In the coming weeks this will be a place where images and ideas will be leaked as the release date draws nigh. We will also endeavour to keep you updated on how progress is tracking.

The new Cloud Temple has two levels with separate exits. The lower exit to the temple lands is pictured above. The whole area will feel very familiar to experienced LotC players, and I can't help feeling at home. Like this world will finally be the one we're looking for.

FINAL UPDATE

Here are some the features in this new map,


 -The mainland is mostly free-build [Aside from spawn & the racial cities.]


-Scattered around the mainland are plots of claimable land that will notify you upon entry and can be protected if you have enough members. [Town & Residence pillars]


-Beyond the mainland is minecraft-terrain that does not have claimable plots or protected land of any kind. [You can build here though.]


-There is a quick tutorial area that you visit when you first log-in.


-All of the Thales plugins will be present in Athera.


-A few tweaks & changes to existing rules.


[Which will be posted in a few days.]


 


Many of these new implements were made to remove the reliance on GM's and make the rules more clear. I very much look forward to roleplaying much more in-game, seeing the GM team roleplaying more and witnessing how the map changes over time. 


**Details about the lore side of the map will unfold as events unfold over this week.**






An RP trailer and OOC server video are both nearly complete, there is a chance that these may not be posted until a week or so after release because we kept feeding the MT more lore & information.


[Alot of work has gone into these videos, it will be worth the wait.]


Use this switch as an opportunity to start new, with a fresh idea of the server and it's players - forget about who's behind the screen and genuinely give those you come across a good time. It's worth it!

JUNE UPDATE

Over the next week or so we will be,


1) finishing up the region grid that will blanket the mainland. (Fear not, there will be plenty of free-build and land to claim.)

2) Completing the Tutorial area with the help of a few dedicated players. (They've already begun!)

3) Creating videos for each of the new plugins (Professions, Region-Claim & Crafting.)

4) Inviting the Media Team to create animations, renders and videos to promote the new map and server changes.

5) Creating a GM tutorial island to help new AND old GM's get into the swing of things and make the most of their position.


 
The 4.0 whitelist reached nearly 100 players and A LOT of work has gone into the map. I'm certain that you and your friend's characters will come across new and enchanting things whenever you choose to take the road less traveled for years to come.


However, this world is not finished - not even close. The real color and life comes from you and I can't wait to see what everyone adds to it through-out the time we spend on it (hopefully for much, much longer than previous maps.)



We're nearing the end, and I don't want to post a release date until we've knocked out some of the things listed above but I can definitely say that it will be no later than July. (Early July too I'd wager!)

 We will also be celebrating our THIRD year as a minecraft server and community this weekend with livestreams and other goofy things so be on the lookout for more info on this in the next few days.

 I want to take the time to thank everyone who has spent time on the dev server helping us see this through, creating ANYTHING with a huge group of people is no easy task and I'm very proud of this map and everything that has gone into it.

SNEAKY IMAGE LEAK UPDATE

Photos have been snuck out for each nation capital! The migrating people will mostly reside in camps till other buildings and smaller towns are built by their hands. Main cities have had a headstart on the building and this update will show what these developed regions are like.

There are of course MANY explorable areas that range from whimsical to future-shaping. But obviously, these areas will remain secret for players to discover.

We'll begin with the Human region.

[size=12pt]The capital city is fortified by thick stone walls, the main entrance via a drawbridge. The surrounding lands are plains and scattered forest of oak and pine. There are sturdy roads leading between places of interest and it is just a short distance to The Wilds.

Below is a common looking large building. Much of the architecture of the city that has been built is similar to this design. The weather is not so great. The town is set upon a well functioning sewer system that anyone having visited Al'Kharaz will be overjoyed to see.
[img=undefined]http://i.imgur.com/nIfkhrf.png[/img][/size]


Next up is the Elves.  They are not far from the Human capital and the land between the two is fairly thick Oak forest. The Elven region itself is a marvelous birch forest with flowers laiden all across the ground and great towering birch trees of immeasurable age.

Naturally the strong variation in Sub-Races means that there are different buildings across the capital, but the main architecture for the general Elven buildings is below.




When the Dwarven region was visited for photographing it was perpetually snowing. The region is beyond an area with giant pine trees and within ravines, accessed via a large bridge. The architectural styles differ depending on the money spent on the dwelling, but a typical building is shown below. 


And there is of course plenty of the typical dwarven underground.



Home of the Halflings is close to the Cloud Temple and looks very much as is expected. Though there is a bit more of a return to Tolkien's writing on the race in terms of the design of the township.



The Orc region is more richly nourished than the past harsh desert lands.

The buildings that have been erected look as though they could be more easily packed away and transported for war than any other nation's.



Lastly the land of the Kharajyr is something quite different. They're attached to the mainland in homes that are quite high off the ground. Many homes look like the below, but for obvious reasons, not much will be shown of this area. This land is definietly one to be investigated in person.


APRIL UPDATE























 

When deciding about what to do with regions and land-claim it became clear that there are more than a few different ways to play Lord of The Craft. We thought it was important to try and cater to as many of those play styles as possible and I'll explain which ones' I think we've catered to and how.
 

 
Every biome in the world-painted side of the map will have it's own "neutral" region. These regions will protect the terrain inside of them and will allow us to add specific region "flags" to the region.
 
Within each of these biomes, there will be a handful of smaller regions made that are for players to claim. They'll vary considerably in size and each biome will have as many as can fit comfortably.

more details on this update


JANUARY UPDATE

- Spawn has been made and the main-road is nearly finished (There are places for shops, inn's camps etc)
 


- Many of the biomes have concept art collected for them & Dev's, GM's and Admins have been fleshing them out in-game over the past few weeks. 
 


- Racial Nation regions have been created so that we can lock the Nation Leader and their TWO builders inside of them for the "Pre-Building". (Aegis style, 5-6 modest structures a tent camp and farm.) NATION LEADERS PM ME ON THE FORUMS WITH YOUR MC NAME AND THE MC NAMES OF YOUR TWO BUILDERS.


 


- We are actively pursuing the idea that, any group of ACTIVE players, should be able to claim land proportionate to the amount of players they have regardless of donation rank, but there should be a perk or two to being a landowner and a VIP. (Monitored by a plugin that is being worked on by a few techies.)

 


- Anything unregioned, may be looted and/or deconstructed. (As long as we have a way for every group of ACTIVE players to gain protected land of a certain size.)
 


- Many of the server's rules are being consolidated & changed to cater more toward Minecraft mechanics and hopefully make things much easier to deal with and interpret.


 


- We will not be moving to this map until it has everything that was meant for it, implemented.