...are now usable in combat.

Fixed a bug which was causing combat text to be misplaced for people using Internet Explorer.

Monday's update is three new low-level weapons. They are now dropping from the various spiders in the Spider Cave and The Tuffet. Enjoy!

A new monster has been added to the farmland. That's two this week!

A new monster has been added to the farm area. Spoilers on the blog.

New patch notes and some commentary are available on the blog.

I'm working on a new area, and have set up a blog for more in-detail updates and general rambling. Major news and "patch notes" type updates will still appear here, with the blog being updated more frequently with news, notes, and thoughts on a wider range of subjects.

Comments and thoughts very much appreciated on both the blog and these news postings.

The long promised rebalance is live!

First things first - a warning: your weapon has been unequipped! This was a side-effect of the weapons being rebalanced. You can re-equip a weapon using the equipment menu as usual.

Here's a list of everything that's changed:

- Monsters now have a level and power rating, and have been rebalanced.
- New monsters!
- Two new areas: The Tuffet and The Farm!
- Areas now unlock, and more monsters appear in them, as you level up.
- More weapons!
- Weapons now have a level-based equip restriction...
- ...which means the one-handed short sword has been nerfed.
- Exp granted is now based on word score, rather than length.
- A level cap of 10 has been introduced. This will be incremented gradually to 20 in future updates.
- Damage formulas have been tweaked slightly.
- New item icons and descriptions!
- Chat system has been tweaked and should be more responsive.
- Support for medals: you cannot aquire any yet, but hang on to all those bits and guts.
- The drop rate on the Hipster Goblin's Music Player has been nerfed adjusted.
- Account creation / log in bug has been fixed.
- Infrequent (but annoying) "combat state is corrupted" bug has been fixed.
- Additions and fixes to the stylesheet and HTML header should mean better support across all browsers.
- Various behind-the-scenes database stuff you don't care about.

So, enjoy all that. If you find any bugs or problems, please leave a comment here, or e-mail me from the contact link in the main menu. Thanks for playing!

Not many changes here on the live server, but a massive update is in the works. The maps are getting reorganised, and new monsters are being added. The existing monsters are being rebalanced. The majority of items will also be gaining uses, and some new items and weapons are being created.

Changes and bug fixes to look forward to in the near future:

- Chat system added and tweaked
- Nasty create account / login bug fixed
- Intermittent "Combat state corrupted" bug fixed
- Weapon level-requirements added
- Level cap introduced (currently level 10)
- More item details and uses
- Experience gains linked to word score
- The Tuffet opening, and one new area

I have added in support for changing your email address and password, which can be found via the "Account Settings" link in your profile. I would have added in an option to email a forgotten password, but I'm not sure if this server supports outgoing mail, and hopefully the game won't be hosted here much longer anyway.

I've also coded this news announcement system. The latest news will be displayed on the front page, with an archive available from the main menu. Logged-in players may leave comments, encouraging or otherwise.

A rebalance and update of monsters, weapons and areas is the next item on the agenda, tentatively scheduled for this weekend. If you have any thoughts or ideas, please leave a comment!

The no health / no money deadlock bug has been fixed with a resting mechanic. Players can now visit the hospital and get some bedrest to restore health.

Please email me with your comments, suggestions, bug reports, or whenever you get stuck!