ahead into 2026, I am leading a foundational shift in how GemStone IV is maintained and expanded.  Rather than focusing solely on "what" is being added to the game, the priority for the coming year is a total evolution of "how" the team operates.  This strategic pivot focuses on sustainability and modernization, ensuring that the development cycle is as robust and enduring as the world of Elanthia itself.

The most significant change in the 2026 workflow is the transition away from "monolithic" updates in favor of incremental releases.  By breaking down massive projects into smaller, more manageable phases, the team can deliver content to the players faster and with greater precision.  I know we've said this before, but we are starting this by no longer doing a full roadmap from the get-go.  Instead, we are going to do quarterly roadmaps, something I always wanted to manage with these Creating Adventures, but I just never had the content to support doing 4 a year.  Plus, these are some heavy lifts, even if they don't seem like it.

I've talked over these plans with the team, and just some time ago, I announced Tivvy was going to be stepping into a new role to help me achieve this.  She'll be leading the charge over the operations side, which is the work you've seen me doing as Wyrom for the last 12 years.  Estild has been doing a lot of work revitalizing the Dev team and how they operate.  Thandiwe keeps the world alive with her team making sure there is always a lot going on.  And Isten keeps us all in check behind the scenes, leading the way on the not-so-glamorous work that we do.  The APM role has expanded from team leads to specialized leadership over their domain so that I can make sure that we can see January 19, 2038, at 03:14:07 UTC and beyond. 

== State of Elanthia ==

Ultimately, these internal changes are about the long-term health of Elanthia.  By refining work practices and reducing the "all-or-nothing" pressure of massive launches, the staff can avoid burnout and focus on higher-quality craftsmanship.  This evolution in 2026 represents a commitment to the players as a promise that GemStone IV is not just a legacy of the past, but a modern, evolving game that is here to stay.

=== Pulse of the Game ===

We finished the year strong, over 100 more users January 1st, 2026, than we had January 1st, 2025.  These numbers don't include F2P, but our F2P is also up from last year in the hundreds.  I don't typically include these metrics just because we usually see a lot of account creation that doesn't get attached to significant gameplay.  Our current promo has brought back just over 270 people.  We are extending the GSBACKHOME25 promo until February 28th, 2026.

=== Q1 Updates ===

We have some pretty big updates coming out in Q1 of 2026.  The following updates are planned for January or shortly after.  
* Silver Changes
* Experience Changes
* Onslaughts
We haven't spoken in great detail on each of these updates to come, but the wait for all of them won't be long.  We will be talking more about each just before they drop.  

If you haven't followed any of the silver discussions, we are taking steps to reduce the flow of silver.  Some of our plans to do this are...
* Lower the lootcap.
* Remove the hard cap.
* Reduce the pawnshop max from 35,000 to 25,000.
* Add a locksmith pool fee.
* Make loot more interesting vs straight silver value.
* Make boxes more exciting, but less frequent.
We may take other steps, and we will likely tweak these numbers after release as we continue to monitor everything for both the health of the game and the enjoyability of finding loot.  We have counterpoints to all the releases as well so that it doesn't disrupt gameplay, such as increasing the experience you gain picking locks and disarming traps...and...new experience changes!

Onslaughts, which were showcased at SimuCon are coming as well, are a new ascension area event that will drop in for a high-octane collaborative experience for those around and willing to participate.  You will face off against new threat from the distant Shattered Continent to the west of Elanith.  

These updates are dropping soon, so stay on the lookout for announcements in coming weeks.

=== March of the Bugs === 

Over the years, we've introduced some bugs that have become features but were never meant to be features.  Our event schedule put us in a place where some projects got rushed on release.  We have made huge strides to correcting these issues, but we still have quite a few active bug reports.

For the month of March, the GameMaster teams are turning their full attention toward the foundation of the game, dedicating this period to a comprehensive "Deep Clean" of Elanthia.  While new content often takes the spotlight, we recognize that the true quality of the player experience lies in the stability and polish of the world you inhabit every day.  This month, our primary objective is the aggressive resolution of long-standing bugs, the smoothing of mechanical friction, and the restoration of areas that have fallen into disrepair.

=== Vampires in Elanthia ===

We had a teaser that was unscrambled to reveal the word vampire with no other context.  We had originally planned to have this update out before the end of the year, but we landed a little short as some other priorities took over.  We have some lore planned, as well as expanding vampires beyond just Moonsedge.  I'll leave these a little suspenseful, as it should be a pretty exciting release when we finish it up.

=== Vulgarity Updates === 

Our current system for vulgarity relies heavily on using vulgarity to be monitored for it.  It's a bit of a backwards design, but it's how our systems have always worked in this regard.  You use vulgarity, you eventually get nudged, soaped, or warned.  Vulgarity isn't something we allow in GemStone IV, so why do we make it punitive?  Our plan in Q1 is to change the vulgarity monitoring system from a punishment system to simply catching it when it happens and preventing it.  Not the most exciting update, but it's less time GMs need to spend enforcing policy and more time creating enjoyable content.  

== Year in Review ==

We may have missed a few announcements in our [[:Category:Changelog|Changelog]], but check out (most of) our updates in [[2025_Changelog | 2025]] and [[2026_Changelog | 2026]]!
{{#section:2025 Changelog|table}} 
{{#section:2026 Changelog|table}}

[[Category:Creating Adventure]]