Oct 12, 2023

WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition - loboLoco

Our new persistent packs system is shaping up. Raul has been working on it for more than six months and just last week got it far enough along to merge into the main project, so we can really give it a workout and see what needs fixing and refining. This new system replaces the old static pack system, which I talked about in the last devblog "Saga Switchbacks." Now, instead of having hard-coded stats, rival packs are dynamic, with each member going through all the stages of life that you and your pack will go through in the Saga. Over time, packs will grow, shrink, and sometimes leave the game map or even disband entirely, creating a vacancy for another pack to move into.

While many of the features of this new system won't be functional before the Saga is released, we decided to add it to the game sooner, since it does make the eco-simulation substantially more naturalistic. You'll especially notice the effects of dynamic packs if you use the Jump Ahead option in Endless Summer, as that will carryover the current rival packs, with some changes for the skipped months, into the next year.

When designing this system, we had to decide how much detail was necessary. It's easy to get carried away and build a pretty complex system, only to find that with all those variables running simultaneously, the result isn't much different than simply rolling the dice periodically. For the player, it's all opaque, hidden away, and they don't benefit from all that complexity. But given how much, and how intently, many of our players play the game, we decided it was probably worth the effort to put a lot of detail into the system. We don't expect players to see or track much of the information that the game is tracking, but we do think that information will manifest itself often enough, and in interesting enough ways, to be worth the effort.

Persistent packs also includes the new wolf naming system. We wanted to base this on the actual method used in Yellowstone, but park biologists only give numbers to wolves who have had their blood sampled and DNA analyzed. That mainly means wolves with radio collars, though biologists do sometimes locate dead wolves and sample their blood as well, giving them a number postumously. Since only about 25% of wolves in the park have radio collars, this means that nearly 3/4 of wolves in the game would have no identifying number, which just isn't viable for us. We entertained a few other ideas but finally settled on the simplest one: every wolf gets a number when they are born. This is applied retroactively to existing wolves, so those who are now five years old get numbers in the 600-800 range, and so on, with the first litter of pups in a new game getting numbers starting at 1600. The names you may have given your mate and pups are now their nickname, which you can change at any time -- but their number is a permanent identifier that stays with them for their entire life.

Your packmates won't be the only wolves with nicknames. Now all NPC wolves have them, and if you encounter a rival wolf in a fight or a dispersal wolf in courtship, they'll be listed in the new Known Wolves panel, where you can give them a nickname if you like.

This is a pretty big new system in the game, and it'll take some time to work out the bugs and polish it up, but we do plan to release it in an update somewhat soon -- and definitely before the Saga (which won't be before next year). So stay tuned for more!

_________________________

The WolfQuest saga will continue! Stay tuned for more news in upcoming devblogs about it and other new features!

Once the game is completed on PC/Mac, we will consider porting the game to other platforms.

We do not announce specific release dates. We will release them when they are ready.

Oct 12, 2023

Updates and Bug Fixes - Oct 12, 2023

Moonstone Island - Animat3dM3

Hello, Alcehmists!

We're already on Patch Notes 5! I like 5. It's an honorary round number, you know what I mean? We're already halfway to 10, and 10 is also a nice number. Anyway. Number thoughts out of the way, let's get into it!

The fire tree no longer jiggles
You can't grow crops on top of other crops in the greenhouse anymore. Sorry, but in the gardening world that's called "not how gardening works"
Toddler Chaddle Tidd Taddle's name is now consistently spelled
Y'all JRPG lovers really love seeing damage numbers, so we made sure that you can now see your condition and damage amounts in the thousands, millions, billions, and trillions. Enjoy, you wonderful weirdos
You can use the D-Pad to control character movement for that retro SNES feeling
Minoot's passive (which gives you energy when you shuffle your discard pile into your draw pile) now works with Reconsider (which shuffles your discard pile into your draw pile). A NEW CARD SYNERGY EMERGES
The Yellow Cushion has been fixed – it was doing a thing where it would be placed down WAY further away for no reason. Turns out it was just shy
If you had the bug where temples weren't being marked as cleared, Magic Man would not give you the Rift quest. Turns out he was looking at the game code, so we had to tell him to stop breaking the fourth wall and just give you the quest (it works now)
Soak+ is now correctly classified as an attack, so it will work with Regroup. Side note: Soak & Regroup sounds like a bubble bath company

AAAND that's it for Episode 5 of The Patch Notes, the sitcom that everyone loves to watch. Tune in next time to find out if FATAL ERROR and [file not found] ever get together!

~ Kate, Community Manager, and Shipper of FATAL ERROR and [file not found]

Oct 12, 2023

October Quality of Life Updates - Patch Notes - October 12

Mabinogi - Arciellia

Check out all of the details of this month's Patch Notes, featuring the October Quality of Life Updates!

The following Events, Sales, and Promotions are running:

Family Weekend Fishing Event Returns!: Thursday, September 21st, After Maintenance - Thursday, October 19th, Before Maintenance
BLEUGENNE by Bleugenne Cosmetics Box: Thursday, September 21st, After Maintenance - Thursday, October 19th, Before Maintenance
Billionaire's Bankroll: Season 4: Thursday, September 7th, After Maintenance - Thursday, October 26th, Before Maintenance
Samhain: Times Forgotten, Times Remembered Event: Thursday, October 12th, After Maintenance - Thursday, November 2nd, Before Maintenance
Shopkeeper's Sale: Spooky Halloween Horror!: October 12th, 2023, After Maintenance - November 2nd, 2023, Before Maintenance
Moonshadow Emissary Box: Thursday, October 5th, After Maintenance - Thursday, November 2nd, Before Maintenance
Irusan's Check-In Attendance Season 4: Thursday, September 7th, After Maintenance - Thursday, November 30th, Before Maintenance
Glenn Bearna Dungeon Support: Thursday, July 13th, After Maintenance - Until Further Noticehttps://mabinogi.nexon.net/news/83337/renovation-season-4-archery-magic-and-race-specific-skill-changes
October Quality of Life Updates: Permanent

October Quality of Life Updates:

Several quality of life changes have been added with the October update. See the full post for more information: October Quality of Life Updates
- The Equipment Appearance Slot system has been added to the Dressing Room.
- The Currency tab has been added.
  The Quest Helper System has been improved.
- And more!

Commerce Alban Eiler Season 2:

Seasonal Commerce Alban Eiler Season 1 will begin at 12:00 AM PDT on November 1st, 2023 and run until March 1st, 2024 12:00 AM PST.
- Alban Eiler Season 1 will conclude on Friday, October 31st, 11:59 PM PDT.
- The following new outfits and sewing patterns have been added. The sewing patterns will be available for purchase from Sayiv’s shop in Season 2 for 3,000,000 Seasonal Ducats:
  - Refashioned Coco Sailor Mini
  - Refashioned Mini Leather Dress
- Purchase limits within Sayiv’s shop will be reset.
- The Alban Eiler Season 2 Challenger Box will be available, containing the following items:
  - *NEW* Alban Eiler Season 2 Challenger 2nd Title
    - Movement Speed +3%
  - 20 Precise Reforging Tools
- The Seasonal Commerce Guide will be updated with Season 2, and Alban Eiler Season 1 information will be archived.
- The stock for Bartering and Merchant Group Commerce won't reset.
- Commerce that has been completed while the season is changing will be refunded, however, please note that the purchase count won't be restored.

The following changes have been made to the game:

The width of the Character Status Effects UI menu has been increased so that active effect names are no longer cut… off.
Added a line on Starblaze Fishing Rod's description to indicate that it increases the amount of Items fished up.
As it wasn't entirely true, we've altered the Theta cooldown message from "resets during maintenance" to "resets Thursdays at 7:00 AM Server Time". We'll want to make this change in more places in the future for clarity.
- While "Server Time" isn't perfect, we find it a bit more preferable to "Earth Time"- which as it turns out, has multiple time zones.

The following bug fixes have been made to the game:

Text fixes to the Generations, renaming Mini Effects to Minimize VFX, Jousting corrections, and more fixes have been included during the September patch cycle, yet after the initial September patch. See the September Patch Notes for more details!
Some people heard the whispers of a Weird Cat when failing to complete their Dan Tests. No longer shall they hear its mews.
Elsie and Shuan have been feeling ill since eating Altam's leftovers, leaving them in a state of constant screams. They have since received Party Healing, and their mouths are back to their regular size and shape.
Corrected a visual issue when wearing Languhiris Chaser Gloves alongside Royal Knight Armor.
A few Sewing Patterns had counterfit copies issued. Walter has since issued a recall, and the following patterns now work as expected:
- Sewing Pattern - Elegant Gothic Suit
- Sewing Pattern - Lacard's Layered Muffler Robe
- Sewing Pattern - Classic Shoes
The Advanced Search for Pet Type now appropriately uses the pet type names instead of numbers.
- Where "11" would previously bring up all the Bears, now "Bear" will.
Lileas was a bit distracted during the 7:00 PM PT nightly Jousting Prelims, and started the initial match's registration time five minutes later than expected. Alpin was seen giving her a lecture on responsible Honey Drink consumption practices.
- Registrations for 7:00 PM PT Jousting Preliminary matches now can be accessed at 6:45 PM PT as expected.

The following are known bugs:

Giants have developed a unique way of riding Purrlings, causing their models to be misaligned.
You cannot use Birman Flat Pouch coupon while possessing one of the new Horizontal Totem Bags.
You cannot use Birman Knapsack coupon while possessing one of the new Vertical Totem Bags.
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In rare circumstances when rapidly casting Arrow Revolver, players will become unable to move or attack until receiving an attack or relogging.
Several items containing ampersands in their name and description aren't showing the & symbol.
Shop items with expiration times start counting down upon the player logging in or changing channels, rather than having their count down start when the item is purchased.
There is an issue where one-time/limited item cannot be purchased from the ingame shop, but can be on the web-shop.
There is an issue with the in-game Guild list not populating with guilds.