Been a while since the last update, but that's only because there's been so much development work going on that there hasn't been much time for letting everyone know about what we've been up to.  The biggest update, one that's taken the past few weeks of time, has been the development of a boating system as a method of transportation around the realm.  Now, you might think to yourself, 'boating?  Um, what do I care about boating?  I want to hunt monsters, not go fishing!'

Well, we think that you'll quikly become as enamored with our boats as we are.  Up until now, your choices for transit included:  walking, riding a horse, or magical travel.  Boating enables you to "quickly" traverse to new areas of Arenthyor that might have been more time consuming than if you ran there.  Essentially, this allows you an immersive role-play integrated method of jumping to areas of Arenthyor that are most relevant to your character, whether it be questing, treasure-hunting, or yes, hunting monsters.

Some of the interesting features of this system include:
1)  Dynamic travel times:  The time spent on the boat is based on the distance of your destination. 
2)  Sea-based combat:  The waters are deep and hide creatures better left to nightmares.  This won't be some lazy float down the river.  Take care you don't accidentally fall out of the boat.
3)  Underwater adventure:  Fighting on a boat is dangerous and you may fall in yourself.  If you do, you better get back to the boat before you drown or worse, the boat leaves you behind.
4) Travel forward and backwards:  If you realize that you need to return to your departing destination for some reason, the boat can turn around and return to the same port you used to gain passage.  Also, the time it takes to make this return trip will be the same as the time required to get to the point where you decided to turn around.

Take care, though, for if you find yourself swimming in the depths as your boat nears its destination, you'll be left to paddle yourself home and have to catch the next ferry.

Hopefully you'll find this as enjoyable as we believe it can be.

Other smaller updates include minor bug fixes, addition of new areas to support the boating system, optimization of code to make things go faster/reduce lag, and general updating the server to remove unused resources. 

The server continues to improve in quality and scope.  As always, post any bugs you find onto the forums.

See you in-game!

So lots to discuss and long overdue for an update.

As you may have noticed, the server is offline.  This is due to a thunderstorm knocking our beloved world out of commission.  After much triage, we were able to salvage the data, so no character data or database information was lost.  Later, we were actually able to get ther server running again, but decided to take it down again and replace it with a new rig (as yet to be purchased - the search goes on).  Its our intent to put a more stable, faster, and sturdy rig than we previously had (which was good in and of itself, but there's always room for improvement).

At the same time, we've been continuing to develop the mechanics and world.  New quests have been added, enhancements to the unique weapon system, an upgrade to CEP 2.4, incorporation of the CEP's classic roleplaying adaption features and more. 

Most exciting of all is that whereas in the previous incarnation of Arenthyor, the cities that you could join were very much aligned with racial types (humans in Arenthyor, Elves in Ithaeria, dwarves in Khanstone, etc...)  We're excited to announce that we've opened up the doors for some (not all) of the cities, which would allow your character to shift allegiances to new cities/towns as their character development progresses.  Thus, for example, a dwarf will no longer be constrained join only the Khanstone Delve.  Instead, they may shift allegiances to Arenthyor, the underdark city of Cheath Er'Sadria, or the Delve.  Of course, only dwarves will be allowed to join the Delve (as fey will be to Ithaeria, halflings with the Shire, gnomes for Mt. Deephill, etc...).  So, there will continue to be factions that are exclusive to certain racial types, but this exciting new development will allow some characters more flexibility to choose the faction that best fits their character development.

All in all, please know that module development continues, even during this "intermission".

As with previous posts, this is confirmation that that the server continues to be actively developed, with small updates occuring 3-4 times per week.  Of late, that has involved a lot of work redesigning conversations so that even though you may not notice it, things are more efficient on the back end.

The Underdark has been getting a lot of love.  I've enjoyed creating that environment and think players will have a great time exploring it and creating the dramatic tension between themselves that the Underdark is known for.  I'm also soon to begin working on something special for those who live in the dark, but that's for a later post.

Also getting some changes are the deity altars.  Currently, there are 22 deity options in the game and they each have a unique altar that I hope captures the dogma of their church.  In playtesting, some of these altars were not functiong as they should, so I needed to go in and make some updates.  Hopefully all are working correctly.

Next, the planar city of Sigil has been built out with many, but not all, of the resources of a full city, for those planeswalker PCs.  Probably a little more to do here, but not much. The idea is not to make Sigil a full stand-alone city, but rather a waypoint that planeswalkers come to on their journey somewhere else.

One thing that I'm really excited about is alcohol, in-game alcohol to be exact.  I've made sure that the taverns in each of the "cities" all have unique drinks for that place.  The dwarven tavern has dwarven drinks, the Underdark taverns sell drinks that could be found in the dark places.  The fey drink refined fare. The Brushfellow Shire, Sigil...they all have unique and signature drinks.  All told, there's about 30 different drinks with different costs and different effects - some harmless and some quite...potent.  To that end, I'm thinking of a "Spirits of the World" challenge to amass one of each of the different spirits sold.  More to come.

There's been a lot more, probably some worth mentioning, but hopefully you get the sense that not only is the world being developed, but it is being developed with an eye towards expanding the world and providing you, the player, with opportunities to enhance your roleplay.

See you in-game!

A general update.  Server updates continue to occur almost daily.  Since the last post, the most notable updates include that Cheath Er'Sadria, the underdark city of the drow and other subterranean races is fully developed and working.  What's more, the Underdark is built and connected to the wider world of Arenthyor.  Additionally, Sigil, the planar city at the center of the Outlands, is also up and running.  Planar subraces now originate from there and acquire a Planar Gem that will allow them to return to their home cities a couple of times per day.  From Sigil, planeswalkers can jump to Baator, land of devils or Elysium, the land of harmony, or the prime material plane.  More to come here.

Factions have been refined.  Merchant pricing has been updated.  TONS of minor fixes not worth mentioning but improve playability.

See you in-game!

What is the Underdark?  In Forgotten Realms, the Underdark is the series of caverns and caves that house the (mostly evil) races that live underground.  While I like the idea of an Underdark for Arenthyor, the name "Underdark" has always struck me as being Surface-centric.  I mean that a drow, for example, who has lived her entire life in the lightless depths and the comforting enclosures would not consider herself, her world, to be "Under", nor "dark", for those are concepts that would be foreign to her.  She would consider her world to be the center of the universe, not below something that she has never experienced (the surface world) nor would she comprehend the world of light in order to recognize that she lives in darkness.

I think there needs to be a new name, a better name for the Underdark in Arenthyor.  One that takes a resident's point of view of describing the world.  One that recognizes the security provided by having a cold cave wall at your back.  One that assumes that darkness is not the absence of light, but rather that there are shades of darkness that can measured as we can see the progression of sun across the sky.

Problem is...I don't know what that is.  I invite you to send me your comments, either through here or through the comment form on the homepage.  Let me know what you think the name of Arenthyor's Underdark should be.

Why this discourse about the Underdark?  I thought you'd never ask.  Well, because as development of the world continues, it is high time those races get a little love.  Read on, if you dare.

***SPOILER ALERT*** 
If you don't play an Underdark race, the below contains metainformation that your character may not have knowledge of in-game.  Please roleplay accordingly.  It is likely that learned characters (wizards) or certain races (elven) may know this information, but few others.

Up until this point, those races preferring lightless depths and evil machinations (you know who you are) have been sorely lacking in a place to call home.  Enter the city of Cheath Er'Sadria, home to the worst drow, illithids, cave goblins, deep halflings, dueargar, and svirfneblin that has ever been thrown together.  Of course

Brief history:  An ancient city under the crust of the world of Arenthyor, Cheath Er'Sadria was devastated by the Riftening as the rest of the continent of Arenthyor was when the world was split asunder.  Before the catastrophe, it was a sprawling lightless metropolis in an enormous cavern miles wide and high.  When the Riftening shook the world, a chasm opened up and swallowed half of of the city.  Of course, the drow were quick to recover, since the half of the city that fell away was mostly the ghettos that housed the "lesser" inhabitants.  The drow and illithid quarters were largely untouched and continued to thrive over time.  The ghettos, on the other hand, never recovered and to this day the inhabitants live in ruined buildings and scratch out existence on the fringe of Cheath Er'Sadria society.

Assassination, servitude, dark dealings, betrayal, and blackmail are the most valuable currency in this world.  Coins can be stolen, but information?  Information must be extracted.  Usually with a serrated blade and accompanied by much screaming.  Welcome to Cheath Er'Sadria.

The new year continues to see sustained server development.  Most of the past month or so has been spent in testing and refinisystem upgrades. 

With the launch of the new "Bastion Wall" quest in late December, the random dungeon system has had numerous "small" upgrades that while might be relatively unnoticable by the player, improve the quality of the system and expand its useabilty.  In addition, there have been upgrades and expansions to the treasure system, the journal system, the boss system, and the quest system.  Over the period since the last update, these systems have undergone tremendous testing and appear to be functioning as intended with only minor adjustments still needed to be made.  Also, the "Bastion Wall" quest, once a solo adventure, has been expanded to allow 2 adventurers to go through at the same time.

On the development horizon is (hopefully) a new random dungeon system that will reduce the impact of the system on the server, speed up development times, and make for completely new dungeon experiences on each run.  This may be a pipe dream, but I've got some ideas...Additionally, there are planned updates to the boss system to expand their powers and defenses so that you'll be even more challenged and frightened by they.  Also, the randomized trap system will be expanded to include new traps and possibly some of the more visually interesting traps (pit traps, gas traps, flood traps, boulder traps, etc...) 

On the area build horizon, the Underdark and is of prime importance for expansion, as well as more quests and overland maps.

On the server development horizon, hardware updates are being considered to improve the stability and speed of the server.

See you in-game!

Quick post about quest bosses. 

Arenthyor is a quest-based server.  By that, it is meant that quests are provided similar to modules in Dungeons and Dragons.  There is a world that your character can explore and engage in.  There are beasts to conquer and kill for accolades.  There are small quests that your character can engage in that are not part of the larger quest system.  But, the Quests are a primary feature of Arenthyor and are progressive adventures designed to challenge a party of four adventurers.  Completion of one quest leads to another.  At the end of each quest, your party will face the Boss.  As explained in earlier posts, the boss system is dynamic and is built to ensure maximum replayability.

I'm exited to announce one of the newest enhancements to the bosses.  This enhancement expands the intelligence around the weapons and armor bosses choose.  I've added a significant upgrade to the selection of weapons that expands the already robust variablility built into the boss system.  Now, boss will weild a number of different weapons and weapon combinations.  One-handed weapons, two-handed weapons, one-handed with a shield, one-handed without a shield, no weapon at all (choosing to bite, claw, gore, or slam you).  This is in addition to the special surprise ability that each boss has to unleash upon you.

The boss already has a high level of variability built-in (the type of boss you fight depends on what alignment last won the boss fight last, the bosses are given random special abilities every time, the difficulty of the boss changes (it will always be a difficult fight, but sometimes it may be a little more or less difficult).  These new enhancements build on that platform.

The sum total of these systems hopefully reinforces the feeling that you're experiencing a new dungeon each and every time you play it (that 'I don't know which way to go and I'm alone in the dark' kind of feeling).  In addition, it supports your roleplay such that your character has a new story to tell about "When I entered the crypt this time, I faced the beast... while last time I went into a crypt, I faced a fearsome..." rather than having to explain why your character faced the exact same creature in the exact same dungeon for the third time in a row.

Now, take a good look at the next boss you face.  He looks angry and that's a wicked weapon he's holding.  .So, better buff up, friend, and pray to your gods, for he's coming your way.

See you in-game!

Hadn't updated the community on the latest updates in a while, so I thought I'd do that here.  Module development continues at a strong pace, especially over the holiday season.  The random dungeon quest system has become more dynamic and is probably something you won't notice, which is a good thing.  You may notice "debug" information in some of the quests that are still in test.  Disregard those, as they are to validate coding.  The newest quest "Bastion's Wall" has been added and is, in my mind, one of the most fun quests yet developed.  It is made even moreso by the fact that it was added after a discussion with a player AND it integrates the story of Bastion into its reason-for-being.  It is intended to be a solo quest, but you are allowed to take 2 players through it, if needed (some characters may find the difficulty quite high...yes, I'm looking at the mages). 

The journals and quest development systems have also undergone significant updates.  These systems, along with the random dungeon system, were some of the first code I ever wrote, so as I went back through to add new functionality, there were many opportunities to streamline the code and make it work more closely with the latest direction of the server.

Other changes include edits to spawn lists, area design, individual quests, deity system updates, quality control checks, etc...  Although you may not notice many of the changes, I can assure you that the quality of the underlying systems is more comprehensive and stronger to bring about a higher quality of play and support your roleplaying.

See you in-game!

Based on some good player feedback, I thought it would be worth a discussion about the intended difficulty of the server.  Arenthyor is hard; intentionally so.

The difficulty of a server is a complicated balancing act.  On one hand, you must respect the needs of the player, who wants to feel the rush of success, gather loot and xp, and a sense of accomplishment.  On the other hand, you must balance the needs of the server to create a challenging environment, a balanced economy, and a sense of danger/the unexpected.

Why?  Well, a few key reasons..

First, there's a saying, "People don't respect that for which they do not pay."  Essentially, people will appreciate more the things they had to work for than the things that were given to them for free.  That is the driving thought behind Arenthyor.  For example, magic is rare, especially at low levels.  When you get your first magic weapon, you will remember it and savor it.  It may only be a +1 sword, but it will have significant value because of all that you had go through before getting it.  The difficulty of the server will actually make you value your accomplishments more.

Second, Arenthyor is intended to be group-action based rather than a solo adventure server with the encounters built to challenge a 4-party group.  As a result, the experience system rewards party-based groups with bonus xp (though groups over 4 do not get xp).  Quests are also built for parties and are probably not completable with 2 or fewer PCs.  Why is a 4-party group recommended? Because with only 4 members, PCs must give serious thought to the composition of the party.  Typical parties including a couple of fighter-types and a cleric are then required to make a hard choice - take a rogue to handle traps...or maybe a wizard to provide added firepower...or something else.  You can't have it all.  Thus, the process of finding party members, forming a party, and figuring out the best configuration of your party becomes part of the fun.

Next, there is a maximum number of levels that you can gain in Arenthyor (40).  If you logged on and were instantly leveled to 20th, all the in-game encounters would have to be of 20th level as well to be challenging.  That challenge is the same relative difficulty as if you are 2nd level in a 2nd level encounter.  The difference is that at 20th level, you only have 20 more levels to reach your max 40th level as opposed to at 2nd level, you have 38 more potential levels of enjoyment.  Therefore, a higher difficulty level actually lengthens the opportunity for development of your character.

Lastly, pure economics.  One of the key pieces that determines the difficulty of a an encounter for a player is the type of equipment and armor used.  Better armor and items means a more powerful character.  A more powerful character needs more powerful monsters to provide a challenge.  More powerful items are also more valuable, which means that a character has access to more gold with which to buy things.  Having more gold means that merchant items need to cost more to balance the economy.  Therefore, harder encounters with lower magic loot actually keep the economy from experiencing drastic inflation.  That's not to say that Arenthyor does not have magic. It does, but it is rare (especially at lower levels), and thus, exceedingly valuable and less likely to be converted into gold.

Hopefully this gives you a good understanding of why the difficulty of the server is such.  I believe you'll ultimately have a more enjoyable time because your success will be hard-fought and well-deserved, you will establish friendships formed from common adventures, your character development and roleplay will have ample time to influence the world around you, and the gold you earn on your adventures will actually be worth something. 

Rise to the challenge!

Well, it's here!  The NWN podast team is back and they asked Arenthyor to be the featured interview in their welcome-back podcast!  Check it out a www.nwnpodcast.com to hear the interview.  If you haven't heard the podcast, make sure you listen to them all (start with the one about Arenthyor first, of course).  They are full of great dialogue about all things NWN from builders, community members, developers, and more. 

In the Arenthyor interview, we go deeper into the basic premise of the server and how it is set up to facilitate your efforts as the player to grow and develop your roleplay and character progression in an engaging atmosphere.  You'll also be able to learn more about some of the systems that make Arenthyor truly unique - like the Accolade system, our Dungeon Quest system, or the Destiny system. 

So please give it a listen and let us know what you think!