Just a short blog for those curious about the staff system I've been working on or those thinking of applying to become staff in the future. Here is a brief glimpse at the way staff see the game through the new remote control staff system or RC for short.



Lots of things are reported to this private staff chat. We watch signups, spectral items, tickets, side chat, the tick process and a whole manner of other events. Staff are required to be logged in to this seperate control panel whenever they are online and can be beeped in much the same way as Online Chat by other staff.

All bugs with the tick process are finally fixed, they were all the result of a few technical problems that occured during the move to our new web-server. Weekly rankings will now reset without issue and the Spectral item should despawn as intended.

Some updates are coming soon, right now I'm working on the staff system some more as there are still a few features that are not fully operational. Staff controlled IP bans and account Shrubbing will be added soon. I believe I mentioned that in a previous blog a while back.

A shrubbed account can login to the game for 30 days at the end of which period they are deleted, during their logins they can only access in-game messages and nothing else. This is intended to replace bans pending deletion and allow players to appeal impending deletion before it happens. Their character image is replaced by a small plant (or shrub) hence the name.

On a side note the below blog is true, long way off but true. Probably a mistake to post it on April 1st but I wouldn't do 2 jokes in 1 day. The gang scores for the previous 3 month period are displayed below, quite a turn around.

Warfare: January - March 2010
1: Blade of Dawn - 2,382,145 points
2: Outcasts -1,181,200 points
3: Chapter - 1,117,140 points
4: Dark Flame - 826,040 points

Congratulations to all involved, good luck with the next 3 months!

So for the people who believed the blog below, please can you like... hold somebodies hand next time you cross a street. Now for the REAL information on how the new combat system is going to work. The below is not set in stone as it's still all in the design phase.

Key Notes
- Hunting will be made free for the use in leveling.
- All sector 2 shops will be removed.
- All shop items will be given free upon reaching certain levels.
- Attacking freely inside the hive will no longer be possible.
- Dueling in the hive will be possible, your target must accept your request.
- Dueling friendly gang members will also be possible.
- The length of a fight will be increased, EXP will change to compensate.
- Players of all levels will have a focus bar for the use of abilities.
- Stat point spending will be removed, stats will increase automatically.
- Four skill trees will replace abilities; Commando, Protector, Medic and Rogue.
- All skill points can be reset at any time, no choice will be permanent.
- Turns in the hive will be reworked to be easier to understand.
- Warfare turns will be completley removed.
- Warfare guards will be reworked to engage players differently.

The new combat system will be based around dynamic classes. You'll start at level 1 as a Commando, and at 20 you'll unlock the Protector role, at 40 you'll unlock the Rogue role and at 60 you'll unlock Medic. Each class can be customized with skill points you'll begin to earn at level 10 and are awarded for both leveling and account age.

The dynamic part means you can change what class you're playing at any time, including during combat. This system has been used in a few games before most notably the recent Final Fantasy 13. Each role has a basic attack with both weapons, although in some roles this will do significantly less damage.

All combat will be done on a single page in a full javascript / ajax setup. Abilities will be chosen in advance of a 5 second timer that will cycle through attacking automatically with your chosen abilities.

Each class then has a selection of additional abilities. The Commando has some high damage abilities, the Protector has some damage reduction / debuff removal abilities, the Medic has some healing and buff abilities and the Rogue has some debuff abilities. With each class having some more abilities unlockable via skill points.

You may choose to specialize in a single class or multiple classes, in time you'll be able to master all 4 with your skill points. Older players will likely be able to master 2 fully when the system goes live if they wish.

In a 1 vs 1 fight against another player the winner will be determined by skillful use of classes. Debuffing your enemy as a Rogue, buffing yourself as a Medic and healing as one when you get low on health, removing debuffs from yourself as a Protector and DPSing at the right moments as a Commando.

In a fight against a hunting NPC this system will depend on you overcoming special abilities an NPC has. Some may aggressively debuff you, some may have huge attacks that will kill anything but a Protector. You'll need to learn their mechanics and overcome them, there will be methods for doing this no matter what skills you have but it may change from skill build to skill build.

What this system is really designed for is fun warfare for all levels. The warfare screen will be turned in to a dynamic attack page, switching between combat setup and navigation in full javascript. In fights involving multiple people your ability to support your allies with healing and buffs and counter your enemies abilities will be vital to victory.