November 30

Hello Xsyon Citizens!

First as a reminder please visit our Kickstarter Project Page

I have several announcements today.

1) We are converting the Main Server to allow for limited Free Play!

Our goal is to better welcome new and returning players by introducing them to the current Xsyon community.

Free Play will include the following limits:
- Players cannot start new Tribes
- Players cannot join new Tribe charters
- Players can join tribes but they do not add to the tribe size
- Skills are effectively limited to 30
- Players cannot use gained experience to level up

We will be testing these adjustments on the Trial Server this weekend as we've tested these internally and are ready to go!

2) Xsyon is listed in several categories for MMOSite's Reader's Choice Awards. Voting will begin on Monday and we will have direct links and more information available Sunday night.

3) We have a round of bug fixes ready that will be patched to the Main Server on Monday. The next feature update will be the introduction of Trade functions to allow players to buy and sell items through their Totem. This is almost ready and will be tested on the Trial Server early this coming week.

4) The Xsyon Game Manual has been updated. Much thanks to Guide Isda! We are looking for volunteers to assist in translating the manual to any foreign languages. If you are willing to assist us, please contact Notorious Games.

5) I've answered the latest Questions for the Developers and opened a new question session.

6) There have been some questions and concerns regarding our Kickstarter campaign that I will answer here.

- Our goal is too high:

The Prelude was originally planned to have more game features but in a simple form. We quickly found out that players demanded more polish to current systems or the addition of unplanned features so that became the focus while the release of other features that were already partially developed was delayed or put on hold.

Architecture, terraforming, tribal ranks and permissions were enhanced. Combat and creature AI was completely redone. The user interface was routinely improved. Carts, skill locks, chat tabs, a map panel and many other unplanned elements were added. Because of all these originally unplanned additions we have yet been unable to add features such as cooking, pets and mounts that were developed but never brought to a polished enough state for release.

I've learned from this experience to not release features in the simple states initially intended and instead develop them to a more satisfactory level before adding them into the game.

With Xsyon:Apocalypse we want to complete the listed features with the right amount of function and detail. For example, mounts: Simple version - mounts can be summoned and released into thin air and ridden for faster travel speed. Desired version - mounts must be kept and fed, can be ridden in combat, can attack and can pull carts.

I've also learned of the many hurdles that can come our way and how to prepare for them.

Our goal is a miniscule amount for a game development budget. However, it is a realistic amount to reach a full featured released with the desired amount of functionality at the same time anticipating any hurdles that have come our way in the past.

Many Kickstarter projects, even greatly overfunded, are now meeting with delayed releases. We already know what it's like to be underfunded. Worse than missing our current goal would be to reach a lesser goal that is not enough to fund expectations.

We are open to investors outside of Kickstarter. If we meet a portion of our goals without Kickstarter we have the potential of releasing Kickstarter again with a lower goal. For now though we are forging foward with our current campaign!

- Kickstarter is off to a slow start:

Yes, it is, but we have a full month to reach our goal. Kickstarter projects are not usually funded on an even timeline. We will be reaching out to a lot of potential players this month. The more momentum we gain now, the more attention we will garner and the more likely we are to meet our goal.

So if you are ready to support us in this endeavor, please do! Join us in building the momentum we need!