[ti]sticky[/ti] JUNE BULLETIN

JUNE BULLETIN: END OF SPRING HIATUS

Hi everyone! We're back (sort of) and just have a few things to go over.

STORY QUEST: SILENT NIGHT

First of all, we'd like to apologize for leaving everyone hanging mid-event last February. Pressing circumstances kept us completely away for all of March and April, and it was only in May we could finally get back to basic maintenance and mod work on site.

We have decided not to continue the Silent Night event, as the main story purpose (discovering the remnants of Lentimas Town) was already achieved, and we feel too much time has passed to continue like nothing happened.

Instead, the event will have been terminated in-character due to a system error, which causes all participants to re-spawn at their last-visited shrine. You (OOC) may still keep any 2 items your characters managed to dig up OR choose from the unreleased Cycle 4.

There is a follow-up thread to revive your fossils, seek closure, and find out what happened to Dr. Bunya!

NEW PLAYER REGISTRATION

With Bunya's fate decided, we are once again open to run Starter Lab threads and accept new player applications. We will continue to accept new players through June and July, but will be closing registration again in August, as we will be away for several weeks. This is not an invitation to rush us with new characters, as we are still very busy and not well equipped to handle high site traffic.

WORLD EVENT

Our original timeline was to run the World Event during Golden Week in May, but the timing just didn't work out. The goal was to speed through Ostellia quickly so that we could open Mistra (Area 2, which has more planned content) as soon as possible. However, given the pace of our real lives right now, we've reluctantly settled on a slower pace for UNOVR and, by extension, Ostellia. At our current pace, we expect to run World Event pt.1 and 2 in September/October and for Mistra to open up sometime later this winter after Ostellia settlement development.

To keep us on schedule, we need YOU to finish your Ostellia quest threads and move them to the Completed Quests board! Not all of the Ostellia Quests are tied to the World Event, some tie into Plasma or Story events that we can run in June and July if the relevant quests have been turned in. A good example is Beneath the Bay and Exploring Sector Jarzik, which have opened up the next Story Quest with Professor Ash! The quest is Plasma-only, but don't worry, you'll all get the option to join up ranks soon.

COMING SOON: UPGRADE SHOP

With this recent hiatus lasting as long as it did, we have decided to change from mod-run Skill Trees to an automated shop system! We are still trialing this system in beta, but plan to implement it site-wide before August (when we will be away again). To help ease the transition, player Skill Trees will soon be updated with the new icons we will be using going forward. Tank is represented by an Ability Shield, Sweeper by the Rusted Sword, and Support by the Revival Herb.

DISCORD

We have decided that we will no longer be supporting Discord in any mod capacity. You will not receive pings or reminders for announcements, thread updates, character acceptance, etc. Members are encouraged to help answer one another's questions as well!

While we understand this is inconvenient for everyone, we have decided to put our lives and mental health first. Discord is a place where we go to have fun and chat with friends - using it in a "work" capacity that is "always on" has massively contributed to mental burnout, the same way replying to company emails while you're off the clock means you never really get to leave work.

Please check the scrolling News banner at the top of the forum for new updates and keep an eye on Patch Notes for changes to site mechanics! As always, clear communication is deeply important to us, but tends to be challenging due to executive functioning problems. Thank you for your understanding!