[Register now] Following the previous post about Age of Wushu (or Age of Wulin) China’s upcoming updates, the official website has since been updated with the full content release schedule up till early 2013.
The Asian developers are usually smart enough not to commit to a confirmed monthly updates to avoid potential delay.
October 2012 – November 2012
– Mount Hua open PvP tournament, with the Heavenly Sword (pictured below) as the main prize.
– Other than the sword, players will also fight for the exclusive titles of East Evil, West Poison, South Emperor, North Beggar and Central Wonder (东邪, 西毒, 南帝, 北丐, 中神通).
– Finally, the winner of the Mount Hua PvP tournament may also stand a chance to learn bits and pieces of the possibly ultimate skill set, Nine Swords of Dugu (9 stances in total).
– New Lingxiao City, covered by the pure white snow and a new area which provides 2-sided resistant combat (not sure if this is PvP)
– New forbidden ground (dungeon), Yenmen Gate. Described as massive with new gameplay mechanics.
– New skill sets from Yenmen Gate and the 2-sided resistant map.
– Treasure consumables, which consists of items which will greatly boost players’ stats. Classics include poison snake, golden toad etc
– Treasure equipment, which can only be dropped by killing NPCs (not by crafting), for example a wandering swordsman. Equipment will have new stats improving certain skill sets or skills.
November 2012 – December 2012
– New ultimate skills, 葵花宝典 (Sunflower Manual) and 吸星大法 (Star Absorbing skill) to be added. Refer to my previous post to learn about the included castration feature. Snail Game promised these skill sets will not bring imbalance to the overall game world.
– Mental demons is a new feature here, which will test players on hatred, greed, and more. Players who pass these tests will “progress”, although it is not stated in which area. These tests take place in instanced areas, which can be accessed by speaking to a NPC.
End January 2013 – February 2013 (Chinese New Year period)
– Marriage system will be added! Seen in most Chinese martial arts/ wuxia drama, the scene will be the same as those. It is hinted couple-exclusive skills will be activated as well, so get your other half to play the game!
– Cross-server PvP (arena and open battlefield), which will be affected by the NPCs found in the open world. For example, certain famous characters from martial arts/ wuxia fraternity will appear around the world. Selected players, judged according to their karma, will be able to “cosplay” as them and head to the battlefield. The evil NPCs, of course, will never grant their powers to players with positive karma.
– 1 new skill set for each of the 8 clans (Shaolin, Wudang etc), obtained from the clan dungeons. These skill sets are described as the ones which led to each clan’s fame.
– Players may now enter other clans’ dungeons. For example, a Wudang entering a Shaolin dungeon. The requirements will be kept a secret.
– Chronicles system, a new feature aiming at the casual players, especially the female gamers. No exact description excepts it provides a structured growth guide.
Mid February 2013 and beyond
– World leaders PvP tournament, with the prize as Dragon Blade. More info in my previous post.
– Clan betrayal system. I am guessing the killing of a clan NPC or fellow clan mate. I can’t imagine a Shaolin killing a Shaolin! No details yet, but a warning was given: Clan betrayal is not something you can do even if you want to do it.
– Clan-less system, specially designed for players who do not want to join any of the 8 main clans. It can be seen as a 9th clan, with its own growth progression routes. Not bound by clan rules, there may be some advantages for playing this style. However, they will not be able to join features such as clan wars and other clan-related events.
– Player-made internal skill system. Only for the clan-less players, this feature is currently low on details, but a main attraction for gamers to go the clan-less way.
– Mini forbidden grounds, think of these as smaller dungeons.
