iary of Para Norbert, Entry #21

When I awoke in the dead of night, I knew immediately that a nightmare had held me in its grips just moments ago. I could not remember one detail, not even a fleeting glimpse of what my eyes must have beheld in the tenebrous netherworld of dreams; no, were it not for my heaving body, drenched in sweat, I would have never known that horrors had hounded me in the small hours. Yet, I had certainty now and got up. Sleep was out of the question in my state, my thoughts racing to grasp anything that might have troubled me so.

I stood at the window and watched the city below me. Thais lay lifeless, dead; no human, not even a dog in sight. The horned waning moon shone high above, its light peering into my chamber.

Do not take me for a fool that I would waste the opportunity for sweet slumber, only to be safe of childish fantasies which do not afflict us beings of flesh and bone. These last weeks I have slept little, and what scarce time I was given to rest, was perturbed by strange hauntings and outlandish occurences.

Given that I was not one to indulge foolish notions of the supernatural, initially I shook it off as merely being under the weather. Over time however, after having done my fair share of research, I could not deny the greater truth: The ghostly world of the vast beyond was in flux, unsettled by events far above my comprehension. I would have to gather skilled folk who could assist me in my mission to fathom the dealings of the spectral realm, that much is clear. I will continue with my work in order to be prepared for the moment when able-bodied souls will find their way to me.

ew mounts have been added to the Store today!

These creatures are Floating Savants whose mind has been warped and bent to focus their extraordinary mental capabilities on one single goal: to do their master's bidding.

Instead of being filled with an endless pursuit of knowledge, their live is now one of continuous thralldom and serfhood. The Floating Sage, the Floating Scholar and the Floating Augur are at your disposal.

Once bought, your character can use the mount ingame anytime, no matter if you are a free account or a premium account.

Get yourself a servile companion!
Your Community Managers

he carpenters are coming to town!

The current housing system will be enhanced soon and a bunch of new features will be implemented to improve your housing experience. There will be another teaser in due time detailing said new features. Furthermore, some houses which have been vacant on most worlds will be merged into bigger dwellings. Therefore, the rent for these houses will be increased. We've created an exhaustive list of houses involved, complete with location, the changes that will be made and the future rent.

This change will take place at the earliest in 30 days and will be implemented before the winter update, being independent from it. The website's housing section shows houses which will be vacated as "scheduled for renovation". Any items left in them will be moved automatically to their owner's depot's inbox.

Your Community Managers

n order to fix some Orcsoberfest-related bugs and address player feedback we have implemented the following changes:

• A certain waterfall on Orcsoberfest island no longer devours creatures and items.
• The cooldown of all Orcsoberfest minigames except fishing has been reduced from 1 hour to 30 minutes.
• King Chuck now can only be fought every 20 hours.
• It is no longer possible to feed King Chuck the same ingredient five times in a row.

Another change which was scheduled to be released has been implemented already as well:

• The maximum Market fee has been raised from 1,000 to 100,000 gold.

Safe travels,
Your Community Managers

re you in a festive mood? Do you want to party like there is no tomorrow? Then you are in for a treat, as Orcsoberfest is right around the corner!

This celebration involves orgers getting their fill of all the food and beer you could ever dream of, while diligent orcs work tirelessly to ensure that no plate and no stein is ever empty. Gain festive points by engaging in numerous activities, partake in the lottery to have a chance at winning great prizes or try to satiate king Chuck Nourish's voracious appetite in exchange for a reward.

As of server save on October 11, a tent will appear south of Thais. Inside is a teleport which is open to any Premium player, bringing you to Orcsoberfest island. Talk to your friendly neighbourhood orger Xaver first after your arrival or directly engage in the activities if you are not one for conversation.

The festival concludes on October 18. During the weekend after the event (server save on October 18 until server save on October 21) all game worlds will receive a 50% XP boost for creatures of the "demon" bestiary class.

This event takes place twice a year, with the starting date being the second friday of March and October respectively.

As they say on the island, meaning 'Happy festivities!' in Orcish:

Otsaf'tis!
Your Community Managers

hese are the recordings of Lagatos, chronicler and scholar extraordinaire.

I have travelled far and seen much in my existence, strange gatherings, exotic customs, events which defy all logic. However, what my gaze fell upon on a remote island in the middle of the deep blue sea ranks among the most outlandish events I bore witness to. Whether this would be beneficial to leave to posterity, I dare not say, but then again, it is not my place to judge these matters. I experience and then I document.

The island is home to a spectacle involving orcs and a lesser-known species called orgers. As their name suggests, they are a crossbreed of orcs and ogres, resulting in much bigger, stronger specimen than the aforementioned creatures. Due to their physical superiority, they mishandle the orcs, who in turn revere the orgers with cultish devotion – lest they get brutalized. The barbaric orgers love nothing more than food and drink and will use any chance given to indulge their insatiable appetite. The most egregious of their excesses takes place in the form of a half-yearly celebration, which some call Orcsoberfest. The name is supposed to stem from the fact that the orcs need to abstain from any alcoholic beverages during this time as they are to serve their overlords. Clearly, this is complete fabrication, as there would be no reason to incorporate words of the human tongue into the name of this event. No, the actual root of this name is preserved in the olden spelling "Orctobbarfest", where "tobbar" is Orcish for 'feast, banquet', "orc-" derives from an ancient prefix "arc-" meaning 'giant, enormous' and "fest" stands for 'time(span), season'. Hence, the term signifies the 'time of the great feast'.

The Orcsoberfest (may the gentle reader forgive me for using the more popular name, despite its folk-etymologic nature) revolves entirely around the Great Gorging. The "games" the brutish orgers partake in serve as thinly veiled excuses to stuff their maws and fill their bellies, while simultaneously harassing the subservient orcs. The orgers' goal is to invoke the essence of exorbitant eating and drinking which at times leads to catastrophic results, as their inebriated state causes many a mishap.

I do not wish to reveal any more of this sheer endless debauchery for now, though I will do so, undoubtedly, in time.

lue links incoming!

Instead of having links in text form, from now on they can be clicked. Clicking them may lead to an external link warning, as pictured in the screenshot to the right. This also means that the message "[Do not look at external websites. Your account could get hacked.]" will no longer appear behind links. The warning contains information about potential risks which might await you, should you visit an external page. The "Find Out More" button leads to the Security Hints, which explain in detail the dangers that could threaten your account.

The warning will not be displayed for certain websites, like e.g. CipSoft-related websites or supported and promoted fansites.

Safe browsing,
Your Community Managers

he first batch of winterberries is finally ripe. Now it is time to produce some delicious berry juice during the Annual Autumn Vintage, which takes place from October 01-08, and again from October 17-24! Just make sure to take off your shoes and wash your feet before you start the treading!

During the event, winterberries can be looted from various monsters. Collect some of those berries and talk to the trusted member of the Combined Magical Winterberry Society. You will be sent to a secret location, where you can start your treading once enough winterberries have been delivered.
If you need further information about the treading process, just ask Gruffy.

Your world will succeed if enough loads of winterberries are processed in time to temporarily refine all health and mana potions of your world. Their effect will be enhanced by 33% for 7 days in case of success.

Let the stomping begin!
Your Community Managers

harpen your swords and ready your spells, for hordes of monsters are incoming! Another Rapid Respawn Weekend will soon be upon us yet again!

Do not forget to donate enough gold for your favourite hunting ground to take full advantage of the event!

Between the server saves of October 04 and October 07, all monsters will respawn five times faster. Areas with an active improved respawn area bonus yield an even faster respawn time. Save the date!

Happy fighting!
Your Community Managers