Production Build #10.0.0

Release 10: Let's try this again

Tonight we've taken the unusual step of doing a new release just three days after our previous one. This is unusual for something that's not just a hotfix, but we felt (and I'm sure most of you will agree) that this was needed.

What's new in Release 10:

• Potions have returned to the godlands! They now drop from all the monsters that used to drop them.
• Drop rates of potions within dungeons have been increased. In particular we have made defense potions a little easier to get.
• Dungeon drop rates in the godlands have been reduced somewhat, but not to their former levels.
• Drop rates of loot items in dungeons (especially rare and UT items) have been significantly increased. (Rare pets in dungeons are still really rare.) Edited to add: UTs are still very, very rare. They're just not as insanely rare as they were before. And as you know, if they become too easy to get, we'll dial them back down again.
• The Nexus Crier is back! Now with new, helpful, and informative things to tell you.
• Behind-the-scenes work on Fame and some other things we're working on.

Bug Fixes:

• The "interact key" will no longer send you someplace you didn't want to go. There is an edgecase involving the Cloth Bazaar that we're aware of and are working to fix.
• Clicking "Play" no longer defaults chosen character to a Wizard on the Loading screen / Skin selection modal
• Tab feature now functions correctly in the registration modal
• New characters no longer have a Health Potion occupying an inventory slot
• Character names are no longer cut off in the list of nearby players
• Ninja class now displays class unlock requirements
• Package icon display properly in the realms

Why we did this
As we've said many times, we're going to try a lot of new things with Realm, and not all of them are going to work.

This was definitely one of those times.

Not only has the response to our changes to the way that the godlands and dungeons work been loud and clear, it's also clear from overall player behavior that this was not popular or effective for the game. So, we've changed things back, mostly, while still trying to move toward the goals we have for making the game less grindy, less intimidating (but still highly skill-based), and more focused on playing lots of characters rather than playing just one.

We may make further changes to the godlands, dungeons, drops, etc., as part of introducing new features. But as always, if it doesn't work, we won't keep it. We're all about making the game better, not about sticking to our ideas right or wrong.

FWIW, a lot of the input from you all over the past three days has been informative and helpful in our evaluation of this change (other input was... not so helpful). To those of you who were civil, even if passionate and opinionated, thank you. We do listen (even if there is no way for us to respond to every post, comment, and private message), and saying things that help us see other points of view is very helpful.