While of course you are all looking forward to Halloween, and the many delights of that creepily wonderful event zone, we are also extremely excited about another upcoming build, one which the Otter team is hard at work on now, and will be released along with Spooky Town. We are informally calling it, ‘The Village Build.’

What does that mean? It means that at long last, villages are getting some much needed love and attention! On the forums, we recently asked our players for their thoughts on what aspects they would most like to see added, or improvements made, to villages in the game. There were so many wonderful suggestions! While we couldn’t fit everything in, we are fairly confident that you all will find much to be happy about.

Here’s a sneak peek at just a few of the things you can expect: In total, there will be 40 new ranks of village projects! We’ve created a number of special brand new projects, as well as increased the ranks of already existing projects. And for those of you itching for more storage options, you will not be disappointed because we’ve added LOTS of new personal vaults. And these are only a few of the things you can look forward to. We’ve a number of other surprises, all of which will be revealed in mid-October when this build goes live!

Player: Puzzler (enjoys chocolate, things that glow in the dark, puzzles and puns)
Server: US 1
Class: Hunter

You are well known for your enthusiasm for contests and events, and have instigated a great many on the forums. What have some of your all-time favorite V&H contests been, and why? I definitely enjoyed all the poetry and short story contests we had. It seemed we could see people from a different, creative side. The same of course happened with the drawing contest and the songs! “It’s all about the Vim!” The most memorable one was definitely my least favorite- it was my one and only MATH contest in which I almost started a war with our dear Canada. I still have emotional scars from that one.

What’s your favorite zone in Villagers & Heroes, and why? Nothing tries to kill me in Kingsport and if you climb on top of the waterfall the view with the lighthouse in the distance is spectacular. That’s definitely one of my favorites. A favorite zone to run would be Grotto.

What’s the last documentary film you watched? What was it about? Hidden Kingdoms- a BBC documentary series about lives of little creatures. Narrated by Stephen Fry. Need I say more?

To say that you have emotional issues with Okyris would be putting it mildly. What other challenging beasts in the game have caused you similar angst and wrath, or possibly joy? Well my guild knows my feelings about Rift. It’s evil, it changes people and although I went there twice I vowed to not do that again. I’ve been in recovery for a month or so now and doing much better.

I think you’re the first Hunter we’ve interviewed for the Ledger. What are some of the greatest virtues about playing the Hunter class? Which aspects do you not care for, if any? Saving the best for last, huh? Yes, my modesty is definitely not in the way on that one. Hunters are amazing. Squishable and lovely, yes, but with a bit of planning we’re deadly and not even noticed by monsters. Sneak+Retreat makes us very dangerous and just think about all those poisoned arrows piercing through your flesh! Oh, I get goosebumps! I do wish we had pants that didn’t look like leggings.

Halloween is coming, which means kids and adults alike have the opportunity to dress up in wild, crazy, and creative costumes in real life. Please tell us about a memorable Halloween costume you have worn in the past. Few years ago some folks and I did Wizard of Oz theme and I was the TinWoman. It was amazing. I was silvery, shiny and squarish looking. And yes, it was all made out of cardboard and silver paint. Plus some sort of metal-funnel-car part(?) for a hat…

As with all games, players come and go, and it can be very sad when friends leave. If you could nominate a player for Royal Guardian of the Realm who is no longer within the V&H community, who would it be? There were quite few people who no longer play and my stalking skills are poor, so I can’t stay in touch with them, but I do want to mention two of them. Svetislaf and Jhnnycat- two amazing men, who always helped when I needed it and sometimes when I pretended I didn’t need help! I do hope they both come back some day.

If you could time travel, would you go to the past or the future? Why? Past. It would be my mission in life to be the first woman/non-citizen who followed around Socrates and enjoyed his conversation. If anyone can question him, I would love to be the woman to do it.

What features would you most like to see added to Villagers & Heroes? Oh, I let my feelings on this heard regularly on the forums… We all have lots of great ideas, but I think our creativity is overwhelming to the people who actually have to realize those ideas. Anyway, some of the ones I am thinking about now- separating hats and wings for more outfit choices, expanding projects in the village, giving us loose pants (!) and having pets that can carry things (or do things). I am also ready for new zones, as everyone else in the game.

If you could bring back one musician from the dead, who would it be? Can I get two for the price of one? How about George Harrison and Freddie Mercury? The two of them could make things interesting and fun.

Puzzler: I’m sure this is just an oversight, but you didn’t ask me to share a pun or a joke.

• Vampires must use mouthwash because they have bat breath.
• Some aquatic mammals at the zoo escaped. It was otter chaos.
• The first time I used an elevator it was really uplifting, then it let me down.

The event on EU 2

The Ardent Top Model contest was a great success! Participants donned their most glorious looking outfits, then strutted, sashayed, and wiggled their fantastic wares about in front of a live jury and audience. Much fun was had by all! A very big thank you to the organizers of this fashion contest, and congratulations to the winners!

EU 2
First Place: Lorna1
Second Place: Aeryn
Third Place: Jeylana

US 1
First Place: TubaDave
Second Place: Rolak
Third Place: Myla

US 2
First Place: Zaharra
Second Place: Angelina Copperscale
Third Place: Chandii

Villagers & Heroes, for quite a long time now, has been incredibly fortunate to have such an outstanding player community – countless individuals across all servers who support each other, and the game, in a thousand different ways.

We have at last found a way to honor these exceptional individuals who are the quiet backbone of V&H, people who go above and beyond in giving help to others, and who ask for nothing in return. Such individuals are role models, and their constant kindness makes our game shine.

Earlier this week, we introduced a new component to Villagers & Heroes, which we are calling, ‘The Royal Guardians of the Realm.’ Over the course of every month, players on each server will nominate individuals they believe should be recognized for their exemplary conduct and good deeds. A team of moderators and devs will then choose one player from each server, and award them with the title of Royal Guardian of the Realm. These Royal Guardians will all further receive special gift packages as a token of our appreciation for their outstanding contributions to the game.

The Villagers & Heroes website should be a powerful resource for new and old players alike – and with our ongoing site update, it will receive a well-deserved complete overhaul. Two main points were kept in mind while creating the new site:

1. Make the site better at showcasing the game to new players.
The more people that discover V&H, the better the experience is for everyone! The new site is more streamlined, polished and effective at luring people into the enchanting world of the game. Through big, image-heavy frontpage articles, an art style consistent with the game’s new UI and much more, visitors will want to see all the game has to offer!

2. Make the site a better resource for current players.
Part of this overhaul will be a work in progress the coming months, but work has already been made to update and structure up the game guide and other resources to be easier to use and more organized. In addition to this the site is more easily navigated, and – more importantly – will slowly be evolving into a hub for everything Villagers & Heroes. At launch, this will be especially noticable in that patch notes, the Weekly Ledger and crown purchasing is immediately accessed directly on the website. In the future, the forums will also be updated visually and share the website header and navigation, so it will all feel like a single destination for V&H.

The Villagers & Heroes Hub idea is the very core of this new website, and over time there will be no doubt where to go if to stay up-to-date on the game, spend time with the community, or read up on anything within the seven realms. What is currently fractured between many sites and destinations will unite into a cohesive, single web destination for the game.

Naturally, our presence on Steam and Facebook will remain for those who prefer these services.