-----[ THE AVALON NEWSLETTER FOR NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007 ]-----
Welcome to the latest newsletter covering Avalon; the Legend Lives. It
has been many years since our last newsletter and, given the pace of
events within the land, it would make little sense to bombard our
mailing list with merely updates on the ebb and flow of the land's
political and diplomatic shifts. So we have waited until a sufficient
weight of significant events and evolutions have accumulated before
sending out a distilled summary of the past century of Avalon life.
SECTION CONTENTS:
I - Evolution of the Avalon website, apprentices, Java applet.
II - Character Fundamentals: duellism, pacifism, fighters.
III - Addition of 'World Events': dragons and divine globes.
IV - Skills: post Ultimate abilities and myriad tweaks.
V - Deities: impending ordination, appointment, old faces return.
VI - Diplomacy: city status, Oakwood's End, the Druids Guild.
VII - Evolutions: coming updates, warfare, submissions, currency.
If you wish not to receive this newsletter then send an e-mail to
newsletter@avalon-rpg.com. Doing so will ensure you never receive anything
from Avalon again. Please note, either way, that we NEVER share your
e-mail address with anyone else and its privacy is guarded by security
measures developed and updated over more than a decade and a half of
internet experience. You may click through to send any questions or
requests for cesessation of our periodic newsletters by visiting our
website at http://www.avalon-rpg.com if you wish to initiate more
immediate feedback.
For those of you with an eye to anniversaries, Avalon in its preceding
form, the foundation game known as Lands of the Crown, will be twenty
years old next year. Avalon in its present incarnation (albeit far
smaller and only on the first steps of its long development) was born
in October 1989. A large in-game celebration will be planned for
October of 2009 to mark this milestone - an incredible longevity and
testimony to the enduring qualities of the game, its originality and
its long line of players stretching back across the years.
------------------ THE AVALON NEWSLETTER FOR 2007 --------------------
SECTION I: EVOLUTION OF THE AVALON WEBSITE, APPRENTICES AND JAVA APPLET
Those of you using the Avalon Java applet to play the game will have
noticed a major change in the past month. Our applet has undergone a
complete rewrite to make it compatible with more browsers and to expand
its facilities and useful to our players. The sidebar now contains more
useful information about your character including your level,
percentage of experience, gold coins, lessons accrued, and new status
bars to reflect the health of your character. A compass has been added
to make movement more intuitive and interactive help system accessed
via easy click-throughs added to tutor people about the land more
quickly. Special buttons for novices to allow speedy movement about the
land and configuration options for the applet have also been added and
will continue to evolve over the next few months. The applet is
presently in a beta-test phase and does not yet boast the new
illustrations, icons and graphics that will make up the finished
product. All feed back, however, is welcome and should be directed at
support@avalonpublications.com. We have taken a Java/website manager on
full-time and thus have far greater freedom than before to push things
along in this area.
In tandem with the new Java applet the autoguide has been upgraded and
the academies and schools system for novices evolved to be more
instructional and less susceptible of derailment. Newly graduated
scholars may knock on guild doors to receive instructions and even,
depending on the guild, initiation and lessons in specialist skills
from the recently introduced second-tutor CCC. Existing high-ranking
guild members may wish to test this out firsthand and give feedback at
their leisure. Apprentices should partake in the landwide badges system
in which each new guildmember may complete a series of challenges (of
varying difficulty) to demonstrate their growing knowledge of the land.
Success is judged by high-ranking fellow members and each completed
challenge results in the award of a badge denoting the accomplishment.
Fourteen badges await the ambitious apprentice; full completion brings
a hefty boost in experience, lessons and prestige.
The Avalon website has a new webmaster and is in the process of a
series of updates to its content and layout. More prominence is given
to recounting the latest significant events in the land (like election
results, warfare effects, treaties, notable dates, divine edict, etc).
This real-time information ticker will continue to be developed to
boast more useful facts and figures directly from the land. In
addition, we plan to test the effectiveness of including aspects of the
Avalon bulletin board and new, definitive-topic forums; focal points of
debate accessible by subscribers and non-subscribers alike (such as
forums on planned additions, forthcoming real-life meets, OOC debates
on topics asked to be given open, without-prejudice discussion).
Anybody interested in contributing ideas or managing/overseeing forums
should contact webmaster@avalon-rpg.com. There will be a great deal of
experimentation over the coming months as we attempt to create a
balanced, content-rich yet dynamic site, without losing the core
intuitiveness and importance of existing WITHIN the land rather than
out, a-lucidly a-lurkin' on its periphery.
As always we also welcome those of you who create websites dedicated to
or influenced by Avalon. Please let us know if you have one and we will
add it to our listings and give you advice on spreading the word around
the internet to bring visitors onto your site. Naturally it helps us to
have a broader web presence and there is no better way to achieve this
than through the contribution of enthusiastic Avalonians. Contact
webmaster@avalon-rpg.com if you have a website you wish us to look at.
SECTION II: CHARACTER FUNDAMENTALS: DUELLISM, PACIFISTS, FIGHTERS.
Avalon has always been unique amongst games of its type in the
free-flowing, unfettered nature of its gameplay (and there exist many
clones based on its original design). This is both its greatest
strength, for in no other land can a character impose him/herself so
indelibly on the unfolding history of the land, unshackled by long
lists of rules and regulations, but also a potential weakness; for in
Avalon, the strong often prey on the weak, the cruel abusing the less
competent, less aggressive, without formal censure save the
unpredictable actions of the deities. There exists, therefore, the
pacifist choice - whereby a character may declare him/herself a
pacifist and thus be protected from the hazards of combat and/or
belligerent action. Pacifists pay a price for this protection - they
are greatly restricted themselves from interacting in any way that may
impact adversely on other mortals. This works fine for an animist, for
example, sworn to protect life and never to raise a fist in anger, but
it is of no use to those who wish to enter into combat without
instantly facing the undiluted consequences of enemy wrath.
Thus a new character choice has been introduced known as 'duellism'.
The duellist is able to enter into combat via challenge and duel - but
only on terms dictated by the duellist. Thus a duellist can fight
freely, unfettered, in a mutual challenge but is prevented (as a
pacifist) from ambushing or being ambushed. It is a state perfect for
those of lower or middling level, keen to learn the ways of the land
and the art of combat in an honourable fashion while not yet able to
weather the full force of enemy retribution, organised team
counterattack, etc.
Duellist status can be taken on by any Avalonian and lasts for an
Avalon year (two real-life weeks). It is the perfect way to hone one's
skills, to fight one's peers, to test one's mettle against those of
like skill and competence. Some cities view it as a necessity of
climbing the ladder of combat-knowledge and tactics - for at times in
the land's history one city may be more populous than another and thus
the stronger city will naturally give its citizens advantages in group
combat the other cannot match. A vicious circle can develop wherein the
smaller group can never advance; is never allowed to advance. Duellism
has been added to the land to redress this. Use it wisely and with
purpose.
SECTION III: ADDITION OF 'WORLD EVENTS': DRAGONS AND DIVINE GLOBES.
In addition to the thousands of smaller-scale, individual quests that
embellish every corner of the land there is a new drive to implement
what we may call 'world events'. These are quests involving large
groups, whose impact is far greater. They bring together cities or
guilds to achieve common goals and make an enduring mark on the land.
Six such continent affecting events are planned and two have been
completed. The first two, 'The Sapience Dragon' and 'The Divine Globes'
are centered around city homesoil. The next two will be guild-related,
the fifth focussing on divine order and the sixth will be a
free-for-all.
'The Sapience Dragon' (type HELP DRAGON when playing Avalon or
http://www.avalon-rpg.com/help/pages/dragon.html for web help) requires
a city to make, using valuable commodities, a golden egg. Within the
egg is placed, according to the wealth and tactics of a city, treasures
aimed to tempt the dragon of Mount Sapience from its slumber. The
dragon awakens in the month of Hindyear, reviews the offerings laid in
its cave, and acts accordingly. Cities may have the dragon aid the
harvests, burn the crops of their enemies, or offer protection across
the entirety of their homesoil. The dragon sleeps again at the dawn of
the New Year. Needless to say the impact of dragon protection is felt
by all and complex tactics evolve over spreading city wealth to court
the dragon's support; rewarding the diligent and offering scope for
young and old to work together for the benefit of their homeland.
'The Divine Globes' (type HELP GLOBES when playing Avalon or
http://www.avalon-rpg.com/help/pages/globes.html for web) is a rather
more complex quest. In each of the centrepiece temples of the four main
cities, before the altars, a vast translucent globe of divine origin
has appeared. These globes are now in a state of constant vigilance,
absorbing the distillation of a myriad of actions, triumphs and
failures by all citizens of their home city. A decade of Avalon life is
reflected in this distilled form and the sum of the past ten years
results in, every New Year, the divine globe offering up a certain
amount of power to its citizens. The extent of this power is wholly
defined by the deeds of the citizens (type HELP GLOBEIDEALS when in
Avalon or http://www.avalon-rpg.com/help/pages/globeideals.html to view
deeds most noted by the globe). At the New Year and thence until it is
exhausted, the globe's power may be called upon by any citizen (to an
extent determind by the citizen's rank). The globe may help its
citizens or hinder its foes as determined by individuals (type HELP
GLOBEACTIONS when in Avalon or
http://www.avalon-rpg.com/help/pages/globeactions.html on our site). As
with the dragon, the divine globe encourages citizens to work together,
lends value to every action from the smallest apprentice to the
mightiest Prince, and can be directed to benefit the weak or tip the
balance in the interplay of the powerful.
Similar principles will be followed in the mapping out of the four
forthcoming world events, where guilds will be encouraged to work
together and rewarded for doing so, divine orders likewise, while the
final continent-wide quest will - more akin to the 'Long Night' -
transcend, if an individual wishes, the existing structures (city,
guild and order). A new world event/quest will be brought live each
month or two starting from January 2008 with the first of the two
guild-related ones.
SECTION IV: SKILLS: POST-ULTIMATE ABILITIES AND MYRIAD TWEAKS
As a result of rigorous testing and the introduction of crowning
abilities for those achieving the fullest extent of competence in a
skill (post or arrowed Ultimate) we have made hundreds of tweaks
throughout the skills system to better ensure equilibrium between the
various skillsets. As you can appreciate, this is no mean feat given
the thousands of existing abilities and literally millions of potential
combinations; but Avalon has always boasted the most well-balanced
skills system there is - and, as the originator of the concept of
online gameworlds with character abilities/skills, one would hope
Avalon could lead the way in such things. Combat balancing is, however,
an ongoing affair and your feedback is always welcome - especially from
the two most significant groups in determining a balanced system: the
very young and the very old. Feedback from the young gives insight
long-since lost to the deities about the impact and effect of an
ability - with all the will in the world, we cannot look with newformed
eyes again. Feedback from the very old, those who have pushed the
envelope of their specialist and general skills, those whose experience
of combat is deemed sufficient to be a fair judge of balance - this is
pivotal in the continuing integration of new abilities to the rich
tapestry of those already part of a character repertoire.
With a full-time coder we are once again in a position to react quickly
to perceived problems, imbalances and bugs. Most of the deities would
be happy to set up 'fair, level-playing field' combat between two
similarly skilled individuals to test the balance between opposing
professions and derive feedback accordingly. Do not be shy of
volunteering yourself to be part of the never-ending quest for a
perfect interplay of abilities; an impossible but gloriously worthy
goal. Such perfectionism is, of course, at the root of Avalon's success
at balancing out a combat system requiring such singular personal skill
to master that even the evolutions of client intelligence is still no
match for the deftly timed human touch.
SECTION V: DEITIES: IMPENDING ORDINATION, APPOINTMENT, OLD FACES RETURN
Between November 24th and the first weekend of December there will be a
divine ordination. This oh-so-rare of events is the last of the fifteen
gem quests wherein a mortal may compete to gain entry to the pantheon -
to be ordained as a permanent member of Avalon's divine. The ordination
itself is presently scheduled for Sunday November 25th. The quest, for
possession of the divine amethyst, lasts between three and five hours
and can involve everyone in the land. Mortals wishing to be part of the
amethyst quest will declare their support for one of the two remaining
contenders and all involved will compete in the most intense,
unpredictable and thrilling event in the Avalon calendar. The mortal
whose group holds the amethyst at the end of the allotted quest time is
declared victorious and can thus claim the greatest prize of all:
godhood. On previous occasions, as between Blodwyn and Zollrender,
Blodwyn was able to wrest the amethyst from Zollrender's team with but
seconds to go. These quests are always a roller-coaster, never a
foregone conclusion and throw up the most surprising alliances and
interactions. See HELP AMETHYST if in Avalon or review
http://www.avalon-rpg.com/help/pages/amethyst.html for more
information.
For those unaware of the title of 'contender' it is gained by any mortal
victorious in one of the fourteen gem quests. Contenders are then
whittled down to a final two by means of one versus one sands
elimination rounds (see HELP SANDS when playing Avalon or
http://www.avalon-rpg.com/help/pages/sands.html for web info). In the
build-up to the 2007 ordination, at time of writing, we now have three
contenders plus the victor in the divine emerald quest (scheduled for
Saturday November 24th, under the watchful eye of Aldaron, the god of
life). Three sands quests have been completed so far; with Edgtho
defeating Dunccan and Kodiak defeating Circe on the first weekend and, a
week later, Fistandantilus shocking many by battling out a victory
over Zenichiro, one of the favourites for Ordination. Their bout, it
must be stated, was a contest of extremely high quality - a spectacle worthy
of its combatants: two of the finest players of the present generation.
Details of the emerald quest have been posted on the 'news' bulletin board
and can also be found at http://www.avalon-rpg.com/help/pages/emerald.html
using your web browser. We will, therefore, have one or two final elimination
rounds following the emerald (depending on whether it is won by an existing
or new contender) before entering the final day and the Ordination itself.
Good luck to all those taking part.
It may be of interest to those of you not participating in the
competitive ordination that shortly following the arrival of the new
deity born of the amethyst quest, there will be a divine appointment.
The appointment will be aimed to balance out Olympus depending on the
outlook and realm of the mortal newly ordained. Those who wish to be
considered for appointment should make their cases known over the next
few weeks. The appointment will take place before the Christmas and New
Year vacations. Prospective appointees must have a long and illustrious
history in the land - though it need not necessarily be one of
conflict/combat. Commitment and strength of personality are more
important facets of a divine personality than the ability to perform
well in melee. Any may e-mail queries or propose themselves or others
direct to genesis@avalon-rpg.com or aldaron@avalon-rpg.com.
Two deities who have, for a long period, either lain dormant or been
possessed of ignoble souls have recently returned to prominence in the
land. Xanthe, goddess of vengeance has returned to her original guise
and duly taken up a combatative position among the Olympians while
Castigere has found a new soul, replacing its tattered and worn
predecessor with a personality of fresh vigour and long, long Avalon
experience. Indeed, the bearer of Castigere's mantle has been in Avalon
for over fifteen real-life years and fully deserves the exalted
position. Rhadamanthys, god of compassion, has informed me in advance
that he may be forced into a protracted absence (just under a year) but,
as with all successful deities, his order should continue to thrive
under its long serving High Priest.
SECTION VI: DIPLOMACY: CITY STATUS, OAKWOOD'S END, THE DRUIDS GUILD
The four great cities of Mercinae, Thakria, Parrius and Springdale
continue to pursue their diverse histories:
Thakria has long been stable and aggressively outward-looking under the
expert guidance of its Princess Narissa, also guildmistress of the
Thieves. Its citizen-base is growing, its guilds well populated (even
the Seers Guild which, until recently, was a husk of its former
glories, boasts a growing and increasingly effective membership).
Mercinae is on an upswing although its base was far less dynamic and
successful than its sister cities. Its newly crowned Princess is India,
guildmistress of the Mages, having recently replaced Fistandantilus in
the hope of a more active leadership re-igniting the fortunes of
Avalon's oldest city. Initial signs are positive and the city's
fortunes are looking up.
Parrius is led by Tetsuo, guildmaster of the Enchanters Guild, and
remains the least populated of the four great cities. It has lately
struggled to find a path independent of its alliances but is slowly
emerging from the shadows of Thakrian domination of its foreign policy
to forge its own path and ideals.
Springdale has endured the most tumultuous in-fighting in its history
over the past few Avalon years with factions competing for leadership,
warring over the soul of the city and its future direction. Kureishi,
the guildmaster of the Paladins was the most high-ranking casualty of
this civil strife with Ailiana of the Craftmasters emerging at last as
consensus Princess. It is a difficult task she must face - healing the
wounds and reuniting the city under common aims. Initial signs,
however, are positive as the leaders of those opposing her rule
gradually come to accept the will of the citizenry. Time will tell
whether Springdale, who during its internecine lost almost its entire
sphere of influence outside its city-walls, will be able to rebuild its
once prime position in the land. Certainly its future looks rosier now,
in the year 1198, than it did five Avalon years ago when all were at
one another's throats and the city threatened to split apart.
Joining the four great cities is a new centre of power, the
recently-expanded village of Oakwood's End. Fatalus, guildmaster of the
Craftmasters and one of the finest traders in the history of the land,
bought the village just west of Springdale (his former home) and
proceeded immediately to use his vast resources to build a mighty
fortress into the rugged hills just north of the village's traditional
centre. This fortress houses Fatalus' fabled riches and, though it has
yet to make an impact on the continent beyond, is the focus of much
attention from leadership of the great cities. Rumours abound of its
trying to tempt existing guilds to move within its walls and already it
has managed to put together an egg filled with treasures to bind the
dragon of Sapience to act for Oakwood's End; something unheard-of
merely a decade ago. One other mortal is closing in on the purchase of
a village and, should he achieve this goal and Fatalus' expansionist
approach continue undiminished, the socio-political landscape of Avalon
may be changed forever.
Despite a brief flaring of interest in the Necromancers Guild and the
disbanding of the Bandits Guild (as the majority of its members joined
the Thieves) there had been little change in the make-up of the land's
many guilds until the creation, just recently, of the Druids Guild.
With a contentious birth - the Animists had been the only
representative of its profession since time immemorial - the Druids
have begun their life under the leadership of Lamothe, long-time
animist and follower of the god of light. Its future is uncertain,
however, and it remains under the watchful eye of Olympus to determine
whether it will be a permanent addition to the land (the extent of its
membership and their influence will determine that). Even in its
fledgling years it has courted internal controversy with many members
departing due to disputes with the guildmistress. We shall see whether
those in favour of the Druids Guild will prevail over those keen to see
its closure and retain the Animist Guild's monopoly on the skillset of
the profession.
SECTION VII: EVOLUTIONS: COMING UPDATES, WARFARE, SUBMISSIONS, CURRENCY
Avalon is now pleased to boast a full-time coder in addition to the
various contributors to its ongoing design and game-writing. Sebastian,
keeper of the scrolls, is the avatar of the coder and you will find him
most receptive to problems (genuine, rather than invented). His e-mail
is sebastian@avalon-rpg.com and ideas may be pitched to him before they
are considered by the pantheon as a whole. Much thanks is due to him
for the speedy implementation of the world event quests, the hundreds
of tweaks and fixes lately pushing Avalon along and his help given
freely to those mortals in need of aid understanding their abilities or
discovering problems requiring coder attention.
Warfare is to be expanded during the month of December, assuming there
is no ongoing military conflict in the land, with siege engines and a
pile of tactical/logistical additions in the pipeline. The present
overbias in favour of fortifications nullifying potential battlefield
conflict is to be redressed as priority. As a toe-in-the-water for the
eventual completion of Seafaring, there are plans to introduce coastal
and river warfare via ships/boats, in addition to islands close to the
mainland. No more will be said of the islands here to allow the first
explorers the joy of discovery and subsequent storytelling. The aim is
to bring the warfare evolutions to light before the third world event
quest is begun, but we'll see how scheduling works out with the holiday
season fast approaching.
There are a handful of abilities yet to be implemented in the Farming
and Labours skills - and the lack of these has caused some commodity
shortages. Some of these abilities will be removed to perpetuate
quality trading of rare commodities while the rest are due for
implementation over the next few months alongside the other more
'glamorous' additions to the land. Keep an eye on the public bulletin
board for relevant messages from Sebastian, Genesis or Apollo.
Suggestions for these generic, everyman skills are particularly welcome
- since they do not impact on the complexities of combat balancing,
there is greater freedom to implement quality ideas quickly.
In addition to the continent-wide 'world events' there will be further
new quests - independent in nature, yet of greater scope than the
standard single-player variety most commonly undertaken. Some of these
are to be contributed by Avalon players and I should take this chance
to remind everybody that we are ALWAYS keen to receive quality,
original proposals for additions to the land. Quests, especially, are
likely to quickly find their way into the land. A thank-you, therefore,
to those who have recently made their contributions: you know who you
are.
Those of you based in the US may have found the exchange rate dollar to
British pound most unfavourable lately as the dollar grows weaker and
weaker against European currencies. Avalon will be attempting to do
what it can to mitigate that problem and ensure the American (and
Australian) players are not penalised, pricewise, because of the
continuing drop in the value of the dollar. To some extent Avalon will
swallow the cost itself since we are well aware that a 50% fall in the
value of the dollar against the UK pound means an effective price hike
of 50% for those Americans subscribing to Avalon. Naturally this isn't
our intention. We will do what we can.
- NEWSLETTER 2007 ENDS -
website: http://www.avalon-rpg.com
general email: support@avalonpublications.com
overall design/gamewide queries: genesis@avalon-rpg.com
coding/bug related matters: sebastian@avalon-rpg.com
website affairs: webmaster@avalon-rpg.com
postal address: box 3348, sheffield S10 3WS, s yorks, united kingdom.
(c) Avalon September/October 1989 to date-of-writing November 2007; and
on, and on, and on, and on...
