House Decoration Contest - Winter 2023/24

Make sure to check out of all of the amazing player-submitted decorations in the following Discord channel: https://discord.com/channels/369023244038045697/1186715359647113287

The contest was evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Artistic Creativity
• Playfulness and Whimsy
• Coziness and Warmth
• Use of Unconventional Materials
• Miniature World Creation
• Narrative Strength
• Depiction of Snowy Scenes
• Outdoor Decorations

Top 3 Winners (ranked by the team):

1. Fenris: Home for The Holidays for Most Cozy & Inviting
2. Taria: Gingerbread Celebrates Christmas for Most Creative/Artistic
3. Guybrush: Honey, I Shrunk Christmas! for Best Miniature World

All other entries (also winners!):

• Tommesatan: Tommesatan's Christmas Feast: Best Use of Unusual Objects

• chriss: Merry Grilling: Best Outdoor Decorations

• Zarnack: Your fight is over gingerbreads: Best Storytelling

• Swiss Precision: Santa's Sleigh Shed: Best Snowy Scene

• Kikoo: Not much snow around BUT we still have fun: Most Whimsical/Playful

Prizes:

• Tiered prize packages are being put together, and all participants will receive a prize due to their time & effort spent on the contest. Thank you for participating!
• Prizes will include:
  • Elf Food to buy stuff from Santa
  • Personalized item
  • Winter House Decorations
  • an unopened Christmas Gift box
  • more!
• Please allow a few days for the team to build the prize packages for everyone. We will send them to your account in-game and write you when it is has been sent.

Thanks again to everyone who participated, the team enjoyed every minute of looking around at your creations, fantastic work!

We would like to inform you that GM Shroud and CM Milamber have recently stepped away from our team. As is the nature of dynamic volunteer teams, changes like these are part of our evolving journey. We are extremely grateful to both of them for their time & contributions and wish them nothing but the best. Our team remains dedicated to the project and we look forward to continuing this adventure with your support. Thank you for being here with us!

We apologize for the delays with judging the winter house decoration contest. The team is currently backed up but we would like to complete this as quickly as possible thank you for your patience and thanks again for participating amazing work everyone!

Game Update: January 2024

Introduction

It's a new year, and a great time to lay out what's going on with our game. As we step into 2024, we're excited to share our vision and the proactive steps we're taking to ensure the game's ongoing success and evolution. This update includes a rundown of our priority items and our action plan for the months ahead.

Your engagement is vital to us. Whether you're a dedicated player or a valued supporter contributing through donations or subscriptions, your role in our community is indispensable. We're incredibly grateful for your continued support and enthusiasm. Together, let's make this year the best one yet for our game!

What we are working on

New Player enhancements & New Player Island

• Ocllo/Haven Island with New Player Dungeon & more content for newer players
• Extension of Young Player duration (providing more time to play as a Young Player)
• See more of our current New Player plans here: https://trello.com/c/FQUuKTgr

PVP balancing (player versus player)

• On-going balancing efforts for player-versus-player encounters
• See more of our current PVP Balance plans here: https://trello.com/c/YoKynuNu

Multi-level building support

• We've achieved some success with adding multi-level support to the game via our SoB Launcher game extension
• We will need to perform Unity updates to every building in the game to complete this feature
• We are still experimenting and is not guaranteed to be added to the game

Naval Warfare

• cannons
• new mining material & crafting recipes to obtain
• grappling (for piracy & fetching loot from wreckages)
• NPC warships

New water content & water pets

• Will be able to use cannons to take out water creatures & NPC ships
• New pets coming: Shark (aquatic mount), Water Wyvern (amphibious) & Water Dragon (aquatic)
• Audits to collision inside of water that currently blocks passage in some spots
• Completion of collision around incomplete islands

House Collapse changes

• We're considering offering house decay warnings to players on login if their account owns a house and it needs refreshing (same for boats)
• We're considering offering to send Patron-bound items to the owner's account if a house collapses
• Houses that are IDOC (in danger of collapsing) will soon have their contents put into barrels when the house collapses, requiring players to punch their way through the barrels to look for loot
• Considering: IDOC Announcement Board for players to see houses that are nearing collapse

What is being planned or in discussion

Combat Balancing

• We've got ongoing discussions in the team to try to balance combat. Recently we have tried some different changes and they were reverted for further review.
• We plan to conduct more testing in the near future

PVE Content

• We are continuously looking for ways to enhance our existing PVE content and explore opportunities to introduce new content
• Our plans include continuous addition of more exciting content, which will feature new abilities for monsters, making each adventure engaging and unpredictable

Crafter Pets (previously Tinkering Golems)

• Introducing new pet options for crafters, currently in discussion: Craftable Construct beings, Ore Elementals that can be subjugated & tamed via Tinkering trap
• These pets will have durability instead of health and will need repaired with materials like Ore & Reagents
• These pets are intended to be useful for both PVP & PVE

Evolving Pets/End-game Taming

• We're looking into the possibility of end-game pets, commonly referred to Evo Pets in the UO community
• These pets would start out as smaller, weaker beings and you would train them to grow and evolve into tougher beings, with different species to pick from
• We've got a few new pet models ready to use for something like this, like beautiful new Dragons

Player Jails

• We're discussing the possibility of adding a Jailing system where players can "press charges" against their murderers. The culprits could then be captured and sent to jail to serve a sentence for their actions. This is a rough idea, and there's no solid plans or ideas yet.

What we've completed recently

Seasonal Challenges

• We've completed Season 1 and have just started Season 2
• Seasonal challenges offer a large variety of tasks for players to engage in, accruing points to unlock vast rewards

New mini-games

• Snowball Fight (available now near Windemere)
• Jousting (available now in Vesper)
• MOBA Game (was used with Chucky Doll for Halloween, will continue to iterate)
• more to come: Life Size Chess, and Texas Hold'em Poker

Water & Boating Expansion

• We've expanded the waters of the world. Previously only 2 regions were prepared for players to drive their boats around in, now every online region is capable of being sailed in.

Music & Sound Additions

• We've deployed several custom Music tracks written by previous team-member Beekel & some additional tracks sourced elsewhere by our team
• We've also added dozens of new sounds that may sound exactly like our favorite classic game!
• We will continue to expand and add more as time permits, including additional or replacement Sounds, Ambience tracks, and Music
• Disclaimer: All recognizable sound-effects incorporated in our project have been sourced from the US Library of Congress and are classified as Public Domain content.

There's much more that we haven't listed here, to see a list of recent patch notes, check out our News page here: https://shardsofbritannia.com/search/query:patchnote

Marketing

We periodically run paid ad campaigns on popular marketing platforms like Google, TikTok and other social media outlets from time to time. As you may know, advertising is very costly, so we are unable to run paid ads all the time. We try to run campaigns when it is strategically advantageous.

We've recently completed a polishing pass on our website to improve education for new players & to improve the general flow for new visitors, as this is where we point advertising viewers to when they click on our ad.

Joining Hands with Our Community

Fostering Positivity & Good Vibes

• We highly value the power of positive and productive interactions among our players. While we recognize the importance of expressing one's thoughts and emotions, it's crucial to ensure these expressions contribute positively to our community. Voicing opinions in a manner that isn't constructive or beneficial could potentially discourage new players from participating in discussions or trying out our game. Critiques about the game are not discouraged; however, we request you to frame them constructively.

Spreading the Word

• Your help in promoting our game would be greatly appreciated! We invite all members to share their experiences with friends, family, or anyone who might be interested. Whether they're fans of Ultima games or Ultima Online, or simply enjoy online sandbox games without any prior knowledge of Ultima, your word-of-mouth recommendations can make a significant difference. Please remember to do so respectfully and considerately.

Reminder, as previously scheduled, Xmas Activities have come to an end. Santa will remain until the end of the month for you to finalize any trades & purchases.

The Christmas House Decoration contest deadline is Jan 12th and the judging will commence at that time with prizes announced shortly after, you can enter and see current entries here: https://discord.com/channels/369023244038045697/1186715359647113287

The Christmas Lottery deadline is Jan 15th and the drawing will commence at that time with prizes announced shortly after

Happy new year!

We are thrilled to unveil the arrival of Season 2 in Shards of Britannia! 🚀 Embark on a new era of challenges, quests, and triumphs. Your dedication has fueled the evolution of our server, and we're excited to present a host of thrilling updates:

🏆 Season 2 Kick-off: Sharpen your blades and ready your spells as Season 2 begins! A fresh wave of challenges awaits, promising riches and glory for the intrepid.

🎁 Rewards Galore: Season 2 introduces a treasure trove of rewards! From the coveted Season Chest to unique items that will dazzle the most seasoned adventurers, your feats will be duly rewarded.

🌐 Updated Seasons System: We've fine-tuned the Seasons System based on your invaluable feedback. Expect a smoother and more engaging experience as you navigate through challenges, earning points and climbing the ranks.

📅 End Date: March 31st

Your journey in Shards of Britannia is about to reach new heights. Season 2 is not just an update; it's an invitation to partake in an epic adventure. Thank you for being a part of our vibrant community.

See you in-game! ⚔️🛡️

Just a reminder that Season 1 quests are about to conclude after today (not to be confused with Xmas Activities).

We hope you've enjoyed our first Seasonal Quests content release! Thanks for participating and we hope to provide as much or more fun in the next one and in future seasons. :) Stay tuned for updates about the next season

As the festive season twinkles with lights and joy, the team wishes to extend our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you. Your dedication and enthusiasm in exploring our world and engaging in epic adventures make this journey truly special.

This holiday season, we hope you’ve enjoyed the festive spirit in Shards of Britannia, collecting Christmas goodies, and reveling in the unique experiences our game offers. Your presence in our community is the greatest gift, and seeing you spend your free time with us is genuinely heartwarming.

May this holiday season fill your life with happiness, peace, and plenty of gaming fun! We’re thrilled to have you with us and look forward to sharing many more adventures in the coming year.

Happy Gaming and Happy Holidays!

In the mystical realm of Windemere, a dire threat looms on the horizon. The formidable Frostfang the Ravager and his savage horde have established their chilling camp in the unforgiving South-Eastern reaches of our land. Only the bravest souls can rise to the challenge and combat the icy terrors that threaten our world.

See Also:

• Updates Dec 13th

The Snowball Fight event is about to start again for the season:

• Snowball Fights are a PVP event that requires no skill and no items, all characters welcome!
• The event will run every 2 hours, avoiding overlapping with Faction Pillar events & server restarts; Players can also manually start the fight by using the Giant Snowball teleporter at Windemere bank and talking to the Snowball Fight Coordinator (requires at least 4 players from different households to be in the lobby)
• Before the event starts, portals will be created at each bank that leads to the Snowball Fight Arena waiting area
• Online characters will be sent a notification that the event is about to start with an option to Teleport To Event; this can be disabled in the Notifications Settings (fixed previous issues with pop-up appearing even when ignored)
• What's not allowed in the arena: Bandages, Potions, Pets (please bank your resources first, dismount & leave your pets in the waiting area or stables)
• After a 15 minute waiting period the game will begin and an Entrance Portal will be created for a minute at the entrance to the arena, please enter this portal immediately!
• After entering the arena there will be a 1 minute cooldown where you will remain hidden while other players load, after which you will become un-hidden and ready to start throwing!
• Snowball Fights require at least 2 players and no more than 20 players, and the game is Free For All
• The match will last 20 minutes or until someone gets 20 kills, whichever comes first
• The objective is to Pick-up & Use snowballs and Throw them at other players
• Players will automatically receive 1 Snowball when joining and you can find more on the ground
• Snowballs have a 90% chance to hit your target & they will do 50% damage
• You can Dodge snowballs by breaking line-of-sight or going out of range from the thrower
• You will also need to dodge periodic Giant Rolling Snowballs; these will flatten you if they run you over, freezing you in place for a moment, these will dissolve once they reach the water
• There's a chance to find Ice Bombs on the ground. Ice Bombs can be thrown like a grenade to freeze nearby players for a few seconds
• The Snow Cannon can be used, with a snowball in your backpack as ammo, to shoot Homing Snowballs that will follow the first player that comes within range and performs a normal Snowball Hit on them, giving credit to the shooter if they die
• Temporary heal potions can be found in the hidden Chests around the arena that may offer you a lifeline to stay in the game longer
• Tied matches are settled with a Sudden Death match where all of the tied players will be put into a final match until the last person standing becomes the winner
• All participants will receive a trophy etched with their game stats
• During the Xmas Season (dates TBD), participants will also receive Candy Canes that can be traded for Xmas Gifts
• You can use the command /snowballfight during the match to check your stats, or /leavesnowballfight to leave the match and forfeit

Santa's Workshop has appeared in the North Pole, SW of Windemere, and the Elves are busy at work on the gifts for this Christmas! Stay tuned in the coming days for more news from the North Pole

Winter activities are just around the corner and soon will commence the snowball fight competition as well as holiday popup camps and Santas Workshop. More details to follow in the coming days!

This is just a reminder that the Thanksgiving activities are coming to an end after the daily restart. Mr Gobbles will go back to his nest and Autumna Leafwhisperer thanks you for helping save the feast! Thanks for participating, we hope you've had fun! We look forward to expanding on the features we've experimented with in future events.

Dear Adventurers,

We've got some important updates regarding PvP changes and bug fixes. Your patience and feedback have been crucial, and we appreciate your understanding as we work to enhance your Shards of Britannia experience.

Here's what's coming:

• More adjustments to address Season's refresh issues. Thank you for your continued patience.
• Hearthlight Torch buff persistence when changing zones. Tents can be crafted correctly in groups.
• Faction Events will buff teams with fewer players, aiming to balance the damage received.
• Fix the bug allowing weapons to be equipped while holding a spell.
• Ranged weapons will require the full weapon-draw delay to fire after equipping.
• Fix murder counts occasionally given to opposing members of faction teams.

Please note that Faction Event adjustments are an experiment and will be fine-tuned based on your feedback. Your voices matter, and your troubles are being addressed. Thanks for being part of Shards of Britannia!

Happy Thanksgiving, we are thankful for you all!

Update: Nov 25th @ 5:45AM UTC:

• We're working on a Thanksgiving style boss encounter that will require teamwork and a Turkey Cannon to complete, we'll try to have it launched by the next daily restart on Nov 25th
• Note: Please make sure to use the Quest Log to keep track of your progress on the Thanksgiving Quest -- this can be opened on the Menu Bar or by pressing L (by default), this is how you will keep track of what exactly you need to do for the quest

Update: Nov 24th @ 5AM UTC:

• We've added a brand new Thanksgiving Quest, where you can help save the Thanksgiving Feast for the townspeople!
• Autumna Leafwhisper, the Thanksgiving Organizer, will be stationed on top of Empath Abbey bank in Yew to recruit your help until Mon at 9am UTC
• This quest can be completed once per character and offers a chance at some unique handouts, including:
  • Not-a-Turkey Mount (Chicken Ethereal Mount)
  • Autumn Vines House Add-on (3 varieties)
  • Pilgrim Hat (+2 other hats)
  • Festive Food & Alcohol

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for sharing some time with us 🦃

UPDATE: The outage has been resolved and the Shards of Britannia server should be available again shortly

There's an unexpected outage with the Legends of Aria services preventing players from logging into the game right now. We've alerted those involved and hope the issue is resolved quickly, thanks for your patience!

This is an update that Halloween activities are coming to an end!

Halloween spawns have ceased and the Halloween Dungeon is now closed.

The Halloween Candy vendors will remain until the end of the month so you can complete any final candy trades or purchases

The Bazaar vendors on Yew bank will remain until the end of the month

Thanks to everyone for participating and we hope you've had as much fun as we did!

(Note: end of the month time is Dec 1st 9am UTC)

The results are in for the Halloween 2023 House Decoration Contest!

The staff has voted and ranked the following winners:

1. International House of Mojo by Guybrush
2. Halloween House designed by Taria
3. Halloween Deco 2023 by Zarnack

The winners will receive a Toxic Kettle filled with some Halloween Candy for spending, and some customized Halloween goodies 🎃

We will drop your gifts off shortly!

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all participants! You all made some amazing creations and we can't wait to see what you come up with next!

The server is coming back online now.

During the next restart, the server will remain offline for up to an hour to conduct additional maintenance tasks. Please keep an eye on #news in Discord for an announcement as to when the server will be available again.

Thank you for your patience.

Update: As some of you may have noticed, this didn't go ahead - it will now happen during the next maintenance window.