The Repopulation
15.7.2 Patch is now live on all servers
It was a quick two weeks between 15.7.1 and 15.7.2, and that schedule will continue with the upcoming 15.8.1 build with us making our preparations for PAX Prime. 15.7.2 will be going live at 10AM EST on Tuesday, August 11th.
The Entertainer system has received a complete overhaul this month. Gone are the dozens of dances and tale snippets cluttering up ability bars; in its place is a fluid system of minigames that chain together to increase buffs available across Tales, Dance, and Music. Building on the changes to Music in Patch 15.7.1, 15.7.2 presents entirely reworked versions of Tales and Dance.
Tale now opens the initial storytelling minigame, which begins with thematic Expositions, and provides players with the ability to tell short, lore-based stories complete with Twists and Interjections. Dance Step initiates the dancing minigame, allowing players to choose 1 of 3 styles of dance: Silly, Expressive, or Seductive. Dancing now supports more dances than before, including The Terra Throwback and Rhyldan Jig.The minigame bars will change based on player's choice and failure is possible as each ability rolls against your skill in Entertaining. Failure will often lead players on a different path than success, and with nearly every bar supporting multiple ability choices - the Entertaining minigame offers a unique, active buffing experience every time.
The buffs associated with Entertaining have evolved alongside the skill. Entertainer buffs now stack to 10 and last up to a full hour. Several buffs contain a special twist - once they reach 10 stacks, using a finisher,such as the final piece of a Tale or a Dance Finisher will remove the stacked buff and apply a stronger, longer buff of the same stat. Each finisher move can only do this to 1 buff, so for maximum effect, Entertainers will want to group up and play together.
The upcoming 15.8.1 build focuses heavily on combat, but we also feature a number of combat related improvements in this build. At Action Mode's auto-correction system is now more lenient if you miss a target, and features more intelligent range detection. Threat/aggro management also received a pass, to make it easier for tanks to hold aggro, and less likely that healers will draw it. There were some important fixes including changes to the face and stick features. Medics received the largest number of updates though, with improvements to both their offensive and healing capabilities. We also adjusted the amount of fitting points required to improve the market of different fitting types and overall combat progression. Another major change is that action bar pages are now stored on a per weapon basis. This should make it much easier for users who swap to different weapons as it will automatically swap your bars to the last saved pages for those weapons.
We also introduced a new Contested Cluster system. These new harvestable clusters are intended to encourage nation vs. nation conflict in contested territory. When players are near the clusters their nation will receive points, and the nation with the most points at the end will win the cluster. This is an experimental feature in this patch with 2 clusters setup to run every evening at 7 and 8 PM local server time, so please provide as much feedback as possible. In the future these will be spread throughout contested territory and have different spawning times and resource types. Player to player damage in PvP has also been reduced by 22% to increase the length of PvP encounters.
Those seeking specific NPCs will be happy to improvements to both inquiry and tracking systems to make it easier to locate those NPCs. The Pricing system has received a good number of improvements. Unharvested corpses can now eventually be harvested by any player. This build features also features 113 different bug fixes.
15.7.2 Patch Notes
15.7.1 Patch is now live on all servers
After a longer than usual 15.6.1 we have shifted gears and returned to a two week patching schedule for the time being. We expect a quick turnaround on 15.7.2 and 15.8.1, both slated for launch prior to PAX Prime. You can read the work in progress build notes for 15.7.2 in the build notes forum. Those attending PAX Prime this year will be able to play the game in booth #7017.
The first stage of the Entertainer revamp goes live with this build, in the form of a new Music Minigame. When using an instrument in an rest area it will now begin the Music Minigame, in addition to entering interactive music mode. There is a new synethic instrument type, and you can now see players visibly playing their instruments. The music minigame works on a system of openings, and can fork through different paths of minigames. Different options will grant different types of buffs. This system is designed so that some of the buffs between the various entertainment lines (Music, Tales, and Dancing) interact with one another. Dancing and Tale minigames will be coming in the near future.
We've introduced the games first facial tattoos, which are currently only available on the male model, but will be coming to females and in cosmetic kits soon. Numerous melee and combat animations received a pass in this build. This includes new animations for knockbacks, knockdowns, and pain animations. It also includes completely new animations for basic melee attacks. Female Characters and the Old Man skin textures have been updated to bring them in line with changes to the male skin improvements from the last build. The Character Selection screen has also been improved with three completely new scenes which will be sifted through as you select characters. A new Video Quality drop down was added which allows you to easily flip through common configurations of video settings.
Combat continues to be refined with numerous small changes. Healing received the first of a two sets of changes, with the second half coming in two weeks. This includes improvements to Heals Over Time, and better scaling of heals which has increased healing output all around. The penalty for swapping weapons in combat has been reduced by 33%, changes were made to energy regeneration, and both stances and dual wielding saw multiple improvements. Those who have moved into the further regions of the map will be happy to see that many of those areas have received a mission pass and now include a much wider assortment of available content. Combat skill gains have been increased, and the training point cost on lower tier abilities have been reduced.
Major under the hood changes were introduced to the Nation system in how building structures are handled. It brings them in line with the housing system in how they work. It doesn't introduce any new gameplay features, but is more bandwidth efficient and can split the loading between the upper and lower levels of the cities.
We added support for automated holiday events that center around the in-game calendar system. As many of you know there is a full calendar with seasons in game, but aside from weather shifts and Shrooffles, we haven't done much with it yet. This patch introduced support for holiday buffs, NPCs, and missions. These are just a few of the changes available in this patch.
15.7.1 Patch Notes
15.6.1 Patch is now Live!
The 15.6.1 stretched out a bit longer than most as a result of the new tutorial needing quite a bit of testing. We will be looking for a quicker than usual turnaround on the next few patches as we want a chance to quickly respond to tutorial tweaks, and to have time to patch and react on some upcoming features in preparation for PAX Prime.
The largest addition this patch is a new tutorial. The Repopulation is a sandbox, and the open ended nature of the game is a contrast to what many MMO players have been used to. We found that many players left the previous tutorial and then entered into the world without being fully prepared for what to do next. Although there was one case of a mailed mission in that tutorial, it was for the most part a driven experience through the tutorial and there were no generated missions inside of it. Numerous uncovered topics became a point of confusion for players after leaving it. The new tutorial aims to tackle those problems. It takes place in a large new outdoor area. While the required portion of the tutorial is still very short, there are many optional offshoots to it, including generated missions, adversarial camps, harvesters, and other topics which were only briefly brushed through in the previous tutorial. There are also new mentor NPCs who are available to answer many common questions in the game. We also continued the process of adding more image based tips, and this will continue in future patches.
Interface improvements continue with the numerous improvements being made to the crafting and trading interfaces, as well as the in game database. Other highlights include visual upgrades, easier to obtain fittings, a new PvP engagement was added in the Shattered Heights, improved Pending Card rewards, and over 200 bug fixes. You can find a full list of improvements in the notes below.
15.6.1 Build Notes
15.5.1 Patch is Live!
Combat tweaking has continued as we work our way towards shaping its status for launch. We've added new stances for Healers and Pet types. Pure pet types have a variety of new abilities to help aid you in that role. There are new abilities which can only be used when Dual Wielding, new area based healing abilities, and AI pathfinding improvements. We also spent quite a bit of time restructuring skill ranges, accentuating weapon differences, and adding additional abilities. Dazes and aggro range reducers such as Unthreatening Approach are now much more effective.
We've added Storage Units to the housing system. You can use these like a bank but attached to your home. Players can upgrade the number of slots available using in game credits. Player Shops have also been improved in a number of ways. Shops are now included when you store or unstore homes, can now be searched, and use a new flagging system. The structure and furniture window is also better sorted now into many different categories.
The mission system also saw some major improvements in this build. At the forefront of these is a new and improved long range marker system which allows you to view mission locations from throughout the region. In addition to this a good number of missions can now be shared with other players of your group. If a mission can be shared its Share button will be clickable when you view its full details (right click from the Mission Tracker). A variety of new tutorial, storyline, and mastery missions were also introduced, and a new hidden ability was also added. This includes new tutorials for the recently implemented Diplomacy Minigame, and new Haggling minigames which are initiated by numerous missions.
Work also continues on improving the User Interface, including numerous improvements to the Crafting, Harvesting, and Surveying interfaces. A new high end dungeon was opened in Timbertol on the OWON side. PvP damage numbers were tweaked and buff/debuff durations can be different in PvP as compared to PvE. Roads were improved on the FPR side, many bugs have been squashed, and much more. You can read the full build notes below.
Full notes can be found on our website.
15.5.1 Build Notes
15.4.1 Patch is now Live
https://www.therepopulation.com/index.php/news/189-15-4-1-build-notes
For those who like to look ahead already, the 15.5.1 patch notes are also up and being updated. The 15.5.1 build is still in development.
https://www.therepopulation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=9778
15.4.1 Patch is being Deployed
https://www.therepopulation.com/index.php/news/189-15-4-1-build-notes
You can find the build notes and specifics for the patch listed above.
All servers have been restored
Small update to the Launcher (April 15)
If you run into any issues with the change please let us know.
15.2.1 Patch is now Live
https://www.therepopulation.com/index.php/news/188-15-2-1-build-update
Steam should take care of updating your client to the latest version, but just to be sure restart your Steam client to force it to update your game library. We hope you enjoy the patch and some forthcoming hotfixes for the build.
15.2.1 Patch is now Live
https://www.therepopulation.com/index.php/news/188-15-2-1-build-update
Steam should take care of updating your client to the latest version, but just to be sure restart your Steam client to force it to update your game library. We hope you enjoy the patch and some forthcoming hotfixes for the build.