October 2000
Update at the Magick Section
Our most nifty Magick Section has now been updated with a complete listing of every castable spell found in the world of Arcanum. From the simple Unlocking Cantrip to the mighty Quench Life spell, everything is there.
News post made Tuesday, October 31, 2000 by Xerophyte
New Poll
With the beta testers now chosen, we felt it might be interesting to see if how many of our visitors made it. So, we've added a new poll asking "Were you selected for the beta?".
The results of our old poll, asking "What do you think of the new Character Point system?", were:
I think the new one's good 75.8%
I want something completely different 14.2%
I preferred the old one 9.8%
Total Votes: 91
A great majority of you found the changes to the character creation system to be to your liking, which to me is a slight surprise. Then again, I'm with the against crowd so I'm biased. The number of votes was relatively low though, so this isn't the most accurate of results.
News post made Tuesday, October 31, 2000 by Xerophyte
Beta testers notified!
Well, it's official. The people who made it into the beta got an e-mail confirming this, with an NDA to sign and snail-mail to Sierra. And yes, our very Monkeypunch is in it, too. I hope to see y'all on the beta board...
News post made Tuesday, October 31, 2000 by Calis
RPGVault Beta Impressions
Richard "Jonric" Aihoshi, of the RPGVault, has recently put up part two of his Arcanum Beta Impressíons. It's a worthwhile read if you're itching to play the game and want to know more of what's in store when you do.
News post made Monday, October 30, 2000 by Xerophyte
The Darker Lesser Gods
I apologize for the lateness of this posting, I've been away during the weekend and unable to update earlier. Anyhow, Sierra have went on and updated the Pagan Gods of Arcanum section of the Official Site. Added today was a very small section on the Darker Lesser Gods. Here's the entire thing:
Shakar, the Orcish God of War
Shakar was an ancient god, worshipped by almost all orcish tribes before the Age of Legends. Shakar was a frightening creature, with the head of a ram, four arms, and the tail of a scorpion. For many years orcs sacrificed their first born to Shakar, who demanded the first and best of everything. Orcish lore says that Shakar changed his mind about the sacrifices when he saw that the orcs were truly warlike and then demanded only the finest weapons as offerings. Traditionally, these were bone-handled knives and swords...bone to represent Shakar's great horns, and tempered steel to represent his will.
Often an itinerant adventurer will discover the ruins of an ancient orcish tribe, and invariably they will find such bone-handled weapons among them. The Orcs were very serious about their god, and they carried such weapons to remind them of his ferocity.
What a kind god he seems to be. Go visit if you want to.
News post made Monday, October 30, 2000 by Xerophyte
Beta Testers chosen - notification SOON
Here's the word from Guy Welch, Sierra Web Developer, on the official forum:
We have finished spinning the magic wheel -- the beta testers have been chosen!
We are creating a newsletter that will go out to everyone who has been selected. We are working hard to get this out today, Friday, October 27th. Because of privacy concerns, the list of beta testers will not be published online.
All testers must complete a Non-Disclosure Agreement and return it via mail to Sierra. Upon receipt of the NDA, we will deliver your beta disc.
Because of the amount of people who signed up, we were able to include less than 5% of all applicants. We regret that we could accept more names, but we must admit, we received many more applications than we expected. Many of you must be talking to your friends about this title!
There has been some talk about the beta already beginning. Well, several copies have been released early to select press outfits, but that is it. The official beta test group should be getting their disks at about the same time.
Thanks for your patience.
News post made Saturday, October 28, 2000 by Calis
Beta impressions at RPGVault
Some impressions went up at RPGVault. They describe the character creation and the intro of the game.
News post made Thursday, October 26, 2000 by Calis
New screenshots + race descriptions
Yep, I posted 12 new ones. The show a variety of things, including but not limited to zombies and sheep practicing the oldest profession in the world...
Also, the creatures page now has screenshots of the in-game descriptions for all the races, including info on advantages/disadvantages of every race. If you're still wondering about what race to pick, I suggest you check this out.
News post made Thursday, October 26, 2000 by Calis
Background Listing
Our site übermaster, Calis, has recently put his Arcanum beta build to good use by compiling a list of backgrounds available for your character. If you didn't know, a background is a unique history for your character picked at creation in order to mkae him different from all the other travelling heroes. Here's an excerpt detailing the Sickly background:
Mother Nature can be a harsh mistress. Having been born with an extremely weak immune system, you have penalties to Strength (-2) Constitution (-4), and Dexterity (-1). But all is not lost. Afternoons spent with a fever and a good book have afforded you an unnaturally high Intelligence (+6).
If you're interested in seeing what other backgrounds are available in the beta build, go look!
News post made Wednesday, October 25, 2000 by Xerophyte
Skill list updated
The list of skills in our character section has been updated and now contains all the proficiency effects (apprentice, expert and master) for all the skills in the game!
News post made Wednesday, October 25, 2000 by Calis
13 new screenshots in our archive!
That's right, I took 13 new shots today. What do they show? Well, Tarant, for one thing. Some nifty shots of the biggest city in Arcanum. I also restarted the game with a magick-using character and snapped some shots off a few spells. The shot of the newspaper doesn't give away any spoilers (other newspapers in the game do, however! I even already had my name in the papers once :-) )
What are you waiting for? Check out those shots!
News post made Wednesday, October 25, 2000 by Calis
25 new screenshots at Gamespot
Yep, the boys at Gamespot have also been busy with their Arcanum beta and have taken 25 screenshots. The new shots include shots of all the backgrounds you can select in the game.
News post made Wednesday, October 25, 2000 by Calis
12 new screenshots at RPGPlanet
Yep, the boys at RPGPlanet also got their hands on a preview copy and snapped 12 new shots. The shots show a bit more of the crash site in the beginning of the game.
News post made Wednesday, October 25, 2000 by Calis
New screenshots at GA-RPG
I posted my next batch of screenshots (five of them) at GA-RPG. These new shots show off the differences between real-time and turn-based combat, and can be found here.
News post made Tuesday, October 24, 2000 by Calis
Brand new screenshots!
Guess what the mailman brought today... that's right, a shiny Arcanum press beta CD! You can find some screenshots I took on the first page of our archive.
News post made Monday, October 23, 2000 by Calis
Official site update
Two new updates over at the official site: a new screenshot, showing the sleep interface, and a scary new monster, the Kuljin...
News post made Monday, October 23, 2000 by Calis
Arcanum Out-Take Gallery At RPGVault
Those overzealous workaholics over at RPGVault have put up an "Arcanum Out-Take Gallery" with pictures of various bugs, jokes and other misshaps found or created during internal testing over at Troika. Most nifty and amusing, so go look!
News post made Friday, October 20, 2000 by Xerophyte
Character gallery at RPGVault
RPGVault now has a character gallery, showing 12 pre-made Arcanum player characters and their backgrounds!
News post made Friday, October 20, 2000 by Calis
Gamecenter Arcanum Resource Center
CNet Gamecenter now has an Arcanum Resource Center. It includes a preview (dated 3/24), an interview with Tim (dated 10/4/99) and lots of links. And we're listed at the top of the "Vital Fan Sites" list :-)
News post made Thursday, October 19, 2000 by Calis
2 New Gods
The official site has quietly been updated with 2 additions to the Neutral Lesser Gods section added this Monday. We now get to read about Bolo, the Halfling God of Thieves and Kerlin, the Gnome Golden God.
News post made Wednesday, October 18, 2000 by Xerophyte
Mini-interview with Tim Cain at Dimensions of Arcanum
Dimensions of Arcanum asked Tim Cain, one of Troika's CEO's, on his position on fan fiction, reacting to the banning of a player from Everquest as a result of fan-fiction Verant (the makers of Everquest) didn't like,
News post made Wednesday, October 18, 2000 by Calis
Screenshots update + ad banners
Well, it had to happen some time. We got our ad code from GA and are now adding ads to the page... This isn't because we're moneyloving bastards (in fact, we don't collect a dime from these ads), but we have to put them up in exchange for our hosting here. I've currently put them in the Library and Council sections, and I will add the rest later.
I also have some good news: I gave the screenshots section a big update today. It now includes a number of new screenshots from, among others, Gamespot and the Firingsquad preview. Enjoy...
News post made Tuesday, October 17, 2000 by Calis
Beta Application Period Ends Wednesday
I'll just be lazy and quote from the official site:
The chance to sign up for the "Chapter One" Arcanum beta test will run out this Wednesday, October 18th. To register, complete the Arcanum Beta registration form. All beta participants will be notified via email in the upcoming weeks.
News post made Monday, October 16, 2000 by Calis
New lesser gods
Yep, new lesser gods on the official site. This time, we get a peek at the Neutral lesser gods, Makaal, the Bedokaan God of the Hunt and Alberich, Stone God of the Dwarves.
News post made Monday, October 16, 2000 by Calis
Beta has gone gold!
Here's the word straight from Sharon Shellman, Artist/Animator/Office Manager at Troika:
I shout a hearty "Hip Hip Hooray"
The beta went gold this past Wednesday.
To the duplicators it finally went
Shortly to the press, copies will be sent.
The beta sign up will come to a close
those not picked will think that it blows.
For those chosen, it will make thier day
And they too will shout a hearty "Hip Hip Hooray".
shellman
News post made Saturday, October 14, 2000 by Calis
New UberFAQ
That's right, Jason "Codeguy" Bryant compiled a new version of this massive document. It now has the answers to 673 questions. You can find both a zipped version and an online version in our FAQ section
News post made Friday, October 13, 2000 by Calis
Creature Compendium Update
The Creature Compendium over at the Official Site has been updated, for the second time this week. Today we're introduced to the Lethe Wyvern, a beast with a venomous bite deadly enough to... kill stuff. Quote follows.
Many ancient tomes and texts have been perused in order to gleam the description lying before you, and while some differ in their opinions, most agree that this fearsome beast, which walks upright on thick haunches, is nearly double the height of a man, and twice as fleet. Dragon-like in appearance, it is often described as being colored to match whatever the surrounding countryside. Expansive wings adorn its shoulders, yet in all of the research available to me, I have found no mention or proof that it has the ability to fly.
Does that sound appealing? Go read the article, then.
News post made Wednesday, October 11, 2000 by Xerophyte
New Creature + New Screenshot
The official site got updated with a new screenshot of the week and a new creature in the creature compendium. This time, we get to take a look at the Oregolem.
News post made Tuesday, October 10, 2000 by Calis
New Preview
Gaming and hardware site FiringSquad has recently put up a preview of the game we all can't wait to play. Interestingly enough, this is the first preview I've ever seen that dares call Arcanum's setting unoriginal. The preview does not offer any new info, since it is based on the same press-kit as most all the other previews we've seen. Still, if you're determined to read every word ever written about Arcanum, feel free to go read.
News post made Sunday, October 8, 2000 by Xerophyte
The Pagan Gods of Arcanum
This week's update to the Official Site is the start of a new section detailing the "Pagan Gods of Arcanum". The first part and the only one we can currently enjoy is on the Noble Lesser Gods. Specifically, we get to know both Ter'el, the elven God of Wisdom, and Gehstianna, human Goddess of Love. Here's the Standard Quote of Niftyness:
Gehstianna has been a central figure in human Paganism for as long as their history has been recorded. Human mythology claims that Geshtianna was once a mortal woman who was so beautiful that she was made into a god by the moon and the sun, who could no longer bear to be outshone by something so far below them, and so raised her up to the heavens. Humans believed that Geshtianna would smile down upon them at twilight, when the sun was setting and the moon was rising, and that her love and beauty were manifested in the springtime, between winter and the long, hot days of summer. The festivals to the goddess were a time of great celebration, wrought with music and drink, as well as various rites of physicality and fertility.
Yay her. Go read the whole lot now!
News post made Monday, October 2, 2000 by Xerophyte
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