PlayM2M

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Release Notes v5.0.0 - The Winter Chronicles & Battleground

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Official Development Blog & Patch Notes Compilation Covering updates since November 27th, 2025

This blog post covers the improvements in detail, but the basic patch notes will be at the end of the page.

Greetings, Brave Adventurers of PlayM2M!

As the winter winds sweep across the realms and the festive spirit fills every corner of our beloved world, we find ourselves reflecting on an incredible journey of development, refinement, and community-driven evolution. Since our last major milestone on November 27th, 2025, our team has been working tirelessly behind the scenes, burning the midnight oil, and pouring our hearts into making PlayM2M Online the experience you truly deserve.

This isn't just another patch notes post. This is a love letter to our community—a comprehensive chronicle of every change, every fix, every improvement, and every dream we've turned into reality. We want you to understand not just what we've changed, but why we've changed it, and how these modifications will enhance your adventures in ways both subtle and profound.

So grab your favorite beverage, settle into your most comfortable chair, and join us as we embark on this extensive tour of everything new in PlayM2M Online.

🏆 STEAM 2026 PVP FESTIVAL

PlayM2M Joins the Battleground Arena! Guide Here ːsteamthisː

We are thrilled to announce that PlayM2M Online has as an official participant in Steam's prestigious 2026 PvP Festival!

This is a monumental moment for our community—a recognition of the dedication, passion, and competitive spirit that defines PlayM2M Online. But we're not coming to this festival empty-handed. We're bringing something extraordinary to the table, something that will change how you experience player-versus-player combat forever.

Introducing: Battleground DLC - Now FREE for Everyone!

In celebration of our participation in the Steam 2026 PvP Festival, we are making an unprecedented announcement: PlayM2M's exclusive Battleground DLC is now completely FREE and accessible to all players!

What Makes Battleground Unique?

Battleground isn't simply another PvP arena bolted onto an existing game. It's a comprehensive, standalone experience that offers something truly special in the world of online gaming:

Four Distinct Game Modes: Whether you prefer tactical team-based warfare, chaotic free-for-all combat, objective-driven strategic gameplay, or classic duel formats, Battleground has a mode that speaks to your competitive soul. Each mode has been carefully designed to test different aspects of player skill, from raw combat prowess to strategic thinking and team coordination.

Character Progression Through PvP: Here's what truly sets Battleground apart from every other PvP system you've ever experienced—you can progress your character entirely through PvP combat. That's right. If you're the type of player who lives for the thrill of facing other players, who finds their joy in outsmarting and outfighting human opponents rather than AI enemies, PlayM2M is the only game that offers you a complete progression path through competitive play.

No more feeling like PvP is a "side activity" that you engage in after "real" progression. In Battleground, PvP IS the progression. Every battle, every victory, every hard-fought defeat contributes to your character's growth. This is PvP as it should be—meaningful, rewarding, and central to the game experience.

A PlayM2M Exclusive: You won't find anything like Battleground in any other game. This is our unique contribution to the MMORPG genre, born from years of listening to what PvP enthusiasts actually want. We've heard your feedback about PvP systems that feel tacked-on, unrewarding, or disconnected from the main game. Battleground is our answer to every one of those concerns.

The Festival Awaits

As part of the Steam 2026 PvP Festival, PlayM2M Online will be featured alongside some of the biggest names in competitive gaming. This is your chance to show the world what our community is capable of. Whether you're a seasoned veteran who has been honing your skills since launch or a newcomer drawn by the promise of meaningful PvP, the festival is your stage.

We encourage every player—new and old—to dive into Battleground, experience the four game modes, and discover why PlayM2M Online stands alone in offering true PvP-focused character progression.

The battleground awaits. Will you answer the call?

Detailed Guide Here ːsteamthisː

Chapter One: The Guardian Awakens - SARD Anti-Cheat System

Let us begin with perhaps the most significant technical achievement we've implemented in recent memory: the SARD Anti-Cheat system, affectionately known among our development team as "SARD Anti-Cheat" ːsteamhappyː

The Philosophy Behind SARD Anti-Cheat

When we first sat down to discuss the future of competitive integrity in PlayM2M, we knew we needed something different. We needed a system that would protect honest players without becoming an intrusive presence in their gaming experience. We needed a guardian that watches silently, acts decisively, and never compromises the performance you've come to expect.

SARD Anti-Cheat represents months of research, development, and careful consideration. Unlike traditional anti-cheat solutions that often feel like a heavy-handed presence on your system, SARD Anti-Cheat was designed from the ground up with a philosophy of minimal intrusion and maximum protection.

How SARD Anti-Cheat Protects Your Experience

The system operates on multiple layers, creating what we like to call a "defense in depth" approach:

Memory Integrity Monitoring: SARD Anti-Cheat continuously validates the integrity of game memory, ensuring that no unauthorized modifications can alter gameplay mechanics, character statistics, or world interactions.

Behavioral Analysis: Rather than simply looking for known cheat signatures, SARD Anti-Cheat employs sophisticated behavioral analysis to identify suspicious patterns. This means that even brand-new cheating methods can be detected and flagged before they become widespread problems.

Server-Side Validation: Every critical action in PlayM2M is now validated server-side, creating a robust verification system that works hand-in-hand with client-side protection.

Real-Time Response: When SARD Anti-Cheat detects potential cheating behavior, it doesn't just log the incident for later review—it takes immediate action to protect the integrity of ongoing gameplay sessions.

The Laniatus Security Server (LSS) Integration

Working in concert with SARD Anti-Cheat, our Laniatus Security Server has received substantial updates to its malware filter system. This dual-layer approach means that threats are identified and neutralized both at the client level and the server level, creating a comprehensive security ecosystem that protects every player equally.

We understand that some players may have concerns about anti-cheat systems in general. We want to assure you that SARD Anti-Cheat was developed with privacy as a core principle. The system only monitors game-related processes and never accesses personal files, browsing history, or any data unrelated to PlayM2M

Fair Playing Field for Everyone

The implementation of SARD Anti-Cheat represents our commitment to competitive integrity. Whether you're a casual adventurer exploring the world at your own pace or a dedicated warrior climbing the PvP rankings, you deserve to know that your achievements are earned on a level playing field.

Notice on Centralized Log Authority & Retrospective Enforcement

Upon the activation of SARD Anti-Cheat, effective 28.03.2025 full authority over all game-related data — including but not limited to gameplay logs, historical records, detection results, scan outputs, investigation reports, and enforcement history is formally and transferred to the SARD Anti-Cheat system.

Through authorized system-level access, SARD Anti-Cheat is granted the capability to perform comprehensive retrospective analysis on existing and historical data. This includes the identification of accounts that have engaged in past violations of game rules, fair play policies, or system integrity standards, regardless of when such actions occurred.

Accounts determined to be in violation as a result of this analysis will be subject to enforcement actions in accordance with applicable rules and disciplinary frameworks. These measures may be system-based automatic applied retroactively and without limitation to the period in which the violation originally took place.

This policy is non-negotiable and is enforced to ensure the integrity, credibility, and long-term fairness of the game environment.

If your player account is blocked by the SARD Anti-Cheat filter, you may need to contact the Sard support team.

Chapter Two: The Graphic Model Library Migration - Breathing New Life Into Animation

If SARD Anti-Cheat represents our commitment to fair play, then the GML Migration represents our dedication to technical excellence and visual fidelity. This update, while perhaps less immediately visible than new content, fundamentally transforms how characters and creatures move throughout the world of PlayM2M

What is GML (Graphic Model Library) and Why Should You Care?

For those unfamiliar with the technical aspects of game development, Granny is a sophisticated animation and 3D model runtime developed by RAD Game Tools. Like many game companies, we also prefer Granny. Granny is essentially an invisible framework that makes your character's sword swings fluid, enables monsters to move with a believable weight, and ensures that every animation in the game plays smoothly and seamlessly.

We've upgraded from Granny version 2.9.7.0 to version 2.11.10 and while those version numbers might seem like minor increments, they represent years of improvements, optimizations, and bug fixes.

The Journey of Migration

Migrating to a new animation system is never a simple task. Every character model, every creature animation, every environmental effect that involves movement had to be carefully tested and validated. Our animation team spent countless hours ensuring that the migration would be seamless—that your favorite character's signature moves would look exactly as you remember them, only smoother and more stable.

Tangible Benefits You'll Experience

Improved Animation Stability: The most immediately noticeable benefit is the increased stability of all animations throughout the game. Those occasional hitches or stutters that sometimes occurred during complex animation sequences? They're now a thing of the past.

Better Compatibility: The updated Granny runtime offers improved compatibility with modern hardware configurations. Whether you're running PlayM2M on a cutting-edge gaming rig or a more modest system, you'll benefit from optimizations that make better use of your available resources.

Foundation for Future Content: Perhaps most excitingly, this migration lays the groundwork for even more impressive animations in future content updates. The new Granny version supports features that will allow our artists to create more expressive, more detailed, and more immersive animations for upcoming bosses, creatures, and player abilities.

Reduced Memory Footprint: The newer Granny runtime handles memory more efficiently, which contributes to overall game stability and can help reduce loading times in animation-heavy areas.

A Testament to Our Long-Term Vision

The Granny Migration is the kind of update that doesn't make for exciting marketing headlines, but it's exactly the kind of foundational work that separates games that feel polished from games that feel rough around the edges. We believe in investing in these technical improvements because we're building PlayM2M for the long term, and a solid technical foundation is essential for everything we want to achieve in the years to come.

Chapter Three: The Season of Giving - Christmas Event and Festivities

With the technical foundations strengthened, let's turn our attention to something a bit more festive! The winter season has arrived in PlayM2M, bringing with it a brand-new Christmas event that we're incredibly excited to share with you.

Winter Wonderland Awaits (For next year)

Our world design team has been working magic throughout the realm, transforming familiar locations into winter wonderlands filled with holiday cheer. Snow-covered rooftops, twinkling lights, and festive decorations can be found throughout the major cities, creating an atmosphere that we hope will bring a smile to your face every time you log in.

The Christmas Event Quest Line

The new Christmas event introduces a heartwarming quest line that takes players on a journey through the spirit of the season. We won't spoil all the surprises here, but expect to meet new seasonal NPCs, uncover holiday mysteries, and earn exclusive rewards that will only be available during this limited-time event.

Speaking of which—we've fixed an issue that was preventing the Witch NPC in the capital city from properly displaying the Christmas event quest. If you were having trouble finding the starting point for the festivities, that obstacle has been removed! With the new update, those who previously collected Snowflakes will be able to claim their rewards!

Christmas Gift Box Reorganization

Based on community feedback from previous seasonal events, we've completely reorganized the Christmas Gift Box system. The new structure offers a more balanced distribution of rewards, ensuring that every gift box opened feels meaningful and exciting. Whether you receive crafting materials, exclusive cosmetics, or rare equipment, each prize has been carefully considered to provide value to players at every stage of their journey.

Repeatable Event Tasks Unleashed

Here's something we know you've been asking for: the restriction that prevented repeatable event tasks from being performed more than once has been completely removed! This means you can now engage with seasonal content to your heart's content, farming those holiday rewards and making the most of the festive season.

This change reflects our broader philosophy shift toward respecting your time and letting you engage with content in the way that feels most enjoyable to you.

Chapter Four: The Mount Revolution - Mobility Reimagined

Mounts have always been an essential part of the PlayM2M experience. They're not just a means of transportation—they're companions, status symbols, and expressions of personal style. With this update cycle, we've made significant changes to how mounts work, all aimed at improving your experience.

The 90-Day Mount Policy

All mounts, including the coveted Halloween mounts, are now limited to a maximum duration of 90 days. We know this might initially seem like a limitation, but this change is actually part of a broader economic rebalancing effort designed to maintain the value and prestige of mount ownership while ensuring that the mount ecosystem remains healthy and dynamic.

This policy encourages active engagement with mount-acquisition content and ensures that rare mounts retain their status as prized possessions rather than becoming commonplace through unlimited accumulation.

Mounting and Dismounting Improvements

We've completely overhauled the mounting and dismounting system based on extensive player feedback:

The R Key Returns: You can now mount and dismount using the R key, providing quick and intuitive control over your mounted status. A helpful turquoise \[R] button has been added to the information window of passenger items, making it crystal clear how to interact with your mount.

Automatic Dismount for Teleportation: Attempting to teleport while mounted will now automatically dismount your character first. No more error messages, no more confusion—just seamless transitions from mounted travel to magical transportation.

Visual Feedback: When you mount up, a shortcut information tip now appears on screen, clearly showing you how to dismount. This quality-of-life improvement is especially helpful for new players who are still learning the game's systems.

Combat While Mounted - Critical Fixes

We've addressed several significant issues related to combat while mounted:

Attack Speed Fix: An issue causing attacks from certain character classes to fail while mounted due to attack speed calculations has been resolved. Now, regardless of your class or weapon choice, you can engage in mounted combat with confidence.

Starter Buff Restriction: A bug that prevented the use of Starter Buff and certain items while mounted has been fixed, ensuring that mounted combat is as smooth and functional as ground combat.

Dismount During Combat: When attacking while mounted, you can no longer accidentally dismount. You must consciously stop your attack before dismounting. This prevents frustrating situations where you'd find yourself suddenly on foot in the middle of a dangerous encounter.

Home Function Bug: The bug that caused characters to automatically mount when using the Home function has been squashed, restoring predictable behavior to this important navigation tool.

Chapter Five: The Merchant Renaissance - Economy and Trading Updates

A healthy in-game economy is the lifeblood of any MMORPG, and we've made several important changes to how merchants and trading work in PlayM2M.

Potion System Restructuring

In our ongoing effort to create more meaningful choices and clearer game systems, we've restructured how potions are distributed throughout the world:

Dedicated Potion Vendors: Regular potion sellers no longer carry potions in their inventory. Instead, all potions are now exclusively available at dedicated potion vendor NPCs. This change makes it clearer where to find the supplies you need and creates more distinct roles for different merchant types.

Magical Potion Seller Fix: The Magical Potion Seller has been fixed to charge the correct 5,000 Hero Points when purchasing strong potions. This correction ensures economic consistency and prevents unintended pricing anomalies.

The Return of the Platinum Bar

By popular demand, the Platinum Bar worth 100 million gold has been added back to the general merchant inventory. This high-value trading item serves as a convenient way to store and transfer large amounts of wealth, and its return addresses a gap in the economy that many players had noted.

Equipment Merchant Rebalancing

We've gradually increased the Soul Point prices at both the Naga Equipment Merchant and the Minotaur Equipment Merchant. This adjustment reflects our ongoing economic balancing efforts and ensures that equipment progression remains meaningful throughout the mid and late game.

World Boss Trading: Wu Zhein

We have exciting news for boss hunters and traders: the World Boss Wu Zhein now drops an item that provides 3 days of extended storage, is obtainable, and most importantly, is tradable between players! This creates new opportunities for the player economy and rewards those who successfully challenge this formidable foe.

Additionally, the Wu Zhein chest now has a small chance (approximately 2-3%) to contain rubies, adding an extra thrill to every successful run.

Chapter Six: Boss Encounters Reforged

Boss battles are the pinnacle of PvE content in PlayM2M, and we've made extensive changes to ensure these encounters are challenging, rewarding, and fair.

Wolf Shaman Dranavar - The Dranavar Chest Overhaul

The Dranavar chest has received a complete contents overhaul, including adjusted chances for obtaining Thief Gloves. This change is part of our broader effort to ensure that chest rewards feel meaningful and appropriately distributed across the game's content.

We believe that the excitement of opening a chest should never feel like a foregone conclusion—there should always be that moment of anticipation, that possibility of something extraordinary. The new Dranavar chest contents have been carefully calibrated to deliver exactly that experience.

Witch Queen Alisa - Complete Rebalance

The Witch Queen Alisa has received a comprehensive overhaul of her health points and damage values. Our design philosophy here was simple: we wanted the fight to feel dangerous and exciting without being frustrating or unfair.

Her chest rewards have also been updated to include 1-hour Thief Gloves, providing an additional incentive to challenge this formidable foe.

Reaper God - Enhanced Rewards

The Reaper God boss has been significantly upgraded:

New Master Equipment: Brand new Master Armors and weapons have been added to the Reaper God's loot table. These pieces represent some of the most powerful equipment available in the game and will be highly sought after by middlegame players.

Doubled Courage Cloak Drops: The Reaper God will now drop 20 Courage Cloaks instead of the previous 10, making each successful kill twice as rewarding for groups working toward their cloak collections.

Harkoon Boss - Loot Table Optimization

We've made strategic changes to the Harkoon boss to improve the Lost Map acquisition experience:

Removed from Direct Drops: The Lost Map has been removed from Harkoon's direct drop table.

Increased Chest Chance: To compensate, the drop chance of the Lost Map has been significantly increased in the Harkoon boss chest.

Quest Reward Addition: The Harkoon boss quest reward has been expanded to include a Lost Map, providing a guaranteed path to this valuable item for dedicated players.

Combat Fix: An issue causing Harkoon's boss to stop attacking when the attacker's auto-attack feature was active has been fixed. The boss will now properly maintain aggression throughout the encounter, as intended.

The-bun Laune - Ruby Addition

A Ruby piece has been added to The-bun Laune's chest with a low probability. While the chance is small, this addition provides an exciting "jackpot" possibility that makes every chest opening a moment of anticipation.

Minotaur King - Damage Correction

The issue causing the Minotaur King boss to deal excessive damage has been fixed. The encounter should now be challenging but completable by appropriately geared and skilled groups.

Chapter Seven: Dungeon and Map Improvements

Land of the Dead - Major Fixes

The Land of the Dead map has received several important updates:

Spawn Fix: A physics error causing creatures not to spawn due to the removal of the Pathmaker has been fixed. The map should now be fully populated with the undead horrors you've come to expect.

HXP Increase: The HXP rates of creatures in the Land of the Dead have been increased by 20%, making this area more rewarding for players focused on hero point progression.

Lost Empire - Visual Fix

The gray ambient lighting issue that appeared when the camera view distance was reduced on the Lost Empire map has been fixed. The map should now display correctly regardless of your graphics settings.

Spider Cave (+140) - Missing Quest and Content

The Assassin NPC is now available in Spider Cave (+140) quests, providing new quest opportunities for players exploring this dangerous area. Additionally, the high damage issue that occurred in the Spider Cave has been fixed, restoring the intended challenge level.

Devil's Cave - Creature Improvements

The creatures in the Devil's Cave have had their defense and vitality improved, making them more formidable opponents worthy of the cave's ominous reputation.

Mountain of the Cursed Warlord

The number of Cave Monsters has been increased on the Mountain of the Cursed Warlord map, providing more targets for players farming this area and reducing wait times between spawns.

Tutorial Island - New Player Experience

We've made several improvements specifically aimed at making the early game experience smoother and more enjoyable:

Increased Enemy Count: The number of wolves and orcs appearing on Tutorial Island has been increased, reducing competition for spawns and making early quests faster to complete.

Spawn Location Fix: Creatures will no longer spawn on rocks in Tutorial Island. This eliminates frustrating situations where enemies were visible but unreachable.

Easier Completion Criteria: Tutorial Island now has easier criteria for new players to complete, ensuring a smoother transition to the main game world.

Wolf Shaman Forest - Player Experience

Wolf-Shaman Discovery: The Wolf-Shaman discovery notification will now appear at level 6 instead of level 10, providing earlier guidance for new players.

Empty Quest Page Fix: After completing the Wolf-rebellion quest at level 20, the empty quest page that previously appeared in the available quests section has been removed.

Chapter Eight: Combat and Class Balance

Mob Damage Adjustments

Obsessed and Phantom Warrior: The damage dealt by these mobs has been increased and balanced, making them more threatening opponents worthy of their intimidating names.

Minotaur Run Trolls: The issue of Trolls dealing high damage during the Minotaur Run has been fixed, restoring the intended challenge level for this popular event.

The Elf Ring - HXP Blocking

This is an important change for players who want to control their HXP progression:

While the Elf Ring is equipped, positive HXP gain is now completely blocked. This affects all HXP sources, including quests, boss battles, battlefields, and monster kills. For players who want to maintain a specific HXP level or avoid certain progression thresholds, this provides a reliable tool for managing your character development.

Skill Icon Fixes

We've corrected several skill icon display issues:

Dorhan: Fixed an issue where skill icons were incorrectly swapped between Deadly Dance, Stunning Blade, and Doom Charge. Your skill bar should now display the correct icons for each ability.

Skogr: Fixed an issue where skill icons were incorrectly swapped between Poison Storm and Deadly Stab. Like with Dorhan, your abilities should now be correctly represented visually.

Chapter Nine: Quest System Improvements

Venus Flytrap Quest

The number of items required for the Venus Flytrap quest has been reduced from 30 to 20. This change reduces the grind while maintaining the quest's identity and purpose.

Lost Map and Panther Ear Quest

The probability of obtaining the Lost Map during the Panther Ear quest has been improved and balanced, providing a more reliable path to this valuable item.

NPC Quest Display

The task filtering logic in the NPC selection list has been simplified—only available tasks are now displayed. This reduces clutter and makes it easier to identify which quests you can actually accept and complete.

Chapter Ten: User Interface Revolution

We've made extensive improvements to the user interface, focusing on clarity, convenience, and modern standards.

Inventory Management

Sticky Carry Feature: A new sticky carry feature has been added for inventory and storage, activated with a single left click. This makes inventory management significantly more convenient, especially during extended storage organization sessions.

Item Splitting: Inventory and Storage items can now be split using SHIFT + Left Click. A new turquoise-colored hint has been added to item tooltips to make this action discoverable. Even if the active page in your inventory is full, the splitting process will automatically be directed to an appropriate empty page if one exists.

Equipment Inventory Separation: After separating the equipment inventory from the base inventory, we've removed the non-functional close button that was visible in the base inventory GUI.

Map and Navigation

Atlas Fix: An issue causing the atlas (M shortcut) map to not display the player indicator when the minimap is inactive has been fixed.

Minimap Error Fix: The availQuest error that caused freezing while the minimap was active has been fixed. This was a particularly frustrating bug that affected many players, and we're glad to have it resolved.

Camera Zoom: The default camera zoom distance has been increased by 2 units, providing a slightly wider view of your surroundings by default.

Teleportation Improvements

You can now teleport to maps only if you have the necessary items and enough gold. This prevents confusing situations where teleportation would fail partway through the process.

Character Deletion Safety

When attempting to delete an existing character, you will now need to type "DELETE" in the pop-up window and confirm your action. This additional step prevents accidental character deletion while still allowing legitimate deletion requests. Note that you still cannot delete a game character of level 80 or higher.

Window Title Fix

The issue where the game client window title appeared in Hungarian in all languages has been fixed. The window title will now correctly display in your selected language.

Heightmap Protection

When the permitted Heightmap limit is exceeded, your character will now spawn at the nearest valid point rather than becoming stuck. This safety measure prevents frustrating situations that previously required GM intervention to resolve.

Chapter Eleven: Technical Excellence - Performance and Stability

Memory Management Revolution

We've invested significant effort into improving how PlayM2M manages memory:

Memory Leak Fixes: Several factors causing memory leaks have been identified and fixed. The game should now maintain more stable memory usage during extended play sessions.

Enhanced Memory Allocation: Memory allocation methods have been updated to utilize typed allocation for better tracking and debugging. This improvement helps us identify and resolve memory-related issues more quickly.

PhysX Integration: The PhysX integration has received enhanced memory allocation and error reporting, contributing to overall system stability. However, an outdated version of PhysX is still being used in the game engine core, and a significant upgrade plan remains part of this roadmap.

Error Handling Improvements

Client Warning Messages: Warning messages are now displayed more accurately depending on the situation, providing clearer feedback when issues occur.

Error Frequency Tracking: We've introduced frequency tracking for suppressed error messages to reduce log spam while maintaining visibility on recurring issues. This makes it easier for both players and developers to identify patterns in error occurrence.

GUIXMLChomper Fix: The frequently recurring "GUIXMLChomper::ChompSet prototype not found" error in client logs has been fixed, reducing log clutter and addressing an underlying parsing issue.

Collision System Overhaul

NPC/MOB Collision Redesign: The collision calculator between NPC/MOB and player characters has been completely redesigned. Colliders no longer overlap, resulting in smoother movement and more predictable positioning during combat and exploration.

Enhanced Collision Handling: Collision handling has been enhanced with improved weak_ptr safety in CollideInfo and CollisionSystem, contributing to overall stability.

Crash Reporting

Sentry Integration: We've integrated Sentry for comprehensive crash reporting in playerclient. This industry-leading tool allows us to quickly identify, diagnose, and fix crashes that players experience foreover, when a problem occurs, it automatically sends it to us.

Crashrpt Disabled: The previous Crashrpt system has been disabled in favor of the more comprehensive Sentry solution.

Improved Error Dialog: The ErrorDialog implementation has been improved with better parameter handling and enhanced stack trace handling.

Animation and Visibility Fixes

Dungeon Exit Fix: The issue causing game characters to become invisible upon exiting dungeons in certain situations has been fixed.

Resurrection Animation: The issue causing the resurrection animation to play when pressing the SPACE key after a character dies has been fixed.

Demon Gate Spawn Delay: The issue causing delays when Demon Gate spawns nearby has been fixed, eliminating a source of momentary lag.

Chapter Twelve: Launcher Evolution and Startup Optimization

The New Launcher Philosophy

Based on extensive community feedback, we've made significant changes to how the game launches:

Direct Launch Option: The game client will no longer require a launcher to start. This change addresses the reality that the launcher did not work stably for everyone and caused various issues.

Launcher as Optional: For those who prefer the launcher experience, it remains available as an option but will be removed after a transition period.

Alternative Launcher: A new launcher alternative has been added for players who experienced issues with the original launcher.

Startup Performance

Main Message Loop Optimization: The waiting time before the game starts has been significantly reduced through optimization of the main message loop delay.

Steam Language Detection: Steam language detection now completes faster, removing previous delays that affected startup time.

Video Synchronization: Video start has been synchronized within WM_CREATE, meaning window creation is faster and the intro video starts in the background more efficiently.

Multi-threaded Startup: The startup system has been changed to multi-threaded operation, providing relatively faster initialization.

Character Selection Screen

The issue causing background music to load slowly on the character selection screen has been fixed. You should now hear the character selection music promptly when arriving at this screen.

Input Handling

Shortcut Key Restriction: Shortcut keys are now disabled in the character creation scene, preventing accidental actions during this important process.

Chapter Thirteenth: Localization

Localization

For our community, significant localization issues have been corrected. We understand how important it is to experience the game in your native language, and we're committed to providing high-quality translations across all supported languages.

Item Localizations

Localizations for the following items have been arranged and corrected:

Lost Map
Zentia Bot Remains
Zentia Armor Remains
Solar Elixir
Lunar Elixir

These fixes ensure that item names, descriptions, and related text display correctly in all supported languages.

Chapter Fourteenth: New Player Experience - The Tiered Level Chest System

We're thrilled to announce a brand-new game system designed specifically to support our newest adventurers: the Tiered Level Chest System.

How It Works

As new players progress through the early levels, they'll receive special chests at key milestones. Each chest contains level-appropriate gear, consumables, and resources that help smooth the progression curve and ensure that new players always have the tools they need to succeed.

Design Philosophy

This system was designed with several goals in mind:

Reduce Early Frustration: New players shouldn't have to struggle with inadequate equipment while they're still learning the game's systems.

Celebrate Progress: Each chest serves as a small celebration of the player's progress, providing positive reinforcement for reaching new milestones.

Maintain Challenge: While the chests provide helpful items, they don't trivialize the early game—they simply ensure that challenge comes from gameplay rather than gear deficiency.

Chapter Fifteenth: Quality of Life - The Details That Matter

Ability Distribution Fix

The GUI fault indicating that skills could be distributed upon reaching Level 2 has been fixed. Additionally, skill points can now be distributed starting from Level 2, as the interface now correctly indicates.

Toolbar Shortcut Fix

The game bug that caused duplicate copies of old tier abilities to be added as shortcuts to the toolbar has been fixed. Your toolbars should now correctly reflect only the abilities you've actually assigned.

Fatal Error Fix

The critical error causing "RtlpWaitOnCriticalSection Fatal AccessViolation" has been fixed. This was a rare but serious crash that some players experienced, and its resolution improves overall stability.

Chapter Sixteenth: Server Stability

While we won't dive deep into server-side technical details, we want to briefly acknowledge several important server improvements:

Social System Fix

A server error causing the social system to malfunction has been fixed. Friend lists, guild rosters, and other social features should now work reliably.

Character Restoration

The issue of characters being deleted due to root character node-related reasons has been resolved, and affected characters have been restored. We understand how devastating it can be to lose a character you've invested time and effort into, and we're glad to have addressed this issue.

Project Cleanup

An old and unused dependency has been removed from the project, contributing to cleaner code and easier maintenance.

Chapter Seventeenth: Web Platform Updates

Player Rankings

The player ranking list will no longer list players who have not logged into the game for more than one week. This ensures that the rankings reflect active players and provides a more accurate picture of the current competitive landscape. This information is now also included on the ranking page.

Item Shop History

The Item Shop purchase history is now working correctly and will display both purchases and credit top-ups. This transparency allows you to easily track your transaction history.

Chapter Eighteenth: Engine Technical Improvements

For those interested in the technical underpinnings of our launcher and update systems, we've made several significant improvements:

Automatic Update System

We've implemented a comprehensive update system for automatic version control. This means that when we release updates, the process of getting them to you is smoother and more reliable than ever.

Library Cleanup

Unnecessary DLLs and library clutter have been removed from the distribution, resulting in a cleaner installation and reduced disk space usage.

Filename Validation

Enhanced Character Support: The filename validation system now properly allows underscores in valid filename characters.

Unicode Support: The system now properly validates Unicode characters during input, supporting a wider range of international characters in filenames.

Configuration Improvements

Console Window Control: The configuration flag has been changed from ENABLE_CONSOLE to ENABLE_CONSOLE_WINDOW for clarity.

Update System Flags: Feature flags have been added to enable or disable auto-update functionality.

Deployment Checks: Improved logic for allowing execution based on debugger presence and deployment version checks.

Security

Encrypted Releases: We've implemented functionality for secure release distribution, ensuring that game updates reach you safely and without tampering.

Chapter Nineteenth: Looking Forward

As we close this extensive chronicle of our recent updates, we want to take a moment to express our sincere gratitude to every player who has been part of the PlayM2M journey. Your feedback, your patience, your passion—these are the things that drive us to keep improving, keep innovating, and keep building the game you deserve.

The changes documented in this post represent just a fraction of our vision for PlayM2M. We have ambitious plans for the future—new content, new systems, new adventures—and we can't wait to share them with you as they come to fruition.

Community Feedback

We read your forum posts. We watch your streams. We listen to your feedback. And while we can't implement every suggestion or fix every issue immediately, please know that your voice matters. Every bug report, every suggestion, every piece of constructive criticism helps shape the future of PlayM2M.

Stay Connected

Keep an eye on our official channels for upcoming announcements. We have some exciting things planned for the new year, and we want you to be among the first to know about them.

Release Notes v5.0.0 (summary)

Highlights

Seasonal Content: A brand-new Christmas Event is for next years.
Major Stability & Tech Improvements: Multiple crash fixes, memory leak mitigations, PhysX memory diagnostics upgrades, and client startup optimizations.
Gameplay & Balance Pass: Boss and dungeon damage rebalancing, loot table refinements, and improved early-game onboarding.

Events & Seasonal Content

All mounts, including Halloween mounts, are now limited to a maximum duration of 90 days.
A new Christmas Event has been added to the game.
The Christmas Gift Box has been reorganized.
Fixed an issue where the Witch NPC in the capital city did not display the Christmas Event quest.

Vendors, Economy & Item Availability

Potion sellers no longer carry potions; potions are now available only from the Potion Vendor.
Magical Potion Seller: Fixed Strong Potion purchase cost to 5,000 Hero Points.
A Platinum Bar (100,000,000 value) has been added back to the General Merchant.
Naga Equipment Merchant: Soul Point prices have been gradually increased.
Minotaur Equipment Merchant: Soul Point prices have been gradually increased.
Only Small Potions can now be obtained from creatures in the WolfShaman area.

Localization & Text Improvements

Significant issues in Turkish and other localization have been corrected.
Localization entries for Lost Map, Zentia Bot Remains, and Zentia Armor Remains have been arranged.
Solar Elixir and Lunar Elixir localization issues have been fixed.
In the Currencies window (Properties), incorrect/incomplete localization for Hero Points has been fixed.
Incomplete descriptions for teleporters that return to the capital have been corrected.
Added a missing description for the teleporter returning from Naga Palace to the capital.
Fixed an issue where the game client window title appeared in Hungarian across all languages.

Bosses, Chests & Loot Tables

World Boss Wu Zhein: A 3-day Extended Storage reward can now be obtained and is tradable.
Wu-Zhein Chest: Added a small chance to contain Rubies (~2–3%).
Dranavar Chest: Contents have been changed, and the chance to obtain Thief Gloves has been adjusted.
Witch Queen Alisa Chest: Now includes 1-hour Thief Gloves.
Reaper God Boss:
- Added new Master Armors and Weapons to the drop table.
- Now drops 20 Courage Cloaks instead of 10.
The-bun Laune Chest: Added a Ruby piece with a low probability.
Harkoon Boss (Loot & Quest Updates):
- Lost Map has been removed from the Harkoon boss drop.
- Lost Map drop chance has been increased in the Harkoon boss chest.
- Harkoon boss quest reward has been expanded to include a Lost Map.

Combat, AI & Balance Adjustments

Fixed an issue where Harkoon would stop attacking the attacker when the attacker’s auto-attack feature was active.
Fixed an issue causing the Minotaur King boss to deal excessively high damage.
Fixed the issue of Trolls dealing high damage during the Minotaur Run.
Fixed the high damage issue occurring in the Spider Cave.
Increased and balanced the damage dealt by Obsessed and Phantom Warrior mobs.
Witch Queen Alisa: Health and damage values have been reworked and rebalanced.
Devil’s Cave creatures: Defense and vitality have been improved.

Quests & Progression

Venus Flytrap quest: Required item count reduced from 30 to 20.
Improved and balanced the probability of obtaining the Lost Map for the Panther Ear quest.
Assassin NPC is now available for Spider Cave (+140) quests.
Fixed the empty quest page appearing under available quests after completing the Wolf-rebellion quest at Level 20.
Tutorial Island:
- Completion criteria have been made easier for new players.
- Increased the number of wolves and orcs spawning.
- Creatures will no longer spawn on rocks.

HXP & Stat System Changes (Important)

While the Elf Ring is equipped, positive HXP gain is completely blocked. This applies to all HXP sources, including quests, boss battles, battlefields, and monster kills.
Land of the Dead: Creature HXP rates increased by 20%.
Character Statistics System: Completely changed—now only 400 points can be distributed per stat.

World, Maps & Environment Fixes

Fixed a physics issue preventing creatures from spawning on Land of the Dead after Pathmaker removal.
Increased the number of Cave Monsters on Mountain of the Cursed Warlord.
Mountain of the Cursed Warlord will no longer drop more bonus adders and modifiers than intended.
Fixed the gray ambient lighting issue that appeared on Lost Empire when camera view distance was reduced.
Demon Cave: Optimized collisions for improved gameplay.
Fixed an issue causing delays when Demon Gate spawns nearby.
Fixed an issue where the Dark Lord could get stuck due to cache-related movement in certain situations.
When the permitted Heightmap limit is exceeded, the character will now spawn at the nearest point.

Mounts & Movement

Fixed an issue where attacks from character classes would not work while mounted due to attack speed interactions.
Players can once again mount/dismount using the R key.
When riding a mount, a shortcut tip explaining how to dismount now appears on-screen.
Attempting to teleport while mounted will now automatically dismount the player.
Fixed an issue where a mount could disappear during teleportation if the inventory was full.
When attacking while mounted, players can no longer dismount; the attack must be stopped first.
Fixed a bug that caused unintended mounting behavior when using the Home function.

UI/UX Improvements

Client warning messages are now displayed more accurately depending on the situation.
Added a “sticky carry” feature for Inventory and Storage using a single left click.
Item Split: Inventory and Storage items can now be split using SHIFT + Left Click.
- Added a new turquoise hint to item tooltips indicating this key combination.
- Improved behavior so if the active inventory page is full but another page has space, splitting will automatically route to the appropriate page.
Added a turquoise \[R] button to passenger item info windows to display boarding/disembarking info.
Clicking anywhere on the Character Properties window (except the X) will no longer close it.
Task filtering in the NPC selection list has been simplified—only available tasks are now displayed.
Fixed an issue where the atlas (M) map would not display the player indicator when the minimap was inactive.
Fixed the availQuest error that caused freezing while the minimap was active (resolved when minimap was closed).
After separating equipment inventory from base inventory, removed the close button shown in base inventory because it was non-functional.
Shortcut keys are now disabled in the character creation scene.
Fixed a GUI issue indicating skills could be distributed upon reaching Level 2; skill points can now be distributed starting from Level 2.

Teleport Rules & Validation

Players can now teleport to maps only if they have the required items and enough gold.

Gameplay Bugs & Reward Fixes

Fixed a bug causing the Level 17 Mutant Wolf mission reward to drop by 100%.
Fixed a bug where items placed in the hotkey bar could disappear after teleportation.
When an NPC is removed from an area, that NPC’s indicator will also be removed.

Social & Server-Side Fixes

Fixed a server error that caused the social system to malfunction.

Client Performance, Startup & Stability

Reduced main message loop delay: game startup wait time has been significantly reduced.
Removed Steam language detection delays: Steam language detection now completes faster.
Synchronized video start within WM_CREATE: faster window creation; video starts in the background.
Fixed slow-loading background music on the character selection screen.
Fixed an issue where characters could become invisible after exiting dungeons in certain situations.
Fixed the issue causing resurrection animation to play when pressing SPACE after character death.
Fixed the frequently recurring client log error: [c]GUIXMLChomper::ChompSet prototype not found[/c].
Fixed [c]RtlpWaitOnCriticalSection Fatal AccessViolation[/c].
Several factors causing memory leaks have been fixed.
Updated Granny from v2.9.7.0 to v2.11.10.0 for improved animation stability and compatibility.

Crash Reporting & Error Handling

Integrated Sentry for comprehensive crash reporting.
Disabled Crashrpt.
Improved ErrorDialog implementation with better parameter handling.
Enhanced stack trace handling in using StackTrace directly.

Collision & Physics Overhaul

Redesigned the collision calculator between NPC/MOB and player characters—colliders no longer overlap.
Enhanced memory allocation and error reporting in PhysX integration.
Updated memory allocation methods to use typed allocation for better tracking and debugging.
Added frequency tracking for suppressed error messages to reduce log spam while preserving visibility for recurring issues.
Updated error handling to log specific warnings/errors at defined intervals to improve monitoring.

Audio & Middleware

Added the new spatial 3D audio engine FMOD Engine 2.3.12.
For backward compatibility, upgraded FMOD Ex from 4.44.10 to 4.44.64 (no longer supported). The legacy engine will be removed in the future.
Removed DirectMusic dependency; the client will no longer support files such as .mp3, .wav, ogg directly.
Fixed an issue where sounds beyond 20 units were heard as if they were close.

New Systems & New Player Support

Added a tiered level chest system as a new game system for new players.
Increased the default camera zoom distance by 2 units.
Removed the restriction that repeatable event tasks could only be performed once.
Wolf-shaman discovery notification now appears at Level 6 instead of Level 10.

Reaper God Access Changes (Entry Requirement)

Added a new entry item: Reaper God Seal.
- The Reaper God can now only be accessed using this entry item.
- The Reaper God Seal can be obtained only from Oak Chests.

Battlegrounds

Battleground arena and game modes have been reactivated.

Launcher & Delivery Changes

The game client will no longer start with a launcher. A more user-friendly launcher has been released, including a functional configuration tool, as the previous launcher was unstable for some players and caused various issues.

CONTINUING (Release Dates TBA)ːsteamthumbsupː

Rendering & Engine Modernization

Migration from HeroEngine (Custom) 2.0.54 to 3.0.1 is ongoing.
Migration from DirectX 9 to DirectX 11 is ongoing.
Migration from PhysX 2.8.4 to PhysX 5.x Omniverse is ongoing.
Multi-threaded renderer implementation is ongoing.
Native x64 client support is ongoing.

Platform Support & Architecture

Linux support is in progress.
macOS support is in progress.
ARM64 and additional platform support is in progress.

Distribution, Web & Launcher Modernization

A new website-based distribution and launcher is in development, designed to support non-Steam multi-client use cases.

Account Services & Authentication

Social media account login support (and related account integration features) is in development.

Live Operations & In-Game Communication

In-game real-time news and changelog newsletter system is in development.

New Player Experience & Onboarding

Voice and visual guidance for the start guide is in development.
New visual hint / info screens for onboarding and core gameplay systems are in development.
The Demon Gate placement process for the Witch Queen & Cursed Warlord maps is ongoing.

Pets & Companions

Pet system (with/without bonuses) is in development.
Upgradeable / trainable pet progression system is in development.

Mounts & Creature Physics

Rigidbody fixes for flying creatures are in development.
Flying mount system is in development.

UI/UX & Accessibility & Areas & Maps

Updated in-game Options menu improvements are in progress.
Targetable keybinding assignment (context-based binding to specific actions/targets) is in development.
Assignable hotkeys / key mapping improvements are in development.
The capital city is being redesigned, and this is planned to include a tutorial.
The advanced Quest tracking & Quest On-boarding system is under development.

New Creatures & Mounts

New region bosses are currently in development.
New mounts are currently in development.
New world boss is currently in development.
New realm boss: Demon God Nasfary is currently in development.

Animation & Content Pipeline

New unique character animation sets are in production.

LAUNCHER (Ongoing / Recent Changes)

Disabled the second file control application when the launcher enters the game.
Startup system changed to multi-threaded for faster startup behavior.
Added an alternative launcher option for players experiencing launcher issues. The launcher is now optional and will be removed after a period of time.

BACKEND

Updated the LSS (Laniatus Security Server) malware filter.
Resolved character deletions caused by root character node-related issues; affected characters have been restored.
Removed an old and unused dependency from the project.

WEB

Player ranking list will no longer include players who have not logged in for more than one week.
Item Shop purchase history now works correctly and displays purchases and credit top-ups.

Conclusion

From the depths of the Granny migration to the heights of the SARD Anti-Cheat implementation, from the festive Christmas event to the countless quality-of-life improvements that make daily gameplay smoother—this update cycle represents our commitment to building the best possible version of PlayM2M.

Thank you for reading this comprehensive overview. Thank you for being part of our community. And most importantly, thank you for choosing to spend your precious gaming time in our world.

May your adventures be legendary, your loot be epic, and your connections with fellow players be lasting.

See you in the realm!

The PlayM2M Development Team

Thanks for contributions to the artwork credit by; Karyabla

This post covers all updates since November 27th, 2025. For previous patch notes, please check our archives. For technical support, please visit our support portal. For community discussion, join us on our official forums and Discord server.

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