That’s right, new content is just around the corner! Arriving this fall, for those of you high-level players who aren’t too busy doing rebirths that is, will be the first zone of a series of new zones to be rolled out in separate installments over the course of several months. And, yes, the words so many of you have been waiting to hear, can now be said with the utmost confidence: There will be a level cap raise!

Please prepare yourselves for an involved journey across many an exotic land, a journey full of adventure, and mysterious quests, which will culminate in a voyage upon the high seas through the deadly Blighted Isles. The vessel is a ghostly ship, rumored to be commandeered by a Lich Sea Captain, a maniacal creature who grants passage aboard The Scaldrum to no one….More details about the upcoming content, as well as a slew of other new features soon to be added, will be revealed each week here in The Ardent Ledger.

We have an extraordinarily talented player community! Please have a look at these amazing original pieces of art created by Sighfrid (Christian Caratelli) of EU 1.Sighfrid is creating a series of cards which depict various heroes, villains, and monsters from Villagers and Heroes.

He has kicked things of in grand fashion by taking the four central characters in the game, Marat, Calypso, Voltan, and Celestia, the ‘Legendary Four,’ and bringing them fantastically to life, along with their arch-nemesis, the true originator of all things evil, Mallok.

The Legendary Four were the founders of the first village, and lost their lives in The Great Battle against Mallok and his legions of nightmarish beasts. Though Mallok was defeated, the beasts of the world, particularly ‘The Brood of Seven,’ remain determined that their old master shall one day be resurrected.

To read the full story of The Legendary Four and Mallok, please visit our web site here: http://www.villagersandheroes.com/game-guide/lore/

Fantastic work, Sighfrid!

Name: Spore
Server: EU 1
Class: Wizard
Guild: Crazy Devils

Spore, a spirited young man on the EU 1 server, and a lively personality on the forums, has in many ways grown up with Villagers and Heroes. He began playing the game as a youngster, just after it launched on Beta, and has been an avid player ever since, much to the delight of the community.Among the devs, he has a reputation for being a crafty finder of any and all oddities, glitches, or strange occurrences not always visible to many, and he is never shy about bringing them to our attention, which is of course appreciated, not to mention that he always does so in a way that makes us smile.Given his years playing V&H, his savvy understanding of the game, his rather unusual signature image on the forums, and his overall engaging demeanor, Spore seemed an apt choice for a player interview, in that we can all learn a little more about this very interesting Wizard on EU 1. Thank you, Spore, for taking the time to do this!

Please tell us about the gif image you’ve chosen as your personal moniker on the forums. It’s creepy to some, intriguing to others, and certainly unique. What drew you to the sight of a soggy ferret (or is it a rat?) being thoroughly scrubbed and bathed? I did not expect this question haha. Well, I was bored on the day I decided to edit the signature. I was on a different forum for a different game. It had a guinea pig gif that made me laugh. It was titled, “Enlarge Your Guinea Pig.” Somebody linked a similar gif at the bottom, and it turned out to be this animal being cleaned. We all know exactly what this represents of course, me being sick in humor, I attempted to get angry pm’s from the forum for this gif. My plan has backfired and it turns out everybody loves it.

What are some of the aspects about Villagers and Heroes that you especially appreciate, and which set it apart from other games you’ve played? What keeps you playing? I really like the combat style the mages have, it’s different from any game I’ve played before. On most games, a mage is just “stationary” and doesn’t move around much. On this game, however, I am able to jump around, do ninja flips and shoot fireballs while doing 360 spins. This is the sort of thing everyone wants, they just don’t know they want it yet.

Who is your favorite Elder Boss? Novacore would have to be my favorite elder. I like how his freeze spell builds up to a point where I’m rendered useless against him.

What would be on your dream list of features to see added to V&H? Improved mob movement. Since its Facebook days, the mobs have moved in the same fashion since then. They all move in the same speed and it feels like they are floating instead of running. If creatures like ghosts could float and spiders crawl or jump in the future, that would be marvelous. I would also like to see self- generated mini-games in the future that don’t require players to operate. (Scavenger hunts are player operated.) Capture the flag or perhaps some sort of race would be fine.

Please share with us a unique and memorable experience you’ve had while playing the game. I suppose the most memorable thing I’ve done in the game was jumping. Any chance I have, I will just jump constantly towards any goal, even if I’m fighting mobs or chatting. My favorite pastime.

How would you describe your personal play style? I prefer combat instead of crafting. I like the hype and there isn’t much exciting about crafting, it’s just relaxing (to some). I do like to play with players, but personally, I’m probably more solo these days anyway, very tired due to not sleeping, so I’m not very talkative.

What is a personal ‘DOH!’ moment, you’ve had in the game? (i.e, what’s something really dumb that you’ve inadvertently done?) I have never had a “DOH!” moment in the game, I’m perfect! >:o But maybe I’d forget where I left items, and after frantically looking around for the specific item, I may miss it over 20 times till I finally see it.

What activities do you enjoy when you’re not playing V&H? Eating biscuits, playing games on Steam with friends or by myself, and avoid exiting my house. Nobody needs fresh air or sunlight to survive, anyway.

How did you get the nickname, ‘Sprog?’ Well, it’s a popular nickname given to me in the EU server, given to me by our lovely guild leader, Dottie. I logged on in the afternoon, said hello, etc, and she said “Hello Sprog.” At the time, I thought it was pretty funny, but it wasn’t used to the extent it is today. A few days later TruthFairy suggested we all try an app called Mumble. So me, Dottie, TruthFairy, Maddling, Nala and Ryuh got in a chat together. We had the option to name ourselves. As I didn’t really take it seriously, I named myself “Sprog.” Dottie recognized the name she has given me, and since then everyone in the call has been calling me Sprog. The name spread so far that a lot of people who share the humor call me “Sprog.” Since then, we have named other dear members strange names like that –Truffle (Truthfairy), Maddeleine (Maddling), and Squiggle (Sqilla).

If there were a movie about Mallok and The Legendary Four, which actor would you cast to play the villain, Mallok? Instead of an actor, I’ll answer with a voice actor. Billy Lush, the man who voiced, “The Outsider,” from Dishonored. He gave off a dark aura and it made you question if he was a friend or foe. A perfect voice for somebody as destructive as Mallok.

With ‘Reborn,’ a number of new features were introduced into Villagers & Heroes, and some in particular were a great deal of fun for us to create. Have you ever wondered, for example, how the nine unique personality animations exhibited by your characters in the game, actually came into being?

It all began with a conversation that looked something like this:

Otter #1: “Let’s have a party at my house after work, and talk about toon personalities!”

Otter #2: “I’ll bring my video camera!”

Otter #3: “I’ll bring the beer!”

And, so, a personality animation party was born! Kicking back in a comfy living room, one with ample space for jumping up and performing all manner of lively pantomimes, every single member of the Otter team demonstrated their own interpretations of what, physically, the different personality types might look like.

It went on for several laughter-filled hours. No one held back, the video camera recorded it all, and, yes, a fair amount of libations were consumed, which led to some wildly entertaining postures and poses, most of which you now see in the game today.

Our artist, Ryan, carefully studied all of the videos taken, and crafted each personality animation based upon the poses done by the Otter team that night.

So the next time your character glamorously tosses their hair with a sassy hand on hip, think of Damon Slye, or when your toon piously raises their arms in a gesture of grand benevolence, visualize Diet.

But mostly, though, as you play through all of the different animations in the game, just know that your character is wearing a little piece of every dev on the team, and that your Otters had a blast creating them!