Hey guys,

I thought I would let you all know today that we’ve targeted late February for our next patch release. I’m going to run down some of the changes and upgrades that will be coming in this patch and a few things we’re working on for future updates.

First of all, we’re working on client optimization that will require less hardware power. So far, we’re seeing a steep decline in client crashes, and we’re not done working on the problem yet! We’ve got 16 workstations dedicated to stamping the issue out and we’re confident that we’ll get it done. This is a deep game architecture problem that requires substantial coding changes to accomplish. I’ll keep you updated as we move forward with any updates I get from the dev team.

We’ve also got a 32-player Riot map in the pipeline. This map is BIG! Additional game modes will be added in future updates. The best way to describe the map is to say that if you stuffed a psychobilly circus/white trash flea market/shantytown into a post-apocalyptic domed football stadium, this would be the result! The map is still in test, and since we pride ourselves on creating balanced/polished levels there’s some potential it could slip to March, but it’s targeted for February.

We’re adding a daily tournament system with all-new prizes. Three divisions (novice, intermediate and expert) will compete in skill-based PvP events that run Monday through Saturday. I know some of you are thinking that players who are currently gaming the PvP ranking system are going to screw up the divisions, but we have a fix coming that will put an end to that nonsense. Players will form four-man teams, sign up through the UI and KILL KILL KILL! Matches will be single-elimination shootout on a variety of maps. Later this week I’ll talk more about this feature.

Up next, we’ve got some fairly extensive changes to the PvE bot AI. We’ve made improvements to the AI logic and we’re allowing the bots access to a wider variety of abilities to give players a more challenging experience. That said, we’re also taking out some of the more annoying AI “features” like insta-kill Clearshots and Shockwaves. These changes will add great depth to Stockpile, Safeguard and Headhunter PvP matches.

We’re making some changes to our subscription system to make CrimeCraft a better value to our players. Free to Play accounts will now essentially be the same as what we formerly called Standard, meaning they will get to customize their character and get full access to the auction house, ATMs, trades and instance creation. We’re also increasing the rate at which F2P characters gain experience.

Next up will be the $4.99/month price point that will be the same as what is currently the $9.99 Premium subscription. Same features, just $5 cheaper! We’ll keep the $9.99 subscription in place, but it will essentially be the $4.99 subscription with an extra $6 of gold bars added to your account each month.

The next feature is an extensive overhaul of the economy. Most vendor prices will be increasing and there will be a number of changes to loot drops, item durability and the crafting system. Some of these changes won’t seem justified at first, but they are absolutely necessary to ensure the long-term health of our in-game economy! Specifically, these steps should help lower some of those insane prices on the auction house. We’re also making some adjustments to the crafting system that you’ve been anticipating. I’ll come back to both of these topics in a couple of weeks with a number of new details of how these changes will affect the game.

We’re also adding an in-depth tutorial for new players that introduces them to the world and combat system without throwing them directly to the wolves of Sunrise City. We’ve targeted late February for the tutorial, but it’s a feature that might slip.

Another feature that might take more time than we’ve got for this update is Night Clubs! These are gang-owned customizable spaces where characters can host a variety of parties that can be as open or as exclusive as the organizer wants them to be. We’ve got some special surprises in this feature as well that I’ll talk about as we get closer to patch day!

As you can see, we’ve got a lot of changes and enhancements to get done over the next three weeks! I hope this look at what’s coming has whetted your appetite for more CrimeCraft, I know I’ve worked up an appetite just typing it all out :)

--KevinB