Expeditions: Viking - October Newsletter

The October Newsletter for Expeditions: Viking:

Well Met Traveler!

Right off the bat, there's something we need to do before we even start.
We got our Steam wishlist up and running. You should probably sign up for it.
Hit this link: ---> Steam Wishlist <--- every time you wishlist, a stupid helmet looses its horns.

Now that that's out of the way, we betta move on with-... What? Beta? No we didn't say beta, we said betta. Why would we talk about the beta? We're not even allowed to talk about that yet. But, you know, you might want to keep an eye out for next months newsletter... We're just saying. For reasons we can't possibly disclose at this point.

You should even tell your friends to sign up. Now, we're not saying that anyone who's on this newsletter list before our next newsletter hits, are probably gonna get a beta invite, because we're not allowed to talk about it. But if we were... Then that sounds like the sort of thing we might consider saying.

What's in a Name?

Moving on, we've been looking at item properties. From the get go it was very important to us that supernatural elements, while important to the era, remain ambiguous. Given the right character stats you can seek more plausible explanations for the supernatural encounters in game.

But how does this tie into crafting? We obviously want crafting to be personal and special, but we can't really justify crafting magical weapons while insisting on adhering to historical authenticity either. So we turn to superstition.

An item may gain special properties either through careful attention during crafting (if the crafter has the Artisan skill), or through seeing a lot of use - these properties represent the nostalgic attachment one can develop to weapons tried and tested in battle.

A character's superstition can causes them to act as if the item is indeed special, encouraging feats of strength, reckless aggression, or even lucky saves that they might not have allowed themselves with a "mundane" item.

For example: If a player has a series of critical hits in a row with a weapon, this character might be lead to believe that the weapon itself is thirsty for blood. Thus naming the weapon for it's apparent lust for battle.

Special properties can in some cases be tied to a particular character - though you can equip the item on another character, the property will only take effect when the item is used by the character who has an attachment to it. For example, Eydis (one of our recruitable characters and residen raid mother) starts with her dead husband's helmet and as long as she's wearing it, the helmet gives her a bonus to mental resistance because she feels that her husband is watching over her in battle. Give it to anyone else however, and it's just an old helmet.

Shiny Things to Look at!

We talk a lot about the various elements of the game, but we figured that for once, we'd like to show you some of it too. So buckle up as Jonas takes the wheel and take a ride with us into the Viking Age. Oh, and if you'd like to see more dev play videos, leave a comment in the comment section on Youtube!

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And that's not all! RockPaperShotgun have dropped an arcitle about their hands-on time with the game. Author Alec Meer walks us through many of the features of the game, and drops a little reference at the end that made us laugh.

You should absolutely get the full read below.
Unfortunately the good Alec Meer misspelled his boat name. Being the kind, helpful people that we are, we fixed that for him!

What a "Bloody Mess" Indeed.

The Vikings are coming!
Our artists have been working on our character models. Chopping them up and adding decapitation elements to their arms, legs and head. As well as adding extra neck and head pieces for chopping off heads. Combat and mutilations thus far have been PG-rated, with dead foes merely lying down on the ground, and those who are still alive, writhing back and forth.

To capture the brutality of the combat however, we've taken a cue from everybody's favourite Fallout perk, and have added dismemberment points.
We've obviously not transformed all our characters and NPC's into helium filled meat balloons, but while we're still setting it up and having some fun with it, we figured we'd share with you all!

Enjoy!

Wrapping Things Up

That's it for this month, but we'll be back before you know it, with all things Expeditions: Viking.

Fair wind friend, and safe travels!