Roboception!

As it happens, Perpetuum is officially 2 years old today. No, we didn’t forget about it, so you can now stop spamming the forum with it :)

I’m not really the sentimental type, so I hope you forgive me if I won’t start a tearful trip down memory lane. Fact is that we’re still here, and if it only depends on us, we don’t intend to go anywhere. Fact is that in these 2 years Perpetuum saw more than 60 patches, from small fixes to large content and feature updates, including two major expansions. And fact is that we couldn’t have done this without you, our faithful players. So thank you for sticking with us thus far, and here’s to many more years ahead!

Of course it wouldn’t be a proper anniversary without some fun events, so let’s see what we have in store for you.

Allow me to start with the bad news: there won’t be an official tournament this time. Last year it was really great and it provided us with a lot of experience, and we’d really love to do it again in the future. But the truth is that it takes away so much development resources and manpower that at this time we’d rather spend that on actual development. Hope that’s okay with you. *puppyeyes*

But without further ado, here’s what will happen on our 2nd anniversary weekend, starting on the 30th of November, and closing on the 4th of December:

Anniversary sparks

Niani combat spark

Again, you will have the opportunity to unlock the "golden" Niani sparks through the connected special assignments. For our new players this will be the first time to get their hands on one of these special sparks, and for our veterans this will mean that they can unlock the other one too, the one which they couldn’t last year (although I bet some of you managed to unlock both by various means).

Treasure hunt

Of course, the annual treasure hunt returns as well, but this time with a twist. Last year you had it simple, just had to search for artifacts and you got instant candy. To make it a bit challenging, the artifacts you have to look for will contain (beside random loot) a special distress beacon too. (Artifacts will be available on every island.)

I.C.E.

Activating one of these distress beacons will call forth a Guardian Commander of one of the three factions, who will not be very happy that you phoned him out of his lovely plasma bubble bath. However if you can beat him, he will drop an Alien Improbability Device for sure, and maybe, just maybe, a universal faction token.

This token can be used in the Syndicate Supplies to exchange it for an Integration Cycle Extender, or as you know it better, ICE. Stocks will be limited though, so don’t miss out.

P.A.Q.S.

It’s time for the Perpetuum Anniversary Quiz Show again, with yours truly. We had one a year ago and it was great fun, so I thought it’s high time that we did it again. What’s it about you ask?

Well, I go out in a robot and everyone gathers around me as if I would about to start a lovely tale. Instead of a tale though, I drop out a field container with something inside it, and ask a question. The answer to that question is always a four-digit number, which happens to be the code that opens said container. The fastest one to find the answer and loot the container will get to keep anything that’s inside it. Pretty straightforward stuff. This time there will be even a few cool items in them. (See what I did there?)

We’ll have a dedicated chat channel for the quiz, the name will be announced at a later time, but we’ll of course have server-wide messages right before the event too.

The event will happen on Sunday, December 2nd at 21:00 CET (server time), right outside of Truhold-Markson Alpha terminal. So make sure you get there in time, or place a spark teleport target beforehand! (Here is a link to figure your local time for the event.)

Last but not least, a little something aimed at those who can’t take part in these events for any reason: every account that has an active subscription at the time of the patch on Friday the 30th will receive a redeemable Alien Improbability Device. (And I’d like to state here that contrary to hearsay, it does not contain only T4 items.)

Well, that’s pretty much it. We hope you’ll have great time, wish you steady loot, and hope to see you in the game!

Has it been a year already? Wow, time goes fast when you have your hands full of development work.

Well then, it seems it's high time for some proper festivities, complete with a number of surprises, treasure hunts, and robot massacres!

Perpetuum Corporation Tournament

It is with a mixture of great pleasure and honor that we announce the first Perpetuum Corporation Tournament. We will be hosting this prestigious event on the first weekend of December (3rd and 4th). Allow me to cut through the red tape, here are the rules:

Registration

  • Application for the tournament is done by the CEO or Deputy CEO of a corporation.
  • The registration fee is 10 million NIC. Only the exact amount done in one transfer will count as a proper registration.
  • The registration fee is to be transferred to “DEV Tournament” (use Agent search); this will be the proof of application.
  • One application per corporation. To make it fair for everyone, we'll check for alt corporations and let them only apply if we don't have the 16 teams.
  • The first 16 applications are accepted, above this the money will be simply sent back.
  • The deadline for the applications is the 27th of November, 20:00 server time (CET).
  • The exact time for the tournament matches will be announced after all applications have been processed. The first day will see the first elimination round, the second day will host the finals.

Rules

  • The tournament is a 16 team straight elimination ladder.
  • Robots destroyed in the tournament will NOT be reimbursed.
  • Looting on the battlefield is allowed.
  • Team members will be placed into the combat zone, where they must remain still and may not engage any modules until the Tournament Master gives the signal for the fight to commence.
  • The team that eliminates all its opponent’s robots first wins the match.
  • There are no module restrictions, robots may be fit freely.
  • The maximum time frame for a round is 30 minutes. Once this expires the team with most points on the field wins (calculated from still standing robots - for the point system see below). If this number is the same, the team with the most points destroyed wins. If the number is still the same, we draw a winner.

Team compositions

Every team can have up to 10 members. Teams can only include members of the registered corporation.

Teams can be assembled using a point system for robot classes. Every team will have a maximum of 25 points available to spend in any given match. The point cost of robots is as follows:

  • Light: 2 points (Mk2: +1, Indy: -1)
  • Light EW: 3 points (Mk2: +1)
  • Assault: 3 points (Mk2: +1, Indy: -1)
  • Mech: 6 points (Mk2: +1, Indy: -1)
  • EW Mech: 8 points (Mk2: +1)
  • Heavy Mech: 8 points (Mk2: +1, Indy: -1)

As you can see, Mk2 and industrial robots modify the base value up and down, for example a mech-class Kain Mk2 will cost 6+1=7 points, while a light industrial robot like the Argano will cost 2-1=1 points. The modifiers for industrial Mk2 robots eliminate each other, so these cost exactly the base points.

Rewards

1st place:

  • 10 robots of the winners choice of Vanguard Mesmer, Mercenary Seth or Praetorian Gropho in any combination. These babies have somewhat better stats than their Mk2 counterparts, and won't be available anywhere else in the game. Also, they are black.
  • 5 T4 Prototype items of choice and 5 level 10 decoders.

2nd place:

  • 10 Mk2 robots of choice.
  • 4 T4 Prototype items of choice and 4 level 10 decoders.

3rd place:

  • 10 standard robots of choice.
  • 3 T4 Prototype items of choice and 3 level 10 decoders.

For those who just like to watch

The tournament will be held in a designated area only accessible for the combatants, but we will video stream the matches to the public.

Anniversary Treasure Hunt

Of course we will also have something for those who are not interested in such violent practices like killing each other, and would rather engage in a fun community event with a promise for shiny loot.

The Syndicate got word that the enemy is digging out never before seen ancient data consoles, which contain very valuable pieces of information that could help in our cause battling them.

Time will be short; you’ll have to be quick and grab as many as you can before they do. These ancient data consoles can be found in new types of artifacts, as well as looting them from elite and officer-class Nians who carry them on their way home.

We’ll set up some new delivery assignments where you will be able to exchange the consoles you find for rare Alien Improbability Devices. What are they good for? Well, that’s a surprise!

The surprises don’t end here: we’ll also introduce two very special sparks (one combat and one industrial type), which will be only available to unlock during this anniversary weekend.

Mark the date

The big Perpetuum Anniversary Weekend will start on the 2nd of December at 12:00, and will end on the 5th at 12:00 (all CET/server times). As mentioned above, the event will also include the Corporation Tournament taking place on the 3rd and 4th. Make sure you don’t miss this, we’ll surely be there!

ps. Details on Intrusion 2.0 coming up next week, which will also be a part of our anniversary package!