CABAL Online - Community Forums - Blogs http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php Offical CABAL Online Community Forums en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:24:45 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forum.cabalonline.com/images/cabal/misc/rss.jpg CABAL Online - Community Forums - Blogs http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php Weekly Roundup http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=34 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:38:29 GMT Another week is over and the weekend has arrived (:yahoo:). But before I go and relax I have shackled myself to this keyboard to update the blog. ... Another week is over and the weekend has arrived (:yahoo:). But before I go and relax I have shackled myself to this keyboard to update the blog.

As many of you have noticed the blog has not been updated for the past few weeks. This isn't because I don't love you all (although anyone's patience would be put to the test dealing with the CABAL Community on the forums daily). Instead I have simply not been around, or had time, to round up the weekly happenings. But enough of the excuses.

So what is going on? As it is late I will briefly inform you all of a few points of interest.

The situation with the botters
Last week we introduced our brand new botting team, alongside a team of six GMs. The impacts, as many of you have noticed, have been instant and are beyond even our expectations.

In the time period the alz farmed per day has halved. Additionally the proportion of the alz farmed at the botting hotspots has significantly reduced. All in all it has been a great success and long may it continue.

In terms of alz sellers and buyers we are still investigating the logs.

GameGuard
In addition to the new botting team we have been working closely with the developers of GameGuard to improve protection. Major changes on this front should be introduced in the December update.

New CABAL Cash Distribution Partners
I'm pleased to announce we have signed agreements with two new partners to distribute our CABAL Cash (one in Poland and one in Romania). It will introduce new payment methods for these regions and should make paying for CABAL much easier for Polish and Romanian users. More details on this to follow.

Xfire Live Stream
Next Thursday we will once again team up with Xfire to be the first game to use their live broadcast feature. During the live stream the new dungeons will be shown, as well as a Guild vs Guild war. You may even get to see and speak to a GM or two...

November Event
During November we plan to run several events (one of which will be ingame). This will target the mid-level player and will therefore be a good opportunity for existing players to level up a new character. Again all details have yet to be confirmed and full event information will be posted in the next few weeks.

New Payment Restrictions
In order to reduce the hassle of paying for the game, we have made several changes to the payment system. Instead of the previous maximum of 2 payments within 48 hours, four payments can now be made. Furthermore the restrictions on new players is no longer so strict, allowing those starting on their CABAL journey to benefit from the shop.

And finally....
If you haven't already done so make sure you check out our new Facebook quiz - 'Which Class are you?' So far the quiz has been remarkably accurate (check out player feedback here - http://forum.cabalonline.com/showthread.php?t=140354) and suggests many of you do your research before selecting a class.

*unlocks chain and walks off into the sunset* ]]> Caesar http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=34 Do not despair...the blog is back! http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=33 Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:29:21 GMT Breathe a sigh of relief! For after a break for several weeks the blog is back! I’m sure you all missed it terribly, although the fact that you can... Breathe a sigh of relief! For after a break for several weeks the blog is back! I’m sure you all missed it terribly, although the fact that you can harass us on the forums and nag us via private messages meant hopefully you were able to survive. I’m sure GM Viral’s insightful test blog and interesting stories also kept you ticking over until my ‘blogosphere’ return.

It has been a busy few weeks, with the update going live (the first version globally to do so) and the usual marketing and bug fixing activities that inevitably follow. In my view, and I hope you will agree, this was one of the smoothest updates in CABAL’s history and with the exception of a few issues with the mission wars and the usual patch day chaos ‘Siena The Queen’ went live without any major hitches.

The update itself has been one of the most warmly received, with the new dungeons and features adding some new and interesting content to the game. I genuinely believe that other features of the update, such as the new method of entering the mission war, will soon become loved by all, as they promise to make some significant improvements to some of the most annoying aspects of the game (ala logging in at the time of a TG).

Marketing wise we have been contacting the usual sites and also attempting to broaden our reach in many countries around Europe. I’d like to thank all of the players who have helped with this, namely Sziszoka (Hungary), Akherosia (Russia) and Enkk (Italy). If you know of a gaming or MMORPG site in your country that doesn’t currently cover CABAL, please contact me via private message or the support system. The more users who play from your country, the more support (including staff and payment options) we will need to provide.

We have also been working on processing, testing and adding the new item shops. As I’m sure you are aware, the Wild Western costume has been on sale for the past week and the fact we are the first version to sell this item, as well as the first version outside Korea to have the update, should hopefully show how hard we are working to deliver the best service possible to you. This will continue and we are already discussing future updates to both the game and the shop. If you have an opinion on this, share it with us! Your ideas are forwarded to EST, discussed in their meeting, and, if good enough, implemented to the game.

One final thing to leave you all with this week. The tournament server, mentioned on the forums, is getting closer to becoming reality. So prepare yourself for a new challenge...it will certainly be worth your time and efforts!

Until next week...keep safe my fellow Nevarethian (doesn’t quite work does it?) ]]> Caesar http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=33 Siena the Queen: Story Teaser part 3 http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=32 Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:32:13 GMT Siena Story Teaser: Part 3

[My apologies for the delay on this one, as there were some other matters that required my attention before I could return to this. It was meant to be four parts, with the last part being posted this morning - but you can now read part three and part four in one big post. Enjoy!]


Maku Sha's charge towards us stopped abruptly, shadows lifting up from the cracked stone floor, weaving through and around those huge legs. The beast roared at us, a loud, animal noise that had nothing in common with the speech that came from its mouth only moments before.

"It will not hold for long." The Force Blader spoke, and I thought I detected the tiniest amount of strain in his voice. "I really suggest we take care of this as fast as we can." He stepped past me and the Warrior, his left hand moving through the forms of binding and weakening. I've encountered those before, on the field of battle, and barely escaped with my life. I remember that terrible weakness, my blades suddenly almost too heavy to lift, unable to move...

I hate these guys...

Now, however, that dark use of the Force was on my side. I leapt past the Force Blader, blades extended. Maku Sha had the smell of rotting plants around him, a thick, sweet stench that made my stomach turn. His axe came down towards me, but for all the power behind that swing it was simply not fast enough, and the weapon crashed into the stones behind me, spraying out shards of stone fragments. I felt them glancing off my armour, meaningless minor damage. My blades glided through the air, following movements that I have trained and repeated over and over and over, making them a part of me. Maku Sha wore no armour, but it had a thick, fibrous skin that would no doubt have served as good protection against lesser weapons.

Sha roared again, this time in pain, as I opened two deep cuts across its left leg, and came up behind it. Its tail flicked towards me, narrowly missing my legs, and I jumped out of range. It could not turn to follow me however, with those solid shadows still twisting through its legs, holding it in place. And it had more than just me to worry about. Incandescent Force flared around it, elemental power exploding from the hands of the Wizard and burning across its upper body. My Shielder had moved to the right, drawing another attack from Sha as she moved within range. That huge axe drifted through the air, and everything seemed to slow down as she raised her shield, I tried to jump to somehow stop the axe from impacting-

-and bright blue-white sparks rained down from the lattice of Force around her shield as she absorbed the blow, and coolly deflected the axe into the ground, her expression not even changing slightly.

So they were good, these companions of mine. The Sage had chosen well.

The Shielder held that axe down, somehow, stepped back slightly, power flaring bright yellow from the shield, pulling into the hilt of her blade, and she jumped high, came down driving her blade straight into the ground. The floor shook and cracks spiderwebbed out from the impact point, and Maku Sha stumbled back from that massive impact, tearing loose from the binding shadows around its legs. I moved to the side, opening two more long cuts on its bulging lower back, green blood spraying out around the cuts, building up attack on attack that left Maku Sha's back and legs a bleeding ruin.

The Warrior shouted, driving his Greatsword into the cracked stones left by the Shielder, and ripped that mass of sharpened Mithril upwards, actually containing the broken stone in a web of Force that exploded across Maku Sha. He gave the beast no chance to recover, launching into an spinning attack that destroyed it completely, cutting through skin and flesh and bone with a sickening ease.

Maku Shao collapsed in front of us, those huge taloned hands slowly relaxing their grip on its weapon.

"... Beaten... by Humans..." Its voice was fading, almost inaudible. "But I am not the only Sha..."

I shook my blades sharply, cleaning off the worst of that thick green blood. The Warrior looked at the fallen beast with some concern apparent in his face.

"This was too easy. I don't trust this, not one bit."

"So what?" I smiled mockingly. "You don't hear me complaining."

"Caution does not imply complaints." The Warrior returned my smile with a flat stare, turned to the others. "There might be more of these... Sha, in here. We can use the same tactic we did just now."

"Same tactic? And what if we have more than one at the same time?" My Shielder asked, stretching her left arm. That blow she took had to hurt.

"We deal with that if it happens." The Capella Wizard spoke. She moved past the Warrior, and looked at the broken body of Maku Sha. "Even five of these will not trouble us."

"Idle speculation. We deal with it as it happens." I tried to keep my irritation from my voice. "There might be none, or one, or five, and there is no point in worrying about it."

The Wizard stared at me for a long moment, and I tightened my grip on my blades. Raw power was impressive, but I was very sure that I was faster than she was. She looked at the Warrior, and he nodded.

"Let's move. No point in standing here."

My Archer appeared to be recovered from the power he expended in the previous corridor, and he and the Force Blader brought up the rear of our little party. There appeared to be some quick conversation between them, but I could not make out what was said. That was something to take note of, for sure. We were still enemies, and even under these circumstances there was nothing to be gained from forgetting that little fact.

The Warrior led the way, moving into the corridor where Maku Sha had appeared from. The corridor was long and narrow, and it twisted from left to right, making it very hard to keep track of which direction we were moving in. It also became hotter and hotter as we moved further down it, and the omnipresent humidity vanished, replaced by a dry heat.

"I don't like this, it feels as if we are walking into an inferno." My Shielder was proved somewhat correct as we turned the next corner. The corridor ahead of us had widened, but stretching as far as the eye could see blue-white flames burned from circular vents in the ground, with a soft hissing and crackling noise.

"How do we switch these off?" The Warrior looked around, but there was nothing obvious that could serve as a switch.

"This seems to be the way forward, impassable as it may appear at first glance." The Force Blader was also studying the area in front of the first fire-vent. "There were no markings or writings anywhere on the way here that appeared different from the inscriptions of whoever constructed this temple."

"What are you suggesting?" I moved closer to the fire, close enough to feel the heat. "We walk through this?"

"I am not sure yet. Allow me a moment," and that burned and scarred little journal I had found as we entered appeared in his hands, as if by magic. "Perhaps there is something clue in here."

"Or perhaps this fire is the reason that book is in the shape that it is in now."

There had to be a way through here though. There was more to this temple than what we had seen up to now, and something had spoken with Maku Sha before it attacked us. Nothing behind us, fire in front of us...

"Nothing in here." The Force Blader snapped the journal shut, and it vanished again, somewhere into his armour, I was sure. "Something about speed, but nothing conclusive."

"We can go through here." The Shielder's voice was soft, but firm. "It's is possible."

I understood what she was talking about, but even so... Extending protection to Capella? This was the last thing I expected from her. That scar on her right arm was most assuredly the result of an encounter with Capella on the battefield.

"I can protect us, hopefully for long enough to make our way past this."

"Are you sure?" The Wizard glanced at the fire stretching out in front of us. "This could be much harder than it appears."

"Stand close." The Shielder did not waste words. "On my word, we move. Do not waste any time, since we do not know how much ground we have to cover."

We gathered around her, and she closed her eyes for a moment, moving her hand slightly, shaping and binding Force. I felt her presence reaching out to me, and saw the momentary flicker of her shadow moving, even as she stood motionless. There was another flicker, almost too brief for the eye to see, of all six of us covered with an inky blackness, before the Shielder opened her eyes again.

"Move!"

I turned and sprinted, not waiting to see if the others followed. Increasing my movement speed was a basic skill, but using that technique correctly was much harder than it sounded. I entered that passage of fire, felt the heat as nothing more than a distant presence. Silver light flared around me, a perfect sphere with me in the centre, and I caught a glimpse of the Wizard appearing right in front of me, vanishing again into the distance, another silver bubble in a world of fire.

The corridor seemed endless, filled with wall after wall of blue-white fire. I ran, hoping that the Shielder could keep up this protection... Suddenly the fires died down for a moment, revealing what appeared to be the end of the corridor only a short distance ahead - and then all the walls exploded upwards, burning fireballs that almost knocked me to my feet. I stumbled forwards, feeling a sudden burning as the silver bubble around me vanished to the fires, and dove forwards, crashing and rolling past the last firegate, and I heard and felt my companions doing the same.

The Wizard was standing there, waiting for us, and for a moment I really hated her. She appeared to be completely unscathed.

"Speed..." It appeared that the Force Blader had also made it through in one piece. "That's what it meant, obviously."

"Ah, hindsight." I came to my feet, trying to see if there was any obvious damage to my armour or weapons, and restrained my urge to make further comments. All five of us - not counting the damn Wizard - appeared to be moderately undamaged. I saw a burn mark on the face of the Warrior, and the Archer had a vivid red burn across the back of his hand where his gloves did not protect him.

"That was... unpleasant."

I looked around us. Some stairs were leading up and to the left, appearing far to deep for humans to comfortably use them. That was the only way to go, unless you counted going back through the hell of that firegate corridor as a viable option. We gathered ourselves, and started moving up the stairs, weapons ready. No words were needed now - we could not be more alert.

The stairs opened up to the largest room we had yet seen. Spacious, with large statues lining the walls, and more stairs raising up from the far corner. The only problem, as it were, was that it appeared to be filled with copies of Maku Sha.

I exploded into action, before the beasts could react. Force flowed across my body, extending my awareness all around me. This ability was hard to master, and you needed the speed and reaction of long training in order to use it to the fullest potential. I flowed past the Sha, my blades an extension of my arms, bound to me. The Sha were too slow, and I could read their attacks before they even tried, moved past and under massive arms and weapons, leaving gaping cuts and bright green blood behind me, building attack on attack, looking for and finding that instinctive combat rhythm that allowed me to move from one attack to the next seamlessly.

The Sha were big, and powerful, but they were obviously not used to fighting as a group, and this helped me. As I punched a hole straight through to the centre of the group my companions joined in the fight, and despite the power of our opponents they were untrained, and no real match for us. Force flared and exploded through the room as we unleashed our combined power, ripping through the Sha. It was over in moments..

The temperature in the room suddenly dropped, as the last Sha died under the sword of the Warrior, and I could sense a terrifying presence, suddenly real and horribly close, all around us.


"Humans."

The voice was quiet, and low enough that I could feel it rather than hear it.

"You dare to step into this place?"

Our giant adversary stood calmly in the middle of the room, and it had appeared as if from nowhere, a huge armoured figure that was easily three times taller than the big Warrior standing to my left. The giant hefted the strange weapon it was holding in its left hand, and rested it against its shoulder.

"You dare to challenge... me? Six of you, when an army would not have been enough?"

It looked down at the wreckage between us, the strange greenish blood and the broken bodies of the Sha that ambushed us only moments before the giant appeared, with an apparent disinterest. It was already very clear that this opponent was going to be far tougher than any we had faced thus far in this corrupted temple.

"Come then." Its weapon made a whistling noise as it swung through the air and came to a stop pointing straight at us. It appeared to be a massive spear, but the blade that tipped it was bigger than a GreatSword, and glowed with a disturbing orange light. I would not wager on anyone being able to survive a direct hit with that monster, and that was without even considering the fact that we had no idea of the capabilities of our opponent. My two blades seemed almost weightless in my hands as I stepped forwards, my companions spreading out behind me.

...Veniti...

That voice again, vaguely female, appearing from everywhere around us.

"They die here, my Queen."

... do not fail me...

The giant warrior gave no other warning, and its attack was shockingly sudden, a diagonal slash that I barely avoided. If that blade had hit me my armour would have been of as much use as a sheet of paper. Even Mithril had its limits. The air around us was getting colder and colder, and I could feel my movements getting slower. The giant did not hesitate though, and attacked again, another slash that would have decapitated anyone it hit. We had to stay out of range.

The air was really cold now, cold enough for frost to form a feathery line across the back of my blade, and I stared at it with disbelief. What in the hells is this?

"Do it!" The Warrior shouted out behind me. "We will keep it off you, but get ready!" He came up on my left, his sword held high. "Take the right. We have to keep him away from the others."

I forced my mind into calmness, ignoring the cold around me. Force could not be bound while the mind was not perfectly clear, and able to concentrate. The cold was weakening me, weakening all of us, but we could compensate for it. Shadows rose from the ground again, twisting through the air below Veniti - the Force Blader was already busy.

My Shielder came up to my right. "I'll get his attention, so be ready." She ran past ducked underneath another decapitating slash, and took up a position right behind Veniti. I could feel the Force she summoned, reaching out into the stones underneath her, drawing up power around herself, a tight, solid mass of woven power that would protect her better than any shield ever could. I knew this ability, had seen it in action many times before, but I also knew that the concentration needed to keep this up means she would be unable to move at all.

The Warrior shouted a loud challenge, and dashed past me, jumping towards Veniti. Light and power blossomed behind me, the Wizard and the Force Archer focusing their control of Force to the point where their weapons changed again, into their more powerful forms.

This was it, then.

I steadied my hands, removed my awareness from the cold, placed knowledge of any discomfort far away. It was interfering, and I could not afford it right now. Force came when I opened myself, shaped along my blades and melted the building frost in an instant. I had to compensate for whatever damage the cold was doing. I ignored all the warnings from my training, about over-extending myself - theory was well and good, but there was no place for theory in the here-and-now, extended my awareness out around myself.

Veniti had spun around, impossibly fast for such a huge creature, his spear whistling through the air to crash into the side of my Shielder, and impossibly, she just stood there, absorbing the power from that blow. I felt a sudden savage pride, whatever Veniti was he would not have expected his attack to just be... ignored. Her shield spun out, becoming a weapon in itself, one that ripped through the air to crash into Veniti. At the same time the Warrior's attack hit the back of the armoured Veniti, and even though there was no visible damage Veniti turned around, snake-quick, whipping out his spear, leaving a glowing orange streak behind it. The Warrior simply turned with the blow, deflecting it with his Greatsword. Force started hammering into Veniti, ranged power from the Wizard and Archer, tight, impossibly fast precision from the Archer striking Veniti's helm, compared to the simply awesome flow of pure raw elemental power from the Wizard that ruptured the air around our opponent with fire and ice. The Force Blader was staying out of range as well, and I could see him perform bind after bind, while at the same time attacking with flows of pure crystallised Force that gleamed dark blue-black as it punched into Veniti again and again.

My turn.

Everything seemed to slow down, momentarily, and I stepped lightly into range, saw Veniti's head turning towards me, keeping track of a possible new target. His weapon had struck the Shielder again, and he was bringing it back in my direction, but slowly, way too slowly. I had enough time to study his armour, magnificently made, but with crucial spaces here and there, essential to allow him to still move. There was no point in me taking on that armour directly, but those small gaps and spaces... Leather, or skin, gave way beneath sharpened Mithril, and then I was past him again.

Movement, keep moving, never give them a stationary target to attack, move over and under every attack, make use of every sense you posses, become like the wind. You are insubstantial, you rely on speed, deception, avoidance rather than brute defensive strength. Lessons drilled into me, repeated over and over, long years of training making them second nature.

I wove my blades into a blur around Veniti, striking and cutting again and again and again, flowing around him. He was suddenly hard pressed, and I wondered how much remained of that earlier calm arrogance. The Warrior had managed to slice through that thick armour, substituting sheer power in place of finesse. I used to laugh at that particular Battle Style, but the sheer animal strength of the big Capella was on an inhuman level.

Veniti, however, had more than just a massive spear as weapon. I wonder, now, if we had not been too confident, if there was something we could have done, if we could have known...

Spikes, made from plant-matter but hard as iron, ripped up through the ground without warning, puncturing and shattering through the stones underneath us, striking towards the ceiling. I twisted out of the way, felt one of them score a deep cut in the armour on my right leg, but I avoided it. The spikes pulled back into the ground, just as rapidly as they had appeared, but they had done their job. There was a sudden shocking silence from behind me, where the Wizard and Force Archer had been attacking from, and I turned, dreading the inevitable...

They were both down, the Wizard lying on her side, and the Archer thrown back, crumpled against the wall, both of them lying at unnatural angles, blood slowly pooling around them. The Force Blader was down as well, huge rents in his armour where the spikes had cut through it, but he was at least moving. The Shielder was still standing, blood flowing down her armour, but she was upright and attacking.

The Warrior... This was fury unleashed, when he saw that the Wizard was down. I got a quick glimpse of his face, and his eyes were actually glowing, a bright, deep red, mirroring the blood on the ground behind us, Force boiling inside him. He seemed to have cast aside the need for defense, swinging that Greatsword as if it was weightless, opening massive gashes in Veniti's armour, driving even that huge monster backwards. Veniti's spear came whistling around, heading straight for the Warrior - who simply met that glowing orange tip with his own Greatsword, stopping it in a shower of orange sparks. Then, impossibly, he simply drove his Greatsword to the ground, cutting clean through whatever metal had been used to forge the spear. In that instant the Shielder punched her blade into the ground again, and the earth shuddered, staggering Veniti - and the Warrior's next attack was another series of spinning cuts, ripping his opponent into pieces.

What was left of Veniti slowly collapsed in front of us, bloody wreckage as shattered as the stones underneath. We looked at each other, and there was no room for words. The Warrior silently moved back to where the Wizard had fallen, his back to us as he knelt next to her.

The Shielder and I moved to the fallen Archer. I closed his eyes, looked at my Shielder.

"He was one of the best." Her voice was oddly emotionless, but her eyes... I looked away, unable to meet her gaze.

"Let's go." The Warrior rose to his feet, and there was nothing in his voice. Nothing at all. "If we stop here they died for nothing. We have to end this. We can retrieve them later, after we are done."

If we can even finish this... I left the thought unspoken.

"I will stay here." The Force Blader's voice was weak, but he was sitting upright. "There is nothing alive behind us, and..." He swallowed, took a deep breath. "I cannot continue like this."

It was a miracle that he was even alive, with wounds like that. Gaping holes in his armour, and his left arm hung at his side - it appeared that he could not even move it.

"We will come back for you." The Warrior's voice was still completely emotionless. "Take care of her, until we get back here here." He looked at me, and the bleeding Shielder. "Are you ready? We finish this, now. Siena dies, today."

The Shielder nodded, and I closed my eyes for a moment. If it would only be that easy...

There was another passage that opened up at the far end of the room, just up the stairs I saw when we first entered. There was a gate, but it had collapsed when Veniti died. I looked at the Warrior, and took the lead.

The passage was a nightmare, one that I will never forget, ever. The stones were barely visible, covered under a thick layer of slime and growths, making walking treacherous. Strange, bulging pods hung from vines that crawled over the walls and ceiling, and the pulsed as if they were alive. The air was almost unbreathable, and it could be compared to walking through a corpse. I had to fight to not throw up, in that darkness. The light and cold from the room where we fought Veniti was a distant memory, lost in heat and stinking humidity.

...you will die here...

...turn around...

That damned voice was whispering from all around us, all the time, and we were unable to block it out.

... you will be ripped into pieces....

...slowly torn apart...

The attacks, when they came, were almost a relief. I could not even make out exactly what we were fighting. Dark wings, whipping vines, and inhuman screeches and roars, the passage became an endless nightmare of blood and pain, one that we had to cut our way through. I kept moving, instinct saving me more than skill, a blind determination to not give up, a knowledge that we could not stop, stopping meant dying, here in the darkness, lost in a hole in the ground underneath the Mutant Forest. I was bleeding from dozens of minor cuts and wounds, blood and sweat making the hilts of my blades slippery, but I never let go. Things, beasts in the darkness, mutated creatures, died in front of me, cut to pieces, and I was fighting on instinct and training alone.

Light was sudden, and almost blinding, after what felt like an eternity in the darkness. I staggered slightly, then stopped when I saw what was waiting for us.

Impossibly huge, a bloated mass of twisted flesh and plant, the entire end of the room we were in was taken up by a monstrous form. Thick vines drifted through the air, apparently moving under the control of the monster, and there, high up and exactly in the centre was what appeared to be a young human woman, or at least the upper body of one - the lower body was hidden, merged into that twisted mass below her.

... you've come then...

I looked at my companions, and hoped I looked better than they did. We were battered, bleeding, covered with green blood and gore and plant growths, and in no apparent shape to fight... But this would end here, one way or the other.

.. come then, Humans... Death awaits you...

Spikes rippled through the ground in front of Siena, because this was her, I was sure of it. Going closer appeared suicidal, if those spikes were the same as the ones Veniti summoned.

There was no other way, now. I opened myself to the Force, allowed it to fill me, drew even more power, throwing caution to the wind, it was reckless to do this when this tired and worn down but I had no choice. This amount of power needed a catalyst of some sort, a release point, and I offered my blades, felt that shaping and changing that I've known a hundred times before. Pure Force blasted out around me, and I fought to control it, to keep it from obliterating me. Bit by bit I struggled to control that power, taming it, bending it to my will, and finally it almost snapped into place.

I stood up, facing Siena, my blades gone, and in their place... Solid Force was shaped along my arms, extending up from my lower arms, forming into three three short blades that extended past my hands. Solid, condensed Force, sharp enough to cut through anything, but I had to get close for these to have any effect.

The Warrior and the Shielder had followed my example, and their weapons were gone as well, replaced by shaped Force. The Warrior was wielding a huge scythe that glowed and crackled, blue-white power visible on the edge of the blade, and the Shielder was holding a single shield, multiple blades extending from the edge.

... come then...

There was only one way forward, now. None of us would be able to keep up these forms for very long, and without them we would die.

The first strike was mine, as I used Force to push myself away from the ground, a jump that was higher than any human could hope for without assistance, and I came down in a dive with those claws extended in front of me, slicing through vines that moved to stop me, opening a cut all the way down the body of Siena. I rolled upright, and saw that I had managed to clear the spikes she had around herself.

The Warrior was cutting a way through, a reaper, scythe flashing as he simply cut down anything in front of him, leaving bleeding stumps where the spikes came from the ground to meet him.

The Shielder was throwing that bladed shield, a spinning weapon that she controlled with crackling arcs of Force, and it cut a bloody swath through Siena's spikes.

I moved, faster than humanly possible, jumping across the body of Siena, using those whipping vines as steps, cutting through them again and again, spinning through the air as Siena tried to stop me. One of the vines slashed across my arm, ripping off my armour and leaving a cut that burned like acid, I ignored it, kept moving; and scored another deep wound on the body of Siena.

My two companions had fought their way past the spikes, and were also attacking Siena directly now, the scythe biting deep into that twisted mass of plant and flesh, the spinning shield leaving terrible cuts across her body.

Siena screamed, and the sound was a physical pain. A vine whipped down, smashing the Shielder into the ground, and it came down for a second blow - only to be cut in half by a glowing scythe. The Shielder struggled upright, and I could see that she was in very bad shape, but I had no time to even look closer.

"Attack the human part!" The Warrior shouted, narrowly avoiding another whipping vine. "We are not having enough of an effect!"

I immediately understood what he meant. Siena was taking some pains to protect that small part of her that still appeared to be human, and there was a dense mass of vines between us and that human figure. I knew what I had to do.

I pushed past my limits, drawing even more Force into myself, ignoring the pain and the price I would have to pay for doing this in my condition. Pure power blasted out around me, crackling like fire, an elemental strength that would certainly kill me. Time became meaningless, now. I jumped again, cutting into Siena's body, launching myself even higher, grabbed a vine that slashed towards my face and used that momentum to propel my self higher again. Vines cut into me, ripping through my armour, but I pushed on, cutting my path towards Siena.

Her movements became frantic, a mass of vines whipping towards me, too many to avoid - and they were cut apart by a thrown scythe that blurred past me. The Warrior had sacrificed his own weapon to open my way. Siena appeared in front of me, or at least her human part, but there was no humanity in her face, and she screamed at me, pure hatred and rage and pain. Shaped Force claws ripped into her, but the blood that appeared was a sick green, not red. With the last of my strength I punched the claws as hard as I could, and cut outwards.

The light in Siena's eyes slowly faded, as everything around me went black, and I was helpless to stop my fall as the world vanished around me.




Some time later...




I woke up in what appeared to be a clean, white room. This was such a cliché that I wanted to laugh, but moving hurt too much.

"He carried you out of there." The soft voice was next to me was that of the Shielder. I slowly turned my head, to see her sitting there, un-armoured now.

"I would not have believed it myself, but once Siena died - and she did die, you killed her - that whole place seemed to collapse. The Warrior actually carried you all the way out, and the Force Blader was still alive as well, if barely so. We managed to find the exit, and there were about 20 Capella waiting out there. Three squads, and if that Warrior wasn't there it would have gone really badly. He stopped them, and ordered them to take care of our wounds."

She stopped talking, stared into the distance.

"I cannot remember much of the next part. We were cared for by Capella healers, I know that much, and the Warrior somehow managed to retrieve our fallen from inside the temple. We were delivered here under a flag of truce, at least." She reached out, took my hand.

"That was almost a month ago. The Sage has ordered that we stand down for another month, to rest, before we are to join the Task Group in the outside sector of Pontus Ferrum. There are talks of a new discovery, and we should move before the Capella Federation does, so..."

I closed my eyes, and could not keep that bitter laugh away even if I tried. No rest for the wicked...





[I hope you enjoyed this. See you with the next update ;) ] ]]> http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=32 Siena the Queen: The New Dungeons http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=31 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:09:31 GMT Welcome back.

In today's blog I will finally take a closer look at the two new dungeons, the Panic Cave DX, and the Altar of Siena b2f. There has been one or two questions about the Panic Cave especially that appeared here and there on the forum, and I hope to be able to answer them in the course of this. Of course, before we go any further I have to say the following.

*****MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD*****


If you enjoy discovering every part of a dungeon yourself, and working out what to do and where to go, then perhaps you should stop reading right here :) I will of course try to be deliberately vague on some aspects of the dungeons, since this is not meant to be 'The Complete Guide to Dungeon X', but it is inevitable that some information will slip through. You can also check out the gameplay video hosted on MMOsite, just follow this link, in case you missed Caesar's post in the Developer's Notes thread about it.




The Panic Cave

My first impression of this short dungeon is rather simple: This one is harsh, and very well-named. You better heed the quest descriptions and ingame clues, or you will be punished ;) You are going to have to be fast, and confident in handling your character if you are going in here.

Of course, you all know by now that the dungeon comes in three different difficulty levels, and you have to choose which one you want to try. Even if you are level 170 you can choose to run the dungeon on easy mode, but from my personal experience bragging rights will come from finishing this on hard mode. It is always hard to make accurate comparisons of the actual difficulty level of the dungeon from the test server to the live server, due to the nature of the characters we use while testing. Even with that in mind I think that the vast majority of the completed runs will be on easy and normal mode. Normal mode should prove interesting enough for any decently-geared level 150-ish character - and I say this as a personal guesstimate, nothing else. You will have to try the dungeon for yourself in order to judge what hard mode is going to be like.

Hard mode... now that one is going to prove to be a lot more interesting. I am certain that the dungeon will be finished on hard mode on the first day of the update - for one it's really short, only 20 minutes, so you can try many times - but you will have to be very confident of your damage output and survivability if you select the 'hard' option. Try it on easy first, just to get a feel for the dungeon, before you ramp up the difficulty to hard, although that is of course just my personal advice.

I can also urge you to at least try one run before scurrying off to Youtube to try to find a complete guide for the dungeon. It will be more fun that way, take my word for it. But that's enough of that for now.

Panic Cave is short, fast and brutal. You do not have the option to use an Odd Circle, so once you die you are out, which is simply due to the way that the dungeon is made. It's a narrow, winding cave (or tunnel, if you want to be more accurate) leading down from the surface deep beneath the rocks of Desert Scream. There is also a rather surprising amount of life down there, at first... I also think that you should not let the relative ease of the first sections lull you into a false sense of security, because it does start out rather smooth and easy - relatively speaking now, of course ;) The boss itself, once it appears, is really big, and I think the word 'huge' is appropriate to use here.You can catch a glimpse of it on the gameplay video I linked to above. The developers also borrowed some of the newer developments that we first saw used in the Forbidden Island dungeon, so be prepared for anything.

And of course we will have to talk about the drops in the Panic Cave. I am not going to get too specific, or give examples of what drops in there because you simply cannot compare the drop rate on the test server with that of the live server (it's much lower on the ITS, before you ask), but I will talk about the bound drops again. The new binding drops appear to be limited to the Panic Cave for the vast majority of the cases, so be warned that if you enter the normal or hard versions of the Cave you will get something that is bound in some way, either as character bound, or as character binding when equipped. Apart from cores, of course, but weapons and armour are bound. I can also say that it might well be worth farming that dungeon for a while - you never know ;)

Here's two images from in there, just to give you a general feel for the atmosphere of the dungeon.











The Altar of Siena B2F

The other big dungeon, and from the start I can say that this one really impressed me. You can clearly see the way the developers are improving with every successive dungeon, and this one is no exception. It's longer than average - you get 1 hour and 20 minutes to complete it - and also more complex than the B1F version. They have taken the general feel of the B1F dungeon, and made it a bit darker and heavier, using much more green tones and plants especially in the later stage of the dungeon, as opposed to the brown stone from the first one.

The first thing that struck me was how far you had to move into the dungeon to receive the first chest. Both the Forbidden Island and Altar of Siena B1F dungeons had you facing a boss from the moment you entered, with no mobs around them (at least at first). This one is different, and you will have gone through several encounters and quests before you even see a chest. The dungeon is also harder than the B1F version, although not quite as punishing as the Forgotten Temple B2F. You have several optional side-quests to discover - no, I am not going to give an exact number - and the results from some of these will make the dungeon even more challenging. More rewarding as well, yes, but more challenging, which is a very good thing.

Another aspect that you will quickly realise is that the developers played around with the debuffs from the bosses, amongst other things. I can think of one particular place that is going to prove a real challenge on the live server, and you will have to plan your party to compensate for this. You will also find firegates, and plenty of them. At first they appear similar to the ones used in the Forgotten Temple B1F, only blue-white, but there are one or two... improvements ;)









You will also notice that the major opponents inside the dungeon not only speaks directly to your party, but also to each other. This is quite fun to see, so look out for that. I can also just urge you to read the quests very carefully, because you will find clues to the hidden quests concealed in the normal quest text. I know there is a rather large part of the playerbase who simply click through the quests as fast as they can, not bothering to read it - well, I guess none of them would be reading this blog in the first place - and it is of course your choice, but if you want to get the most from this dungeon take the time to read.

OK, I think I cannot say too much more about this dungeon without moving into major spoiler territory, so I think I will stop here for now, with this little image. If you've read the developers' notes you will know what is so significant about it.


Oh yes, and I've been meaning to mention this for a while now. You now receive a title for completing both the B1F and B2F versions, Contamination Curer for Altar of Siena B1F, and Rotten Seed Judge for the new B2F version. One gives +1% Experience on the level 2 one, and the other gives +1% Pet Experience for the level 2 title. I'm also still waiting for ESTsoft to get back to me with some questions from the previous blog entry, I did not forget about those, I just have not received any decent answers yet.

If you have any questions, as always feel free to ask them in the comments section - I do try to answer as many as I can.



Viral ]]> http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=31 Siena the Queen: Story Teaser Part Two http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=30 Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:07:29 GMT [For your enjoyment, the second part of the teaser story. It is loosely based on the actual dungeon quests.]



The momentary coldness of the gate was enough to make me shiver slightly, after the damp humidity of the Mutant Forest, and I was almost grateful for it, rather the cold than that godawful humid heat. My relief was very short-lived, as I emerged from the gate to find the area on the other side even worse than the outside. The first thing that struck me was the smell, a cloying, sickly-sweet stench that made it hard to breathe, and I heard one of my companions gasp as they entered through the gate behind me. The room was eerily silent, not even the slightest rustling or far-off noises that was the constant background sounds of the Mutant Forest.

My eyes took a moment to adapt to the gloom, and it became apparent that I was standing in a large room, rather than a cave, a broken-down, collapsed room, covered with twisted plant-growth and illuminated by whatever the hell was growing on the broken walls, but a room nonetheless.

What happened to the builders? Victims of the Great Destruction... This ruin was supposed to be a temple, but how long ago, and dedicated to what...

"Pleasant-looking place." The big warrior strode past me, his Greatsword unsheathed and casually resting on his shoulder. I did not for one moment make the mistake of thinking that his casual pose reflected his actual attitude. The other four spread out, keeping a wary distance from each other.

We've not even introduced ourselves. As if that matters, here and now, names would just get in the way. I have my orders, and no doubt they have theirs, if I knew the Sage at all.

There was what appeared to be a statue, half-hidden in one overgrown corner. It could be an altar as well, my knowledge of ancient architecture is not sufficient to make an educated guess. What was obvious though was the relatively clean, flat surface about halfway up. It was the only surface in the room not covered with some kind of growth, and it seemed as if someone had taken some pains to clean it.

"Stay sharp." I motioned my Shielder and Archer to take up positions behind me and moved to the altar - and it was an altar, rather than a statue - knocked against the clear spot with the hilt of my blade. I decided to take the risk, reached out and touched the back of my glove to the stone. It was slightly damp, and unpleasantly warm, but nothing else out of the ordinary. Tucked away in one corner was what appeared to be small book of some kind, and I carefully pulled it out from behind the stone where it was half-hidden. The little book appeared to be a journal, and a badly damaged one at that, torn across the back page and with the entire bottom half badly scorched.

"What did you find?" The Capella Wizard glanced at the book in my hand. "Can I see that?"

I paused for a long moment before I handed the book over. We might be here together, but trust was a long way off. Damn political interference, forcing this so-called alliance. I did not understand why we were working with the Capella, and the Sage had obviously seen no point in informing me. I had my orders - I was the appropriate tool for the task, and my place was not to question.

The Wizard had carefully opened the book, and her face was grim. "It seems that our information was accurate, after all." She turned to look at the Warrior. "Siena is in here. Somewhere." He nodded, and turned to face me.

"This is going to get interesting. I hope you are prepared."

"Worry about your own preparations, not mine." My voice was cool. "What's in the book?"

"Confirmation." The Wizard answered.

"Confirmation of what?"

"The threat that Siena poses. This book appears to be the journal of a single man..." Her voice faded, then picked up again. "He entered here, attempted to confront Siena, and failed."

"One man... What could he possibly hope to achieve? The Dark Clan is the only truly sentient one from all the Clans." I wondered what she was not telling me. The Wizard looked at the Warrior, and something passed between them. Surprisingly, it was the Force Blader who spoke next.

"Siena was once human."

"What?" My Shielder laughed scornfully. "That's impossible. What possible source could you have for that claim?"

"Enough." I silenced her. "I don't care. We are not here to discuss genealogy. We have our orders, and whatever is lurking in this place needs to be eliminated."

The Warrior nodded, slowly. "We will of course gather as much information as we can from this place-"

"Do what you want. Just don't get in my way." I had no time for this.

The Warrior met my eyes, and his voice was as cold as mine. "Likewise."

"Over here!" My Archer broke the tension, pointing to the right, past a twisted curtain of roots that had grown through the ceiling. "There appears to be a passage through here."

I looked away from the Capella, and moved over the broken stones towards the Archer. "He's right. There is a corridor opening up past this bit. Seems to be the only way out of here."

I did not wait for my companions, they could join me or not, as they liked. Once past the mess of roots that had blocked the way the corridor that appeared was in much better condition than the first room we found. The floor was smooth, and the walls were covered in strange engravings, twisting spirals and symbols that I could not recognise. I heard my companions behind me, moving cautiously. Apparently they had decided that this was the only possible direction for us to move in, and I smiled without any humour. Sometimes there was only one option, and there was no need to stand around discussing it.

The attack came without warning, a squirming mass of plant-infected reptiles rising from the floor.

"Mushid!" I called out a warning as I rolled to the side, came up with my blades extended, binding force and channeling it, moving my weapons in the set positions that I've repeated so many times in the past it was pure instinct. Shaped and directed Force punched out in front of me, shaped to flow through and disrupt the nervous system of whatever it encounters. The Mushid stopped dead, and I got a clear look at them. These were much bigger than the common vermin that infested parts of the Mutant Forest, and they appeared to be stronger.

No matter.

The first one died while it was still stunned, as did the second, scaled skin and bone no defence against razor-sharp Mithril. The third and fourth I cut apart as well, two horizontal slashes that I used as momentum to launch my next attack. I heard fighting behind me as the others arrived, explosions as elemental Force was unleashed by the Wizard and Archer, the familiar dull roar of a shield spinning through the air. Within seconds it was over.

"Too easy."

"Don't get overconfident. We may just have alerted whatever is deeper inside here."

The corridor was a mess, splashes of blood and worse, black burn marks against the brown stone, and the smell in the air was even worse than when we entered.

"I guess we can expect an attack at any time, from here on in." I moved further, past the wreckage of our battle. No one appeared to be injured, and I would have been surprised if these Mushid has managed to even scratch any of us. They were bigger than usual, but vermin is vermin.

"Wait!" I stopped, looked back. The Force Blader was pointing at some words scratched into the stone, on top of the carved patterns. I swore softly - how had I missed those? - and moved back to the group.

"Anything useful? Or just some random rubbish?" I was irritated at myself, because I should have noticed this.

"Well, nothing that I can grasp any meaning of." The Force Blader moved his fingers across the writing. "Regeneration. The bond must be cut at the same time." His eyes narrowed slightly. "I wonder what this refers to? The script seems similar to what we saw in that notebook, perhaps this is a warning of some sort?"

I nodded, reluctantly. Stupid to disregard any kind of warning, because we were essentially blind in here. I turned, and started moving down the corridor again, only to find a deep end around the very next corner, a pile of rubble and plant-growth blocking the way.

"Well, this is it for whatever that clue meant."

"Not yet." The Warrior moved past me, and studied the blockage for a moment, then reached up and with a massive heave pulled protruding stone block from the top of the pile. We jumped back as this triggered a small landslide of stones and thick clots of mud past us. There was no dust, at least, it was way too damp for that. I looked at the size of the stone block the Warrior had pulled from the top of the pile, and tried to hide my surprise - the block was massive, much larger than what it had appeared at first. This guy had some serious power, that was very obvious. I wondered what it would be like to meet him in battle, if there was some skill behind that strength...

There was now a gap near the ceiling, and it appeared big enough to squeeze through. I made my way to the top, balancing on a piece of rubble. On the other side of rubble I could make out some movement, but it was too dark to see anything else. Nothing doing then... I pulled myself through the gap, jumped down-

-right into the middle of another pack of Mushid. There were even more roots and vines here, and almost no light, and it was much narrower than the corridor we came from. There was almost no space to move, to fight properly. This time however the Warrior was right behind me, his Greatsword slashing almost effortlessly through vines around us, not even slowing as he cut through a Mushid, making space for himself to move in. I jumped past him, finding enough space to go through the movements, gathering and focusing force on my blades before releasing it by slashing down in front of me. The power was visibly in the air, a crackling arc of Force that cut through the air, cutting a patch through the crawling Mushid.

"Don't you ever stop to think?" The Warrior asked. "You are not alone here, and rushing is going to get you killed, slowing us down."

"So move faster then." The other four had also made their way past the obstacle into the suddenly crowded passage. Up ahead I could see something big, standing motionless.

"What is that?"

"Be careful." The Force Blader spoke again. "There was something in that message back there..."

I ignored him, took the lead once more. As I moved closer I started to make out more details. The figure appeared to be an... Armap? Here? It looked like an normal Armap, but there was a very strange pulsing vine tangled around its feet and legs, giving it the appearance of something growing out of the ground. The vine stretched over the ground, disappearing into the gloom beyond the Armap.

"I'll check this out." Surprisingly, it was the Shielder that spoke. She raised her shield, glowing with the reinforced lattice of Force strengthening it, and moved past us. I always wondered how they did that, focused enough of their concentration to keep something as solid as a shield materialised and still managed to pay enough attention to do anything else. Same for the Archers.

The Armap roared, suddenly, shockingly loud, as the Shielder came close to it. It attacked, throwing a projectile that the Shielder easily deflected. The Wizard suddenly appeared next to the Shielder, unleashing a storm of power that burned into the Armap.

"There's TWO of these!" The Shielder shouted back, above the roaring of the huge Armap. "Another one, up ahead, and they are connected with this vine!"

More Mushid appeared out of the darkness ahead as she yelled, and just as suddenly we were in a very nasty fight in that narrow, crowded corridor, with barely any room to move our weapons. Elemental power flowed out around the Wizard, ripping Mushid apart as she moved through them. My Archer unleashed a constant stream of power into the stationary Armap, with no apparent effect.

"Kill them both, at the same time!" The Force Blader shouted, loud enough to be heard above the battle. "That's what it meant, that message!"

I could see the Archer and Wizard looking at each other, before the Archer nodded, almost imperceptibly.

"Keep them off me."

He started to run, increased his movement speed as he blurred past the first Armap, then stopped right where the Wizard was standing. I could see the Force gathering around him, a sudden bright illumination that lit up the entire passage, clearly showing the second Armap, the vine between the two, and a large gate beyond them, with the same pulsating vine snaking its way across and through the gate. The light faded, returning the passage to the darkness, but not before I saw the two weapons the Archer was holding in place of his summoned bow. I knew those weapons very well, they served as focus points for an incredibly rapid release of power, but there was a limit to how long they could be kept summoned. The Archer stood calmly in the middle of that dark passage, weapons pointing upwards, ignoring everything around him, apparently trusting in the Wizard to keep the Mushid away from him. His arms moved, a blur in the darkness, one weapon pointed at the Armap that I could see, and the other into the darkness. The release of his power was audible over the roar of the Armap. Pure Force slammed into the Armap, ripping through it, cutting it down, and it slowly collapsed in front of us.

"Let's move!" The Wizard called out. "The gate has collapsed as well, when he killed these two."

The Warrior nodded as he moved past the Archer, still standing in the same spot with his bow visible once more, and I could see him breathing heavily. "Well done."

I followed, waiting for the Archer to start moving before I did, bringing up the rear of the party this time. We entered past the collapsed gate, and it was obvious that we were 'inside' once again. We were in a large room, overgrown with plants, but quite obviously a room, with that same strange light coming from the walls providing enough illumination. We must have somehow moved outside the temple, and now we've come inside again, but what the purpose was of the two Armaps outside... Were they guards, of some sort? I did not like the fact that nothing happened when they died, not at all. Something was wrong here.

"This is not right." The Force Blader spoke, looking around him. "Those Armap, outside, they were there for a purpose. We could be walking directly into a trap here."


...Maku Sha...


I looked up sharply. That voice was not that of one of my companions, and even though it was faint it seemed to come from everywhere around me at once. It sounded female, but alien at the same time.


...Sha...


All of us were looking around now, weapons ready.


...Maku... Remove these vermin from my temple, at once.


"At once, my Queen." A voice rumbled, like distant thunder, chewing through the words as if the mouth behind it was never intended for speech. I spun in the direction the second voice had come from. The first one was vague, but the second one seemed much, much closer.

The owner appeared at the far side of the room, a huge, shambling figure twice as tall as a human, clutching a double-headed axe that was bigger than I was. The beast was roughly human in shape, but grotesquely muscled, huge and round, with a thick tail that dragged across the ground behind it. This was going to be nasty.

I glanced at my Archer, saw that he was still not completely recovered after that fight in the dark passage behind us. "Hang back at first, cover us if needed." His eyes narrowed, but he said nothing, and nodded curtly.

"Speech indicates intelligence. Our report was most likely correct, this is just further confirmation." The Warrior motioned the Wizard back as well, looked at me. "Do you believe now?"

"Does it matter?"

Maku Sha bellowed, swinging that massive axe wildly through the air, and charged towards us.





[Part three will be released next week Tuesday] ]]> http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=30 Saved Pets, Blended Runes and Bound Drops http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=29 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:31:24 GMT Welcome back. Here is the long-promised (well, two days) blog about the pet save kit, some more information about Blended Runes, and some info... Welcome back.

Here is the long-promised (well, two days) blog about the pet save kit, some more information about Blended Runes, and some info about the new item binding on drops. This might turn out to be a fairly interesting blog update, and I am really curious to see how the discussion in the comments sections turns out.

Let us start, however, with the rather less-controversial pet save kit. This is a simple cash shop item - I have no idea of the pricing just yet - that will allow you to make a copy of the slots of a pet. I've seen some rumours floating around, people speculating that they will be able to create the 'perfect' pet, filling the slot with 10 identical upgrades. I really hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but unfortunately this is not quite how the save kit works. I think a better way to view it would be to think of it as creating a 'backup' of your pet, if you wanted to try for a better set of upgrades, but you do not want to take the chance of losing what you have right now.

Perhaps a quick rundown of the way this works would be a good idea. I will try to explain as best as I can. The first, and most basic use of the save kit, is to simply use it on a pet with upgraded slots. The save kit then firstly creates an account-bound, pet-sized item in your inventory called the Anima Gem (what, you didn't really think you would be able to trade it, did you?) that has an exact copy of whatever was in the slots of your pet at the time. If you have a level two pet with Magic Amp and Attack Rate the save kit will create an Anima Gem with Magic Amp and Attack Rate, and nothing else. The save kit also acts like a Pet Untrain kit, so once you have 'saved' the pet upgrades with the Anima Gem the pet itself will end up with empty slots.

So you end up with the upgrades from the pet being copied to the Anima Gem. You are now free to try and upgrade the pet again, to try to get better upgrades than the ones you had. If for some reason you end up with worse upgrades than the ones you originally had, and you get tired of the upgrading process (or you run out of Force Core Highest... which I personally consider to be unlikely ;) ) you can simply right-click on the Anima Gem and click on the pet - and whatever was saved in the Gem gets transferred to the pet again, overriding whatever upgrades you had in there. The Anima Gem then vanishes, as it is single-use only.

So far, so good, I hope.

Now, let's say you have two pets. You want to transfer the upgrades from the one to the other - perhaps you have bought a new one that you like more than the old one, or whatever. You use the save kit to create an Anima Gem of the old pet, and you can now copy that to the new one. If you have 4 upgrades saved in the Anima Gem from the old pet, the new one has to be level 4 or greater. If you have six upgrades saved - your new pet better be level six, or you will not be able to use the Anima Gem to transfer them.

Some screenshots, about the transfer of slots from a level 1 pet to a level 10 pet. The level 10 pet had all 10 slots filled before the Anima Gem was used to transfer the upgrade from the level 1 pet.




The upgraded level 1 pet




The Anima Gem itself, after it was used on the level 1 pet




The level 10 pet, after the Anima Gem was used on it.




If you use an Anima Gem with four saved upgrades on a level six pet for example, your level six pet will have four upgrade slots filled (the first four) after the Gem gets used, and the last two slots will be empty. I think this is where the misunderstanding comes in. For example you cannot use a level one pet to upgrade and re-upgrade until you get the slot you want, then transfer that to the 'real' pet, then untrain the level one pet and re-upgrade until you get the desired slot again, because the Anima Gem overwrites whatever is in the pet it is being used on. If there is only one slot saved, only the first slot on the new pet will get filled. So while this pet save kit offers you some security if you are going to try and create a better pet, since at the very least you do not have to lose the upgrades you have at the moment, it will also not allow you to 'build' the perfect pet. Now I am very sure that I have just disappointed several people, but if you could really 'build' a pet by only using the upgrades you want they might as well start to sell the individual pet upgrades in the cash shop :) (If they actually start to do this in the distant future - it's not my fault).




Onwards to Blended Runes. ESTsoft has, of course, been their usual opaque selves when it came to explaining the Blended Runes better, but I will try to tell you what they told us. Firstly, that 1% activation chance is in fact the correct figure. It seems low, but this is what they intended. Considering the fact that you get access to specific stats and increases that you would not get otherwise... It will be up to each player to really consider which, if any, Blended Rune they want to use. Personally I would almost go for something like Defenceless or Trauma, as these offer benefits that are not otherwise easily available. The lowest level of the Defenceless Blended Rune gives -200 Def (on the target, not on yourself, just to answer another comment I saw somewhere :) ) which is more than the Blader debuff, and it only uses Defence and Dex runes.

The Cure rune. This one will activate just like a normal Blended Rune - before I forget you will get a notice saying the the rune has activated, so at least you will not have to wonder about it - and once activated it will Heal you for up to 300HP, depending now on the level of the Rune that you have. Well, ESTsoft said 'Cure III gives 300HP' which I consider to mean 'heal' and not 'increase'. They were also characteristically reticent about informing us about exactly which skills will activate the rune, saying it works like any other, so we have to believe that you will get healed for up to 300 HP at any random interval while fighting. This is unfortunately as clear as I can make it.

And on a last point the patch notes we received from them were in fact not correct, and there are only 15 Blended Runes to choose from, not 16 as originally indicated.




Time for the last topic, that of the new, binding, drops. Test so far shows that drops from the normal dungeons are not bound, although in all our tests we have not yet dropped anything better than slotted sigmetal and upgrade cores (the droprate on the test server is significantly lower than on the live server). The drops from the Panic Cave on Normal or Hard are, however, bound, apart from the cores. They can also drop as either character bound from the start, or bind-on-equip. If they are bound they are yours from the moment you pick up the drop. If they are bind-on-equip you can trade the gear as much as you want, but as soon as you equip it it becomes character bound. Of course other high-level gear is supposed to now follow the same rules, bind-on-equip. I can predict that people will find some drops that are bound that they will be unhappy about, but EST has assured us that they are doing this because it allows them to increase the droprate of higher level gear. I was slightly sceptical at first, but since they have a good motivation for creating this system... And let's be honest now, gear that binds-on-equip is nothing new in the world of MMO games (I breathlessly await the pedantic comments listing all the games that use, or don't use, this system ;) ). And just to make this clear, if the gear is obtained as bound, it will be character bound, not account bound. If you have a character capable of farming the Panic Cave the gear will mostly be bound to that character. That dungeon is a great deal of fun, by the way, and I would urge you to try it for yourself first, before you rush off to find videos and guides on how to do it. It is only twenty minutes long, and worth exploring for yourself.

I think that is about it for this update, as always post your questions in the comment section and I will try my best to answer them.

Viral ]]> http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=29 Siena the Queen: Story Teaser Part One http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=28 Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:36:38 GMT [Here, for your enjoyment, a story about the new dungeon Altar of Siena B1F. This story will have two more installments after this one, published once per week, and the next one will be published on Tuesday the 15th of September.]




Siena the Queen




"Humans."

The voice was quiet, and low enough that I could feel it rather than hear it.

"You dare to step into this place?"

Our giant adversary stood calmly in the middle of the room, a huge armoured figure that was easily three times taller than the big warrior standing to my left. The giant hefted the strange weapon it was holding in its left hand, and rested it against its shoulder.

"You dare to challenge... me? Six of you, when an army would not have been enough?"

It looked down at the wreckage between us, the strange greenish blood and the broken bodies of the Sha that ambushed us only moments before the giant appeared, with an apparent disinterest. It was already very clear that this opponent was going to be far tougher than any we had faced thus far in this corrupted temple.

"Come then." Its weapon made a whistling noise as it swung through the air and came to a stop pointing straight at us. It appeared to be a massive spear, but the blade that tipped it was bigger than a GreatSword, and glowed with a disturbing orange light. I would not wager on anyone being able to survive a direct hit with that monster, and that was without even considering the fact that we had no idea of the capabilities of our opponent. My two blades seemed almost weightless in my hands as I stepped forwards, my companions spreading out behind me.




4 hours earlier...




I detest the Mutant Forest, as it was popularly known. It reminded me more of a jungle than a forest, with near-constant rain and a humidity that my Desert background struggled to adapt to. The weather was terrible, and the various mutated beasts that infested it were not particularly dangerous, if you knew how to handle them. They were persistent though, and every single one of them considered humans as prey. The damned weather, combined with the constant threat of a sudden attack put me in an absolutely foul mood, and I guess my companions sensed that, so they wisely kept quiet. Oh yes, and I did not want to be here. Old loyalties and old promises had however conspired against me, and thus I found myself compelled to lead one half of an expedition to the very heart of the Mutant Forest. Luckily the first part of the journey was almost completed, but the real fun was only just beginning.

"We are getting close, now." One of my companions, a follower of the style of the Force Shielders, or simply Shielders, spoke. She appeared far too young to be here, but that was not my decision to make. Besides, the heavy scarring on her right arm was a memento from one of the near-constant battles in the war between Sage Procyon and Sage Capella, so she was used to combat.

"I recognise these ruins," she continued. "This is the area of the Entrita, so we should be careful."

"I am more worried about those who we are about to meet." My other companion, a Force Archer, was a tall, quiet man that had barely spoken since we arrived at the entrance to the Mutant Forest.

"We have our orders." I replied, ending that particular discussion. I did not agree with those orders, but as I said... Old loyalties, and old promises, can compel a man against his will. I really did not care to join forces with a group of Capella soldiers, and I wondered how that arrangement had been made. We were enemies, fighting a war half a continent away, and yet here we are... Some deals were obviously made behind the scenes, and it was not for the likes of me to question why.

We managed to make our way through the broken walls and shattered paving stones without attracting the attention of any of the giant Entrita that roamed this place, our Astral Bikes moving silently above the rubble. The Entrita were big and vicious, and some part of whatever twisted force drove their mutation had made them immune to most of the common stun abilities. They were not that dangerous, but I had no particular desire to fight one if I did not have to.

"Welcome." We heard the merchant before we saw him, a small figure in a dirty hooded robe, almost hidden in the shadows of the huge ruin behind him. I wondered why he had taken up residence in this corner of the ruins, in the middle of the forsaken Mutant Forest. A dealer in cheap Mithril parts, trash that served well enough to impress the gullible but had as much use in real combat as did training armour. It was rare, I will admit, and I had no idea of what his source was for the crafting components that he dealt in, but I could not imagine anyone buying this. Then again, perhaps the younger idiots who fought their way through to this hole was impressed enough to spend the money, who knows? What sort of a being chose to live here, in this hell? And more interestingly, how did he escape the notice of the Entrita?

I kept the disgust from my voice as I acknowledged his greeting. "I was told that you would be expecting us."

The disgusting creature nodded, smiling happily. "Yes, yes, I supplied the previous party as well, but this is better, much better, I was wrong about the previous ones," he stopped, spat something into the thick undergrowth behind him. "These will work, that I can almost promise you, my reputation was damaged by the previous set, but how was I to know? I would never enter that place by myself, oh no, but you can go and see for yourself."

I looked at my companions, and the confusion must have been clear on my face.

"He is probably talking about the previous expedition. They found something in the ruins," she pointed at the massive structure rising out of the plants and trees behind the merchant, "something big. We just got the name, Siena, and it involved the Plant Clan. I know they tried to kill it, but they could not enter deep enough into the ruins-"

"That is correct."

I spun around, ready to unsheath the twin blades from their scabbards on my back. Three people appear to have snuck up behind us, while we were dealing with the merchant. Their armour had the very distinctive blue-white colouring of Mithril, with the purple markings identifying them as ranking Capella. One Warrior, one Wizard, and one Force Blader. Pure luck, to have one of each of the six major fighting styles, or was this part of the arrangements? I could feel my companions moving behind me, and the tension was obvious in the thick, humid air.

The Capella wizard had stepped forwards, holding her hands out. "You are here for the same reason we are. I am very sure you don't like this any more than we do, but we all have our orders. Siena was determined to be a much greater problem than originally thought, based on the reports from the previous expeditions. We all know we cannot be seen working together, but this is a danger on a scale that will threaten all of Nevareth, and it needs to be stopped before it can be allowed to grow to a point where it cannot be contained any more." She smiled, but there was absolutely no warmth behind it. "So here we are, some of the best as I understood it. We don't have to like it, but we do have to follow orders."

The big warrior behind her stepped to the front, and looked at the little merchant with the same distaste that I felt. "You have the items? The ones you claim will allow us entry past the warp that leads into the deepest part of the ruin?" It was obvious that he did not believe that the merchant could possibly produce anything useful.

"Yes, yes, I have those. Indeed I do, you know me, these ones are not the promised, but they will lead deeper inside, perhaps, how was I to know the others would not work-"

"Just hand them over." The warrior cut off the merchant's rambling. I smiled, for a moment almost forgetting that we were enemies. The merchant sullenly produced 6 strange, glowing green orbs from a rusted crate half-hidden nest to him. "These better work, after the previous little mistake of yours."

I motioned my two companions back. "Keep an eye on these three. They are not our friends, that is very sure."

"That big guy," the Shielder pointed at the Capella Warrior, "Look at his rank. They are not messing around with this, sending someone of his rank out here."

I looked at the purple sigils indicating the rank, but I've been out of the conflict for too long. "Praetor something or other. It's all the same, everyone and his dog has the Praetor title-"

"Praetor of Brilliance. He is ranked just below the Quaestors. The Wizard and the Force Blader are ranked as Praetors of Will, but I have never seen someone of his rank out in the field." The Archer's voice was tinged with respect. "They are taking this seriously."

"So what does that make you two then?" I made no secret of the fact that I considered the ranks to be meaningless. I myself was without title at the moment, from choice, and I paid no attention to the various ranks.

"Knight of Valor, and he's a Knight of Devotion." I nodded, as if that information meant anything to me. "Good. Let's form up and get started then. Stay sharp, because I don't trust these people, and I definitely do not trust this little worm with his 'special items'."

They nodded, and I allowed my personal shields to fade for a moment, and checked and refreshed them. The movements, and the flow of Force was a second nature to me after all this time. One shield up, another, reinforcing the first. I extended the Force through my legs and arms, increasing my reaction time, making me harder to hit in battle, and then as a last measure allowed the Force to flow from me into the two bound blades on my back, increasing their attack power. I could see my companions and the Capella soldiers going through the same motions, each using skills and techniques from their specific battle styles. There was another brief moment of tension when the Capella Warrior extended one of his skills to include myself and my two companions, before I lowered a part of my defences and allow him to strengthen us as well as his companions.

I moved to the still-silent merchant - apparently he was offended, but at least he was quiet now - and took three of the strange green orbs. They were uncomfortably warm in my hands, a damp heat and a smell that reminded me more of decomposing plant matter than anything else. Perfect for this hellhole. Just perfect.

"Let's go."

The six of us approached the huge ruin, wary of the surroundings and of each other. There was a small gap at the base of the ruins, that I did not notice before. Strange. It appeared to be covered a field similar to that at the entrance to the common warp gates, but with a sickly green colour. I could feel the orb in my hand grow warmer and warmer as I approached, and it was a most unpleasant sensation. I took a deep breath, and stepped into the field.




5 days ago...




"You will, of course, go."

I stood without answering for a long moment, admiring the view from the big private residence. That statement, coming from the Sage himself, was not a suggestion. The Sage did not make suggestions, he gave orders. Damn the man. He had found me where I had thought myself comfortably hidden in obscurity, removed from the war, the fighting, the politics, but somehow his people had found me. Or, it was more likely, he had always known where I was, and simply allowed me the illusion of obscurity until he needed me. Damn him. He knew me, and he knew that whatever else I might be I was loyal, unquestioningly so. I owed him my life, many times over, and he was well aware of this. So he had reached out from here, in this office, given some orders, and here I was.

"You will meet with some Capella," his voice did not even change as he mentioned the name of his most hated enemy, "and you will join forces with them. If these reports are to be believed this Siena is behind the recent activity of the Plant Clan in the Mutated Forest. We cannot divert a large force to deal with this, and any overt actions in there will draw a reaction from the Capella forces. Going by the reports of Heill himself we need to take care of this matter before it becomes a real problem. It was him who suggested this impromptu alliance, and I can understand the logic behind his suggestion, distasteful as it may be."

I nodded, wondering not for the first time why he had found me and brought me here. Surely he had more than enough people that could go, that would be happy to go.

He must have sensed the direction of my thoughts, or something in my face betrayed me. "You are still one of the best. I know you will be able to do what must be done here. You are not filled with hate like so many others that I might have called on, and you have... other attributes that are very well suited for this role." I silently completed the sentence.

...and you are expendable, should anything go wrong.

Well, what could I do? There was no choice here.

"When do I leave?" ]]> http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=28 Siena the Queen: Blended Runes http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=27 Sat, 05 Sep 2009 09:37:31 GMT Welcome back. Our testing process is back on schedule after we managed to clear up a persistent bug (by putting some pressure on ESTsoft, yes, we... Welcome back.

Our testing process is back on schedule after we managed to clear up a persistent bug (by putting some pressure on ESTsoft, yes, we do do that, and you can thank Caesar) so we are again looking at bringing this update to the live server at the original planned date. When is that? Well, I guess answering 'soon' is not going to make me popular, but that is the answer for the time being ;)

Let me start by bringing you some information about very minor parts of the update. The Force Archer and Force Shielder characters will now have their Astral weapons summoned automatically at the moment of login, which means you have one more spot free on your skillbar, if you were so inclined. The GPS map will also now show you the various dungeon entrances, along with some information about those dungeons when you hold your mouse over the little dungeon icon on the map.



Dungeon Information on the GPS Map


Every warp point on the map will also have more info if you hold your mouse over it, showing you where the warp gate leads to, etc. Another minor change is that critical hits will now have the damage shown all in blue if a multi-hit skill is used, compared to where only the damage from the last hit is shown in blue at the moment. There is now an added Party Search function, that you can activate from the character menu to have the text 'Looking for Party' displayed next to your name above your character, with green-coloured text, for all those poor guildless souls in Nevareth looking for a group. If you consider this feature alongside the new map linking feature on the previous blog entry it seems clear that EST is trying to help newcomers to the game as much as they can.

Right, enough of the minor things :) Now for the main part of today's blog - the new Blended Runes. With the very first blog entry on this coming update I mentioned that the new Blended Runes would be 'powerful, but limited at the same time'. I guess the EST developers believes that with great power comes great responsibility... Well, let me show you what I am talking about. Here is the full list of the Blended Runes, 16 types in total.



Full List of Blended Runes


They look rather good, that is very sure. I must admit that I also like the names, Sword Dance, Crushing Fist, Trauma... They sound like something you want to have, as an ability for your character. As you can also clearly see these Blended Runes can give you access to some really impressive stat boosts: 10% Skill Amp, +100 Attack or Magic - these are good numbers for any character. Now for the second part of my initial statement '... but limited at the same time'. You can only have three Blended Runes in total, that is to say that you only have three slots to fill with these Blended Runes, unlike the normal Essence Runes. Also, even if you have three of these Runes you can only have one of the three active at a time, so you will have to select the one that you want to use, so you will have to think a bit about the situation that you are in, in order to gain maximum benefit from one of these. And lastly, while a normal Essence Rune is active 100% of the time, a Blended Rune has a 1% chance to activate when you attack a target. This chance is calculated for every target, not for every skill used, so if you are attacking a large group of enemies you will have a 1% chance for the Blended Rune to activate on any one of the targets.

It comes down to some careful consideration if you want to use one of these. For a start, you need Essence Runes that are rather rare in order to make one of these, and the crafting success rate is not 100%. They do cost less AP to equip, only 50 AP for one of the Skill Amp Blended Runes, and they do give a very big power boost, if they are active. They are not active all the time, but again compare the stats of the Attack / Magic or Amp Essence Runes to these - 1% Amp all the time, or 10-14% Amp every now and again. As you can see from the list they are also either PvE or PvP focused - the PvE Blended Runes normally give double the stats of the PvP ones, but if you select a PvP Blended Rune it will only be active when you are playing in the Mission War, during PvP, or when you are playing on the war channel. It will be quite interesting to see how players respond to this, and how they will choose.

I rather like the fact that this will add some more depth to the way you build your character, and while I am sure the there are many people on this forum who will leap at the chance to calculate the optimal use of various Runes, balancing cost, damage, etc I am very curious to see how the average player will deal with this addition. I like it, for sure, and even though your initial reaction might be 'why are these not active all the time????' you will admit that giving anyone 100 more attack or magic, and 10% more amp all the time will be just a little bit overpowered. At the very least there should be some interesting discussion in the comments section ;)

OK, I will give you a quick rundown of the Blended Rune creation process, with screenshots included.

It's a simple enough process, if you have the needed materials on you of course. There is a new NPC in Bloody Ice, next to the Core Alchemist. Speak with him, and he will give you the option to craft a Blended Rune. You get a list of the various runes to choose from:



List of Blended Runes at NPC

Choose the one you want, and you will see the materials needed, as well success rate, and the when holding your cursor over the Rune you will see the stats that it can add. (Yes, we are aware of the spelling mistakes on here - they are already part of the still-growing final report we will send to ESTsoft ;) )



Rune Attributes


Take a deep breath, and hit the Craft Rune button. If you are lucky the craft will be a success, and you will see one of three levels of Blended Rune. Yes, you cannot level these - they are created with a certain level, and you will see what you need to equip these.



Rune Craft success


And there you have it, a Blended Rune sitting in your inventory, ready to be used.




Blended Rune



What you cannot see here (because the blog only allows ten images, and it seems to think that I used ten already, but I count six...) is that my character does not have the AP or the cores in the inventory to equip the Rune, which will no doubt change if I use that specific character for the rest of the testing process. So, once I get one of the Blended Runes equipped I will report on how noticable it is - if I manage this before the patch goes live, of course.

That should be enough for this blog update, and for the next one I will definitely take a look at the new dungeons. I've played through them several times now, and I can already predict that the hardest level of the Panic Cave is going to prove rather interesting. I can also say that the Panic Cave is well named, and that I am really impressed with the design of the Altar of Siena b2f dungeon. We also have several surprises in store for you, regarding the testing process and the way we inform you about it, if we can sort out one or two technical issues, but more on that early next week.

Viral ]]> http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=27 The new Linking system http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=25 Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:06:42 GMT Today I thought we could take a look at some more minor changes coming with the next update, in a short blog update. Before we get to that I can say... Today I thought we could take a look at some more minor changes coming with the next update, in a short blog update. Before we get to that I can say that the testing process is going well right now. We found a bug that caused our testing to be delayed rather more than we had hoped, but ESTsoft came through with a fix for the issue yesterday. So on that front I can assure you that we are working as fast as we can to get this update to the live server as soon as possible.


Moving right along then, let's take a look at the new linking (or you could call a broadcast system as well) functions. I am not talking about more bringer broadcast ;) although that would surely be interesting. The first feature allows you to mark out specific areas on any map, and send that as a link on the chat. I will try to explain this as best as I can, but you really have to go through the process yourself to understand how simple it is.


1. Open the map by pressing 'M'
2. Find the map and the location you want, hold down the ctrl button, and rightclick on the map.
3. You will see the map name appear on the chat window, as a link. If you press enter to send the chat the link will become visible to other people, for example selecting a spot anywhere in Pontus Ferrum will broadcast 'Pontus Ferrum' as a link.



The link visible in the chat box



4. Anyone who now clicks on that link will have it marked on their map with a green cross.



The mark visible on the Pontus Ferrum map


5. The link obeys the rules of whichever chat you have active when you create it. Guild chat will be visible to your guild only, while using the shout will make it visible to the entire channel.


You also have several options available on the these links, once they are displayed on your map. You just need to righclick on the link to bring up another menu, allowing you to delete the link, edit the name, and so on. The Mini-Map option creates a point on your GPS at the top right of your screen, allowing you to view the point as if it was a quest point (only it will be displayed in purple, not red). The Chat option allows you to re-send the link in the chat box.



Menu on the map-link.


Of course, this feature by itself is not that useful to the general playerbase, although I do think it will make the job of the Game Advisors much easier if they need to help a player find a specific quest location. This is all well and good, but nothing to get too excited about yet. Of course, with a bit of thinking this system can easily be used in Tierra Gloriosa, especially if you have 5 seconds or so to organise yourself.


You can edit the tags and resend it, so that players will see a link with whatever name you gave it. For example:





or, even in Tierra Gloriosa





That is one possible use for this, and it is a minor enough function to play with. It is also directly connected to the second part of the new Linking system - showing off your items in the trade. Let's imagine you've dropped something really rare, and you want to show it off to your friends, or everyone around you. Simply locate the item in your inventory, hold down ctrl and rightclick on it, and you should see the item name displayed as a link in the chat. It's exactly the same as the previous map-link examples. Any player that now clicks on your link will have a message box appear with the full details of your item, exactly as if they were holding their mouse pointer over it. This box will be visible until they close it again, and you can display absolutely anything like this, even if the item is account bound, or undroppable.



Showing of your latest rare drop



Or simply something that is not droppable


I think with this blog I've covered most of the minor parts of the coming update now, so for the next blog update I will probably take a look at something a bit more exciting, either the new Blended Runes, which has the ability to give you some really impressive stat boosts, or some of the new dungeons. As always feel free to ask questions in the comments section related to the blog, and I will try my best to answer them.

Viral ]]> http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=25 New Guild features http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=24 Sat, 29 Aug 2009 09:25:41 GMT In this morning's blog update I will take a closer look at some of the new features surrounding the guild levels and the guild warehouse. I know the dungeons are more fun ;) but we will get there in due time. I will discuss the guild levels, the guild warehouse, and some minor improvements and additions to the way information is displayed in the guild menu. I will borrow some information from the developers' notes - rest assured that they will be made available as soon as [GM]Reeves finishes with the translation from KorEnglish into something a bit more understandable.



As is the custom I should perhaps warn you that there are no spoilers ahead, just information about some really useful new features.



We can start out with the fact that guilds will now have levels, from a level 1 guild to a level 5 guild. Every level has certain limitations, most notably in the number of members that a guild will be allowed to have in it.


  • Level 1 -- 30 members
  • Level 2 -- 60 members
  • Level 3 -- 90 members
  • Level 4 -- 120 members
  • Level 5 -- 150 members



As the more astute of you will have noticed it is also now possible for a guild to have up to 150 members, doing away with the old limitation. But what about old guilds, that were created before this coming update? Simple, your guild level will be determined by the number of people you have in the guild at the moment of the update, so there will be no drama with big guilds suddenly getting 70% of their members kicked - just in case someone was worried about that happening.


Of course, if something has a level then that level should be possible to be improved, and the guild levels are no exception. The guild level will be based on guild points, according to the following simple formula.


  • Level 1 -- start here
  • Level 2 -- 3 000
  • Level 3 -- 15 000
  • Level 4 -- 40 000
  • Level 5 -- 80 000



So once a guild gets 3000 guild points it will become a level 2 guild, and receive all the privileges of a level 2 guild, until it reaches 15 000 points and it becomes a level 3 guild. So far so good. The next obvious question is: Where do guild points come from? Again the answer is fairly simple: It's just the total Ability Points (AP) of all the members of the guild. So play the game, gain AP, and help your guild level up. Players below level 120 - which is the lowest level where you can gain AP - will still be contributing AS IF they were gaining AP, at the same rate as the level 120-129 level group (75% of the gained Experience, if memory serves). I think it's fairly clear, but feel free to ask if I explained badly ;)


This discussion would not be complete without talking about the benefits of levelling the guild. A guild that has reached level 2 will have access to the Guild Warehouse, a whole new inventory page that can be opened from any Agent of Port Service NPC ingame. This inventory will allow any member of the guild to add items and alz, but only selected members will be able to remove items or alz from guild storage. Here's the quick rundown of the limits imposed by the different guild levels, in terms of how many inventory pages there will be, and how much alz can be stored.


  • Level 1 -- Nothing
  • Level 2 -- 1 inventory page and 100 000 000 (100 million) alz
  • Level 3 -- 2 inventory pages and 400 000 000 (400 million) alz
  • Level 4 -- 3 inventory pages and 700 000 000 (700 million) alz
  • Level 5 -- 4 inventory pages and 1 000 000 000 (1 billion) alz



Each inventory page has 10 slots where items can be stored, and each slot can store up to 20 identical items. For example, a stack of 127 Fire discs counts as one item, and two stacks of 127 Fire discs are seen as identical items and can be stacked in one slot if both stacks contain discs of the same level, like level 2 or 3 or whatever. But a stack of 127 Fire discs and a stack of 50 Fire discs are NOT identical even if both stacks have level 3 discs in them, so you cannot stack them in the warehouse, and they will need separate slots.

See the image below for what the warehouse looks like.




Guild warehouse page



The warehouse also allows you to stack items automatically - it finds identical items and stacks them in one slot - and you can add and withdraw items with ctrl-click - exactly as with any other inventory ingame. What is important is that initially only the Guild Master will have access to withdraw items, unless he or she decides to give that access to specific guild groups. Another useful function (well, I would call it essential) is the fact that the usage history of the warehouse is clearly visible. I attach a screenshot of the warehouse log, and it will track the last 100 entries. Blader04 is the name of the character I used this morning, and you can see the date, time and what I took, or put into the warehouse. Of course the log does not show what was in the slot of a piece of equipment for example, but overall this is something that is going to be of clear benefit to the guilds that actually work and play together. Also, in the screenshot it is clear that I was messing around, adding and removing items all the time :) Yellow arrows means I added something, orange arrows means I witdrew an item.




Guild warehouse log page



There is also a minor change to the way that the Guild Master can create groups, and the option is also there to now give more responsibility to the various guild group. It should be fairly clear from the screenshot, that specific groups can be authorised to create new groups which was previously only for the Guild Master, as well as set the access level to the guild warehouse. I am not sure if only the Guild Master can still move people between groups - I will check that out later today and report back :)




Guild group creation




Guild group permissions, visible from the guild menu




In the next screenshot you can also see the added information when you open the guild menu. You can see the date the guild was created, the number of members allowed, the number of guild points you have, guild level, name and the name of the Guild Master. You can also now, if you hover your mouse pointer over a member's name, see the last time they logged in, which can be useful for clearing a guild of inactive members if you were so inclined ;)




New guild information



There are also some other minor changes, such as a guild cannot be disbanded anymore if there are any items or alz left in the guild storage, or any guild members left, the Guild Master has the choice to seal or open the guild warehouse, etc. I think that this specific part of the update has been long-awaited, and that this will bring a new level of co-operation between guild members, and make it much more convenient to have guild items and guild money.

I am not yet sure what the next blog will be about, if I will cover the new dungeons or rather look at some of the other new features, but I promise that I will cover every aspect of the update in detail. Feel free to ask specific questions about this update in the comments area - I will try to answer them if at all possible.

Viral ]]> http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=24 Siena the Queen: Coming Soon. http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=22 Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:37:25 GMT Welcome back to the Tester’s Blog.

If you have been reading the blogs in the past you will be well aware of what it means if I am updating my blog again. And yes, I am happy to tell you that our internal test server (ITS) is being updated with the next major patch for Cabal Online as I sit here typing this. So please prepare yourselves for:



Cabal Online: Siena the Queen




We are currently going through the patch notes we received from ESTsoft this afternoon, preparing our initial questions about the notes (yes, there are many points that need to be cleared up a bit) and setting up our test schedules. I can tell you that there appears to be a whole host of changes, new content, and some great additions to the cash shop. I think I will just wet your appetites a bit by posting the major points from the patch notes – expect much more detail and discussion as we proceed with the testing process ;)



Blended Runes
These are created from normal Essence Runes. They appear to be very powerful, but limited at the same time. 16 types, each with 3 different levels



The Guild Expansion
Guilds will now have levels, from 1 to 5, and the long-awaited and often-requested guild warehouse will be introduced with this patch as well.



Two new dungeons
Altar of Siena b2f, and the Panic Cave – Panic Cave will have three difficulty levels, from easy to what I can only call ‘painful’ after reading the notes. Expect more detail after testing.



Map Extras
A new functionality for the GPS map, as well as a new way of showing your items to people. Not 100% clear on how this works yet, so we will have to wait and see.



The Warp Stone
An item that can be bought from an NPC that will enable PREMIUM users from the losing nation to use the winning bonus warps.



Account binding items
A new way of dealing with high-value items, similar to systems from other MMO’s. This will likely prove a bit controversial, so expect a detailed blog entry dedicated to this.



There are of course loads of minor changes, dealing with lower level quests, the way that you use the ‘looking for a party’ function, changes to NPC item prices, minor changes the mission wars, and quite a lot more. I guess this blog will get pretty busy as I get the time to update it through the next couple of weeks. We will also release the developer’s notes for this update very soon, so keep checking in ;)

For now we are just waiting for the patching process to finish, and then hopefully I can start to give you some more detailed information soon. :)

Viral ]]> http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=22 Short Blog Update http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=21 Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:01:58 GMT So I missed another blog post last Friday....yes I’m a bad person. It wasn’t done on purpose and in truth I just didn’t have time for you all ( ;) )... So I missed another blog post last Friday....yes I’m a bad person. It wasn’t done on purpose and in truth I just didn’t have time for you all ( ;) ) . But well I think with the week we all had, it was understandable that the blog had to take a back seat.

Today’s blog will therefore be a short and concise version of the weekly blog (*hurrah*!) To update you of a few things:
  • We are currently in the process of planning the next CABAL event (which will hopefully, fingers crossed, go live very soon). This is to keep you all entertained before the next big update (due to go live next month) and also compensate you all for the recent problems we have had.
  • A large part of the past week has been spent investigating the “Damage Hack”. We have announced around 35 names so far (only a partial list) and will continue to release some of the names to the community. In many ways I disagree with releasing names in this way (often because it leads to a witch-hunt) but in this case it was essential to re-assure you all that actions are being taken.
  • Most of the items lost during the Auction House problems last month have now been returned. The last batch will be sent out this week.
  • Wexp beads were finally added to the shop last week. This week will see the introduction of new pets (replacing the old cohort who will disappear for several months).

    And finally...
  • We are off to Cologne this Wednesday. If you are planning to come to the Games Convention and for some strange reason wish to meet us, we will be available at 11 AM next Saturday. Exact details will be posted next week.

I will try and keep you all informed of the convention through the blog and twitter. Until next time though, have a good week! ]]> Caesar http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=21 August Arrives http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=20 Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:14:44 GMT So it’s been two weeks since my last blog and once again I received a number of private messages asking where I’d gone (it’s so nice to be missed!)... So it’s been two weeks since my last blog and once again I received a number of private messages asking where I’d gone (it’s so nice to be missed!) As I’m sure many of you aware the reason for my absence was a trip to Germany, making my first visit to the Games Convention in Leipzig. It was an interesting experience and we met a number of very interesting people and companies, some of which you will hear more about in the coming weeks (the only clue I will give is that a number of them are new payment options).

It was nice to meet some CABAL players at the convention. You often expect to meet some psycho computer nerd, who has no real intention to discuss anything bar moaning about a grievance they have with the game. Luckily no such person turned up and all those who attended (around 13 or so in total) were friendly and approachable (raising valid concerns but by no means attacking us). We sat and discussed the game for several hours, although due to the strange language they all talked ([GM]Kru and Luco included) my involvement was confined to carrying the cakes and drinks to the table. We are off to the next convention in Cologne in a few weeks and if you live nearby I would recommend coming and saying hello.

The convention couldn’t have come at a worse time, with the duping and lost items issues happening in the days before. We have now managed to clear up most of the mess from the incident and users should receive their lost items early next week (if they haven’t already done so). All claims should now have been submitted and we are looking at running something nice in compensation for the problems. I must admit it will be nice when we can finally put the issue behind us.

In other news the word “sie” will be removed from the filter during the next maintenance. It is something we raised with EST some time ago and it will now be added with the next contents update. Don’t ask me when this will be, as we are still waiting for an internal test version of the new patch (which I can already tell you will include some very exciting new features and updates).

During the convention we also had a very productive meeting with INCA, the developers of GameGuard, who also have some very interesting new developments coming our way. While I know many users have had bad experiences with their products in the past, they are genuinely a good company and if you are suffering from problems with GameGuard I urge you to read this topic.

In the next few weeks the cash shop will also undergo a few changes. We are really interested in making a shop that is suitable for the wants and needs of the players and again I welcome any suggestions you have.

So that’s it for this week. There should be a blog next week and I will try and update while I am in Cologne. Until next time have a good week! ]]> Caesar http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=20 I’m back – did you miss me? http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=19 Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:37:06 GMT As several of you noticed, over the past few weeks I decided to take a well earned break (it was very relaxing...thanks for asking). Of course as is... As several of you noticed, over the past few weeks I decided to take a well earned break (it was very relaxing...thanks for asking). Of course as is always the case it doesn’t take long for stress levels to once again increase and if anything can be guaranteed with CABAL it is that there is plenty to stress about. This week has been no exception and with the issues on Tuesday (with some items duplicated) and connection issues of the past few days, it has been a welcome return.

To quickly update you on the situation with both issues:

The item duplication and lost items: As Luco announced on Tuesday, we are currently working towards removing the duplicated items and compensating those who lost alz and items through the Auction House. This is taking longer than first thought and we are continuing to work closely with the developers to solve this problem. Once again we ask for your patience and trust us when we say the issue will be resolved.

Connection Issues: Again this is an issue we are working closely with the developers on and hope to fix in the coming days. In the meantime as I stated in my announcement, do not mess with your clients. It is unlikely to help and may cause additional problems once the issue itself has been fixed.

Aside from these two issues we have been working on a new update which will go live next Monday. This will fix several small bugs, which Viral will explain in more detail over the coming days.

I now wish to turn this blog around and ask you all to give me some feedback. As I have previously announced, we are currently in the process of reviewing the item shop and therefore I put it to you: what are your thoughts on the shop? Do you think the rotation system works? What would you like to see changed? How would you improve it? Use the reply area of this blog to let me know and I will do my best to respond to your suggestions.

Have a good week and let us all hope it is less eventful than the last! ]]> Caesar http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=19 Friday Update http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=18 Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:14:18 GMT So it’s been a few weeks since my last blog post and I promise you it’s not been out of choice or laziness. Simply put it’s been a hectic time, both... So it’s been a few weeks since my last blog post and I promise you it’s not been out of choice or laziness. Simply put it’s been a hectic time, both with the new update and other tasks that have needed to be completed, and it has meant that there has not been a single moment to sit down and tell you all what’s happening.

As you are all aware the official release date for the latest update, Soul & Sienna, has been confirmed as the 16th June 2009. Once again we are one of the earliest (if not the earliest) version to receive the patch after the Koreans and it is a testament to our strong relationship with EST that we are trusted to test and implement the patch on time and to the required standard.

I genuinely hope the new contents will be greeted with as much excitement and enjoyment as by the testing team. There is plenty in this update for everyone and it should add further to the already fantastic content the game has to offer (if you agree perhaps you can refer a friend?)

We have already begun with the marketing for the update and you can watch a game play video of the new update here. Over the course of the next few weeks we will also be uploading a mini-site page, another movie and screenshots, to wet the appetites for 16th June. If you have any ideas for marketing, feel free to share them by replying to this post.

While the update has taken up much of our time, we have also been working on a number of other projects to improve the game. Starting this month the item shop has been changed to a 2 week rotation, meaning the items you wish to purchase should appear on a more regular basis.

Furthermore we have been working on a new item shop interface, with improved functionability, which will hopefully be released in the foreseeable future.

We have also been planning for the June festivities and as I promised in my last blog post here are some of the details. Starting on the 16th June we will be running a number of events simultaneously, in order to celebrate the anniversary of CABAL Online, giving you the chance to win some great prizes and get involved in some exciting competitions. This will include a daily stats increase (rotating between experience, skill experience, Wexp etc – 3 hours during weekdays and six on the weekends); the invasion of some scary foes; a Guild related event; a contest to for you to tell us your best CABAL memories; and some other strange and wonderful surprises. Hopefully it will be a fitting celebration for a game that has continued to go from strength to strength over the course of the past few years.

So that’s it for this week. I promise to post another blog next week and I will try and answer your questions that you post in reply.
Have a good week. ]]> Caesar http://forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php?b=18