Experience Moonshards @ MFF 2011

Greetings to everyone from the scene of Midwest Fur Fest 2011!

This year you will get to see the results of your feedback from the previous year's demo. Not only did we improve the flow and speed of combat, we'll be having a panel on the lore and history of the world.

Our lesson in lore will be held in the Tech Center on Saturday from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. We will be handing out giant Pixy Stix at 2:15 PM for all attendees of the panel. Come explore the world of Moonshards. Find out what triggered the High Warden's Great Conquest and its consequences. Learn what The Mistake was and how it lead to the Battle at Tree Bone Vault. What of the mysterious and massive fortress that is on every map, yet no one can find?

This year's demo will be in Gatwick later the same day. At 10:00 PM, we will host a gameplay demo that will run until midnight.  Your ancestors were given a sacred task, and they failed. Now you feel a calling to do what they couldn't. Will you answer it? Come and prove your worth in the arena. Show that you have what it takes to fulfill the sacred task of your race. Be one of the first to experience an anthropomorphic RPG before it is released! (Players: 5-20)

'Bear' bones no more! Bears get an update

We continue to expand upon Moonshards and its lore. This time we lay bare the history and society of the bear. Knowing you can play a mighty bear may be exciting, but what are the bears like? Big, tough and furry obviously, but there's more than that.

They have a grand history, filled with victory and tragedy. They ran the Great Bear Empire, but it didn't last forever. Learn how it rose and fell and how it changed warfare and ruling alike for all time.

If you take a look to the left side of the Moonshards website, there have been some additions to the bear race. A history, a summary of their society and new art! The bear now has a face to go with the name, and one may not want to meet them in a dark alley – or a well-lit field for that matter.

Expect to see more art and further expansion on the other races soon!

The Moment You've Been Waiting For!

It has arrived! The patch planned for 01AUG2011 is now finished.

We've finished tweaking and adjusting the mechanics of the Moonshards game and we now have the 2.0 Beta here! Expect further updates to the Moonshards website where we will be adding in the information for in-play use and for your viewing pleasure.

For those that are interested, feel free to check out the latest patch.

In related news our character builder is well underway. It will streamline character creation process and get you playing sooner! Look forward to a set of pre-made characters, so you can pick the game up without the time-consuming task of character creation.

Patchy Patchwork Perfected Presently

The patches and fixes made to the Moonshards game will be done soon!

You already know some of the improvements we've made, and we have more beyond that.

The oblivious simpleton at the bustling marketplace who used to hamper your movement just by staring at fruit will no longer be so inconsiderate. He'd never been aware of you in the first place, so he should rightfully not be hard to get around.

Zone of Control once was assumed to always exist. Now you are in control. You can choose to exert your control or let people move around you as they will. You can choose who passes freely and who must get around you by force.

Sizes! If you're small enough, to ride on someone's shoulder's or stand under their legs, you should be able to! And you can. It is possible for up to 4 creatures across the size ranges to all huddle amongst each other. It might be a bit crouded, but they all would fit in the same place.

Be sure to keep an eye out for when the patches are finished, and while you wait, check out the revisions on the Moonshards website. We've even added some more information about the callings and combat.

Fun and Fixes

Morphicon was a blast! We had a great turnout and got to meet new people and see a few old faces from Midwest Fur Fest. We had a lot of people on day two comment they had missed the story line from day one, but not to worry! We will have that on the Moonshards website by the end of summer. After recovering from the 14 hour drive back to Iowa from Ohio and going over the input, we are making a number of balance changes. Those who took part gave great constructive criticism, and we took the comments to heart.

A short overview of the changes we've made:

• Sluggish movement? No more! Even the slowest turtle can move just a little further, and those hares are speed'n.
• Creatures may be able to take a bigger hit, but be warned, there is more peril about.
• Word clarifications to stances. The wording was hard to understand and caused unintended uses. We rolled with the punches and let the players at the demo play it the way the rules read, and we learned a few things not to do in the future. Like any game, once it leaves your little testing area, someone will find the loopholes. We love that. It keeps us ever improving for you.
• Weapons and armors have been greatly rebalanced, and you should now be able to hurt yourself with a sword if you try.

For anyone who missed out on the story of moonshards, we do have plans to recite the tale again at a later convention, and as always we will answer questions that you have.

Next Stop: Morphicon

Oh my, what a month! Fliers and booklets, tweaking and packing!

As before, expect to see us at Morphicon. Rest yourself from your travels and hear the tales of Moonshard's beginnings; how utopias were created - and then destroyed to be built again in this all-too-often dangerous world.

Keep an eye out not just for our masterfully designed fliers, but also for a Quick-Start guide we will be setting out. They will prove useful our second panel where fun and danger will go hand in hand at the live demo. Come and play a game of Moonshards! Spots are precious, so get there early if you'd like to play and bring one of the Quick-Start guides with you!

If you'd like to watch, we can more than accommodate.

Moonshards panels:

• Moonshards Lore -- Friday, 7 - 9 PM
• Moonshards Demo Game -- Saturday, 4 - 6 PM

Morphicon 2011 - Panel 2: Playing Moonshards

After spending a day engrossed in the history of Moonshards, now comes the chance to become part of the story yourself! If you haven't signed up for Morphicon, we would suggest that you do so, so you don't miss out.

How do I bend the elements of the world to my very whim? How can I conquer my foes like the heroes of legend? Or perhaps avoid implying that my generous panther host smells of a rotten eagle egg by an improper sniffle?!

Come be part of this world steeped in lore and mystery. Join the ranks of heroes as you carve out your own purpose and destiny.

Come take one of our quickstart guides, which can give you a glimpse into one of the archetypes. Each one is filled with all of the basic information needed to start your journey. Ask the creators of Moonshards questions that have either been gnawing at the back of your skull since last year, or new ones that come to mind last minute. Once you are satisfied that you know everything you need, join one of two parties as they seek fame and glory. But be warned, you're not the only one who seeks it.

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While you're fantasizing of the upcomming convention, come look over the updates on the Moonshards website. We have a great many new shinies for your eyes to browse. Air, Plant, Electric, Shadow, and Water verses have been added.

Morphicon 2011 - Panel 1: The Story of Moonshards

As mentioned before, Morphicon 2011 is on its way, and we are planning to host two panels.

Our first Moonshards demo panel will be Friday from 7:00pm to 9:00pm in the John Snow room. We will cover a timeline of the Moonshards world's history and geography. Wars, travels, and the making and breaking of pacts. Geographical oddities, both past and present.

Find out what triggered the High Warden's Great Conquest and its consequences. Learn what The Mistake was and how it lead to the Battle at Tree Bone Vault. What of the mysterious and massive fortress that is on every map, yet no one can find?

On a closer-to-home note, a large number of updates have been made to the Moonshards website. The sidebar has been reorganized and made easier to navigate -- which is a good thing, as the content of the site has about quadrupled. Here's a taste of what has been added:

Armors and Weapons have been updated, giving more information about the benefits of each. All three genders have in-depth information about what they are and how each is needed in society. Several of the 'Innate Abilities' have been updated and added to the site. We've even added a few that weren't present during our live demo! The eagle and crocodile have had major updates. Callings have been organized, and the archer and assassin are ready for your eyes to feast on. Last but not least, we have many of the utility skills up and readable, and more are being completed as this is typed.

Morphicon 2011

We would like to announce our attendance at Morphicon 2011, “Furries in Wonderland,” this May 12th to the 15th in Columbus, Ohio. This year we will be hosting two exciting panels.

In our first panel, expected on Friday, come join us and explore the rich history of Nirakam and its moons. Get a glimpse at the northern continent of Vinakaru, Fenlock, and the cultures and creatures that call it home. Be enthralled by stories about living legends and how they helped shape society though the best of intentions and the worst of deeds. We will eagerly answer your questions about the world of Moonshards and the secrets it holds.

The following day, we will hold a panel focusing on the gameplay of the Moonshards system. We will explain what attributes a native has and how each opens possibilities to interact within the world as you please. We will cover how your choice in race affects more than how you look. Learn how the different genders interact with social skills and combat tactics. Get to know how your dream character stacks up in the world it calls home with an interactive demo of the character builder. At the end, we will get your thoughts on our coming phone application, and find out what platforms you would like to be able to play Moonshards on.

We're looking forward to a lively convention and hope to see you there. Don't forget to pick up one of our awesome fliers that will be around the convention space.

MFF 2010 Was a Success

Midwest FurFest has been over for awhile now, and we've had time to weigh the results of the Moonshards demo. We feel that it was a huge success! The event did not go quite as planned or expected, but the results were still very positive. Out of the 2285 attendees, it is estimated 25% or more were at the Furry Variety Show mentioned in my earlier post. Out of the remaining 1700, about 40 (2.4%) showed up at our table for the demo. To put this into perspective, a typical, low-profile panel at MFF has around a dozen attendees, while higher-profile ones like Furries in the Media can draw around 30-50. (Exact numbers would be nice if anyone knows them for last few years.) Based on email response, we were expecting only 6-9 people to come to the Moonshards demo, while our most optimistic estimate was for 20 people.

Stepping back a year. We put out 300 fliers; 250 were grabbed, and 61 people signed up for alpha testing of our upcoming software. We were not even expecting to have 25 people sign up and were worried we might not have enough winners for our event. We still worked our tails off despite our concerns, and the fans did not disappoint! We had a 24% response rate on paper fliers. Our marketing expert told us to expect 3-12%, so we aimed for average of 7.5% of 300 to bring us close to 25. This year, five of our 25 winners showed up. All five got to play, including one who was blind. Seven others from our mailing list also attended. Two more mentioned seeing our fliers last year. Our tables were filled with people, and we had a few attendees left standing. We were very sad that so many people were not able to play because of our poor location, understaffing, and lack of preparation due to our low estimates. It is our goal to be better prepared next time, but if you keep doing to us what you have been, you're going to drown us in love. Not that we're complaining!

Our Oracle was Becky Holmes (badge name SF Kitfox) and Co-Oracle was Mina Kitsune (real and badge name). We ran a starter module designed for a pack of 4-6 novice natives with scaling options for packs of up to 13 expert natives. The module was designed to introduce the Viper race; social aspects of the world like languages and slavery; and the mechanics of looks, renown, and bias. The characters were pre-made and not intended for long-term adventuring. An unexpected turnout was the player behind the Hare. His ability to play the Hare in combat the way it had been intended was more than amazing. Both Oracles did their best to help him visualize the field verbally as his visual impairment prevented him from doing so with his eyes. Fortunately, we had at the table a pair of [sai] -- the weapon his Hare used -- as a prop that he was able to hold. While it had always been our plan to make our products more friendly to those physically challenged, this early exposure to it, and with such a positive result, makes us feel confident that we are on the right track. The things learned both from input and events will help us set a good foundation in the years to come.