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⬣//A SINGLE CRACK LETS THE LIGHT IN.
As they say, fortune favors the brave. Five lucky players took part in a Limited Quest: The Mysterious Sky Islands, in which they discovered a brand new Root Town. While the team was largely successful in their efforts to make the mysterious floating town in the sky habitable, not everyone embraced the spirit of teamwork on this journey.
When you gate in to this shiny new Root Town, you'll notice something curious: it has no name. Its name simply displays as "???" in every context menu and there is no signage around the Root Town itself that points to its true name— rather, the name it had before they came along.
Whispers on the wind tell of an evil wizard in flowing white robes who ruthlessly boiled the village elder alive. With him died all of this mysterious Root Town's lore and history, and in its place are tales of the monster who robbed this land of its identity. The elemental sprites that populate this village refuse to speak their name, simply wishing you "good luck, have fun!" as you turn to leave.
While on your journey to check out the island, you'll notice how unstable the bridges are. Unstable might be putting it lightly, because for some unlucky souls, crossing the wrong bridge means plummeting to your death. It seems that whoever was put in charge of constructing these bridges didn't give a damn about structural integrity.
The local sprites are pleading with adventurers to assist them in building better, more stable bridges, but bridging the gap between one island and the next is not a job for a single person. If you have enough of a heart to heed the pleas of the sprites, you'll want to work with your fellow players to get the job done. All the wood, nails, and rope you need to construct better bridges has been helpfully supplied to you by the sprites. You could always sabotage the project too, of course, but what kind of person would you be if you did that?
The professions system has been added to fragment. Rejoice, busybodies, for there is much furniture to be built and dubious potions brewed.
In celebration of the new crafting & gathering system, a crafts festival is being held in the Unnamed Root Town. Take care not to plummet to your death while traversing those rickety bridges.
Players are encouraged to set up a booth of their own and trade their unique handcrafted items with their fellow adventurers. In addition to being supplied with enough level 1 and level 2 crafting materials to give the crafting system a spin, the local NPCs are running a contest encouraging people to come up with their own for a chance to have their creations canonized as real crafting recipes.
To submit your own recipe ideas, you need only fill out this handy form:
Recipe name:
Recipe category: Alchemist, Carpenter, Chef, or Jeweler?
Which two items does your recipe call for? Choose two items to combine. Only gatherable items (refer to the professions page) can be used.
Effect: What does this item do, if anything?
Description: A brief description of your lovely new product.
Fragment's beta test has seen its fair share of unusual bugs and unintended features, and with the latest update bringing many new changes, it's inevitable that some things have broken behind the scenes.
If two players happen to log in at the same time, they might find their avatars swapped with one another's. Thankfully, this issue doesn't lead to the unpleasant exchange of deep-seated memories or anything of the sort, but getting used to a body that isn't yours takes time. Thankfully, this particular bug resolves itself when both players log out.
The windy town of Unnamed Root Town is generally quite scenic and pleasant, but there's just one issue. It's far, far windier than it should be. If the rickety bridges don't kill you, the gusts that intermittently blow across the sky islands might knock you off your feet if you don't watch your footing carefully. Thankfully, the crafts festival on the southernmost end of the island hasn't been impacted by the severe winds. Among them is one voice that you don't recognize: a voice that promises a death, gruesome and bloody, in the days to come.
To everyone's relief, the carnival and its notorious hall of mirrors has packed up and left Lumina Cloth, but your past hasn't finished haunting you. The foul winds carry whispers of the past along with them, uttering words and phrases uncomfortably familiar to you. They're the voices of your past, the voices of people you've known, loved, and lost. Covering your ears won't keep the voices out of your ears. Nothing will.
Finally, on the more mundane some of things, professions have a few kinks of their own that need to be worked out. Occasionally, a crafted item won't come out quite right, instead resulting in one of the following "items":
Alchemist: Truth Serum. Become unable to lie for 24 hours.
Blacksmith: Whatever you're enhancing transforms into a denim disaster. Introducing your new "body" armor, "leg" armor, "head" armor, and "arm" armor.
Carpenter: Mirror Mirror. Reflects the person you're most afraid of becoming.
Chef: Durian Delight. A succulent durian pudding that reeks so strongly that its stench can be smelled all across the Root Town or Area you're occupying.
Jeweler: Crystal Ball. Breaks after one use but allows you to read another player's thoughts for five minutes.
With crafting in full swing, a certain admin has been lured out of his hidey hole by the smell of delicious chef-prepared meals. Hien is hungry, and you will feed him.
Chefs are not limited by the recipes they know like some professions are, so players are encouraged to think outside of the box and combine unique ingredients to cook up something truly special.
Taste, however, isn't the only important part of a perfect meal. Chefs looking to impress the big man himself are expected to present their culinary delights to him with pomp and finesse. You need to impress Hien if you want to gain more from this venture than the participation prize of a chef skin.
Those who successfully woo Hien with their delectable dishes will be given an additional prize: a little black pomchi pet to accompany their avatar around Root Towns and Special Areas. Hien will be giving these out at his discretion, so you better suck up to the dogboss in charge if you want a pomchi of your very own. If you catch Hien in a good mood, he may even agree to give you a different breed of dog if you ask nicely.
Hello, everyone! Can you believe it's been an entire month since our beta test began? Even though we've already been through a lot together, we've still got three months left! I'm rooting for you all!
As of today, the level cap has increased from 25 to 50. That means new armor and weapons will be available to you! Get out there to different Areas and start leveling up! But don't forget to stop every once in a while and enjoy your surroundings, too. Which reminds me—don't forget to check out the new Recreational Areas! We have a beach and hotsprings for you to enjoy now. I hope everyone continues to have fun exploring!
We've also opened up the GP shop, where you can create your own special armor set for a certain price, along with a few other things. Please check it out!
Oh, and don't forget to use these three new greeting cards I've made! Here they are! Make sure you use them so you can connect with your fellow players! We're all friends here, after all.
ii;
He pauses to seize the nearest support post with one hand when another gust of wind blows in, glancing up just as a hat goes whipping past him. In an improbable burst of reflex -- credit to a Blade Brandier's stats and this one fluke of lucky dice -- he snatches it out of the air, looking between the hat and the nearby suddenly manifested lumber in bemusement before his eyes light on Noir. ]
...Yours?
no subject
[ She says breathlessly to the man who had nimbly intercepted her hat. Haru combs a hand through the tangle of her hair, but decides at the end to hold her hat in her hands. The wind continues to blow unusually strong. Seeing the repairs he's in the process of, she ventures to ask. ]
How are the bridges holding up?
no subject
Poorly. Whoever built these is less of an architect than I am.
[ Which is to say, not at all. He nods again down at the lumber pile and asks, in almost the same tone as before: ]
Also yours?
no subject
[ Even if death isn't real in the game, falling off is still unpleasant. She's glad for the volunteers working on the bridges. Together they can make the game a little safer for each other. When he asks about the lumber just as impassively, she startles. ]
N-No, it isn't. Maybe another carpenter left it here?
no subject
[ While dying! You know... game flavor choices.
Winter arches one eyebrow slowly. This child... is a terrible liar. He's not in a position to comment, and it's to her credit, but still. It's something of a challenge not to snort. ]
Odd. I was the only one working in this area. [ Does she feel the pressure to confess yet? ] I wonder what they'll think if they find it gone when they return.
no subject
[ Even though death isn't real in the game (or so we thought as of this patch!). Haru's often wondered if the game makers just have a wicked sense of humor.
She brings her palms together nervously, trying not to look caught in the act. ]
If they brought it here, I think they must have intended it to be used for the bridge.
no subject
[ Well, he has to give her points for tenacity in the bargain. Winter bends down towards the lumber to hide the smile that nearly escapes him. Truly, this game has been having all sorts of strange effects on people. ]
Then I'd better use it before it blows away in the wind. ...It's a pity I can't offer them anything in trade.
no subject
[ Why does she feel like he's seen through her...Haru laughs lightly and uncertainly, pulling the brim off her hat down. Because of the wind, not because she's hiding her face, surely. ]
I can help you hold it in place while you nail it down?
no subject
Make sure you don't blow away instead. The hat was luck... I can't make promises for anything larger.
[ There are ropes around here for the bridges, so it's not hard to make sure that one is securely tied off to a beam that seems stable and toss her the other end. ]
no subject
[ She wonders if he's joking or if he's witnessed the unfortunate event of someone being blown away. With how severe the bugs have been, it wouldn't be completely unbelievable.
Which is why it's all the more important that the bridges are secured. Haru catches the other end of the beam and steps carefully towards the broken part of the bridge. ]
no subject
[ Michel, joking... would in fact sound exactly as deadpan and solemn as he does the rest of the time. She's right to wonder.
He watches her with a frown, but as long as she's holding onto something, it shouldn't be an immediate likelihood. All the more reason to work quickly. He sighs and kneels to resume hammering, helping her hold the board in place with his free hand as he does. At the first sign of trouble he'll just have to scare her off more determinedly. ]
no subject
It's a good thing death isn't real in the game. [ Or so we hope! ] I'm concerned the company might be rushing their releases too much.
[ The persistent bugs lately have had Haru start to wonder what kind of culture CCCorp has. Unfortunately, she knows a thing or two about big businesses cutting corners. ]
no subject
They're allowing the beta to do the validation testing for them. Even though they don't seem to be aware what the side effects might be on all players. [ The official response to Ganymede's hospitalization, for starters. ] You intend to keep playing, even so?
no subject
[ She replies, looking at the wooden beam as it gets nailed down in place. Ah, that's not to say that she's the one leaving the mysterious piles of lumber around, of course! ]
I've left feedback for them about the bugs in hopes it'll improve things, but I know companies like to cut costs and are under pressure from their stakeholders. Even with the issues we've been having, it doesn't seem like they're slowing down their updates.
no subject
If anything, it's likely they'll use the bugs as the justification for the continuous updates. It gives the illusion of responsiveness...
[ Or a distraction, since here they are, busy with new features and quests. ]
You may be committing more effort towards the game than the company is.
[ What with those mysterious piles of lumber she's certainly not leaving around. ]