Living Hyboria

More great news:

I also wanted to mention that we‘ve come very far with the DirectX 10 version, which we unfortunately had to keep on internal test-servers for launch. It’s now almost ready for the full test server. Once the next game-play update is out expect to start to see the DX10 functionality coming to the test environment. How long it will take to transition to live will depend on the testing of course, but it’s starting to shape up nicely

The new game director is doing a good job communicating the future of the game here. Now let’s see if you can keep the promises as well. I did notice that more voice acting is slipping out, which is nice. That’s a start.

There is a new PvP (player versus player, you knew that) system in the works, having already been outlined in the system notes on the official forum. However, Massively has got a few nifty little tidbits on how the new system works on the Testlive test server right now. Some highlights include:

Many players had assumed killing an Innocent of your own level would result in Murder Points, but it doesn’t. The research actually shows that you can gank players of up to two levels below you (and any amount of levels above you) without any penalty other than being temporarily flagged as Criminal.

Criminals will get a crossed swords icon over their head, while Murderers will get a skull. It also appears that becoming a Murderer will be pretty easy, with every innocent kill “awarding” you with at least 10 Murder Points, with 100 meaning you’ve got your devious status.

Also:

PvP XP amounts have also been clarified. You get 100 XP for a kill (to a maximum of 150 XP for a target 5+ levels above you), divided among the group. You lose 300 XP for a death even if you are grouped.

Read the full story on Massively if you want details.