Civilization

A black screen. The end of the trailer. Yet I could do nothing but stare into the abyss. What kind of trailer was that? Even though there were no pain receptors, I could feel each and every blow, as if they were taking me. They… They were the 4 Kings. The Reaper at the start, then the Horde, afterward Cordelia, and then finally, Kronos. Having only heard of Reaper's voice, hearing the others sent chills down my spine.

The Horde felt like an over-abusive father, and even though I couldn't see his eyes, it felt like it was staring into a hollow shell. As if I was nothing more than a pebble in his path. Cordelia's voice felt similar to Fierna, except much more chilling, like a queen looking down on her subjects. Speaking seductively only when needed, before switching to a more domineering approach.

Kronos feels as crazy as he seems. The mad scientist atmosphere sent goosebumps all around me, as he cackles next to my ear. Terrifying to say the least. Luckily it was just a trailer, showing to the players what there is to come, otherwise, I would have died a hundred, no, a thousand times over just by being near them.

"Well… That was a rush… Wow…" - Sabrina

"You took the words out of my mouth, Sabrina. I really felt like I was there. At one point, I think I stopped thinking, and just only experienced the trailer." - Evan

"It was DEFINATELY more than what I was expecting." - Sam

"... They are strong." - Kingston

"What was it that they said at the end? I don't think I caught the last couple of words." - Rebecca

"As the land trembles… As the seas churn… As the sky roars… We will move. We will appear in front, beside, and behind you for blood is our water, and flesh is our food. WE WILL MOVE!

That was what they said. Looking at it briefly and without going into detail, it looks more like a speech a general or a king would say to their army. Unless… That was the point? The Reaper's army was surrounding us in the trailer, and he was the one to initiate the speech. Is he preparing for another invasion but this time with the help of the other 3 Kings?" - Nina

"Wait… Doesn't this also remind you of the prophecies that have been mentioned?" - Ian

"Hmm… They both relate to nature and impending doom. The name of the trailer also hints it as well. It wouldn't be a wild guess to say that they are both hinting at the same thing. However, does that also mean whoever said what is responsible for it?" - Evan

"The Horde mentions the land. Cordelia mentions the sea or the ocean. Kronos mentions the sky, and if we look at technicality, the Reaper mentions their army." - Rebecca

"Then… Volcanoes, earthquakes, storms, hurricanes, tsunamis, etc. May happen and the Kings may be responsible, after all these 3 Kings do look like they are responsible for each part of nature.  Even the Reaper, since he is talking about the flesh and bones of their army, which correlates to the monsters/demi-humans/humanoids that represent the world." - Ian

"So, we are more or less confirming that the Kings will be one of the main focal points of the next patch. Less of one King, and more of all of them." - Sabrina

"Hmm… Not necessarily but plausible. It feels more like they are preparing for war, the moment the 'natural disasters' strike. Think about it, the first three phrases are them saying 'As something happens', which is similar to saying 'When this happens'. The moment the 'event' happens, then they will branch off and invade most likely from all angles as well. Looking at how they are positioned, I'm confident that they will attack from all 4 directions." - Nina

"An attack from all 4 directions… THAT MAKES SENSE! The Reaper from our understanding has already attempted to invade everyone via mass teleportation. Since his plan failed, rather than spreading his forces thinly throughout the whole continent, he can focus on moving through the land and the skies to attack us." - Sam

"It won't be the skies, since Kronos has control over that, right?" - Rebecca

"Maybe, but they will be attacking by land for sure. There are lots of small villages in each territory, and with more players about to join, then recapturing their territory will be much more difficult. Even if the players are only spawned in a few locations." - Evan

"AHHHHHH! This is making my brain hurt." - Sabrina

"Shall we move on to the patch notes then?" - Sam

Everyone was a bit taken back by the sheer intensity of the trailer. Stiff shoulders and sweaty palms were just the start, but Sam hurriedly moved on from that subject, letting us think about it in our own time. Instead, he focuses on the next task at hand. The new patch notes.

[Major Patch Notes

HELLLLLLOOOOOOO, GAMERSSSS!!! How have we been? Excited about the new patch? Or maybe bored since there hasn't been much to do during the past week? Regardless, we at Lotus are here to present to you some amazing news, both for old players and new.

NOW! We know that there have been rumors trickling about in the forums and other online communities, and right now, we are going to tell you, maybe they were true. Maybe they are not. BUT! What we can guarantee, is that everyone will be having lots of fun in the upcoming days.

From what we have seen in the previous patch and event, there have been a couple of major groups that have risen above and beyond other players. Whether that is because they have substantial backing or not, is not the point. The point is, they are ahead, and we reward those that are ahead. SUCH is life.

Our interpretation of the direction of Settlement stems from both cooperation and competition. Players should help each other develop their village into a town, and then eventually a city. At the same time, there might be a lack of resources, so what should players do? Well, we are sure you already know the answer BUT let's tell you anyway. Attack. Raid. Pillage. Anything goes, and yes, it might sound like a terrible idea, ethically, but wasn't that how civilization evolved in the first place?

Form allies. Understand who are your enemies. Keep them close, but… Not too close. Expand your territory. Seek new resources, even if… It may cost you. Explore the lands. Settlement is huge. There is still so much to discover, and to those who seek treasure, well… You may be surprised because it might just be right under your nose. Without further ado, we present to you the next patch of Settlement and a new chapter in the game.

Patch Highlights 1.4

Increasing Game Time

We all love to play games right? So, instead of the original 6 hours of gameplay, what if we double it? Lotus has been able to create a larger server to hold more players and in the process increase the amount of time players are able to be in the game. This does mean, that the players will need to get substantial rest in-game, otherwise their health will deteriorate.

Due to the increase in game time, we are running the servers from 1800 to 0600, for a total of 12 hours. This time frame may be subject to change, and we will see how it goes through the next couple of weeks. With the longer game time, the amount of time also changes in the game. From 24 hours to 48 hours, we hope players will be able to achieve more, with this change.

Respawn and Safe State

Now that we have increased game time, what happens to those who die early? We have thought of a solution, that will benefit everyone. We understood the various complaints of players that accidentally die early. Unable to play the game until the next day, they were upset and angry not just at themselves but at the game as well.

To solve this issue, we have introduced a respawn timer. Upon death, a player can rejoin the game after 6 real hours. This allows players to be able to come back, after researching why they may have died, or if they are in a prolonged fight, a chance for them to return. Players that are respawning will be in a Safe State for 5 minutes, allowing them to gather their bearings and reorganize their thoughts.

Logging and Logging out

Alright, now that respawning has been mentioned, what about the opposite? What if a player wants to join the game at a later time? Or leave the game early? Previously, we didn't have a log-in or log-out function, that players are more familiar with. Instead, it was just booting up the game at the same time as the server opens in order to play. We have realized that this was a major issue, and have finally fixed it.

Calling out status will also bring up a log-out button on the side, giving the player a chance to log out of the game. Likewise, when a player wants to log in to the game, they will simply just need to connect to the server, like how it has always been done. Compare to before, there will be no issues with logging in late.

When a player logs into the game, their body will be in a Safe State for 5 minutes. However, the player cannot log out of the game unless their body has been in a state of inactivity for 15 minutes. This means the player cannot be 'fighting' in the last 15 minutes. Actions that are similar to crafting, procuring, building, etc. will be treated as active, and the player will need to cease such actions before logging out.

New Players

Okay, a section for all the newbies! For all new players logging into Settlement for the first time, after character creation, they will be prompted to choose a location to spawn. There are a total of 6 potential locations they can spawn at, HavenFall, Bone City, Aqua Corp, Lotus Flower, Pa Kaua, and random. Each of these 5 locations has an Altar of Life, which players will spawn in front of after their character creation. However, for those that want to enjoy a little spice in their lives, there is the option of spawning randomly.

The King's Army

Alright, alright, some lore time~ Who is ready for some lore? Because we are! What happened in the last event? For those who have little or no idea, there are forum posts created by our lore experts in the community. These posts are created purely from a third perspective, by other players and may or may not be how we foresaw the story to play out. Regardless, this is the story we as lotus and you as the players will have to work with, after all, anyone can interact with the story.

Following this, we are able to inform you of certain actions. We advise players, both old and new to look at the new trailer as there may be some surprises. To those who have seen it, thank you! We are glad you have put in the time to watch our work. Our advice to all players is to prepare themselves. Why? Well, because the 4 Kings are preparing their army.

This does not mean the army will stand still, no, it means they will be active. Some Kings may seek out players to defeat quickly, while others will spread their forces far and wide. Their actions may be different depending on the terrain, and maybe they will attack each other. Be warned though, they will show no mercy. In this regard we advise players to form groups, even a small group is better than being alone.

Auction House

Here we are, with so many villages but so little interaction. This we understand becasue everyone is so far apart. To make it so it feels like everyone is closer, we have created the Auction House. Every Leader, will recieve an Auction House Building, and the Auction House will function with a shop function, and anyone who is associated with the village can place items in the Auction House.

Mana Stones

And last but not least, Mana Stones. You may be wondering about the purpose of introducing this feature to Settlement so late into the game, but we assure you there is a very important reason, and while we are introducing this feature, some have already discovered it. Initially, this feature was going to stay hidden, only for those who wish to pursue this path, but in recent light, we have decided against that, and wish to spread the information.

A Mana Stone is embedded in a monster's heart. This gives monsters native to Settlement, a method of using Mana, much like how players use mana for skills. Their source of power comes from the Mana Stones and this item will now drop from monsters upon death. The size and purity of the Mana Stone will be dependent on the monster.

For those who wish to understand in a more arithmetic sense, then the higher the Mana, the large the stone, and the more evolved the monster is, then the higher the purity. This means, monsters that are easy to defeat like the common goblin or slime, will house a smaller and lower quality Mana Stone, compared to a monster like an orc or an ogre.

Understanding this, some players are probably wondering why we didn't do this earlier. You see, Mana Stones were already used by other native tribes as well as a certain King everyone might be familiar with. Kronos is an individual who has dabbled greatly in the Arcane, using Mana Stones to his advantage and creating a golem core.

This information has been researched by multiple individuals in the community and there are various forum posts highlighting this. Due to the sheer complexity and amount of information, we have decided to add this in as a permanent feature, allowing others to collect, trade, and research the Mana Stones.

Alrighty then, that is all we have for this patch notes. Did you like it? Do you find it interesting? Maybe, maybe not. We at Lotus, want to thank everyone that has played Settlement up until this point, and at the same time welcome those who are about to step into a new world. We hope that everyone enjoys their time, seek new adventures and go on new journeys. The world of Settlement is vast and there is so much time.

Thank you and have FUN!]