OFFICIAL MERIDIAN 59 NEWSLETTER	January 18, 2002

	Half the company has been sick! Rob's lost a couple of days work this past week with some nasty sickness. Luckily each employee in the company is spread out by about 3000 miles so there's little chance of Brian catching it. Yes, we think of everything. We had a stumble with the billing system as the solution we were working on didn't work out. Having spent so much time assuming that it would, it really set us back. We're looking at two options now that can both be up as quickly as we'd like. A decision should be made by next week and that pain will finally be behind us.
	Website update: We've gotten our first "About Meridian 59" article up. These articles are the ones Rob talked about at the end of last week's newsletter. Basically we want to be sure that people that haven't played Meridian 59 before know that some of the features are really cool and were ahead of their time. Even though it first launched in 1996 some of the features are still unique in online RPGs. The first article is about the Guild System.
	Brian's Bug Bashing Brian keeps moving forward with the stability and structure changes. Most of the bug fixes and enhancements that are going in now are a direct result of the polls, feedback, and discussions on the Official Meridian 59 Forums. Changed armor to absorb less damage overall. Changed armor not absorb spell types of damage. Increased the resistances that Nerudite Armor gives for spell damage types. Changed Herald Shields to give a spell power bonus to spells if they have the proper insignia. Removed outlaw/murder status changes and faction loss from attacking an enemy guild that has also declared your guild as an enemy. Reduced reagent cost of Discordance from 3 Sapphires to 2. Eliminated mana cost for sending over guild channel. Added third person image for players holding a Lute. Changed Free Action to eliminate up to a bit less of Hold's duration if it doesn't resist the spell outright. Fixed the introduction text visible at character creation on various spells. Made Holy Resolve, Unholy Resolve, and Fade unavailable at character creation. Added the new attack spells: Shocking Fury, Explosive Frost, Blast of Fire, and Splash of Acid. New attack spells are now sold by Maleval. Changed Vampiric Touch to be an attack spell instead of a touch spell. Renamed to Vampiric Drain. Made the hit and miss sounds for touch spells more like punch sounds instead of the previously annoying casting and fizzle sounds. Although we want to keep the game the way you all remember it, it’s important that we get your feedback to help fix those things have been unbalancing in the past. Please continue to post and provide us with feedback so we can help make this the game you want to play.
	Q is Evil... but he's not corrupt! Yes, this is an actual conversation. It seems the majority of people complain about corrupt administrators in game. However, it always seems like someone is asking for something. Knight Blade tells you, " Make me master qor and i wont stop talking about u untill u leave this server" You tell Knight Blade, "Did that make sense?" Knight Blade tells you, " a litlle bit ; )" You tell Knight Blade, "Hmmm. Not to me" ... a while later ... Knight Blade tells you, " Ok i give up, you can max my hp's i wont stop you. Then i will tell everyone that i love you =-)" You tell Knight Blade, "Ah, sweet" ... time passes ... Knight Blade tells you, " gimmie hps ; )" You tell Knight Blade, "I did... didn't they show up?" Knight Blade tells you, " No : \" (tried to tell to Knight Blade) No one with that name is logged on. You tell Knight Blade, "Hmmm. Log out and back in?" ... I assume he tries ... Knight Blade tells you, " No : \" You tell Knight Blade, "Maybe you have to quit out, reboot, and log back in" ... no word from Knight Blade for a while ... Knight Blade tells you, " how many did ya give me? ; )" You tell Knight Blade, "48" Knight Blade tells you, " lol im 77" You tell Knight Blade, "Not anymore!" Knight Blade tells you, " gimmie 100; )" You tell Knight Blade, "No silly... I added 48 more!" Knight Blade tells you, " Oh" Knight Blade tells you, " freak, i wished it worked lol" You tell Knight Blade, "Try rebooting" ... quiet, I assume he's rebooting ... Knight Blade tells you, "`e : (" You tell Knight Blade, "?" Knight Blade tells you, " rebooted" You tell Knight Blade, "Wow, that was fast! It worked?" Knight Blade tells you, " No : \, Wanna try giving me master qor?" Knight Blade tells you, " :\ " You tell Knight Blade, "You got an imp?" ### The feared outlaw, Knight Blade, has just met justice at Slippy's hands. Knight Blade tells you, " Gimmie hps! ; ) it didnt work" You tell Knight Blade, "Did you get an imp?" Knight Blade tells you, " YEs" You tell Knight Blade, "And it didn't show up then?" Knight Blade tells you, " No : \" You tell Knight Blade, "Hmm." You tell Knight Blade, "See, if you died, BEFORE you got the imp, that would make sense." Knight Blade tells you, " oops" Knight Blade tells you, " Redo it ; )" You tell Knight Blade, "No way, that's a lot of work" Knight Blade tells you, " lol" Knight Blade tells you, " takes u 20 min **** two seconds" (former admin's name withheld) You tell Knight Blade, "Hmm, and it worked when he did it?" Knight Blade tells you, " Aye" You tell Knight Blade, "Strange"

Source: Near Death Studios - Info@NearDeathStudios.com