the headline

THE GLOOM-SINK!

Move over, Spooky Druda, someone new is coming to town!

Though the ghoulish delights of Halloween have already swept up the Seven Realms – tricks and treats abound in the Haunted Moors Event Zone where VH players are banding together to conquer all manner of devilish foes and reap the rewards – October will see the arrival of an all new macabre being whose beautifully eerie lair will entrap and thrill all those who dare to trespass within.  Dungeoneering and tenacity required.

We invite you to temporarily put your candy corn down, step away from the dancing skeletons and playfully grinning jack-o-lanterns of the Haunted Moors, and venture forth instead into a truly terrifying settlement where illusions, unsavory rituals, and garish menageries are but a few of the many horrors which await in The Gloom-Sink, the new domain of an otherworldly invader who seeks to merge his dreadful realm into ours.

His name is Morthur.  His devout followers, militant cultists, those who have felt his all-seeing gaze scrape across their tender minds, have but one final sacrifice to perform to ensure their master’s arrival. The candles have been lit. The Netherbeasts from within the bowels of the Gloom-Sink howl in anticipation, drowning out the bloodcurdling screams of imprisoned villagers whose once idyllic settlement has now been transformed into a nightmare.

Prepare yourselves for battle, Heroes of Ardent, because Morthur’s arrival into our mystical land is imminent!  Season 13 of Raids, Visions of Eternity, begins this October 13th!

what’s new

SEASON 13 OF RAIDS: VISIONS OF ETERNITY

With its cascading waterfalls, vibrant flowers, and quaint houses cozily nestled about, at first glance, the Gloom-Sink might almost pass for a picturesque little village – were it not for the recent slaughter of most of its inhabitants, or the insidious magics now oozing forth, or the demonic beasts prowling its grounds, or the innumerable eyes of Morthur staring from every surface, while his fanatical zealots, the ‘Blessed of the True World’, patrol what remains of the ghostly settlement. 

But the ruined village is only the beginning. The farther players venture into The Gloom-Sink, the more varied—and increasingly sinister—its surroundings become. Unlike other raids, which generally confine their perils to a single dominant setting, The Gloom-Sink leads players through a surprisingly diverse succession of locales: maze-like interior prisons, the eerie wilds of an ethereal graveyard, deadly pits of sacrifice, and winding passages which draw them ever deeper into the unknown. For those who survive, the journey will eventually carry them beyond the settlement altogether and into Morthur’s own dreaded realm, The Ceaseless Oblivion. 

But The Gloom-Sink’s variety is not limited to its environments; its encounters are equally intent on keeping players off balance. From foes who refuse to remain quite what they seem, to battles which force groups to divide their attention and adapt on the fly, the unique mechanics of the raid and its memorable bosses are sure to thrill – or frustrate – many a player. Beware, for example, the imposing Illusionist and his small pack of deceptive tricks, or the Soul Warden, who takes particular pleasure in exploiting the chaos of a poorly coordinated team. And Morthur? Suffice it to say that those who enter The Gloom-Sink may find themselves crossing paths with its ever-watchful master rather more often than expected. 

And of course every new season of Raids comes with exciting new rewards! As players climb their way through the Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum rewards within Visions of Eternity, they can expect to permanently bear Morthur’s all-seeing gaze upon their cameos in the form of sinister ocular flair, a fitting reminder that the invader is always watching. And get ready to ride not one, but two completely different savage creatures unleashed from Morthur’s ghastly realm: the Eternity Hound, a sightless lizard-dog, and the Eternity Fiend, a mutant reptilian beast. Both of these unique mounts, with their dinosaur-like teeth and whipping tails, look every bit as dangerous as the realm that spawned them.

The Gloom-Sink will also introduce two new Relics into the mix. The Mirror of Retribution casts a protective Gloom Shield over its bearer and up to three nearby allies—but should that barrier be shattered, nearby enemies will discover that breaking it comes at a painful cost. Meanwhile, the Dirge Flute sends a dark swell rippling around its target, slowing the attacks of surrounding foes while building charges of Dark Resonance. Those accumulated charges can then be consumed to empower the player’s damaging spells, turning a crowd of enemies into fuel for an even nastier retaliation. 

Season 13 will also bring several welcome improvements to Raids themselves. Seasonal rewards will now be earned solely through Dungeoneering progression, removing the additional requirement to complete every Raid at Bronze before claiming them. Players will also be able to watch their progress toward Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum rewards far more clearly, with each reward bar filling as new Dungeoneering levels are gained. 

Daily and weekly Dungeoneering bonuses are getting some much-needed visibility as well. Rather than leaving players to wonder which Raid currently offers the best return, the interface will clearly display active bonuses—including the powerful 4x daily, 5x weekly, and combined 8x rewards available for successful completion. 

From Morthur’s many-eyed horrors and a clearer, more rewarding Raid progression, to enticing new rewards, Season 13 has plenty in store for VH heroes brave enough to venture into The Gloom-Sink. It’s going to be an exciting October!

FAN WORKS

FAN FRIDAYS

Week after week, our players continue to astonish us with their imagination, skill, and creativity. We hope you enjoy this look back at some of the wonderful creations that have made Fan Friday such a delight over these past six months.

interview

V&H PLAYER: AFKALOT (US3)

We always like to begin with a player’s origin story! When did you first discover Villagers & Heroes, what drew you into the game, and what has kept you here over the years?

 I have vertigo issues with a lot of games, but I like playing games, so my husband is my game tester. He knows what I’m looking for, and he tries out a game to see if it will work. We played several games together that worked for a while, but weren’t a perfect fit, whether it was the graphic style eventually getting to me, or an increase in mandatory pvp content (puke), or in one sad case the game shuttered its doors. Anyway, in fall of 2022 he came across Villagers and Heroes. After playing through Marigold Harbor or so, he suggested it. I started a character the next day, but made him switch servers based on a preconception from one of those prior games. It turned out to be a moot point, but joining US3 was a great decision! Within minutes we met the amazing Berit and quickly were added to the (Relentless) guild. It was a nice family-friendly group that was happy to answer questions and also ease back to let me explore the world at my own pace. And SinnerGear(™) is still the best gear!

I am one of those players that enjoys reading everything. Some of the storylines—both in the main quest and the side quests—are so entertaining! The humor really drew me in (hey! Eyes up here, Demelza!) , and I love when I stumble upon a callback to an earlier point in the game 🙂 

To be fair, what has kept me here has a lot to do with the fact that I don’t get nauseous from the graphics! I also appreciate how you guys run things. Since my early text-based MUD days, I haven’t experienced such a nice, responsive developer community. I enjoy the Twitch streams keeping us updated, and the Discord announcements, forum posts, and general open communication. I realize not everything can or should be shared with the players, but thanks for doing what you do.

Game-wise, I also find plenty to keep me occupied. I haven’t even fully explored everything yet! I’m slowly getting into Frontier Zones, and entered my first Rift this past year. Always more to try 🙂

When you log into VH with no particular goal in mind, where do you naturally end up—fighting, gathering, crafting, tending your village, decorating your house, socializing, or doing a little of everything? What does that say about the kind of player you are?

Gathering is usually my go-to. Tending the village and gathering go hand in hand. I check the village projects and see what they want, then gather mats if that’s what is required. I’m definitely more of a villager and I enjoy building up the available projects. 

How would you describe your guild to someone who has never met them? What is the personality or overall vibe of the group, and what makes it feel like home to you?

When I joined (Relentless), I was told our guidelines are: be kind, help others, and have fun. Our guild leader at the time, Hippolyta, also had a great guild motto: We are villagers who hero on the side! The guild has gone through some changes in the last year or so. Currently I think the word that best describes it is “casual”. We have a great group of people that enjoy the game and just want to have fun, but have their own schedules and things going on in real life. The guild and the village are here when our members want to relax and play around for a while. We remain, Relentless 🙂 It’s home to me because of the welcome I received when I first started playing, and my toon grew with the village 🙂 Those I don’t see in-game are still in contact through our guild Discord and it’s nice to see updates of what’s going on with everyone.

When you’re not playing VH, what kinds of hobbies and interests tend to occupy your time? What are some things you especially enjoy doing outside of the game?

 I am a Geocacher. As we like to say “we use billion dollar technology to find tupperware in the woods”! I enjoy getting out and hiking a trail or going on an urban hunt for treasure. I’m not a prolific hider, but I have hosted quite a few get-together events. It’s a great excuse for cachers to meet and talk about geocaching with others just as enamored with it 🙂 I also sing in a choir and in theory I am learning guitar. That’s not going so well at the moment, but hopefully that will turn around.

I have started vegetable gardening this year, which is going alright for Year 1. The part I’m enjoying the most though is keeping a worm box! Those little guys don’t need much to thrive, and caring for the box can be therapeutic. Also, in fine Villagers and Heroes tradition, I get to collect the poop for my garden 😉

If Mad Otter handed you the keys and told you to completely reinvent one existing VH system, what would you choose? We’re not talking about simply changing a few numbers—you could rethink the whole thing. Crafting, gathering, gear progression, Raids, Rebirths, talents, Homesteads, inventory… anything is fair game. What would your new version look like?

Villages and Homesteads would be my focus. Last Christmas, as part of the Bingo competition, I came up with some fake patch notes that included some of the things I’d love to see. An outdoor addition to homesteads would be cool. Ornamental gardens you could stroll through, with water features, many kinds of plants, maybe some birds flitting around.

For both inside and outside, it would be great if objects weren’t limited to one per grid square, and furniture could be turned to any angle. The Ardent walls help for creating unique layouts, but the ability to hang things on those walls would be even nicer. More patterns or colors for walls and floors in general. More choices for the exterior looks to houses too! The ability to create additions like extra stories to your house, or change the internal dimensions.

Improvements to the current gardening and ranching systems are something that is brought up often. I’d love to see something like an animal trough players can load up with everything their animals could want, and automatic feedings could happen as long as enough food was in it.

For gardening, an irrigation system along the same lines as the trough would be cool. You can load it up with water and have it automatically water your plants. Another nice advancement would be something that would harvest everything with one click. I was thinking of a tractor a player could assemble with a lot of work (kind of along the lines of the Storm Beacon in Tower now), but once achieved, was permanent. Other players have mentioned a “garden gnome” that would do the same thing—quickly harvesting all the plants is the big thing regardless of the aesthetics.

All of these things could be something players have to skill up individually, or maybe have some kind of additional village project—or a combination of both. The project could be the “Hardware Store” 😉 Different levels achieved in the project could allow for better construction techniques for multiple stories in homes, or Research & Development for agricultural advances (the trough, the tractor). The Paint Center for walls, floors, house exteriors, etc. I lean towards making it a combination of village and individual effort, so those of us that actually care about these things can have something a little different 😉

For the village, I already touched on an additional project for opening up some of these homesteading/gardening/ranching options. I’d also love to see who is living where. Being able to zoom in on the minimap, or even some extra window under the village menu screen, that would show you who is in each housing plot. Having some kind of tracker of potential time-outs would be great—or at least something similar to the guild roster where you can see how long it’s been since someone last logged in.

Another welcome sub-choice in the village screen would be one page showing what every village project is requesting that day, so we no longer have to run all over checking each one and notifying the villagers with a mail update. Or even having that feature at the Town Hall board would be a huge improvement.

Snowscape option in Soilworks/Arboretum/Emperium! I think that’s probably enough for now 🙂

You’ve been hired to cast a Villagers & Heroes movie. First, choose which VH characters you would make the lead hero, the main villain, the comic relief, the wise mentor, and the scene-stealer. Then tell us which actors you would cast in each role—and why.

Wow, this one required some thought!

I’ll start with the villain, because I have never trusted Lady Phillipa. She’s been the power behind the throne and is obviously contributing to keeping King Leo disabled and non-functioning. I suspect she is vying for control of the Black Thrush, against JM. JM going after Nadia was just another shot fired in their war of control. Phillipa is also actively keeping us heroes sidelined. Sure, wait for Macaria to give us our next assignment. Has anyone seen hide or hair of this Macaria? It was all a hoax to keep us twiddling our thumbs while she dealt with JM in her own way, without interference. Lena Headey would make a great Lady Phillipa! She knows how to exude evil scheming (Cersei), as well as intelligence, competence, and planning (Sarah Connor).

The lead hero. Back when we first got to Ardent Castle, we had to help round up the royal cousins for dinner. Their custodian said those children were the next heirs to the throne. Since Nadia turned out to be reckless and uncaring about the good of the realm, her cousin Raginpert has risen to meet the challenge of leading Ardent. All grown up and looking to root out the Black Thrush without inadvertently being the origin story of their next leader 😉 Jon Bernthal as Raginpert. Because, Jon Bernthal.

The comic relief. Albrecht has finally gotten free of the snowmites in Turnapin Peak and went adventuring. He ends up in Ardent Castle where he helps Raginpert escape from a swarm of bees in the garden, by swatting them with one of his inventions. Raginpert takes a shine to the rackish Albrecht and his fine boots! Justin Timberlake as Albrecht. He’s actually got pretty good comedic timing and can be pretty funny, as well as being easy on the eyes 😉

The scene-stealer. Dijjara finally breaks out of that cave under the dungeons and is looking for some payback! Or at least a good meal. Of course Dijjara is voiced by the incomparable Eddie Murphy.

 Are you much of a Raider? If so, what draws you to Raids, if not, what tends to hold you back? Either way, what do you think a really good Raid should offer players in terms of challenge, teamwork, atmosphere, mechanics, and rewards?
 I’m not much of a raider. It took me a few raid seasons to even give it a try. The first time I really wanted to get better at it, it was because of the mount reward. Unfortunately for me, it was that short half-season or whatever, with the Bog Frog mount. I didn’t make it, but I did learn. Since then, I have done better and have been able to reach Heroics. I do still like achieving the completion of the platinum tier in order to get the nice rewards—and thanks for including the occasional homesteading item! I love both the phoenix painting and the griffon statue 🙂

What holds me back is that I realize I am not a top hardcore combat player, and probably never will be. When the heroic raids had those random group debuffs, I hated it and rarely did them because I didn’t want to be the weak link that dragged the group down. I’m glad those debuffs don’t exist anymore, so thanks for that. I feel like I can’t really answer the last part of the question. I know there are other players that love the insane challenges of mechanics and super-difficult levels. I’m not one of them 🙂 I do appreciate the current system where anyone (level 20+) can join and try, and see if they like it or not. It is amusing when a new player finds that raids are their passion and they just get it, and are teaching me new ways of approaching fights.

You are given the power to permanently erase one minor everyday annoyance from real life, and one from Villagers & Heroes. What are you getting rid of first?
My immediate thought was making the Homesteading quest from Lazy Susan doable upon rebirth! That bright yellow ! every day, mocking me, really irritates me. But upon reflection, considering all aspects of the game, I think what really needs to be changed is…making the Homesteading quest doable upon rebirth! 🙂 Please? 🙂 In real life, I’d go for packages that are listed as being delivered, actually being delivered :p

When people talk about “endgame” content, the conversation usually centers on combat. If VH were to develop a true villaging endgame as well, what would make it feel meaningful and rewarding rather than simply becoming another grind? What kinds of long-term goals, challenges, progression, or rewards would you like to see?
See my answers above to question 5! Though a lot of that, if ever implemented, would probably involve a ton of grinding.

I’ll also swipe the idea of clothing dyers that other players have mentioned elsewhere. The ability to create your own combinations on your favorite outfits would be pretty cool. And not sure if this has been suggested before, but basically the same thing for shield designs. Of course there would have to be some kind of oversight on that one, because trolls gonna troll. You know who you are 😉

I noticed that you have 15 characters—which seems particularly funny for someone named ‘Afkalot.’ 🙂 If your 15 toons formed a band, what would the band be called, what kind of music would they play, and which character would inevitably demand to be the lead singer?

So, I have to sheepishly admit I have 34 toons across all servers, and my immediate second thought is that Sheepish would make a great name for a ranching alt!

Jazz is not my favorite musical genre, but it seems apt for this question. I think a jazz ensemble is the perfect analogy. Everyone gets their moment to shine with a solo, but mostly the group functions as a group, with every character serving a particular role, even if that role is minimal. Sometimes, the result is a cacophony of uncompleted overlapping tasks 😉 The name of the band would be “Distracted”, because…yeah. That’s me 🙂 The character that gets played/progressed at any point in time is just a matter of what I feel like. Strictly because of the character’s name, I think the bandleader would have to be my last character on the login screen: Motes Art. 🙂

behind the scenes

Something has been hatching in the wildly inventive mind of one of our devs. You might recall from a previous livestream that we mentioned ‘Zingara Pets’ as being on the horizon for V&H. So what exactly has Kevin been up to these past few months? Rather than answer that question outright, we’ll simply turn over the following pages from his increasingly curious field journal. 🙂

A New Discovery: Zingara Pets By Kevin

When wandering through one of the more remote areas at the start of this year, I came across a large strange looking egg. I brought it back to my village. Every so often it’d shake. The next morning it started shaking very violently and exploded in a cascade of egg shells. A small cute creature had hatched.

It looked hungry so I gave it an apple. That seemed to make it very happy. I figured that they must all love apples, but this was wrong as I discovered when more pets hatched. This pet still looked hungry so I gave it a pumpkin to eat and didn’t like it at all! It started exploring and wandered around for a while before falling asleep. It was an infant and I don’t think it had much energy. When tired the pets will just sleep for a while.

Over the next few days I went back to where I had found the first egg and found quite a few more of various colors. The color of the egg gave an indication of what sort of pet would hatch from it. More small creatures hatched from them and they were different types. I gave one of them an apple and it hated it. Yet another one loved pumpkins. Oh, so they each had their own likes and dislikes. Over time I found that their hunger was much more satisfied by what I grew in my own garden versus what I found out in the world.

I now had a small group of pets and they were getting older. One day something strange was happening  to one of the infants and suddenly it grew larger and older. Over the next few weeks and months this happened to all the pets and they went through different age stages which I started labeling as: Infant, Child, Teen, Adult, Old, and Ancient. None of them ever died and I don’t believe they can.

Something that I never liked doing was having to water all the plants in my garden, harvest them, and plant seeds. It occurred to me that maybe I could get my pets to help with the task. I was able to train them over time and they got better and better at the tasks. Sometimes they’d not succeed in harvesting a plant and I’d have to harvest it myself. Sometimes they’d harvest a plant and then eat it, but this was usually only when they were hungry and I hadn’t fed them or if it was something that they really loved to eat and their willpower wasn’t high enough to stop them from eating it.

There was one pet, Honnie, that to me appeared more grumpy after I had ignored him for a while. I’m pretty sure he was mad at me. When I sent him out to harvest the garden, he ate half of the plants he harvested. I think he did it out of spite. He wasn’t even hungry!  I started paying more attention to him, petting him, giving him treats and now he is my buddy.

The other pets, now much better trained, would almost always completely harvest my garden for me depending upon the level of the plant that they were harvesting. As long as the pet’s skill level was at least the plant’s level they would almost always have no problems. I haven’t yet tried to train them to handle my animals for me, but I believe I can train them to do that too. We shall see.

Recently I’ve tried to teach them to go out into the world and gather resources for me. This is showing great promise. My hope is to send a pet out to get something in the world and have it come back later with what I need. It’d also be great to be able to ask them to take me to a specific gathering node or even better to ask them to find plenties. Once again we’ll see if they are able to or not.

This brings up why having a mixture of different pet types is good because each pet type is better at different things. Intelligence, willpower, courage, and many other attributes vary from pet to pet. But each type of pet has different qualities that they are best at. Some types are better at gardening while other types are better at other skills.

When I’d bring a pet out with me when out roaming through the world, they would be fascinated by some of the monsters and creatures we came across and terrified by others.. There was not a pattern to this. For example, one of the pets was very curious about the spiders in the world while a different pet was completely terrified by them. Once again they each had their own likes and dislikes.

So far none of my pets have produced eggs of their own. They must be able to have offspring, but none have shown up yet. It may just be a matter of time. I wonder if their offspring will look like or have the characteristics of their parents?

I’ve only been in combat with a pet a couple of times and both times she disappeared when the combat started. I summoned her back, but she immediately left again. I suspect that pets just completely avoid combat, but I’m not sure because I haven’t tried much and it may just be the reactions of the pet, Miss Ellie, who was with me at the time. Yeah, I named all my pets. Of course I did. They are my friends and I’ve become very attached to them.

Please note: all pets shown in the images above are placeholders and do not represent the final Zingara pets.

sneaky scribbler

The incorrigible eavesdropper known as The Sneaky Scribbler has once again crept through the servers in search of wit, weirdness, and wonderfully questionable conversations—and, as usual, you did not disappoint. 🙂

YOU SAID IT

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community

One of the great joys of Villagers & Heroes has always been the extraordinary creativity of the community surrounding it, and every so often we get the chance to showcase a player whose talents extend beyond the Seven Realms.

We are delighted in this issue of the Ledger to shine a light upon someone who has been among you for years. On US2, many of you have laughed and partied and raided with this quick-witted, amiable individual, or perhaps even been modded by him, but did you know that when he’s not lavishly decorating his many VH houses or battling Elder bosses, he is a songwriter and music video creator whose unique works are beginning to attract wider attention, with his music appearing on Roku and recently being featured in an online publication?

Landenen — or ‘Land,’ as he is known in the game — has taken a rather unconventional path into music. With no previous formal background in the field, and rather than relying on traditional instruments or a recording studio, he has learned how to use AI to transform his own ideas and lyrics into fully realized songs and videos. And the results have been outstanding!  What began as an experimental hobby has evolved into something so much more: a genuine creative outlet through which Land can tell stories, explore different musical styles, and give voice to ideas that might otherwise have remained only in his imagination. 

Using the pseudonym ‘Blake Rhines,’ Land now regularly publishes his music on a dedicated YouTube channel, which features an ever-expanding catalogue of his songs. From quirky and absurd, to heartfelt and sincere, from country to Scottish folk, his music cannot be easily pigeon-holed, yet running through it all is a creative voice that is unmistakably Land’s. 

But don’t take my word for it.  See for yourselves! Please enjoy this special musical video that Land has created which celebrates the VH server that he knows and loves so well – US2.

contests

THE SNEAKY SCRIBBLER CAPTION CONTEST!

It’s been a few years since we’ve done this always entertaining contest!  For those unfamiliar with the Sneaky Scribbler Caption Contest, the rules are simple:  just write an amusing caption for the image pictured below. That’s it!  Now it’s your turn to make the Sneaky Scribbler laugh!  

Please post your entries on this official Forum Thread:  SNEAKY SCRIBBLER CAPTION CONTEST

Multiple entries per person are more than welcome!  

PRIZES:

• First Place = 150 Crowns
• Second Place = 100 Crowns
• Third Place = 75 Crowns

This contest will close on Monday, October 12th.

Good luck, and have fun with this! 🙂