The server has been online and steady for the past 5+ hours and is ready to play! Sorry again for the interruption this morning :)

~~ The server is experiencing an unexpected outage, sorry for the interruption! We're working diligently to try and restore it as soon as possible. We don't yet have an ETA but we expect to be offline for some time still. Please check back here periodically for updates, as we will update this post with news as it arrives. Thanks for your patience, and once more sorry for the interruption! ~~

Just a reminder that Season 4 is coming to an end soon.

It was originally scheduled to end Oct 22nd but we are going to extend it by an additional couple of weeks through the Halloween season, and we will plan to start Season 5 shortly after Halloween ends (specific date will be announced as we get closer)

For the next season we plan to add in some additional season goals related to the upcoming holidays Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year to make seasons even more fun and rewarding.

Thanks for participating and thanks for being here!

In the near future we will begin performing audits and enforcing the Player Naming Policy outlined in the Rules: https://shardsofbritannia.com/about/rules

Names that do not align with the rules may be subject to force-renaming. This means that when you log in, if your name does not align with the rules, you may see a pop-up asking you to pick a new name. Please be aware that picking a new name is subject to review by the staff, so please make sure the new name aligns with the rules. All name changes will be monitored going forward.

Thanks for playing by the rules!

🎃Halloween activities will be starting soon!

Our goal is for a start date between Oct 10th to 17th with an end date between Nov 7th to 11th.

Stay tuned for more information soon! 🎃

Reminder: we are currently in the Testing Phase for the upcoming Boat, Naval Warfare & Water Creatures changes as outlined here: https://shardsofbritannia.com/news/testing-phase-for-new-boat-naval-warfare-and-water-creature-changes

A batch of fixes to issues found in the first week of testing have been deployed, fixing and correcting a number of issues. If you tested already, please help to re-test when you can.

If you wish to help test, please use the comprehensive checklist here: https://test.shardsofbritannia.com/?patchId=boat_changes

See the comprehensive patch notes here: https://test.shardsofbritannia.com/docs/?patchId=boat_changes

Thanks for your help with testing!

🚤 Announcement: Testing Phase for New Boat, Naval Warfare, and Water Creature Changes! 🌊

We're excited to announce that the Test Center is now online! You can explore the South Sea, Buccs Den, Moonglow, and Windermere regions with a fresh character database as of September 23rd. Please note that all house and boat records have been cleared.

What Is It?

The upcoming patch introduces exciting new features and improvements to enhance naval warfare, boating mechanics, and water creature interactions in our game.

Key Highlights:

• Battleships: Experience the power of new battleships equipped with 8 cannon sockets. While common models are available immediately, higher quality variants can be crafted from recipes discovered in the world.
• Cannons & Ammo: Equip your ships with cannons (7 qualities) and utilize new cannon ammo types: cannonballs for ships and grapeshot for combat.
• Greekfire: Set fire to ships and the surrounding waters for a tactical edge in battles.
• Boat Crafting Workbench: A new workbench dedicated to crafting all boating-related items.
• Niter Nodes: Mine for sodium nitrate, essential for crafting powder charges and Greekfire.
• Boat Insurance: Protect your ships with insurance, allowing recovery in the event of sinking (ships will return as dry-docked versions).

Gameplay Enhancements:

• NPC Pirate Ships: Encounter automated NPC pirate ships that can engage in combat and drop valuable loot.
• Water Creatures & Swimming: New water creatures and mounts with improved interactions for pets, including the ability to players to swim or dismount effectively.
• Tracking Ships: Utilize tracking features to locate nearby vessels on the map.
• Improved Combat Mechanics: Experience refined combat systems with more accurate cannon firing and better NPC maneuverability.

Repair & Sinking Mechanics:

• New mechanics for repairing ships at sea, handling emergencies, and the consequences of sinking.

These changes are subject to testing and balancing, and we appreciate your feedback as we refine these exciting new features!

Resources:

• Comprehensive Patch Notes: View Here
• Testing Checklist: Access Here – Please keep track of your results and notes. Once you’ve tested everything, copy your results here: Submit Results.

Important: Please do not submit your Checklist Results until you feel that you have thoroughly tested everything and it works as expected, or if you can no longer test anything. If you encounter any bugs or need assistance, reach out in Discord, and we will work to fix issues as quickly as possible.

Once any bugs are confirmed to be fixed, you can update your checklist and submit your results. This helps us ensure that we only receive comprehensive results at the end of the testing phase, and at that point we will review your notes for feedback.

Getting Help: If you encounter any bugs or issues, or if you're unsure how to test something, please reach out in our Discord: Help Channel. We're here to assist you and will address any fixes as quickly as possible!

Testing Hub: South Sea Market

• Test Vendors, boating workbenches, shipwrights, and hireling shipmates are all available here.

Moongates for Quick Travel:

• South Sea Market (safe, testing hub)
• Moonglow
• Buccs Den
• Windermere

Testing Areas in South Sea Waters: Access these areas via Serpent Pillar teleporters from the South Sea Market docks:

• Firing Range: Auto-healing ships to test your cannons (Use Serpent Pillar South of the South Sea Market).
• Water Creature Spawns: Test your skills against new water creatures (Use Serpent Pillar West of the South Sea Market).
• NPC Pirate Ships Spawn: Engage with NPC pirate ships (Use Serpent Pillar East of the South Sea Market).

Thank you for your participation and happy testing!

If you encounter an issue in the game or something appears off or incorrect, or if you have an idea for improvement, please make sure to let the developers know by submitting a Bug Report or Suggestion from in-game using the /bug or /suggestion commands

Submitting feedback in-game ensures that the team sees it and also provides some helpful information automatically to the team to help identify and troubleshoot issues

If you run into an emergency and need help, we have a few ways to get into touch with us outlined here: https://shardsofbritannia.com/about/contact

Please do not direct message staff, we do not accept DMs and will not respond to them.

Happy Independence Day to those in the USA! For everyone in Britannia we've added a Fireworks handout if you login anytime between now and July 5th at 9am, and if you happen to miss the handout or run out of fireworks, you can also buy more fireworks on top of West Britain Bank. You can see a preview of the fireworks for sale by asking the vendor to display the fireworks show periodically. Please shoot fireworks off safely and don't blow off your fingers while you celebrate. Happy Independence Day!

Update 2nd June 2024:

• Blade Spirits has been re-enabled and we will be monitoring for any subsequent issues

Original message, 20th Apr 2024:

Due to a critical bug, the blade spirits spell has been temporarily disabled until the bug can be resolved. We'll advise when it is available again.

Support Options Update

Discord Support Tickets are available again now only for specific support needs.

For most issues:

If the issue does not require a response from the team:

• Please submit feedback in-game using /bug or /feedback.

If the issue requires a response from the team:

• Please use the contact form on our website: Shards of Britannia Contact Form

For emergency support, valid Discord Support Ticket reasons include:

1. Game installation issues
2. Login or SoB Launcher issues:
   • Unable to log in or stay logged in, or issues with the SoB Launcher
3. Account-related issues:
   • Account limitation issues
   • Patron benefits or donation issues

If you have a valid Discord Support Ticket reason, please click the I need help! button in the Discord Emergency Threads channel to start an emergency ticket.

• We we will soon begin work on another PK balancing patch. In our ongoing efforts to ensure a fair and enjoyable experience for all players, this update aims to address any imbalances and refine the PK dynamics. As always, our goal is to find the right equilibrium, recognizing that the pendulum of balance must swing both ways before settling in the middle. Stay tuned for more updates, and thank you for your continued feedback and support.

• We are currently working on automating the magic chest found within the Banks of Britannia, and it should be added very soon!

Due to a limitation in our volunteer team's current availability, we've temporarily suspended the Discord Emergency Support tickets in order to streamline our efforts. Going forward, for emergency issues or concerns that require a response from the team, please use the Contact Us (email) form on our website at https://shardsofbritannia.com/contact and also continue to send bug reports, feedback & suggestions from in-game that do not require a response from the team. Thanks for your patience and understanding!

One of our community members advised us that Microsoft Defender is flagging our setup application as containing a trojan.
For the moment, we have removed this installation option and submitted the file to Microsoft for analysis as we believe the file is fine and that this is a 'false positive' in the latest MS Defender definitions.

This is supported by scans on such sites as Virustotal and Jotti, which you can use yourself if you have any concerns. We'll return that installation method as an option once Microsoft sorts things out for us.

The Spring Bazaar is kicking off at Castle Britannia in West Britain! Stop by just North/NW of the West Britain Bank and rent your vendor spot today. The vendors will be available until May 20th. If you have a vendor rented after the deadline passes, the vendor's gold, equipment & backpack contents will be packed up into your account vault for later retrieval. Happy trading!

This is just a reminder that Season 2 is coming to an end and Season 3 will commence very soon. We're going over final touches as we speak! Thanks to everyone that has participated in Season 2, we hope you've enjoyed the challenges. More news to follow very soon.

UPDATE 4/4/24: The Easter Event hath been extended from Apr 8th to Apr 15th

(Reminder) Annual Pigment & Enamels (Donation Dyetubs): Ivory - Available from March 25th to April 9th

The Easter Egg hunt has commenced! Easter Egg Nests will be scattered throughout the overworld for you to find. Double click the eggs to try opening them for fun surprises and goodies! Monsters also have a chance to spawn as Easter Paragon which can also drop Easter carrots and goodies.

Collect Fabled Carrots to spend at the Easter Vendor who can be found on the Britain Bank Roof. They will also buy some of the items you may get from the eggs in exchange for more Fabled Carrots.

The Carrot & Egg Hunt will be live until April 15th & the Easter vendor will be available until April 30th

Happy Easter!

A few players are still being affected by login issues when attempting to connect to the game, or attempting to log in additional accounts. We are continuing to work on this issue and hope to have a solution soon.

We are seeing a healthy number of players connected and playing again since a small change was pushed yesterday. If you are still having issues, please try rebooting your PC and connecting again.

If after the update and rebooting you are still experiencing issues, please log an emergency support ticket or use the contact form on our website and we will be in touch when we can.

We'd like to welcome the newest member of the team, Kelsier! He has extensive experience with infrastructure & development and has a passion for Shards of Britannia! Kelsier will be focusing primarily on Development for the moment. Please give him a warm welcome!