(These are the game changes that we are working on for the October event. None of these items are guaranteed to be added for October as scheduling and priorities can change. These changes are in addition to the new quests, dungeons, and items that we'll be introducing in the October event. Your feedback on these topics is particularly valuable.)

In October we are working on a new skill for all characters - Salvaging. All existing characters would have this skill as soon as they log in after the October event, and all new characters would start with it.

When using an Ust to salvage items, the Salvaging skill would be considered along with the Tinkering skills when determining how much salvage the player receives. If Salvaging were higher than all the player's Tinkering skills, it would be used for the skill check; otherwise the highest Tinkering skill would be used.

Other aspects of the skill - such as which attributes, if any, it will be tied to - are still being worked on.

We are working on improvements to the Ust to allow players to salvage items of different material types all at once. For example if you put an Ivory Tankard, a Brass Breastplate, and a Fire Opal Ring into the ust and hit the Salvage button, you would receive an Ivory bag, a Brass bag, and a Fire Opal bag.

One other aspect of usts that we are working to change is the advantage to salvaging items one at a time. Currently, due to the way the salvaging calculations work, it is often possible to get more salvage by salvaging items one at a time; rather than all at once. This is a time-consuming process, but many players salvage this way to maximize their return. Once we've made these changes, you will get the larger amount even if you salvage all the items at once.

As we mentioned above, based on the feedback from the PvP Missile Weapon changes we are considering creating some method for players to apply this improvement to loot weapons. As the September event falls in the middle of our October development cycle, it is quite likely that this may not be ready for the October event.

Since the introduction of the percentage-based Ash Tooth crafting reward, some players have used this and the skill sellback quest as a way to "launder" experience into a non-craft skill. The introduction of additional percentage-based rewards only exacerbated this behavior. These percentage-based rewards were intended to benefit tradeskill characters, not to benefit players who only train a trade skill so that they can eventually move the experience into a combat skill.

In October, we are looking at setting a cap for each of the percentage-based rewards. If your skill is greater than this cap, you will receive a flat reward for the crafted item instead of a percentage-based reward.

As "laundering" experience through these quests is most effective for characters who have maxed or nearly maxed one or more skills, we can set the cap at a point where it does not harm true tradeskill characters. These characters will still be able to get their skills up to a point where they have a high degree of success at even the most difficult crafting interactions, but those who only use the tradeskills as a means to move experience into other skills will find that it is no longer as worthwhile.

(These are the game changes that we are thinking about for November and beyond. We cannot guarantee when - or even if - any of these changes will be added to the game, as scheduling and priorities can change. These changes are in addition to the new quests, dungeons, and items that we'll be introducing in each monthly event. Your feedback on these topics is particularly valuable.

If not mentioned elsewhere in this Letter, topics listed as In Concept in prior articles have not changed status.)

We are looking at revising and improving the Siraluun trophy rewards in much the same way that the Gromnie trophy rewards were revised in August. As part of our continuing goals of introducing more crafting rewards, we are considering creating tradeskill quests and rewards for Tinkering skills, tied to the Siraluun trophies.

We are continuing our work on making towns more worthwhile for players to congregate in. We will be starting to pay particular attention to the three starter towns of Shoushi, Yaraq and Holtburg. The first step is to add additional portals to these towns to make it easier for players to quickly travel from one to another. This will also improve the experience for new players, allowing them to more easily see the varied landscape of Dereth.

There you have it - some of our plans for September, October and beyond. Keep your eyes open for further information on the Billing Migration, the database cluster upgrades, and the API that we have in development. Articles on all of these are in the works and will be posted on our website soon. We'll also begin posting regular updates on the status of Throne of Destiny as well as screenshots, concept art, and more! It's an exciting time to be an Asheron's Call player!

See you in Dereth!

- Ibn