Creating Adventure - January 2022
Words of Wyrom
Another year in the books! We hit some amazing milestones in 2021. Our daily active users for the months of August, September, and October were some of the highest since GemStone III. November 2021 was also our all time highest Premium subscription count. Truly amazing stuff.
That's not to say 2021 wasn't a difficult year. We had some staffing changes that delayed some projects. We lost some employees that oversaw our marketing. We've shuffled our GameMaster teams around a tad bit. We've had staff out due to illness, and making sure we prioritize the health and safety of our families is important to us, but it also left some gaps at times in GameMaster availability. We did our best with delivering content throughout the year, and I feel we're still bringing a great text-based experience to all of our players.
I just want to take a moment to thank the community as a whole for everything you do to make GemStone IV the best MUD out there. Without all of you breathing life into Elanthia, we'd not be where we are today. From the darkest corners of the catacombs to the Eye of the World on Mount Aenatumgana, all of you are responsible for the high fantasy adventure of GemStone IV!
Road Ahead
We've been cycling through communication platforms for quite a few years. We make use of Twitter for merchants and special events. I feel that is going strong. We display our monthly artwork as a banner on Facebook and do some announcements there. We've tried using Facebook a bit more, but the way it distributes posts is troubling to make sure everyone gets information as it is posted. I've wanted to get more involved with Reddit, but I worry I've been spreading communication between too many platforms. My hope for 2022 is that we can start doing something quarterly or bi-annually to make use of our staging area on Discord. Something between a mini State of Elanthia and AMA (about GS). We'll see how it goes!
Website and Front End
I'm really excited to announce that we brought on a new web developer who is tasked to modernize our website experience. I don't have any dates on when we'll see this go live, but I know he's already hard at work reviewing what we have and working on plans moving forward.
We're also rebranding our front end to Wrayth. This change is tentatively rolling out Monday afternoon. The initial launch will be an update to our installer, the Simutronics' Game Entry (SGE), and naming to Wrayth, with the goal of incorporating future QoL updates down the road to improve the gaming experience. The front end should look and act exactly as it did, but it's the first step in a series of milestones we have. A big thank you to our early alpha testers on this project.
To obtain this update, you simply have to launch the game via the SGE to prompt the install or launch Stormfront from the play.net website.
- There is a known issue with using a skin that is not the default. You will see an error popup and will have to reselect your skin by navigating to it in the Wrayth folder and reselecting it.
- There is a known issue with the install process reporting an error of being unable to find a Wise Uninstall file (part of the Stormfront uninstall process). Just click OK. The installation continues normally.
Game Development
Lots of big plans for the coming year. We do know we missed delivering some content that we had in our last Creating Adventure article. To recap on what is still to come from 2021:
- Hinterwilds release (we're nearing the finish)
- Sorcerer Spell Review
- Redesigned Ranger profession service: Resist Nature (620)
For 2022, was have the following plans:
- New Kraken Fall's Hunting Ground, featuring upper leveled creatures.
- New Mentalist spells to debut on scrolls and magical items: Comprehend Languages (1315), Clarity of Thought (1319), Astral Spear (1408), Displace (1409), Mana Burst (1414), Astral Vault (1417), and Convoke (1435)
- Sheer Fear update to offer more agency and potentially less lethal
- New Isle of Four Winds Hunting Ground, featuring high leveled undead.
We have plenty more outside this short list, but this is just a sneak preview to what is to come.
Inventory Management Updates
We've added many new functions to inventory management, but we still want to add more. Coming Real Soon Now, we'll be updating lockers to store even more!
| Status | Current Capacity | New Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Prime Account | 50 | 50 |
| Premium subscription | +30 | +50 |
| House Member | +30 | +50 |
| House Arcane Member | +20 | -20 |
| SimuCoin Temp Monthly Space | +30 | +50 |
| SimuCoin Permeant Expansion | +600 | +750 |
As you'll note, we are retiring the House Arcane bonus. There are a few reasons for this. Locker space is a very finite number we can offer. When increasing locker space, we have to assume that ever character can (and will) hit the theoretical cap of items. Going over the number cap will cause unrecoverable character corruption. We aren't trying to take anything away from House Arcane, we just want to make the space available to everyone going forward, since it is forever locked away.
We are also going to be introducing Family Vaults! Family Vaults will be storage that can be accessed by any of your characters on the same account. The amount you can store will be 25 items per Basic subscriptions or 50 items per Premium subscriptions. More on this in the coming months!
Lastly, I have a project I'm working on that will allow you to put exact copies of the SimuCoin Store items into storage that will not consume inventory space. Think of it like BOOST, but for SIMUCOIN. It's still being worked on, but my goal is to have this live in 2022. As a disclaimer, this doesn't have anything to do with SIMUCOIN DELIVER, which is a completely separate system.
Finnia and the New Player Experience
Finnia is still coming, it's just slowly progressing in the background as other projects are going on. Finnia is a continent to the southeast of Elanith. The main focus for this project is Phyon, a city floating over an unusual expanse of a glacier. The area will come with two beginning hunting grounds on the glacier. This is also the location of some ruins that we will be talking about later this year!
Year in Review
We finally have our Changelog in working order. It's still a work in progress as we get all of staff on board with updating it, but we plan to continue to improve on the process. Check out (most of) our updates in 2021!
New releases will be added at the top, but you can sort the table by date or category.
| Release Date | Category | Project | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2021 | Development | Society Postname Titles Released | New Society Postname Titles are available. If you qualify for them, then you will find them under TITLE LIST SKILL. |
| 12/18/2021 | Event | Ghezresh Conversion and Cleric Titles | Ghezresh can be converted to freely outside Caligos Isle, plus Ghezresh-related Cleric titles. |
| 12/18/2021 | Event | Caligos Isle Cultural Titles | Caligos Isle-related cultural titles now available for characters created after 10/1/2017. |
| 12/15/2021 | Development | Sanctify (330) and Undead Updates | The Cleric profession service Sanctify (330) and Bless Updates have been released. |
| 12/15/2021 | Development | Force on Force Updates | Force on Force has been updated to apply to all combat systems. |
| 12/15/2021 | Development | Relieve Burden (314) Update | Relieve Burden (314) has been updated to also reduce encumbrance from silver in chests. In addition, it may now be cast corpses to reduce the corpse's weight by 50% + 2% per seed 5 summation of Spiritual Lore - Blessings ranks. |
| 12/08/2021 | Development | Miracle (350) Update | Miracle (350) has been updated to no longer require 50 mana in order to activate (but still drains that amount). In addition, the TELEPORT option no longer requires the room to be a sanctuary. |
| 12/03/2021 | Development | TUCK, UNTUCK, and Leggings slot | Two new verbs and a new inventory slot. |
| 12/02/2021 | Development | Alongside (At Feet) Inventory Update | The PLACE verb has been updated with additional options. By using PLACE FEET, you can place an item you’re holding alongside you (at your feet). This frees your hand while the item remains in your inventory. It does not put the item on the ground in the room, so it cannot be swiped by the janitor. |
| 12/02/2021 | World | Zul Logoth Mine Cart Update | Travel between Khazar's Hold and Zhindel's Post. |
| 11/26/2021 | World | A Grand Banquet | The Grevnek dwarves of Zul Logoth hold a banquet in thanks. |
| 11/24/2021 | World | Wehnimer's Landing Militia Barracks Re-Opened! | After previously destroyed, the Wehnimer's Landing Militia barracks is back! A few minor updates, including a new rest area upstairs, an escape route from second to first floor, and regular holding cells, as well as bane cells for magic prisoners. |
| 11/23/2021 | World | Wehnimer's Landing Town Council Offices Open! | The offices of Wehnimer's Town Councilor Leafiara, Town Councilor Fahlo, Town Councilor Chamorr, and Town Councilor Chandrellia are now open! |
| 11/04/2021 | World | Zul Logoth Opens Bank Branches | Khazar's Hold and Zhindel's Post open bank branches for the bank of Zul Logoth. |
| 10/28/2021 | Development | Alchemy Roundtime Reductions | Alchemy roundtime reduced significantly |
| 10/28/2021 | Development | COMBAT Verb Released! | Combat statistics verb. |
| 10/26/2021 | Development | OSA: Dark and Ominous Waters, The Eastern Seaboard | OSA - Ocean is expanded into the east. |
| 10/15/2021 | Development | Polymorph Potions | New SimuCoin Store offering: a polymorph potion with 4 different variants. By drinking it, a character can change their 1) gender, 2) name, 3) race, or 4) profession. |
| 10/12/2021 | Development | Suffusion Released | New system to allow skill boosts for player services. |
| 10/12/2021 | Development | Minor Assess Update | Added creature bane weighting values to assess. |
| 10/12/2021 | Development | Loresong Minimum Verses Update | Standardized length of non-custom loresong verses to 4. Previously 2-4 verse lengths existed. |
| 10/2/2021 | Development | Player Mail Release | Players can now send and receive mail to one another, with a wide variety of customizations! |
| 10/2/2021 | Development | Janitor recovery now available through Adventurer's Guild | Players can now recover items lost to the janitor through the Adventurer's Guild. Targeting System. |
| 10/01/2021 | Event | Ebon Gate: The Fate of Caligos Isle | Open 10/01/2021 through 10/31/2021 |
| 09/25/2021 | World | OSA Flotilla Release | The OSA pirate flotilla released |
| 09/20/2021 | World | Wehnimer's Landing elects a new Mayor! | In a heated election between Thadston and Amos, Wehnimer's Landing elects Thadston as their new Mayor! |
| 09/20/2021 | World | Zul Logoth Nodes & SuperNodes | Added new nodes and supernode plus identified their locations. |
| 09/20/2021 | Development | Voln AoE Symbols Updated | Voln Symbol of Sleep and Symbol of Turning updated to use AoE Targeting System. |
| 09/19/2021 | Development | Animal Companion (630) Updates | Animal Companion combat and quality of life improvements. |
| 09/17/2021 | Development | Shroud of Deception | Shroud of Deception (1212) now impacts trade modifiers. |
| 09/13/2021 | Development | ANALYZE-Custom Flare Messaging Inclusion | ANALYZE will now include information if your item has custom flare messaging added. |
| 09/09/2021 | World | Ta'Vaalor Festival of the Fallen | Biannual festival to honor the memory of those who have fallen serving Ta'Vaalor |
| 09/09/2021 | Development | OSA - Sails, Breeze, and Call Wind. | You can now use your magic to increase the speed of your vessel! |
| 09/09/2021 | Development | Cockatrice BCS Conversion | Cockatrices are now BCS! |
| 09/07/2021 | Development | Martial Knowledge Enhancives | Martial Knowledge enhancives for PSM |
| 09/07/2021 | Development | Warrior Profession Service | Warriors learn Weighting, Padding, and Sighting |
| 09/04/2021 | World | Zul Logoth Armed Protection Patrol | Automatic dwarven patrol to help adventurers hunting in Zul Logoth hunting areas. |
| 09/01/2021 | World | Erithi Funeral Customs | A new document on erithi funeral rights |
| 08/26/2021 | Development | OSA Update - Ship Customization Points | Captain's Rejoice, you can now change your Trash Bucket and Map in your Quarters! |
| 08/23/2021 | World | Unique Fauna of Atan Irith: Erithi Teadragons | New lore document regarding erithi fauna |
| 08/20/2021 | Development | Official GSIV Changelog | This changelog, right here, was released on the wiki! |
| 08/16/2021 | Development | OSA Rescue system & Vacant Ship Timer | |
| 08/13/2021 | Event | Duskruin Arena | Open from 8/13/2021 through 8/31/2021 |
| 08/11/2021 | Event | Duskruin Arena HESS Utility | Tool to view and track HESS Certificate progress/status. |
| 08/11/2021 | Development | Cloud Forest & Cor'rah Hunting Update | The Cloud Forest/Cor'rah area has acquired some new inhabitants. |
| 08/10/2021 | Development | OSA: New PRENAME Titles | New titles available to ship owners |
| 08/09/2021 | World | Document: Sparrows of the Night Queen | Lore of Ta'Nalfein |
| 08/02/2021 | World | A History of the Flotilla | The Rise and Fall of the Elite Open Seas Mercantyler Corps |
| 07/30/2021 | World | OSA: Ocean Expansion | 200 new rooms to sail through in the waters near Icemule Trace and south toward the Southron Wastes |
| 07/26/2021 | World | In the Arena with the Kraet: A Guide to Elanthia’s Preeminent Gladiators | Indepth information on Kraet and Kraet styles |
| 07/20/2021 | World | Blood of the Sea: The Krolvin and Their Descendants | A new lore document on the origins of the krolvin and the known history of their descendants. |
| 07/16/2021 | Development | Entry, Exit, and Teleportation Review | Multiple changes to ease the burdens of groups, rescues, and eligible transportation spell locations |
| 07/16/2021 | Development | Unbalance Immunity Review | Reviewing and removing unbalance immunity on a large number of creatures |
| 07/16/2021 | Development | PSM: Phase 3 | An extensive combat system release including Combat Maneuver updates, Effects, Feats, Weapon Techniques, and more |
| 07/09/2021 | Event | Premium Fest - Gargolye's Retreat | Open from 7/9/2021 through 7/18/2021 |
| 07/08/2021 | World | CHE Lockers in Cysaegir | Cysaegir lockers are available to members of the Cooperative Houses of Elanthia |
| 07/05/2021 | World | Wehnimer's Landing New Town Council | Wehnimer's Landing elects four players to town council positions! |
| 06/26/2021 | World | Erithi Lexicon | A handy reference of Erithi words and terms |
| 06/25/2021 | World | Upon the Surita Tree: Exciting Discoveries | Lore for the new Aganjira and Shadarl materials |
| 06/20/2021 | Event | New Verb Functionality: EVENT | The EVENT verb will now let you see your stats for paid events like Rumor Woods and Duskruin. |
| 06/18/2021 | World | PAT your friends, but not your enemies | An update to the PAT verb |
| 06/16/2021 | World | KNEEL before STUFF! | An update to the KNEEL verb |
| 06/11/2021 | Event | Rumor Woods | Open from 6/11/2021 to 6/27/2021 |
| 06/11/2021 | Development | Mount Travel, Zul Logoth | New options for MOUNT TRAVEL TOWN |
| 06/10/2021 | Development | Mount Travel, Groups! | Travel in groups while mounted |
| 06/07/2021 | World | New Document: A Tale of Companionship | Elanthian tales of the muntjac, gazelle, and moose |
| 06/07/2021 | Development | Rune books QOL update | Sorcerer rune books have ANALYZE information |
| 06/03/2021 | Development | HOME Gets Some HELP (QoL) | Use HOME HELP 15 to find your Premium Home |
| 06/02/2021 | World | Scrounging Seaweed: Slippery Substance is Substantially Superior! | More places to forage seaweed |
| 05/24/2021 | Development | Weapon INSPECTion | An update to INSPECT for weapons |
| 05/24/2021 | World | Git Yer Gruntin Caps On! | Updates to the GRUNT verb for Dwarves |
| 05/24/2021 | World | Erithi Fashion From Formal to Casual | New Erithian fashion and fabric lore |
| 05/19/2021 | World | New Gem: Baystone | A new gemstone discovered in Wehnimer's Landing! |
| 05/15/2021 | World | Shi'hadara: The Erithi Masque | Erithian lore document |
| 05/12/2021 | World | Kraken's Fall Wizard Guild | The Kraken's Fall wizard guild is now open! |
| 05/05/2021 | World | Flight of the Manticore | A world-wide storyline through the month of May |
| 05/21/2021 | Event | Platinum Festival: The Ice Razor | Back for it's 2nd run, the Ice Razor merchants ship arrived in the icy waters of Icemule Trace for a week of fun! Merchants, social events and intrigue were all a part of this Platinum-specific festival. |
| 05/08/2021 | World | Landing Storyline: A Knight to Remember | The first half of the year finished up Wehnimer's Landing latest storyline, A Knight to Remember, that saw the town carved into enemy territory and different factions fought to gain control! |
| 05/04/2021 | World | Non-CHE Lockers in Cysaegir | Cysaegir lockers are available to non-CHE members |
| 05/03/2021 | Development | Premium Point Rewards Update | New and revised Premium Point offerings |
| 05/03/2021 | World | The Griffins Fly | The annual flight of griffins, between 5/3/2021 and 5/7/2021 |
| 04/29/2021 | Development | Hurling Bandolier and Flechette Box Update | |
| 04/28/2021 | World | Mist Harbor Wizard Guild Released | |
| 04/27/2021 | World | Document Release: The Kikthuum Clan | Dwarven cultural lore |
| 04/22/2021 | Development | Glove Bow Updates | |
| 04/22/2021 | Development | Coin Hand Update | |
| 04/22/2021 | Development | WEALTH/SILVER Update | |
| 04/16/2021 | Event | Rings of Lumnis | Open 4/16/2021 through 4/30/2021 |
| 04/15/2021 | Development | Rings of Lumnis: Brooch Upgrade | |
| 04/12/2021 | Development | Premium Contest Tracker Released | |
| 04/07/2021 | Development | Armor Group Naming Change | |
| 04/01/2021 | Development | Mobile Property Updates | |
| 03/31/2021 | Development | Swimming Roundtime Update | |
| 03/26/2021 | Event | Delirium Manor Returns | Open 3/26/2021 through 4/4/2021 |
| 03/25/2021 | Development | NoAmbientMsg Flag | A flag to prevent seeing ambient messaging from other players. |
| 03/22/2021 | Development | Discord Authorization | |
| 03/20/2021 | World | Zul Logoth Hall of Clans | The Hall of Clans Opens in Zul Logoth |
| 03/19/2021 | World | Tunnel Talks in Zul Logoth | Clan Leader Rodverg of Zul Logoth invites you to a council on improved trade relations across Elanthia. |
| 03/03/2021 | World | Clovertooth Hall Updates | |
| 03/01/2021 | Development | Shroud of Deception (1212) | Shroud of Deception (1212) is now live. |
| 03/01/2021 | Development | Spells on Scrolls | |
| 02/19/2021 | Development | Covert Gesticulation | |
| 02/13/2021 | Development | Sonic Spell Updates | |
| 02/12/2021 | Event | Duskruin Arena | Open 2/12/2021 through 2/28/2021 |
| 02/06/2021 | Development | Mana Flares | Mana flares received an update to their functionality. |
| 02/06/2021 | World | Document Release: A Library Mouse By Any Other Name | A Whimsical Treatise on Elanthian Idiomatic Expressions for Scholars and Book Lovers |
| 02/03/2021 | World | Shimmarglin Inn Update | |
| 02/03/2021 | World | Document Release: The Erithi & The Sea | To The Waves We Go: A Traditional Erithi Sea Shanty |
| 02/01/2021 | Development | Shell Armor updates | |
| 01/29/2021 | World | Wax Eloquent Reopens | |
| 01/18/2021 | Development | Quarterstaves Quicker | |
| 01/17/2021 | Development | Ghostly Instrument Update | |
| 01/09/2021 | Development | Searching Elementals | |
| 01/03/2021 | Development | Snow Crone Updates | |
| 01/01/2021 | Development | Frozen Bramble Patch Updates | |
| 01/01/2021 | Development | Premium and Platinum Point Pooling | Premium and Platinum Points are now pooled together and can be used in any instance. |
Spotlight on Staff
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GameMaster Tivvy
Assistant Senior GameMaster on Admin and Training
I met with Tivvy so you all could get to know her a little better!
Wyrom: So, let's kick this off with the basics! Tell us a little bit about you.
Tivvy: I'm originally from Long Island, NY but I've been an Arizona girl for the last couple of decades. I have 3 tiny humans. They're 10, 8, and 6.
W: How long have you been on staff?
T: Since June of 2017 if we include hosting time.
W: How was your time with the GameHost Program?
T: I loved it. I used to do something similar when I worked for AOL a million years ago, and I always have tended to gravitate toward peopley/customer service-related jobs, so GameHosting was right in my wheelhouse. Even after I came on as a GameMaster, I stayed involved in one capacity or another with the Host program and now I'm the manager of the program and it is one of my favorite GM responsibilities. They are the best!
W: That's great! Would you say being a GameHost is what drove you to become a GameMaster?
T: Absolutely. While hosting I got to interact with GameMasters during training and they provided assistance when I was working shifts, and I realized GMing wasn't quite what I had thought it was. (I was thinking I'd never have the technical chops for it). I really loved getting to help players and see a bit of the behind the scenes of what went into Gemstone. And also, the people were uniformly supportive, friendly, and encouraging and seemed like they really enjoyed GMing, which made it a lot more appealing to me.
W: What aspects of being a GameMaster would you say are the most challenging?
T: For me it's the rare times when I can't help someone with an issue that comes up, like something that was unregistered that gets lost or misplaced and even after searching there's just no resolution. I know how disappointing that can be as a player and always try to go the extra mile to track things down or find answers, so it's just difficult when there isn't anything I can do.
W: Yeah, that can be tough.
T: It can also be difficult sometimes when you work hard on something and it just misses the mark with players and isn't received well. Luckily, we have great players and there is usually at least a handful of people that enjoy it anyway so I try to focus on the hits rather than the misses.
W: What is the most rewarding part of being a GameMaster for you?
T: Hands down it's getting to spend time with our players, whether that means answering referrals, providing support during events, or just joking around with people on Discord. Especially that last one, people crack me up on the regular. It makes a lot of the "work" of GMing much more fun.
W: Aww, the good feels! Now onto the controversial stuff! What is the best profession in Elanthia?
T: Duh, sorcerers. Tormenting peop... I mean creatures, is my jam.
W: Hah! What about Arkati. Who is your top pick?
T: Nerdy grandpa, Fash'lo'nae. It's hard to imagine a better god for people who like magic and perfecting their talents than the guy who pursues knowledge at any cost.
W: So switching gears just a moment, what sort of hobbies do you have outside of GemStone IV?
T: I have three kids and Gemstone, who has time for hobbies?! I'm kidding.. I play a LOT of video games, anything that's co-op I burn through with the boy, especially sandbox/survival stuff but I also like tower defense and puzzle games. And I'm a bookworm, so whenever I'm alone, I generally have my nose in a book.
W: Have a favorite book or series you want to share?
T: Lately I've been a little obsessed with the Fairyland series by Catherynne M. Valente. There's just something about the way she writes that is almost lyrical and she makes some observations that stop me in my tracks and make me think. They're YA novels but they're just so well done I recommend them to anyone who likes fantasy.
W: It's been great learning more about you, but one last question! What is your favorite item in GemStone IV right now?
T: I'm obsessed with GM Avaluka's werepuppies. I'm an animal lover and she made their actions so authentic and descriptive that they seem almost real. They're amazing, and the way they interact with people (and their toys!) is just fun to watch. I'd clone her brain if I could, she makes such cool stuff.