I always knew that one day I will be writing this and have thought about a million ways to present what I am about to say to the world. Right now is the time and I couldn’t have asked for a better name for the current game version that we are in.
Sit with me through a few game updates while I guide you and set you up for something that I think is a pleasant surprise.
September has been (and still is) a slow month for us around here. We have gone way ahead of ourselves and have completed and scheduled most of the work that will get triggered when the time arrives.
This month as Quinzel adeptly calls it (she has a name for everything!! Don’t kill meh) – is a month of reflection where we are taking a breather – reevaluating a year’s worth of work – comparing it with all the years Sword has been online and re-focusing on key areas. Because of that, things are not too hectic around here this month.
I think I am used to the mayhem that usually surrounds me and sadly, I am missing it right now.
We have already made detailed plans that will last us until February. Well, at least one branch of it. Many other aspects of the game are being worked on and all those will come into place like clockwork. IMC is discussing their plans and vision for the game with us that is almost a year away – maybe more. Things cannot get smoother than this.
I am sure the community would be happy to hear that Sword is doing exceptionally well at the moment. Though I cannot go into numbers, from the revenue standpoint, Sword is back into its glory days.
Although it looks like there are rainbows and pretty ponies everywhere, we still have a few hurdles in front of us. The PVP server seems to top the list of “the most likely to get spanked in 2011” category. I cannot get into intricate details… but I can tell you that IMC and we are on the case. We are troubleshooting the server on a daily basis, collecting logs and analyzing the problem and trying to fix it.
We are hoping to release it as soon as possible. “When” is the question that we do not have an answer for yet. We have always loved a challenge and this is just another one that we are facing. Oh we will get there soon.
Another critical project that is looming in front of us is a DB upgrade. It is a month or maybe even a few weeks away and it will be performed during a weekly maintenance. When this happens, the usual 3 hours of downtime will be pushed further in to the night.
We will inform the community in advance once the dates are confirmed so that you can prepare and brew enough coffee to keep you awake for the spam.
Apart from these, we are also raising a baby named Dominus. This project is Quinzel’s crème de la crème and the passion with which she is pursuing this, we are sure it will attain the results that we are looking for. We are currently at a stage where we are waiting for certain assets to be created.
We still have a long road ahead of us in realizing the visions that we have for Sword. As a part of this, you will be seeing a lot of activity (apart from the weekly release of patches that has been on since many months) and will be hearing terms such as “Project Aurora”.
Aurora is not a game patch or content or system or NPC or any of those sorts. But it is connected to an aspect of the game that would interest most of you. However, for the moment I will leave that mystery hanging heavily in the mind of my readers.
I guess I now owe you a revelation to balance the scale.
Since many years, I have been behind a veil of smoke – working, interacting, playing, laughing and exploding as Raiden. It is time to step out from the shadows and into the chaos.
Bit of bookworm, biker, explorer, gamer, hopeless romantic, writer and a rebel…
Born into the constellation of the Centaurs, a Sagittarian by birthright, I was not always Raiden. My parents probably didn’t think that it would be an apt name for a boy to live with.
I am Vishnu Vijayakumar… Assistant Producer – Sword 2
will try to find videos asap.