Level capped players are no doubt already busy exploring the woodsy wonders of the Copse of the Treants, the new high level content which arrived in this latest patch, but another little zone also descended upon the Seven Realms this week: Sugarsweet Summit!

This delightful event zone, where players of any level can festively band together and traverse the pink and purple slopes of this oh so candied land, is home to a slew of mischievous creatures, all of whom, despite their cheerful sounding names, are brutal foes in need of a good thrashing! So arm up, all, and prepare to be well rewarded for your energies. Sugarsweet has an abundance of goodies to offer, and none who enter will come out empty handed!

This year, in addition to the lively new ‘Gumdrop’ outfits, our artists have also created a unique line of dessert-themed weapons and hats! Lollipop Sweetsword, anyone? Or maybe a Chocolate Sugar Top Hat? And let’s not forget the pets and toys! Blow a kiss, as is only appropriate during this romantic month, to that special someone in-game with the one-of-a-kind, ‘Kissy Lips’ toy. Or shower your friends with a lavish light display of candies with the new Chocolate Surprise toy. And if any have ever wanted a pair of luscious winged lips to accompany you around on all your adventures, then fear not, the Little Lips Companion will not disappoint!

But perhaps one of the best treats this year, and featured only during the stay of the SugarSweet Summit event, is this: We are selling Premium Gathering Supplies in the item shop! The Brine Coated Candy Apple, the Hyper-Inducing Birthday Cake, the Umph-Hoo-Ah-Roll, and the Supersweet Candy Bar are all Premium Gathering Supplies.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

And here is artist extraordinaire, Sighfrid of EU 1, with his depiction of that incendiary level 40 Elder Boss that you all love to hate: Karackus! Thank you, Sighfrid!

Have you ever desperately wanted to give a friend a present in-game from the item shop, only to find that the item you had your heart set on for them was not tradeable? Or maybe you wished you could just give them some of your own crowns, but were told that this, too, sadly, was also not possible?

Well, guess what? Those days are over! Did you know that with this latest patch, we have introduced Crown Gifting Packages? That’s right, now you can give your special friends a little present or a large one. The packages range in various sizes, and the crowns will be added directly to their account, enabling your friends to purchase whatever they like in the shop!

And that’s not all! These crown packages can also be put up for sale in the Auction House, and all sizes will sell for the exact amount given. This will surely stimulate in-game economy.

So what are you waiting for? Send your special someone or sweetheart the ultimate Valentine’s Day gift!

Player: Zyani
Server: EU 1
Class: Hunter

Rumor has it that you are a long time veteran of Villagers & Heroes, and have been playing the game for over four years! As a player who has watched V &H go through countless changes, what have been some of your most favorite improvements to the game over the years? The latest system for the gathering is for me the best improvement so far, the replacement of vim instead of the energy was an improvement on its own, but the newest is the best.

What activities do you enjoy when you are not playing Villagers & Heroes? I still have a full-time job and a household to keep, but the game is relaxing me a lot.

What is your favorite zone within V&H and why? Not really have a favorite in the game. Some areas are very beautiful, others I rather avoid.

If you had to live without one of your five senses, which one would you give up and why? All your senses are needed for a human’s self protection. Can’t really answer this question.

What is on your dream wish list of features you’d like to see added to Villagers & Heroes? Already made several suggestions for the game, but 2 are still something I like to see: adding a 4th char so you can play all 4 classes, or (as my latest suggestion) an option to change classes. Another thing would be more places to add spells and feats, there are 10 now but a few extra would be nice.

What animal best represents you and why? Tough one, my constellation is Dragon (Thay) but for the game I think a cat-like would be my style. Playing hunter class with sneak as main spell (stealth-hunting).

As a Hunter, which attributes about the class are your favorites and why? And if you could add or change one thing about Hunters what would it be? Think I already answered it in question before this, I use sneak the most. (the spell not the player, Sneak XD) The biggest issue with hunters is still the spirit. It drops fast and regenerates slow.

If you could form a special party made up of yourself and three Elder Bosses in V&H, which bosses would you choose to be on your team and why? What name would you give this special team of yours, and which zone would you run first with this formidable gang? First Novacore who has a very strong AOE, Second (forgot his name) in the rift the tree-like elder who has both healing and restraining spells (been in rift only once), last but not the least one of the oracles in shadow traven, the swordsman in the north part, you need someone who can tank. I am bad with names so I have to skip that part of your question, and I don’t have a special zone I would like to run. I like almost all zones.

What is the best concert you have ever been to? Not my style, I hate crowded places.

If you were only allowed to describe Villagers & Heroes using four words, what words would they be? Relaxing, fun, adventurous, never boring.

The Sneaky Scribbler has been sneaking around the forums! The Scribbler, this past month, came up with a fantastic contest for players on all servers to participate in. The rules were simple: the Sneaky Scribbler provided a picture, and asked that players write a creative caption for it. As always, there were SO MANY great submissions! You can read them all here on our forums.

And the winners are…..

First Place: Selia (EU 1)

Second Place: Gadzooks1 (US 1)

Third Place: Soysauce (US 1)

You Said It:

New chat channel?
“all nakie… all the time.” — Mercedes (US2)

On invitations:
“The first time I was invited to a party, I didn’t accept. I thought, I don’t have time to go to a party!” –AliasSam (US2)

To Thine Own Self…
“I think I am being self-righteous and I don’t know if that is wrong of me.” –Laudia (US2)

On new skills:
“There should so be exp for dancing in your underpants.” –Bast (US2)

On class:
“Fart jokes are always funny.” –Gwyn (US2)

Auction house fail:
“WTB a pepperoni tree.” –Booger15478 (US2)

Congratulations, and a sincere thank you to the following four individuals for their outstanding contributions to Villagers & Heroes, and for always going above and beyond in their efforts for the game and community.

The Royal Guardians of the Realm for the month of January are:

• Scarlet Night (US1)
• Witch (EU2)
• Katona (US2)
• Lillita (EU1)

Valentine’s Day – flowers, romance, chocolates, supermarkets filled with red-colored heart shaped things! Well, since this is THAT month, we thought we’d share with you all what some of the Otters think about Valentine’s Day. They’ve been asked to either relay a memorable Valentine’s Day in the past, or else share what their plans are for this upcoming February 14th. Or to just share anything at all on the topic.

From Ryan:
I have a great Valentine’s/SugarSweet story!

I had only been playing Villagers and Heroes for about a week. My main purpose (aside from having fun) was to meet the community and to get familiar with certain aspects of the game. I was running around Sugar Sweet, killing skinks, when I encountered a player named TubaDave (US1). I knew him from a singing contest that he participated in a month back and from Sarah Otter who told me a little bit about him. I listened to his and Johnnycat’s pieces for several days, so I had to go up and tell him that I loved his singing.

Plus, I figured it would be a quick conversation since I was a random stranger. Instead, he helped me gather my skinks and we fought Tootsie! He said the two of us could take him; which now I know better! It was a pretty quick and epic death.

I tried to pull the mobs off him, and he tried to solo the bounty. It was a lot of fun. After that we ran for my first Elders (I had no idea the significance of the elder until he sat me down and lectured me for almost…1 to 2 hours, covering many aspects of the game.

Soon after, do you know what happened? He asked me to keep a secret!

“Don’t tell anyone about it, especially the mods or the Otters…the girls will kill me if they change it,” he whispers to me.

Hahahahahaha! Poor guy, little did he know he was speaking directly to a developer! Before I could stop him, he said: “There is a glitch with the female dance animation in the water, that we call water skiing. The guys can do a little bit too.”

And then, he proceeded to show me how to do the trick. It still brings an evil grin to my face. Hahahahahaha!

It was a harmless glitch though…and I actually figured out why the men were unable to ski as long as the women. It turns out the men’s dance weren’t set to repeat (which the dance is supposed to do)! They were actually broken!

So, TubaDave…how is your water skiing now? 😉

From Damon and Sarah:
We are outta here! Next week, on Feb 12, we are fleeing rainy, cold, Oregon for seven days and taking a vacation for the first time in what feels like AGES. So on the 14th, we will be wandering around scenic Carmel, California, doing absolutely nothing productive whatsoever. (We will even be temporarily disabling Skype on our cell phones! Can you believe it?) After Carmel, we’re off to San Francisco for a few days. Going to be fun!

From Liam:
My brother has a tradition of going to the store right after Valentine’s Day, because all the candy goes on clearance prices, so he stocks up on heart-shaped Reese’s and fills his companion cube with it.

From Thorsten:
I guess I’m falling into the indifferent category … we never do anything special on Valentine’s Day. We’re in our 15th year. Guess you stop doing ultra-romantic stuff eventually….:)

From Ivar:
My wife and I will be doing nothing in particular for the 4th year in a row now, as well. Valentine’s Day actually only recently appeared as a tradition in Sweden – around the nineties. That being said, today it’s pretty much identical to its American counterpart with chocolate, flowers, the whole package! We’ve never really been into it, though it’s sweet to hear about what others are up to.