Market Patch Progress
We are very happy to report that the highly anticipated Market Patch is coming along nicely. The database and server side of things are around 75% complete and the client side is even further along than that for what we want to accomplish with this first iteration. You can see a recent example of the new market user interface that Jesse has been enhancing below.
Another thing we will be implementing in the market patch is a global wallet which, right now, is roughly 90% complete. Players will be able to take gold back to their bank and right click to "Add to Wallet". After that is done, gold in the wallet can be used for purchases anywhere and at any time.
There are other things we are working on to include in the market patch which we will discuss in our next update.
Next Week's Patch
The developers have also been working on a smaller patch that we aim to release early next week. The following is a brief overview of what to expect:
1) "Blue Bug" issues are hopefully resolved with this upcoming patch as players leaving NPC cities are now triggering the correct transitions. We believe this was responsible for players becoming blue bugged in lawless villages and player cities.
2) There are also initial changes made to monster AI. Enemies will now show more aggression and will be much less "flighty" when players are engaged with them.
3) Party icons on the mini-map will no longer flicker when an entry is in the filter search bar.
Agon’s Community Talent (ACT)
Today we are very excited to announce the ACT initiative, short for "Agon’s Community Talent". Many of you out there have expressed interest in helping the project since we first took on this endeavor at Big Picture Games back in 2015. In the past we did not have the structure or the right personnel in place to start an initiative like this. However, since our pivot we have made many changes to our internal workflows, direction of development and team structure and we felt that now was the right time to make it a reality.
Recently we updated our Online Store page to be much more user friendly in anticipation of expanding the available items on the Nithron Coin Shop (NCS). You all got a taste of this with the first three paintings and unique runebooks released last patch, and already many of you have picked these items up. The goal however is to greatly expand upon the variety and quantity of items in the store, not only to provide all of you in the community with fun items to purchase and ways to customize your character, but also to allow us to move towards a Freemium model of access. More information will be provided on what a Freemium model will entail in the future, as today’s discussion focuses around some of the very Agonians reading this right now.
We will soon be opening the doors to all of you artists out there in the community to make your mark on the world of Agon. Individuals will be able to submit entries such as paintings, new weapons, skins, etc that have a chance to make it into the official Nithron Coin Shop.
While getting new items and artwork you created added to the game you love sounds great and all, we want to also reward you for your hard work. Everyone who finds one of their entries added to the Nithron Coin Shop will officially join ACT, providing them not only with forum and in-game recognition but with financial reward as well.
With your help we can greatly expand on the Nithron Coin Shop while allowing our artists to focus on new content assets for upcoming systems, like the new structures required for our Territory Control Mechanics. Not only will this free up some of the artists’ time on the team, but they will be receiving a cut of all NCS sales as well. The majority of us still work on a volunteer basis, and we felt this was an opportunity to give back to the guys on the team who have been working for free for quite some time but have been instrumental to what we have accomplished so far.
There are a few requirements that need to be met in order to join ACT which we will present when we officially open the doors to this program, so stay tuned for more information soon to come.
There are bright things on the horizon, and together we will make Agon one hell of a place to call home.
Thank you for reading and join in the discussion.
Sincerely,
- The Team at Big Picture Games