Dura Aris
Intermediate OT User
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2020
- Messages
- 140
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- 103
We've created a genuinely new theme, Blessed Lands, for Dura's upcoming season, and along with it many other innovations. We are excited to see what you think about it.
BLESSED LANDS
Every day, regions of the world are chosen randomly to become Blessed or Hallowed:
Two Blessed regions give modest Experience and Loot bonuses under normal Open-PvP conditions.
One Hallowed region gives stronger Experience and Loot bonuses and becomes PvP Enforced.
The regions change every server save.
These are whole regions, not isolated hunting grounds; there are 8 in Dura: Thais, Carlin, Kazordoon, Ab'dendriel, Venore, Edron, Darashia, Anrkahmun. Each includes a city and the lands around, beneath, and above it. Everyday which regions are blessed will change and you will have to adapt to it. That daily shift is the essence of Blessed Lands. It creates new landscapes of play each day, without replacing Dura's world -- new strategies to be discovered and created, new approaches demanded of you, whatever your goal. With it will come unexpected challenges, fights, routes, escapes, and stories players will experience for the first time. It will allow for a genuinely fresh playthrough that will be similar to what you know but keep you always on your toes -- having you strategize how to approach each day - contest territory, avoid or seek conflict, etc. etc. Familiar parts of the world can gain a different purpose, and the unfamiliar may become sought after. The bonuses are simple, but their impact will create great depth of gameplay.
SEASONAL TO ETERNAL
The server will be seasonal, but players progress will not be deleted. When the season has run its course, its characters will eventually continue into Aeterna, Dura's eternal world for seasonal characters. Your character, items, and progress will continue to exist, while future seasons will still begin as fresh starts. This is new for Dura, but we believe it's worth trying. We're listening for what you want for future Seasons.
PROGRESSION AND GAME SETTINGS
Season I used ascending rates: rates began lower and increased as characters progressed. Season II instead uses flat rates, meaning the same underlying rate structure applies from the beginning of the season to the end. Overall, effective progression for Season II should be roughly 2x-3x+ faster than Dura's 1x. We still feel ascending rates are as good as flat rates, possibly even superior. But Dura's seasonal servers, also called arcade servers, are not about always what is the absolute best thing. Each season we're trying to bring something fresh and different; a certain flavor of ice cream may be the best but that doesn't mean you want to have it every night.
WHAT'S DIFFERENT FROM SEASON I
Season II is not Season I repeated, the differences are enormous. Some of the most important changes players will encounter are:BLESSED LANDS
Every day, regions of the world are chosen randomly to become Blessed or Hallowed:
Two Blessed regions give modest Experience and Loot bonuses under normal Open-PvP conditions.
One Hallowed region gives stronger Experience and Loot bonuses and becomes PvP Enforced.
The regions change every server save.
These are whole regions, not isolated hunting grounds; there are 8 in Dura: Thais, Carlin, Kazordoon, Ab'dendriel, Venore, Edron, Darashia, Anrkahmun. Each includes a city and the lands around, beneath, and above it. Everyday which regions are blessed will change and you will have to adapt to it. That daily shift is the essence of Blessed Lands. It creates new landscapes of play each day, without replacing Dura's world -- new strategies to be discovered and created, new approaches demanded of you, whatever your goal. With it will come unexpected challenges, fights, routes, escapes, and stories players will experience for the first time. It will allow for a genuinely fresh playthrough that will be similar to what you know but keep you always on your toes -- having you strategize how to approach each day - contest territory, avoid or seek conflict, etc. etc. Familiar parts of the world can gain a different purpose, and the unfamiliar may become sought after. The bonuses are simple, but their impact will create great depth of gameplay.
SEASONAL TO ETERNAL
The server will be seasonal, but players progress will not be deleted. When the season has run its course, its characters will eventually continue into Aeterna, Dura's eternal world for seasonal characters. Your character, items, and progress will continue to exist, while future seasons will still begin as fresh starts. This is new for Dura, but we believe it's worth trying. We're listening for what you want for future Seasons.
PROGRESSION AND GAME SETTINGS
Season I used ascending rates: rates began lower and increased as characters progressed. Season II instead uses flat rates, meaning the same underlying rate structure applies from the beginning of the season to the end. Overall, effective progression for Season II should be roughly 2x-3x+ faster than Dura's 1x. We still feel ascending rates are as good as flat rates, possibly even superior. But Dura's seasonal servers, also called arcade servers, are not about always what is the absolute best thing. Each season we're trying to bring something fresh and different; a certain flavor of ice cream may be the best but that doesn't mean you want to have it every night.
WHAT'S DIFFERENT FROM SEASON I
- Besides fixing the major Heroism and Loot bug from Season I, which undermined the first Season sadly, we've also added countless new features to our loot system beyond just Heroism. Loot Hoards and Gold Riches, isolating Upgrade Items, rune and valuables quests being in perfect parity with monster-loot-rate, and more.
- Faster Skill Advancement while hunting. You'll still gain skills faster training, but with this new feature we've added you can spend more time actively playing and less time waiting to play.
- Native Knight mechanics. We listened to player feedback from last Season and have added new mechanics to the game, including shield break, defense break, minimum damage floor, and critical strike. Knights will begin with a certain percentage of these.
- Also due to player feedback we've added a Warmode and guild PvP systems, which will allow people who want to PvP to do so with less friction. Protection against extreme level differences has also been added, which will mean less griefing.
- We've heard players loud and clear and have created our own Market System. We've also implemented a Character Bazaar for people to be able to trade their characters. These systems should result in a season that allows greater fluidity and less hassle and annoyance.
- Distance efficiency: Dura never had this, but 7.4~ Tibia did and they were right to. It brings a very certain and special balance to the vocations in the early part of the game. And we've reinstituted it in our own way.
- Artifacts - a new item slot, now have stats and abilities.
- And many more...
~Artifacts~
SERVER GAUGES
This technically isn't part of the game but we think this is a valuable integration into how a Seasonal Game runs. Server Gauges are recurring Discord referendums through which players can vote on selected rates and settings of the game they're playing. Depending on the setting, players may be able to call for it to increase, decrease, remain the same, be enabled, or be disabled. Qualifying outcomes will then be acted on quickly and always by the Dev Team, implementing the change immediately. And then they'll immediately reset to be voted up or down again. The goal is to give the community a transparent and responsive way to help shape the season they're actually playing; players themselves regulating balance and what's most fun. As strategies develop and the world progresses, players will have a constant and reliable way to express what is working and where the season could become more balanced, competitive, or fun.
TEST SERVER
There will be a Test Server before launch. We do not have its exact date yet, but as soon as we do, we will update the Dura website and Discord and post the details here on OTLand in this Thread.
HELP US
If you'd like to help, we appreciate it! The biggest thing of all is feedback. tell us what you think, what we're doing wrong, and what we should change. Until the launch day, we're keeping an open mind to change anything. So if you have any feedback at all, please leave it here for us. And we will be sure to read it! Obviously, at the same time if there are things we didn't cover or more general features regarding Dura tell us in Discord!
SERVER GAUGES
This technically isn't part of the game but we think this is a valuable integration into how a Seasonal Game runs. Server Gauges are recurring Discord referendums through which players can vote on selected rates and settings of the game they're playing. Depending on the setting, players may be able to call for it to increase, decrease, remain the same, be enabled, or be disabled. Qualifying outcomes will then be acted on quickly and always by the Dev Team, implementing the change immediately. And then they'll immediately reset to be voted up or down again. The goal is to give the community a transparent and responsive way to help shape the season they're actually playing; players themselves regulating balance and what's most fun. As strategies develop and the world progresses, players will have a constant and reliable way to express what is working and where the season could become more balanced, competitive, or fun.
TEST SERVER
There will be a Test Server before launch. We do not have its exact date yet, but as soon as we do, we will update the Dura website and Discord and post the details here on OTLand in this Thread.
HELP US
If you'd like to help, we appreciate it! The biggest thing of all is feedback. tell us what you think, what we're doing wrong, and what we should change. Until the launch day, we're keeping an open mind to change anything. So if you have any feedback at all, please leave it here for us. And we will be sure to read it! Obviously, at the same time if there are things we didn't cover or more general features regarding Dura tell us in Discord!
LEARN MORE ABOUT DURA
This post has focused on what is new, novel, and innovative about Season II, and especially its theme Blessed Lands. If you would like to know more about the game itself, with all its systems and mechanics, including pictures and videos, but be warned -- it's endless!
This post has focused on what is new, novel, and innovative about Season II, and especially its theme Blessed Lands. If you would like to know more about the game itself, with all its systems and mechanics, including pictures and videos, but be warned -- it's endless!
