Update:Behind the Scenes - January (2007)

Deep below the Barbarian Outpost, the locals are putting the finishing touches to their brand new training area. They've been working hard to provide a new and exciting way for recruits to test their skills in a variety of different disciplines, far different from anything they had experienced before. Aren't we all lucky that they want us to join in, too! Beginning this exciting year, we will bring you... Barbarian Assault.

This minigame, which will focus on combat and teamwork, will have 4 main “classes” of player. If you're feeling aggressive, you'll be able to take on the role of the attacker, standing at the front against waves of twisted and brutal abominations while listening out for instructions from your team mates. In fact, without co-operation you really won't get far, since each of the classes requires the help of another to do their job properly. Will you be the healer and keep your buddies alive? Will you opt to lay traps and trails leading the enemy to a spiky fate? Will you collect the loot or operate the mighty cannons that loom over the arena? Will you defend your fellow adventurers' backs? For those who dare face the deadly Penance, access will be given to this beautiful new minigame and its unique list of rewards.

Also this month we will bring you two new quests at completely opposite ends of the map. In Contact you'll be quickly wrapped up in a tale of forgotten curses, long disputes and a rather nasty dungeon housing savage traps, horrific beasties and death. Care should certainly be taken before attempting to help the people of Sophanem... if you want to survive this high level combat quest.

You'll also notice some changes to the way our interfaces and menus look in the game, making them easier to use and generally improving your playing experience, such as removing the scroll bar from the magic interface.

In our second quest this month, Larry the zoo-keeper will need your help. He, like the rest of the adventuring community, knows there’s something not quite right about those shifty, beak twitching, fish guzzling penguins. He, too, has seen them plotting behind closed doors - always watching, forever watching... But nobody will believe him. He's close to losing his job, but that really isn't what he's worried about, since there won't be a job if humanity falls beneath their evil flippers. No, stop laughing, this is serious stuff! You'll be adventuring north, beyond Miscellania and into the Lunar Sea, building secret bird hides and trying to find out the secrets behind the Cold War. A new Agility course and some of the funniest animations we have seen will await those who dare challenge the might of these feathered fiends.

We will also be releasing more updates to our popular Knowledge Base providing another Area Guide to help with your exploring, updating more of the QuestHelp system and releasing another Players' Gallery and Postbag from the Hedge.

The cold, dark tunnels of the Haunted Mine hold more secrets than first meets the eye, especially for Tarn, a professor of all things living... yet dead. He has been buried in his work for far too long and, later this month, you'll have a chance to explore exactly what he has been working on. This update will be coupled with our next batch of NPC improvements (and accompanying wallpapers); making all the skeletons and zombies considerably more flesh-crawlingly menacing.

Happy 2007. It's going to be an exciting year...