22DEC10 - New User Interface Update
Printed From: Illyriad
Category: News & Announcements
Forum Name: News & Announcements
Forum Description: Changes, patch release dates, server launch dates, downtime notifications etc.
URL: http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=1378
Printed Date: 17 Apr 2022 at 21:26
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: 22DEC10 - New User Interface Update
Posted By: GM Stormcrow
Subject: 22DEC10 - New User Interface Update
Date Posted: 22 Dec 2010 at 23:42
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Hi All, We are very close to the release of the new User Interface for Illyriad, and wanted to take this opportunity to tell you a bit more about it, with some illustrative screenshots. The new User Interface (UI v2) brings greatly improved functionality in a wide variety of areas that will enhance your playing experience. General Enhancements include: It's Faster When you click on links and buttons (ie when you load webpages), it only retrieves the new information it needs - rather than "everything on the page", as it currently does - and this means it runs swifter than a 100-metre sprinter running towards the river after recently being set on fire. It Actively Notifies You When You Need To Know Something You may have noticed that currently you only get notified about a new email when you click on a different page. Or you may have noticed that when your building completes construction, it sits there saying "Completed" and it doesn't go away until you click on something. That all goes away with the UI v2. Your web browser will sit there listening for "events", and when the server has something to tell you that happened without you performing an action (ie someone cast a spell on you, your building completed, you got mail etc) it will tell your web browser to invisibly and silently refresh your game world, and change whatever needs to be changed. This means that - in the future - when a player asks you for a private chat conversation (yes, that is coming!) - then you'll be instantly notified of this request and can choose to accept it immediately. On the screenshots below you'll see a "Notification" window on the right hand side. We're moving away from the ingame mail system we currently have whereby you get dozens - if not hundreds - of mails about things you don't necessarily care about. All of the system generated emails such as combat reports and trade emails will be removed from the mail system and into a searchable set of report interfaces. The Notifications System (with a History) will tie these different kinds of events (military, trade etc) into chronological order, and link directly into the report. For a period of time we'll run the two systems in parallel, but the ingame mail system will ultimately only be for player-to-player communications. It Means Less Clicks One of the things that's frustrating - especially when dealing with multiple cities - is the number of clicks it takes to get around and manage things. UI v2 puts the most used "common" tasks right at your fingertips, either through the new satellite button system on the top navigation menu, or on a bunch of newly created pages such as a complete production overview of your town(s). Similarly, we've provided common functionality on elements such as player names, town names, map coordinates, military units etc. This means that, for example, every time you see a player name (in chat, in a trade, in a combat report - wherever) you can click on that player's name to see further details and interact further. We've also brought in many of the commonly requested functions, such as a single button click for "Produce as many X as I can currently afford" on the production pages. It's Prettier The new graphics for navigation are cleaner and more visible than ever before, and there are many enhancements to the visibility of numbers and text. We've also designed the new UI with vision impairment and colour blindness in mind. We've also localized certain functionality - whilst things (events) still run off server time, the server will read your browser locale preferences when deciding to display the 12th of November 2010 as 12/11/10 (UK) or 11/12/10 (US). It's Got a New World Map Perhaps the most visible, and useful, change for players is on the new World Map. It's the same world as before, pretty much, but we've expanded the number of terrain graphics from the 60-odd there are now to more than 200 distinct terrain types, also covering the new biomes. We've introduced Coastline and River Bank graphics to the whole mix, as well as a host of new NPC square types. Also, we currently only have 6 City Graphics, from a small hut to a mighty white castle. This has been changed to 19 City Graphics that upgrade with your population for each race. The World Map can also (optionally) display a wide variety of overlays - from Sovereign Claims to City Names, from Region Names and Borders to highlighting (eg) NPC Resource squares or hostile armies. A clickable "minimap" is also an alternate method of navigating around the world, and this can be set to show region, terrain, or water feature. The zoom level you can rise to has also been lifted. On the current world map, the maximum level of zoom is 13x13 squares (169 in total). In the new world map, every player gets a default maximum zoom level of 21x21 (441 squares in total), and players with Active Prestige Accounts can go out to 31x31 (961 squares in total). We will also be introducing a new set of Strategic map zoom levels to cover the gaps from 50x50 through to 1000x1000. These strategic map zoom levels will be available to Active Prestige Account holders only; however they won't be in this first release! The Screenshots below illustrate some of these changes to the World Map. Example: World Map, with borders and Region/Town Names "On", Water Minimap, also note the Satellite buttons on the Military menu  Right-Click on Image and (depending on browser) you should be able to "View in New Window" to see at full size.Example: World Map, moused-over a Trade Hub, highlighted NPC squares, Region Minimap  Right-Click on Image and (depending on browser) you should be able to
"View in New Window" to see at full size. Example: World Map, Coastal Region, Maximum Zoom  Right-Click on Image and (depending on browser) you should be able to "View in New Window" to see at full size. Example: Icy Wastes, Maximum Zoom  Right-Click on Image and (depending on browser) you should be able to "View in New Window" to see at full size. GENERAL SPRUCE UP OF OTHER PAGESMany of the pages that currently exist ingame have had a spruce up - to give more information, more useful information, and/or to be clearer. This task isn't complete yet, and - after this initial release - we will be going back through many of the existing pages tidying them further, however here's the kind of thing we mean. Example: The New Trade Interface, interactive graphing  Right-Click on Image and (depending on browser) you should be able to "View in New Window" to see at full size. There are many, many other elements of the new UI v2 that will be released over the coming days and weeks that should help improve all areas of the game experience for all players. Not all of the functions mentioned here will make the first release, but most will - and the second release won't be far behind! We hope you're as excited about this as we are, and it proves to be a great Christmas present for everyone. Regards, GM Stormcrow |
Replies:
Posted By: SirTwitchy
Date Posted: 22 Dec 2010 at 23:56
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/me just peed a little |
Posted By: King EAM
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 00:01
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/me waits in awe... ------------- "It's hard to know until you're a Crow" |
Posted By: The_Dude
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 00:25
| Y'all are such teasers! |
Posted By: CranK
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 02:04
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/me begs santa claus to bless all the children of Illyriad with this wonderfull gift that only the most talented people can provide for us... Crank's 2nd wish is a powefull horde of angry mammoths that will listen to his command. But that 2nd wish is like most wishes... impossible... So I will settle with my first wish wich also would make me a very happy man :) |
Posted By: jamesprw
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 02:09
| Outstanding! I can't wait (and methinks me peed a little too) |
Posted By: Brids17
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 04:32
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999.72M research points at only +144 per hour? O_O Also, you're gold will be completely depleted in 8041 hours, might wanna work on that sometime within the next year or so... |
Posted By: Smoking GNU
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 07:33
| Hehehehe, i'm in the update! Global chat on top 4 screenshots! XD |
Posted By: GM Stormcrow
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 07:53
Heh. King Sigurd had to support Sovereignty claims for every single 9x9 Trade Hub around the entire world for a few weeks, and so may have had some additional resource-age from the Gods. SC |
Brids17 wrote:Posted By: waylander69
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 10:44
Woo HOO, looks great, cant wait for it...yet again despite all the moaning by people you have done a great bit of work work on this.......all credit to them that did it 
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Posted By: Azreil
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 10:46
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my usual profuse thanks and over-eager anticipation! and my glad observation for having zeroed in on VALAR cities Albrosium, Marannon, Sin City and Five Magics (on the first screen shot) :)
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Posted By: Negraf
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 15:42
| bows in respect |
Posted By: Grunvagr
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 15:59
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less needless clicking? you read my mind! those changes sound great. cheers 
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Posted By: LadyLuvs
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 16:26
Yay!   The new interface is awesome and the graphics look great!! Congrats on all your hard work!!! Those that moan about all the hard work these people are doing should sit and have to do their job for a bit. They wouldn't moan after that.
 Great job to all those that put their blood, sweat and tears into this game. |
Posted By: The_Dude
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 16:54
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Hey guys...The Devs have not yet actually delivered this to us so let's not get too free with all the compliments. All they have shown us is a marketing pre-release write-up. They might not have actually developed anything - except anticipation among us. Promises do me no good...I need product! :)
As to blood, sweat, and tears... Tears maybe, but Blood? Papercuts don't count. Sweat? What...did the air-conditioning fail in the summer? :)
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Posted By: some random guy
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 20:33
| wow. that is all i have to say. |
Posted By: kicking5251
Date Posted: 23 Dec 2010 at 23:59
looks really cool 
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Posted By: HonoredMule
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2010 at 05:00
You're clearly not a programmer. When you're hacking like mad on a keyboard and juggling a ridiculous amount of raw information as you try to spew it all out in coherent, machine executable format, your palms will get plenty sweaty--not to mention cranial overheating. When all your code goes splat and the system goes pear-shaped (the computers' and coworkers' faults, of course), your subsequent violent outbursts will often draw blood as the hardware you bash turns out to be sharper and more rigid than you. As for tears...oh, yeah, there's tears. |
Posted By: The_Dude
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2010 at 05:17
As to the presures of a job...such is the life of a pro.
 Deliver a product, then let it be reviewed. For now, we have postive reviews without any product. This baffles me.
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Posted By: Createure
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2010 at 14:20
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Upcoming changes look awesome, looking forward to it. I loves a good teaser. |
Posted By: bartimeus
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2010 at 15:37
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Making the map view bigger is an awesome improvement. ------------- Bartimeus, your very best friend. |
Posted By: The_Dude
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2010 at 17:37
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Posted By: Strategos
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2010 at 17:45
It exists, I'm using many of these features as we speak, and they are *awesome*. The rest of you however, will have to wait with trying them until they're properly polished ;) Very Soon (TM). ------------- Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis |
Posted By: The_Dude
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2010 at 17:56
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Yeah...And Santa Claus is real, too.
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Posted By: Strategos
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2010 at 18:09
I don't know about santa (though I have the traps setup), but I have a developer interface that looks like the above screenshots, which if I am not mistaken, are screenshots of Stormcrows own developer interface which currently have the new UI implemented. We've been working on this for several months now, and the reason we release this information now is because we're so close to release. A bit of patience and you'll all get to play with it yourselves ------------- Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis |
Posted By: GM Stormcrow
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2010 at 18:52
Yes indeed, I can confirm that these were raw screenshots from the dev interface using Live data from the UK1 server; not anything "mocked up" in Photoshop :) SC |
Posted By: waylander69
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2010 at 20:38
Some people are just never happy...keep up the good work, for a game under 1 year old its going great oh and a Happy Christmas to one and all 
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Posted By: The_Dude
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2010 at 20:54
Like the teacher used to always say....Did you bring enough for everyone else?
Answer: No.
Teacher: Then put it away until class is over.
 |
Posted By: some random guy
Date Posted: 24 Dec 2010 at 22:39
| You know what would be cool? A centaur cowboy. (in other words, give it a rest) |
Posted By: Raritor
Date Posted: 25 Dec 2010 at 17:42
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I like all the information i've read about the new interface, but there's one thing i really don't like, it's this: "We've also localized certain functionality - whilst things (events) still run off server time, the server will read your browser locale preferences when deciding to display the 12th of November 2010 as 12/11/10 (UK) or 11/12/10 (US)." As players are located worldwide and therefore have different times, it will be easier to have the server time for all of us. If we want to know the local time it's enough to have a look at the corner of your screen, where your desktop usually has that information, but if you want to coordinate something with other players it will be much easier for all to use the same time (server, GMT, US, or whatever but the same one for all). Besides that, congratulations for all the work we will soon be able to enjoy. |
Posted By: Mr Andersson
Date Posted: 26 Dec 2010 at 08:29
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I'm really exited - cant wait for the new interface. Looks really promising! ------------- MrA |
Posted By: GM Stormcrow
Date Posted: 27 Dec 2010 at 05:29
Yes, exactly, server time and server date will still be server time and server date. They will, however, display in the browser's locale format. So a military combat that occurs on the 12th of November, 2010 at 15:00 (server time) might display to a European as 12/11/10 15:00, and to an American as 11/12/10 15:00. However, the time of combat itself is still based on Server Time, to remove ambiguity from people co-ordinating across different timezones. The some goes for many numbers ingame. The UK and US likes (eg) 9,999,999.99 as a number format, but there are many European countries who generally use (eg) 9.999.999,99 instead; and the differences we're talking about here are purely ones of format rather than content. Best, SC |
Posted By: kicking5251
Date Posted: 27 Dec 2010 at 05:40
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love how the cities are going to look its a bit crazy having a orcish city that looks pretty human
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Posted By: King EAM
Date Posted: 27 Dec 2010 at 13:40
 The orcish cities are the ones that are built out of pikes and are brown.EDIT: They only have the first level orc city not the larger ones, however I have seen the largest one and it looks nothing like the human city.
------------- "It's hard to know until you're a Crow" |
Posted By: Ector the Fury
Date Posted: 27 Dec 2010 at 19:21
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@The_Dude: All this early praise is because the community knows that this great group of GMs will deliver the goods. They never let us down before and there is no reason to think they will do so now. I didnt have to play COD: Black ops to know that it was gonna rock. You know what I mean?  @GMs: You guys/gals are the epitome of excellence. My respect to you. We are the luckiest community to have you all behind the scenes. |
Posted By: 7Skiaxtro
Date Posted: 04 Jan 2011 at 00:53
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I love you guys! /hugzzzz (no homo :P) |
Posted By: KillerPoodle
Date Posted: 07 Jan 2011 at 15:11
| Please, Please, Please oh Gods of Illyriad make it easier to apply a bunch of upgrades to a commander without an entire page load and closing that commanders stats in between every upgrade... |
Posted By: Hora
Date Posted: 07 Jan 2011 at 17:07
Please let me have same problems like KP, where I have to spend so much time levelling commanders  .Well, I have to agree, those reloads between any multiple actions (trading, commander, units movement, etc...) could do with a workup. But I'm confident our allwise GM's thought to alter this, of course.  |
Posted By: HonoredMule
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2011 at 02:10
| I personally hope that the UI change doesn't happen during the tournament, as it would mess with HB users' managed/coordinated military plans. Players wouldn't just lose the scheduling and timing assistance, but also the information and planning that went into setting up that schedule. |
Posted By: fluffy
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2011 at 02:12
But isn't that just a side affect of using something that is not actually part of the game? I'm sure lots of people would be happy to have the new UI asap. (me included)
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Posted By: Strategos
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2011 at 02:27
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The UI will be launched when we feel the UI is ready to be launched. With regards to third party applications, we have several times stated that we offer no official support for these and that players using them should do so at their own risk. ------------- Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis |
Posted By: The_Dude
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2011 at 02:49
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Posted By: HonoredMule
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2011 at 03:04
And I do understand that. I just thought it worth expressing that even a good change can be disruptive if it comes in the middle of ongoing activities that operate on the current status quo--whether that status quo is "stock" or not. I don't expect support, but I do wish I had a transition period or at least warning in advance of a specific release date, both as a coder and a user. I'm hoping I'll find time this weekend to reproduce launch timers from synced data so people who use sync can view their current launch timers, but there's no way I'll have time to hack together a way to edit them or create new ones, nor will I go to that length for such a temporary hack. |
Posted By: Smoking GNU
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2011 at 15:15
I'm sorry to have to differ with you on this one. They promised nearly 6 months ago that we were close to getting Combat Magic and was even commenting that they were "testing it out" on the test server. This is the only case, however, and i have to agree that with everything else they have not dissapointed us yet. |
Posted By: lokifeyson
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2011 at 23:09
yeah I would love to have my summon spells lol :D The sooner this user interface comes out, the better imo, just hope it loads nicer on the PS3 Cant wait to log in and see my towns the way they should look (Orcish) and to actually get a REAL Race Bonus would be cool as well (l like how elves seem be the only race with a "special" bonus, on speed and for spellcasting, unless my Orcs build faster or are getting some cool terrain bonuses that I just don't see.....) basically I'm getting tired of playing a game that isn't done, at all, I know all games "update" over time, but right now I feel like the game I'm playing (this game) could at any moment change in some way that "endangers" my town and/or tell me I have been playing it "wrong" know what I'm saying..? Yes you GM's are very awesome, but some clarity and sense a completeness can go a long way -------------  |
Posted By: Mr Andersson
Date Posted: 15 Jan 2011 at 17:13
ok, i'm trying to decipher this... does days mean weeks, or month? and when you say weeks... you mean... naaa I give up.... I don't get it. No but jokes aside, how are you all doing? Are you getting any sleep, making any progress? I'm not asking for a date, just some insight in what is going on? ------------- MrA |
Posted By: CranK
Date Posted: 15 Jan 2011 at 20:08
Orcs DO have a very VERY big advantage.... Their spearman are not only the Orcs best units (with the current race bonus) but they build fast AND cost nearly NOTHING wich allows Orcs to pile up thousands and thousands of troops on 1 square by just 1 single player. So don't say Orcs don't have a ''actual'' bonus.. |
Posted By: The_Dude
Date Posted: 15 Jan 2011 at 20:26
| Don't overlook the Orc odor. Overpowering does not even come close to describing the stench of Orc. |
Posted By: lokifeyson
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2011 at 02:21
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as was pointed out before in race topic everyone has same production time for units, and every race has troop bonuses but not every race has the spell casting bonus like elfs, that's all im really saying i am curious as to what I actually do have for bonuses (if any) outside of troops... ------------- |
Posted By: bartimeus
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2011 at 10:18
Spearman also have the advantage of being "buildable" even by a low pop town, with little research to do... also, just face it... orc are just dumb smelly beast... they don't deserve any bonus. if you really want a special bonus, how about no one except orc can settle 2 tile away from an orc city, because of the smell? that would be as useless of a bonus as the magic is to elves (who needs more mana, seriously?) .
------------- Bartimeus, your very best friend. |
Posted By: lokifeyson
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2011 at 10:46
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lol, the fact that you think its a "mana bonus" (i assume you mean they make more ph) is funny, cause I'm talking about the "RACE" bonus they get when they go to cast a spell and it makes it so your spell (if your not an elf) is probably gonna be overpowered and now you suddenly have no cows or swords or books and then your research is also cut down, a lvl 20 mage tower on a elf is deadly! ------------- |
Posted By: bartimeus
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2011 at 11:09
A mage tower, wether elvish or any other race, isn't deadly at all. the elves' spell don't get any bonus in their effects, all they get is more "spell power" meaning that for non instant spell, more mana will have to be spent to cancel it's effect. The bonus is 5%... so you can acheive exactly the same thing by adding 5% more mana when sending the blight. since everyone allready has way too much mana, this bonus is mostly useless. ------------- Bartimeus, your very best friend. |
Posted By: Createure
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2011 at 12:08
orc spears build no faster than elvish bowmen... which are much more powerful. |
Posted By: Createure
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2011 at 12:13
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the big advantage of elves is their powerful and cheap bowmen, and very fast units. Personally I think these are the best advantages of any race but many disagree with me. Someone mentioned something about Orcs not needing much tech for their spears... srsly? it takes about a week top for a good player to unlock the whole military technology tree for a new city (except seige). When you're playing the game for many months or years I hardly think this is a consideration. /end rant. I'm an Orc and proud though... we may be stupid and smelly, but we have the most smilies:  |
Posted By: Mr. Ubiquitous Feral
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2011 at 19:40
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I wonder if the new update will address the extra manna? I have so much that I have began filling sandbags with it, waiting for the rivers to rise. It also makes great garnish on the dinner plate. ------------- I am a Machine. |
Posted By: some random guy
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2011 at 20:50
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Well, mana is used in great amounts for spells. I suspect that it will be in even greater demand when combat magic is released. ------------- Soon, very soon, my name will become synonymous with chicken alfredo.... mmm.... chicken alfredo.... |
Posted By: shadow
Date Posted: 28 Jan 2011 at 05:15
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Posted By: waylander69
Date Posted: 28 Jan 2011 at 07:25
| Hopefully we will be able to trade in mana the same way we can convert research into books and sell them we can convert mana into spell tomes to sell. |
Posted By: col0005
Date Posted: 28 Jan 2011 at 07:45
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I imagine summoning magical units will provide a large constat mana drain. If you read all the newness post Crafting magical items is also on the board but waaay down the list, curse/bless spells, possible teleportation etc etc all provide future ways to spend mana. |
Posted By: bignose
Date Posted: 30 Jan 2011 at 21:12
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Looks amazing
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