2016-03-18 18:50:00 +0000 UTC by IdahoSciGuy
Hey there guys and gals, and welcome to the Weekly SoonTM! I'm IdahoSciGuy and it makes me happier than a firebender in an air temple to be able to share some fresh and exciting news with you all! Let's get crack-a-lackin!
March Move Madness!
It's arguably the most anticipated addition this month, and its finally here: NEW MOVES! We’ve been hard at work crafting some sweet new additions to the bending plugin, and we are now ready to push them to the live server! We’ve crafted two new abilities for each type of bending, further expanding the available library of moves for each of you! You'll notice a little bit of everything, from high powered damage abilities to utility moves. Let’s get right down to it, here’s a list of all the exciting new additions and bug fixes we’ve done with the bending system!
New Moves
Earth
- Earth Cage
- Enclose an area in a dome made from earth. Left click to surround an area in earth for a short time.
- Earth Catapult
- Launch forward with a boost from the earth below. While standing on a bendable block, left click in the direction you wish to go.
Fire
- Fire Torch
- Illuminate your surroundings. Left click a block to place a torch for a short time.
- Fire Bomb
- Throw a long range fire bomb that explodes, dealing high damage. Left click to lob a bomb at a target. Also places fire on the ground at target location for a short time.
Air
- Air Bolt
- Deal damage with a bolt of air in a short range attack. Left click while target is in close range.
- Featherweight
- Provide a short boost to yourself. Left click to self apply a speed and jump buff for a short time.
Water
- Dolphin Dive
- Move around quickly while submerged. Left click while in water to dash forward.
- Phase Change
- Alter your surroundings by freezing or thawing the water around you. Left click to change water into ice, or ice and snow into water.
Added Descriptions for existing moves
Earth
- Earth Blast
- Blast your target with a projectile of earth. Left click a nearby block, then aim at a target without clicking.
- Earth Wall
- Raise a wall of earth out of the ground. Click in the direction you would like the wall to appear.
Fire
- Fire Blast Wave
- Blast a wave of fire around you. Left click to burn and knockback targets in close range.
Air
- Air Jump
- Rapidly propels you in the air. Left click in the direction you which to jump
- Air Kick
- Shoots a large burst of air. Left click to launch horizontally, and shift click to kick vertically.
- Air Shock
- Creates a ball of air around you that pushes enemies away.
Water
- Water Bolt
- Deal moderate damage and knockback a target with a long range attack. Left click a water source and aim at a target without clicking.
Bug Fixes
- BoulderToss now raises two further blocks so the projectile will not get caught by the ground.
- EarthWall is now functional and has five levels now.
- FlameShot now has two additional levels, which increase the range and damage.
Of course, we are still ironing out some bugs, and as with all things, this takes time (earthblast, looking at you bud). But rest assured we are dedicated to making sure any bugs and glitches are taken down and eradicated more efficiently than the air nomads, so we appreciate the patience you give us!
Freaky Fast Travel Fixes
We recently pushed a major update to our fast travel system, and although we were hoping for a smooth transition, we ultimately ran into quite a few bugs that interfered with your travel. We are happy to report that the majority of bugs have been put in their place faster than a rebellion in the Earth Kingdom (may she rest in peace). Here's a changelog of the bug fixes regarding the new fast travel plugin:
Bug Fixes
- Rendered every individual player maps properly.
- Fixed the selection of the nodes on the player map.
- Fixed various issues regarding incorrect nodes selection/edges.
- Fixed Global Nodes.
- Fixed many map duplication issues.
- Added a delay to prevent rapid fast travel.
- Deactivated the bending focus prior to entering a fast travel area, so it gets restored properly upon use.
- Fixed a bug that either teleports the user twice, or does not teleport you and takes twice the amount of money.
- Fixed a bug that causes players maps to not render after being logged in for a while.
We humbly ask you guys to stay vigilante. If there is a bug and you notice it, make sure to let us know! We'll make sure it gets taken care of!
Future (Industries) Endeavors
The teams are hard at work perfecting their new build projects, and its only a matter of time before we are able to start into real detail about whats coming, but I can tell you this: Their builds are going to be super chill. Along with new builds, the teams are also working on new features to add both excitement and depth to our already awesome community. We can't wait to share this new information with you when the time is right. Until then, stay frosty AvatarMC, and see you next week!
PS: the absense of a Weekly Soon last week was entirely Luxsidus's fault. He has been sent to a re-education facility and may or may not be back next week.
2016-03-16 00:00:00 +0000 UTC by Communications-Team
Hi everyone. We have a special announcement to make regarding two AvatarMC teams and the server rules. Starting right now, players can apply to become a Chat Moderator or member of the Communications Team. We'll be looking for some hardened, trustworthy and friendly faces to help us moderate the server's chat and help us out managing communications. But before you enthousiastically punch your name into the application page, allow me to go into detail what this function is and why we need chat mods first. After that I will inform you about the Communications Team, and I will wrap it up with the news on the new rules.
All of you know that we put moderators in place to keep the peace and allow for a fair and fun time playing on the server. They toss out the bad guys while also lending a helping hand to new players. And yes, these are also the guys responsible for those pesky Tea Leaf locations (beware of Bwake_) and most of them have a lot of other tasks as well, such as being in charge of leading various teams. So it seems pretty straightforward what mods do and who they are, but obviously there is something amiss since we are looking for fresh chat mods to help us out. The main problem is that moderators can't be everywhere all the time, and are ironically often people who have not nearly enough time to patrol the server. That's why it would be a great help to them if there were several people who are familiar with the server keeping an eye out for the chat. The chat is of course every server's main hub for friendly chats, dank memes and other interaction. But some of the things said in there are said by disruptive players to hurt people, to spam the chat or to advertise. Next to this, we want to help players with any questions they might have. That's where chat moderators come in. With a job that is less intensive than actual moderating and more flexible in "working hours" we think they can help us fill the gap when moderators are either too busy online or with their personal lives.
Now onto the core questions: how do you become one? First of all, you will need to be active on the server for at least 2 months in order to even have a chance at becoming a chat moderator. This is so that potential chat mods get a chance to know the server, so they can help others through their own experience as well. Besides just being active, you have to be in a good standing with the staff and have no record of breaking the server rules. You must be a friendly and helpful person who can take appropriate decisions and work with the rest of the AvatarMC team. If you fit these criteria and the Moderation Team votes to accept you, you will receive a message to become a chat moderator and proudly wear the [ChatMod] tag! So if you dare to apply, you can find the application page here.
Besides opening up applications for chat moderators, we also welcome the skilled and interested to apply for a position in the Communications Team. The Communications, or "Comms" Team in short is responsible for announcements, the website, proofreading and of course the always amazing Weekly SoonTM blogposts. While many of you might not know this subteam of AvatarMC, this team has been involved with everyone of you in trying to inform you to the best of their ability. Little hint: they even worked on this very post! The Comms Team is a busy one, and for that very reason we are opening up applications for anybody who is good with people, teamwork, writing and giving feedback. If you were to be accepted, you'd be working on many kinds of text and be closely involved with all the dynamic things going on within the team, ensuring information flows as free as seven opened chakras. Bring your own onion-banana juice, however. So if you're a born writer, indie teamplayer, or just as much of a people-person as Azula, sign up right here!
Now that was a lot of info, but we're not there yet. Bare with us, because the following will be of importance to everyone: we reworked the rules. The server rules have seen several edits on mainly warfare over the course of its history, but this is a huge update to the rules as we know them. We have encountered a lot of specific situations and problems with the rules and have adapted them accordingly. We also wanted to go more in-depth to show how these rules help keep the server fun, and how they attempt to not limit anyone's experience if they are just out to have a good time. The updated rules will be effective immediately and can be read in detail by going to the rules section of our website. If you have any questions or feedback about these changes or any rules specifically, please contact FireLordZuko ingame or send him an email at zuko
avatarmc.com
So, you all there yet? Don't pass out, because the server awaits you! With fresh, clear and new rules and fun job opportunities we hope we have taken another step (or maybe even two) towards making the server a great one. We hope you'll be around with us to make this happen, whether you are a player or a team member, you are making the community one of the best ones to be playing in and to be working for. So for now, goodbye, and see you ingame!
Communications Team
2016-03-09 00:00:00 +0000 UTC by Admin-Team
Our brand new Fast Travel System is finished! It has replaced the hot air balloons that have served as a placeholder for quite some time. We knew that the old system of only teleporting to major cities wasn’t as convenient as it should've been. With our new system, it’s now much easier to warp around the map.
The changes include:
- Introduction of local and global fast travel
- 11 unlockable regions which will be added to your personal map to use for global travel
- Three new types of fast travel — land, sand, and water in addition to air
- New fast travel vehicles — boats, trains, airships, jeeps, ostrich horse carriages, snowmobiles, and sand-sailers
- Over 60 new fast travel “nodes” (a.k.a. destinations) spread throughout the world
- An intuitive destination selection system using hand-held maps
- Custom built stations and outposts for you to explore and enjoy
We’ve come up with a cool way to teleport around without having to type your destination in the chat window or pull up the website to check the fast travel routes. Upon entering a vehicle, you’ll temporarily be given a map which will show the nearby routes and nodes and allow you to choose your destination by using the scroll wheel. Your current destination is indicated with a grey marker and the selected destination will be shown as a red marker. Scroll through the options until you land on the correct choice and right-click with the map in hand. The fee will automatically be deducted from your balance and you will have used fast travel for the first time!
Anyone can use the new local travel nodes to travel short distances so long as they have sufficient funds. Global travel can still be used to teleport to cities and landmarks.
A more detailed and informative explanation of how to use the new system and the limitations of local and global travel has been added to the Fast Travel help page.
As of now, all fast travel nodes are up on the live server. You will still need to unlock regions if you wish to use global travel; we recommend using local travel to do this. If you need any help finding local and global stations, use the /ft command or let us know!Have fun!
The Admin Team
2016-03-04 21:01:00 +0000 UTC by Luxsidus
Hi everyone and welcome to AvatarMC's Got Talent! Now dance!
No wait, welcome to the Weekly SoonTM. It's that Lux guy again with more fresh news from the team!This week a lot of things have, as usual, been done by many awesome people in our team. So let's get going on the updates and progress so far.
That pesky bending pluginThe last few weeks have been a bit of a rollercoaster for our developers working on the new bending plugin. This week I let you guys know that some big changes regarding bending were to be pushed, and well, big they were. Unfortunately not everything went as smooth as we thought they would. The reason for this is that while our new bending plugin has enormous potential, it is still new and a process of trial and (this week mostly) error.
However, we are continually making small changes, testing these and discussing what to do next. So if you log in one day and find that your Fireslash became self-aware and is now hunting down the leader of the Human resistance, just give us a shout, some time and things will be back to normal in no time.
The noodliest bending pluginOn the other side of fixing bugs and balancing moves, we are actually working hard to push our plugin even further. As you may have noticed, upgrading bending moves above level 3 required some divine mod or admin intervention this week. This is because we intend to create a branched upgrade path. Some of you might know what this is, but I'll tell you what it is in a nutshell because I'm a nice guy. Right now you can just upgrade a move level by level. But we are planning on making a sort of "tech tree" that requires you to unlock several moves first before you can advance to higher upgrades of those moves. Overall this is a more rewarding and fun system to learn and advance your bending and we will keep you posted on new developments regarding this system.
Gotta go Fast TravelOur famous word "SoonTM" still applies to this, but Soon has just become very Soon. We've been working our butts off to get this enormous new fast travel network in place. We've been building "nodes", stations of you will, placing these, noting down the coordinates and are getting ready to link all of these nodes to eachother. I'm glad to announce we've finished placing these dozens of nodes, ships, cars and airships, on the server. All that's left now is putting these nodes into the plugin our developers have cooked up. After that, we'll be ready to give you a way to travel the entire Avatar world in style! So have a little patience: it's almost here.
So that's all the news for this week's Weekly SoonTM. As always I hope you're happy with the work we do and the progress we make. I wish you all a nice weekend and hopefully until next week!
2016-03-01 21:45:00 +0000 UTC by Luxsidus
Hi everyone! Lux here again for a quick update that we wanted to get to you asap. Normally we give you a nice overview every (hopefully) Friday, but this just couldn’t wait.
A lot has changed with the new bending plugin, which has come back to us both as bugs and feedback. During the time after the release of the plugin our Code Gods have been busy balancing, tweaking and fixing issues, bugs and overall hiccups in several bending moves.
The changelog for this update to the bending moves is long, so I’ll leave it here for you to study and see what has been changed. This update should be online by the time this message reaches you, or shortly thereafter.
Don’t worry: new moves are being made as we speak and will reach you in around 2 weeks. In the meantime try to find the Tea Leaves and level up those lovely stock moves!
Changelog
Air
- AirSpear:
- Increased Range: 30~40 blocks
- Increased Damage: 1.5 Hearts Lv1, 2.5 Hearts Lv4
- Increased Cooldown: 10s
- Increased Energy Cost: 75 Energy
- AirTwister:
- Replaced root with slow on user: Half normal speed.
- Increased cooldowns for most levels: 11s Lv1, 9s Lv2
- Increased range of effect: 7 Blocks Lv1, 10 Blocks Lv3
- Added two new levels
- Reduced delay between blasts: 750ms Lv1, 600ms Lv3, 450ms Lv5
- AirJump:
- FallProtection will now last the full duration, instead of ending after touching ground once.
Earth
- EarthBlast:
- Added four new levels!
- Fixed a known issue where it would register a hit within 8 blocks of target: Registers in 1 block
- Adjusted damage for new levels: .5 Hearts Lv1, 1 Heart Lv2, 1.5 Hearts Lv5
- Impact will now produce a small amount of knockback.
- Increased cooldown: 1s changed to 10~8s
- Fixed a known issue where the block would linger an excessively long amount of time.
Fire
- FireBlastWave:
- Extended the Lv2+ cooldown to the originally intended amount: From 2.5s to 7.5s
- FireJet:
- Increased Cooldown to remove infinite flight capabilities: 11s Lv1, 10s Lv2, 9s Lv3, 8s Lv5
- Removed the speed boost Lv4+ granted after the jet ended.
- FlameShot:
- Damage Increase: .5 Hearts Lv1, 1 Heart Lv3
Water
- General updates:
- Damage cancelling moves has been removed on Water.
- Plant/Icebending has been implemented. Snow BLOCKS (not layers) are also available as a water source.
- WaterBending can now be used underwater.
- IceNova:
- Fixed a known issue where snow would form midair and could be climbed.
- IceNova now piles snow around you when used on the ground.
- WaterBlast:
- User will no longer be slowed while move is in use
- "Wind-up" period has been cut in half (1 second, formerly 2 seconds)
- WaterBolt:
- Additional levels added!
- After previously not functioning properly at all, WaterBolt has been updated to work correctly.
- WaterHealing:
- Heal amounts have been rebalanced.
avatarmc.com