Hey everyone! March has come and gone, and 2016 is already flying by! I am very sorry for how late this update is arriving; the end of this past week was marred by significantly more future planning meetings than usual, coupled with the rush to finish the upcoming content. Without further delay, here's this month's letter.
Membership Rewards & Veteran Points
Starting with the next update, we will start offering new claimable reward items based on how the amount of paid time left on a subscription, starting the day we implement this system. For example, if we were to turn this on today, we would compare that with the date the subscription is paid until, divided by 30. These unique rewards are varied, from social equipment and nanos, to items that will assist with your character's progression. The launch announcement of this system will include a breakdown of which rewards come at which monthly subscription tiers.
The Veteran Points system is one that has existed since before Alien Invasion and is one that I'm certain we have all taken advantage of. With the upcoming update, I will also be adding some items to the Veteran Shop. Some will be items that have been lost over time, while others will be new additions. Regrettably, after this update, Veteran Points will stop increasing over time. The amount of points a new character will be born with should be maintained. Over time, unique items to Veteran Shop will be made available through other means.
Upcoming Content
This update will introduce ICC Arbiter Vincenzo Palmiero. He will be arriving onto Rubi-Ka with a series of missions and odd jobs he wants taken care of. These will function similarly to Daily Missions, and addition to offering a new kind of currency which can be used to purchase a new set of items. The majority of Palmiero's initial batch of quests are aimed at players above level 200, though his PvP-based one is aimed at anyone, while his automated Arbitration Drone is willing to help leveling characters of all levels.
The quests offered by Vincenzo Palmiero, in addition to the Freelancers Inc. quest from the Drone, will offer unique reward items, beyond XP and Tokens. Most of these quests will take longer than normal quests, some requiring other players, but the rewards should feel worth the effort.
Arbiter Vincenzo Palmiero, and his supporting cast of characters, can all be found inside his office, located through the portal in the middle of the "Holodeck" tower in ICC Headquarters.
As some background on this character, Vincenzo Palmiero is an Arbiter for ICC. While he feels and acts important, further reinforced by having a small detachment of Peace Keepers and a "lavish" (read as: gaudy) office, his title and authority are mostly novelty. Childish and arrogant at times, this individual has secured a position in ICC primarily through nepotism instead of valor or loyalty, having strong family ties within ICC and the subsidiary corporations. Instead of embarrassing his lineage, he was shipped to Rubi-Ka with a gilded rank, allowing him to live his dream of taming a wild frontier, while sitting in a comfortable chair.
With this update out of the way, focus will be shifted towards returning to Systems Changes, bug fixes, and QoL improvements. Preparation is under way for the anniversary event update, but between the release of this update, and the anniversary, I do not foresee any more distractions. I am still allocating some resources for some of the larger updates for the anniversary, and look forward to sharing them with you when I have more information.
Thank You!
To those who have been patient and supportive over the past few months, I do sincerely thank you, especially as I feel I have not done enough to repay these generous gestures. To speak candidly for a moment, it has proven to be exhausting to be both the face and muscle behind an entire MMORPG, particularly with all the responsibilities that befall both roles. I do not seek pity, as I knew what this job would entail when accepting the role. I do, however, feel terrible that so many PMs and threads unanswered. In an earlier Dev Letter, I did commit to being more accessible, while then becoming more closed off than ever. Take these words for what they are, but I intend to remedy all of this as best as I can. I do not have an answer to everything, and some issues go beyond my power to fix, but I will do what I can to Make Rubi-Ka Great Again. Thanks again to those who have stuck with us.