What Was New In 2021

12/1/2021 v1253
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring (published 1954)

• Merry Bawkmas!
• Season’s Beatings!

11/5/2021 v1249
Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity. — Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)

• After some time away, recent visitors to Ash Island have returned.

10/6/2021 v1245
[Margaret] Thatcher was famous for saying “If you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.” Now that’s true, but I would like to add “if you want absolutely nothing said or done, ask a cat.” — Craig Ferguson (b. 1962)

• Happy Feast of Tssrin!

9/1/2021 v1240
Question everything. Learn something. Answer nothing. — Euripides (c. 480 BC – c. 406 BC)

• Everything in this update is a secret.
• We hope that everyone continues to remain safe and healthy!

8/4/2021 v1236
You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you. — Brian Tracy (b. 1944)

• Using a shieldstone while it is active will de-activate it.
• Added explicit /cancel and /on options to all activated bloodblade abilities (in addition to default toggle behavior).
• Bloodmages can now specify a percentage of their total health as their health limit using /set X%.
• Blood inferno now causes affected monsters to bleed when they die.
• Fixed the masking in the super advanced library.
• Inspired by the Olympics, our world gerbils have strapped on their go-fast shoes and picked up the pace: the unofficial speed bump (to 5 frames/second) that occurred in v1232 is now officially permanent.

7/7/2021 v1232
A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body. — Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)

• The indulstone’s /depart /return ability no longer consumes spirit, and its experience penalty has been reduced significantly.
• All housing is now considered “private”, like the Purple Tor Inn.

6/2/2021 v1227
I know I am but summer to your heart, and not the full four seasons of the year. — Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)

• Time may seem to pass a tiny bit more swiftly now. Specifically, the server now runs at ~4.5 frames per second throughout the day, instead of only during the off-peak hours (or rather, what it erroneously thought the off-peak hours were).

5/5/2021 v1223
And now you’ll be telling stories
of my coming back
and they won’t be false, and they won’t be true
but they’ll be real
— Mary Oliver (1935–2019)

• All changes to this update are secret. (But real.)

4/7/2021 v1219
You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children — Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007)

• All changes to this update are secret. Or maybe not that secret. Or maybe not that serious.

3/3/2021 v1214
It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart. — Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926)

• Assorted fixes and tweaks to new monsters and areas.

2/3/2021 v1210
Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. — Herman Hesse (1877–1962)

• You’ll need to explore to discover changes for this chaos storm.

1/6/2021 v1206
No matter how hard the past is, you can always begin again. — Buddha

• When asked what was new this update, the creators smirked knowingly, yet spoke not a word. So... your guess is as good as mine?
• The virtual machine that hosts the Clan Lord game server froze, unexpectedly & inexplicably, on 19 Dec., which made the game inaccessible for about 90 minutes. Sorry about that! We’re awarding some free ranks to everyone as consolation.