State of the Game (5th Anniversary Edition)

[Kinak]

As we celebrate Twilight's fifth anniversary, it seems like a good time to take a look over the last year, where we've been and where we're headed.

Leagues
Leagues were my big goal for the year and, I'd like to think, they came out in grand style. We're not done here, but I think that's a good thing. I can see us adding league content for years and years.

You might meet the first of that new content today. Specifically, today includes our first longterm league villain. It's different from VILLAIN, as each league villain will probably be quite a bit different from the others.

As we move forward, I'd expect to see more league bosses, more ways to get Prestige, and, as league's build up their reputation, some of the ways we have planned to spend Prestige.

B-Quests
We did a little work this year with B-Quests, adding a new one and expanding some rewards. More of these are always better, so I wouldn't be surprised to see more in the coming year.

Crafting
We had a lot of little crafting updates, with old contest entries being implemented, new crafting recipes, and the metalmorph expansion. I personally love crafting, so I'd be more surprised if you didn't see more sweet crafting stuff going forward.

There's one big thing on our plate here, which you might be able to guess.

Skills
All of the class-skills are implemented and available. That's one huge thing I'm glad we got squared away and opens up a lot of cool opportunities for future skills.

High-Level Content
One thing we didn't get to as much as I would have liked is high-level content. I hope Leagues scratched a bit of that itch, but I'd like to keep pushing the edge of the content out past the brute quest.

PvP
I've been thinking about a PvP overhaul for some time now. However, this is still in the "thoughts on a (metaphorical) white board" phase.

I feel we can create something here that is both more engaging and is tied closer to the rest of the game. This is something I'll begin formal work on soon, but won't go live until it's something we can be proud of. I'm not happy with the current system, but I want to take our time and do this thing right.

Communication
A year ago, there was some discussion of doing podcasts. That, unfortunately, fell by the wayside. If people are still interested in hearing the answers to their questions in a off-the-cuff rambling audio format, let me know and I'll get a new thread up for questions.

Overall
I had a very rough year personally, but we stayed the course and managed to implement a lot of things I think the game needed. I'm happy with what we got done, especially the groundwork we laid for the coming year.

Obviously, there's still plenty to do. Between the things I mentioned above and all the other things waiting in the wings, I'd be shocked if we ever ran out of new areas to explore. And that's before we start counting ideas we'll get later.

I hope everyone enjoys the ride. I don't know what all we'll have done in the next year, but I'm ready to enjoy getting it done.

Cheers!
Kinak

[Patojonas]

Skills
All of the class-skills are implemented and available. That's one huge thing I'm glad we got squared away and opens up a lot of cool opportunities for future skills.

Does Catalyze already work with skill points? The manual still says "(not properly coded for skill points yet)".

Tea time or podcasts, about time we get another so we can nuke you with questions

[Hardware]

I'm wondering if Prestige will be expended when used, or if it's a rating that will stay with the league through thick and thin. With every day that goes by, it becomes more and more difficult for any new league to have a chance of catching up, unless a lot of new Prestige sources show up. I also can't help but wonder what other elements might be added to the leagues, like internal forums or anything like that.

[Kinak]

Does Catalyze already work with skill points? The manual still says "(not properly coded for skill points yet)".

No, it doesn't. I should have been clearer about what I meant there. I was more just glad all the skills are in.

Catalyze is definitely still up for some recoding and expansion, but that applies to a lot of things

Tea time or podcasts, about time we get another so we can nuke you with questions

You make it sound so appealing

I'm wondering if Prestige will be expended when used, or if it's a rating that will stay with the league through thick and thin. With every day that goes by, it becomes more and more difficult for any new league to have a chance of catching up, unless a lot of new Prestige sources show up.

I think we're on the same page here. If two leagues have equal skill and dedication, but one has been displaying that longer, that league deserves to be on top.

But, going forward, as there are more ways to measure that skill and dedication, you'll see the pack start to drift apart. That's also when you'll start to see younger leagues overtake their elders.

So, yeah, I would expect a lot of ways to get Prestige and a lot of ways to go above-and-beyond, distinguishing your League from others. But that isn't a question any one change can answer. It's more the sort of thing that you realize stopped being an issue while you weren't looking and can never quite figure out which change made the difference.

Cheers!
Kinak

[Hardware]

That's good, because I'd like to consider putting together my own league at some point, once a suitable theme jumps to mind, and there's suitable features to make the league cohesive. I think that I'd definitely like a more "super team" feel for any league of my own. Until that's possible, I'll just keep bouncing between the leagues that I've been invited to.