As the most dread year of 2023 draws to a close, so comes our customary review of what transpired as well as a few hints at what you can expect in 2024., Usually we do this by quarter, but given this year things inconveniently managed to cross over into multiple quarters all over the place, we won't be doing that. So, to it:

Of course we kicked off the year with the release of eidolic influence, which overall we're pretty happy with at this point. We think this has added an additional avenue for open world conflict that has filled a gap we've had for a while and given orgs a bit more agency to flex their territorial muscle. You can likely expect more here, but overall the system is now considered stable.

The next great upheaval occured when the forces of undeath rose to the occasion and joined in the battles for Sapience, and players discovered that they too may become thralls to serve in the undead legions if the criteria were met. In regards to this in particular, we are still discussing the future of thralls in Achaea. Originally we were not going to keep this around, but its remained popular enough that we will be talking over where we see it fitting into the game (or whether its better removing it as originally planned). Generally speaking though, we were really happy how this turned out.

Following upon the heels of undeath began the build up and then eventual beginning of the Age of Woe. For those who missed it, in this event the forces of Achaea were pitted against that most ancient and malign of foes: Prince Pazuzu backed by the equally notorious Khalas. We definitely wrestled with killing those particular villains off. We were particularly happy with the final battle of this event, even if the projected three hours did turn more into six (aiming explosive barrels is hard, who knew...).

Then wrapping up the year we had the Karth invasion and subsequent Karth challenges, and of course these culminated in the triumphant return of Scarlatti (to much swooning). Shortly following that came the magi release, as well as the emergence of Valnurana (to much delight) and Twilight (to mingled cheering and boos). Shallam rose from a watery grave and was reborn in a manner of speaking, and all the lower c chaos that came along with that.

Overall, we're pretty happy with this year. We hit most of the things we were hoping to plus some, and were really happy with the storyline events in particular. Most of the things we'll be looking to improve on next year learned from this year are admin processes rather than player facing things - some good lessons learned there this year, and we think we can cut turnaround times further.

So, what's next. Some big strokes things you can expect (along with several things we're not going to reveal just yet):

- A large scale project concerning the house organisations of Achaea and their place in Achaea.

- Some more skill releases. Some of these may be factional, but not all will be.

- A good look at the mining system.

- Of course, the Championship Games!

- We're also thrilled to say that Ictinus will be returning to Achaea in the new year! Tempered in the fires of Aetolia, he returns armed with myriad malign machinations.

We're looking forward to a great 2024 with you all!

Penned by My hand on the 19th of Valnuary, in the year 935 AF.