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Server Changelog

Client Updates

Fri 11th April 2008

The new death and loot rules are live today. Ballistics is due to be activated on the live servers early next week. Start stocking up on arrows, spears, pila etc. ;)

Posted by KFR,
on behalf of the Roma Victor development team at RedBedlam.

Fri 14th March 2008

Many of the changes covered in our previous State of the World report have now been implemented and we're very excited about how they've been received. But we're even more excited about some of the things yet to come. So without further ado here's the latest State of the World report. 8)

Changes due next:

Ballistics
I've already given some insight into our work on ballistics in this forum post. We're currently synchronising the smooth client trajectory animations with the server-side physics calculations and are hoping to be able to release this hugely anticipated feature very soon!
Death and loot
We're still working our way towards a fair full loot environment. Some details of our planned changes can be found in my recent forum post here. Please feel free to drop by and share your thoughts. Death, loot and death penalties are some of the most sensitive and controversial issues in any virtual world - particularly open PvP worlds like Roma Victor. We are therefore keen to get as much feedback as possible regarding this highly complex and somewhat emotionally charged issue.
Autorent
Managing rent payments, lease renewals, evictions etc. has sometimes been quite a pain - both for us and for player landlords - so we're working on introducing a semi-automated mechanism, which should greatly improve the rent situation.
Further lore additions and improvements
We've already started to roll out some of these changes and in fact the full list of supported deities can now be found here. We will soon be introducing further deity-specific rituals and expanding and improving the range of effects that lore has, if of course it has any. ;)
Vandalism
Vandalism concerns the ability to directly damage and even destroy devices, stores and structures. You'll need good tools and/or weapons and plenty of patience as vandalism takes its toll on your equipment as well as taking time. Time during which defenders might arrive to drive you off and maybe start repair work. Note that vandalism is disabled within City and Oppida category boards (such as Corstopitum and Erring).
Guildhall damage and destruction
Vandalism can be applied to breached guildhalls and eventually a sufficiently damaged guildhall will collapse, thereby returning the deed to the guildmaster of the guild in question, perhaps stripping them of their LLM power and doubtless having a substantial effect on local power struggles.
City and Oppida guilds
The limitations on which guild classes can construct their guidhalls within the limits of a City or Oppida category board are to be restructured. This will mean that some non-military guilds might elect to construct their guildhall within a City or Oppida, thereby avoiding some of the more heavily contested conflict zones.
Attending improvements
Improvements to the Attending mechanism are long overdue and we'll soon be making some pretty substantial related changes. One of the most significant of these changes is in the difficulty of the Attending tasks themselves. Around half the labour and resources required for each of the construction-based Attending tasks will be provided by the Elder or Master, effectively making each of these tasks twice as easy to complete. In addition this boost of free labour and resources should make starting life a lot easier for new players. It will also mean that those players that play through the entire Attending process without being de-attended by their LLM will in fact be rewarded with a half-complete structure to fix up and live in!
Apprenticeships
We've been working on Apprenticeships on and off for some time. With Apprenticeships we're moving the beginner phase of the game experience much closer towards our original intention. As you progress through the early Attending tasks your Elder or Master will take note of certain activities and achievements and suggest an Apprenticeship. Should you take this apprenticeship then the Attending tasks you will be required to complete will be much more specialised and tailored to your chosen Apprenticeship. For example, an Elder might note a wolfskin in your inventory and if you agree to a hunter's Apprenticeship, you'll be instructed to carry out further hunting related tasks such as tracking down a bear, fulfilling an order for wolfskins etc.
Boats
North of the wall there will be modest riverboats carrying players and cargo from one location to another. South of the wall there are a few more routes travelled by small Roman barges. Linking certain key locations within the playfield, players will be able to hop on a loosely scheduled boat in one location and disembark at their chosen destination after sitting out a short river journey. More details about this feature will become available as we continue to develop it.