Folks,

Sorry for the late update but it’s been one of those weeks. OTOH, a number of good things to talk about, even at this late hour.

First, the initial staging of the tiers for our Builders went up and, thanks to them, we are rapidly approaching the stretch goal for unlocking the first stage of The Depths! We’ve added almost 500 new Builders since the tiers went up and the ranks of our Builders continue to grow nicely every day.

Secondly, we will be opening the servers for our Internal Testers next Tuesday, February 11^th, times to be determined on Monday but they are tentatively scheduled for 2PM EST and 6PM EST. The latest build includes changes to both the client and server, specifically focusing on FPS. These will not necessarily be server stress tests like the last time but focused more on improvements to the client (the client was feeling unloved from all the attention the server got from Andrew and the team). As such, we will not expect our IT folks to run multiple instances of the client (like last time) unless we ask them to do so during the test. Andrew and the programming team have been able to focus on the client and patching system this past week so I expect you folks will like what you see. I will send out an email next week to our IT folks with the exact times for the tests.

Thirdly, the first batch of our Founder’s Tiers are back up for purchase. Like our Builder tiers, these are only some of the tiers that will be reopened. They include most of the high-end tiers that weren’t closed before the end of the Kickstarter, Founder’s Points and the first official new add-on, the renewable subscription (3 years at no additional charge, every year after that $1 per year). As I promised after the Kickstarter, Founders can purchase this subscription as an add-on. Unlike the “Forever” tiers, this is just an add-on for the renewable subscription, it does not include the Alpha test access nor any of the extras that come with those tiers. This add-on is designed for those folks who purchased a tier that didn’t come with a long-term subscription plan and who don’t want and/or need all the extras that come with the Forever Tiers of either the Founders and the Builders. It is currently priced at $160 which is well below what other MMORPGs have charged for their equivalent plan just as our Builders also have Forever Tiers that are priced below competing games. It is one of the ways I promised to thank our Founders for backing this game right from the start as well as the Builders. This price should be available for the remainder of the year but this price will increase as we get closer to launch just as the pricing of the Builder’s Tiers will increase/change as we approach launch. As per above, additional tiers for both our Founders and Builders will be added in the coming weeks. Founders can go to this page to access these tiers. As the warning there says, these tiers can only be purchased by our Founders. FYI, a lot of the folks on our Forums have asked if they can use their current donations for FPs toward the renewable subscription. The answer is, of course! Many of you asked me during the Kickstarter if you could make smaller, ongoing donations to the game and then use them to buy add-ons such as the renewable subscription. Once again, I’m keeping that promise I made to you. When our editor comes online you can use any cash you spent on additional FPs towards the renewable subscription. You will, of course, lose the additional FPs (not the FPs that came with your tier) that you bought with that cash. In essence, you are using that cash to exchange the bought FPs for the renewable subscription. So, if you have already spent more on FPs than the cost of the renewable subscription, you’ll be good to go when the editor makes its long-awaited debut.

Finally, next week should see the first group of our Builders join us in our forums. We had hoped to get this done this week but other things took priority. We hope to begin the admission process early next week.

Other than those items, work proceeds nicely with Camelot Unchained. I’ll introduce you to our new designer next week as he has survived his “trial by paper” of reading my vision documents and not gone screaming into the woods. Also, if all goes well with the client tests next week, we might be rapidly approaching the day that we invite a whole heaping helping of our Founders to try and stress the client and server a bit more.

Have a great weekend everyone!

-Mark