Due to a critical bug, the blade spirits spell has been temporarily disabled until the bug can be resolved. We'll advise when it is available again.

One of our community members advised us that Microsoft Defender is flagging our setup application as containing a trojan.
For the moment, we have removed this installation option and submitted the file to Microsoft for analysis as we believe the file is fine and that this is a 'false positive' in the latest MS Defender definitions.

This is supported by scans on such sites as Virustotal and Jotti, which you can use yourself if you have any concerns. We'll return that installation method as an option once Microsoft sorts things out for us.

UPDATE 4/4/24: The Easter Event hath been extended from Apr 8th to Apr 15th

(Reminder) Annual Pigment & Enamels (Donation Dyetubs): Ivory - Available from March 25th to April 9th

The Easter Egg hunt has commenced! Easter Egg Nests will be scattered throughout the overworld for you to find. Double click the eggs to try opening them for fun surprises and goodies! Monsters also have a chance to spawn as Easter Paragon which can also drop Easter carrots and goodies.

Collect Fabled Carrots to spend at the Easter Vendor who can be found on the Britain Bank Roof. They will also buy some of the items you may get from the eggs in exchange for more Fabled Carrots.

The Carrot & Egg Hunt will be live until April 15th & the Easter vendor will be available until April 30th

Happy Easter!

The Spring Bazaar is kicking off at Castle Britannia in West Britain! Stop by just North/NW of the West Britain Bank and rent your vendor spot today. The vendors will be available until May 20th. If you have a vendor rented after the deadline passes, the vendor's gold, equipment & backpack contents will be packed up into your account vault for later retrieval. Happy trading!

If you encounter an issue in the game or something appears off or incorrect, or if you have an idea for improvement, please make sure to let the developers know by submitting a Bug Report or Suggestion from in-game using the /bug or /suggestion commands

Submitting feedback in-game ensures that the team sees it and also provides some helpful information automatically to the team to help identify and troubleshoot issues

If you run into an emergency and need help, we have a few ways to get into touch with us outlined here: https://shardsofbritannia.com/about/contact

Please do not direct message staff, we do not accept DMs and will not respond to them

This is just a reminder that Season 2 is coming to an end and Season 3 will commence very soon. We're going over final touches as we speak! Thanks to everyone that has participated in Season 2, we hope you've enjoyed the challenges. More news to follow very soon.

A few players are still being affected by login issues when attempting to connect to the game, or attempting to log in additional accounts. We are continuing to work on this issue and hope to have a solution soon.

We are seeing a healthy number of players connected and playing again since a small change was pushed yesterday. If you are still having issues, please try rebooting your PC and connecting again.

If after the update and rebooting you are still experiencing issues, please log an emergency support ticket or use the contact form on our website and we will be in touch when we can.

We'd like to welcome the newest member of the team, Kelsier! He has extensive experience with infrastructure & development and has a passion for Shards of Britannia! Kelsier will be focusing primarily on Development for the moment. Please give him a warm welcome!

House Decoration Contest - Winter 2023/24

Make sure to check out of all of the amazing player-submitted decorations in the following Discord channel: https://discord.com/channels/369023244038045697/1186715359647113287

The contest was evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Artistic Creativity
• Playfulness and Whimsy
• Coziness and Warmth
• Use of Unconventional Materials
• Miniature World Creation
• Narrative Strength
• Depiction of Snowy Scenes
• Outdoor Decorations

Top 3 Winners (ranked by the team):

1. Fenris: Home for The Holidays for Most Cozy & Inviting
2. Taria: Gingerbread Celebrates Christmas for Most Creative/Artistic
3. Guybrush: Honey, I Shrunk Christmas! for Best Miniature World

All other entries (also winners!):

• Tommesatan: Tommesatan's Christmas Feast: Best Use of Unusual Objects

• chriss: Merry Grilling: Best Outdoor Decorations

• Zarnack: Your fight is over gingerbreads: Best Storytelling

• Swiss Precision: Santa's Sleigh Shed: Best Snowy Scene

• Kikoo: Not much snow around BUT we still have fun: Most Whimsical/Playful

Prizes:

• Tiered prize packages are being put together, and all participants will receive a prize due to their time & effort spent on the contest. Thank you for participating!
• Prizes will include:
  • Elf Food to buy stuff from Santa
  • Personalized item
  • Winter House Decorations
  • an unopened Christmas Gift box
  • more!
• Please allow a few days for the team to build the prize packages for everyone. We will send them to your account in-game and write you when it is has been sent.

Thanks again to everyone who participated, the team enjoyed every minute of looking around at your creations, fantastic work!

We would like to inform you that GM Shroud and CM Milamber have recently stepped away from our team. As is the nature of dynamic volunteer teams, changes like these are part of our evolving journey. We are extremely grateful to both of them for their time & contributions and wish them nothing but the best. Our team remains dedicated to the project and we look forward to continuing this adventure with your support. Thank you for being here with us!

We apologize for the delays with judging the winter house decoration contest. The team is currently backed up but we would like to complete this as quickly as possible thank you for your patience and thanks again for participating amazing work everyone!

Game Update: January 2024

Introduction

It's a new year, and a great time to lay out what's going on with our game. As we step into 2024, we're excited to share our vision and the proactive steps we're taking to ensure the game's ongoing success and evolution. This update includes a rundown of our priority items and our action plan for the months ahead.

Your engagement is vital to us. Whether you're a dedicated player or a valued supporter contributing through donations or subscriptions, your role in our community is indispensable. We're incredibly grateful for your continued support and enthusiasm. Together, let's make this year the best one yet for our game!

What we are working on

New Player enhancements & New Player Island

• Ocllo/Haven Island with New Player Dungeon & more content for newer players
• Extension of Young Player duration (providing more time to play as a Young Player)
• See more of our current New Player plans here: https://trello.com/c/FQUuKTgr

PVP balancing (player versus player)

• On-going balancing efforts for player-versus-player encounters
• See more of our current PVP Balance plans here: https://trello.com/c/YoKynuNu

Multi-level building support

• We've achieved some success with adding multi-level support to the game via our SoB Launcher game extension
• We will need to perform Unity updates to every building in the game to complete this feature
• We are still experimenting and is not guaranteed to be added to the game

Naval Warfare

• cannons
• new mining material & crafting recipes to obtain
• grappling (for piracy & fetching loot from wreckages)
• NPC warships

New water content & water pets

• Will be able to use cannons to take out water creatures & NPC ships
• New pets coming: Shark (aquatic mount), Water Wyvern (amphibious) & Water Dragon (aquatic)
• Audits to collision inside of water that currently blocks passage in some spots
• Completion of collision around incomplete islands

House Collapse changes

• We're considering offering house decay warnings to players on login if their account owns a house and it needs refreshing (same for boats)
• We're considering offering to send Patron-bound items to the owner's account if a house collapses
• Houses that are IDOC (in danger of collapsing) will soon have their contents put into barrels when the house collapses, requiring players to punch their way through the barrels to look for loot
• Considering: IDOC Announcement Board for players to see houses that are nearing collapse

What is being planned or in discussion

Combat Balancing

• We've got ongoing discussions in the team to try to balance combat. Recently we have tried some different changes and they were reverted for further review.
• We plan to conduct more testing in the near future

PVE Content

• We are continuously looking for ways to enhance our existing PVE content and explore opportunities to introduce new content
• Our plans include continuous addition of more exciting content, which will feature new abilities for monsters, making each adventure engaging and unpredictable

Crafter Pets (previously Tinkering Golems)

• Introducing new pet options for crafters, currently in discussion: Craftable Construct beings, Ore Elementals that can be subjugated & tamed via Tinkering trap
• These pets will have durability instead of health and will need repaired with materials like Ore & Reagents
• These pets are intended to be useful for both PVP & PVE

Evolving Pets/End-game Taming

• We're looking into the possibility of end-game pets, commonly referred to Evo Pets in the UO community
• These pets would start out as smaller, weaker beings and you would train them to grow and evolve into tougher beings, with different species to pick from
• We've got a few new pet models ready to use for something like this, like beautiful new Dragons

Player Jails

• We're discussing the possibility of adding a Jailing system where players can "press charges" against their murderers. The culprits could then be captured and sent to jail to serve a sentence for their actions. This is a rough idea, and there's no solid plans or ideas yet.

What we've completed recently

Seasonal Challenges

• We've completed Season 1 and have just started Season 2
• Seasonal challenges offer a large variety of tasks for players to engage in, accruing points to unlock vast rewards

New mini-games

• Snowball Fight (available now near Windemere)
• Jousting (available now in Vesper)
• MOBA Game (was used with Chucky Doll for Halloween, will continue to iterate)
• more to come: Life Size Chess, and Texas Hold'em Poker

Water & Boating Expansion

• We've expanded the waters of the world. Previously only 2 regions were prepared for players to drive their boats around in, now every online region is capable of being sailed in.

Music & Sound Additions

• We've deployed several custom Music tracks written by previous team-member Beekel & some additional tracks sourced elsewhere by our team
• We've also added dozens of new sounds that may sound exactly like our favorite classic game!
• We will continue to expand and add more as time permits, including additional or replacement Sounds, Ambience tracks, and Music
• Disclaimer: All recognizable sound-effects incorporated in our project have been sourced from the US Library of Congress and are classified as Public Domain content.

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There's much more that we haven't listed here, to see a list of recent patch notes, check out our News page here: https://shardsofbritannia.com/search/query:patchnote

Marketing

We periodically run paid ad campaigns on popular marketing platforms like Google, TikTok and other social media outlets from time to time. As you may know, advertising is very costly, so we are unable to run paid ads all the time. We try to run campaigns when it is strategically advantageous.

We've recently completed a polishing pass on our website to improve education for new players & to improve the general flow for new visitors, as this is where we point advertising viewers to when they click on our ad.

Joining Hands with Our Community

Fostering Positivity & Good Vibes

• We highly value the power of positive and productive interactions among our players. While we recognize the importance of expressing one's thoughts and emotions, it's crucial to ensure these expressions contribute positively to our community. Voicing opinions in a manner that isn't constructive or beneficial could potentially discourage new players from participating in discussions or trying out our game. Critiques about the game are not discouraged; however, we request you to frame them constructively.

Spreading the Word

• Your help in promoting our game would be greatly appreciated! We invite all members to share their experiences with friends, family, or anyone who might be interested. Whether they're fans of Ultima games or Ultima Online, or simply enjoy online sandbox games without any prior knowledge of Ultima, your word-of-mouth recommendations can make a significant difference. Please remember to do so respectfully and considerately.

Reminder, as previously scheduled, Xmas Activities have come to an end. Santa will remain until the end of the month for you to finalize any trades & purchases.

The Christmas House Decoration contest deadline is Jan 12th and the judging will commence at that time with prizes announced shortly after, you can enter and see current entries here: https://discord.com/channels/369023244038045697/1186715359647113287

The Christmas Lottery deadline is Jan 15th and the drawing will commence at that time with prizes announced shortly after

Happy new year!

We are thrilled to unveil the arrival of Season 2 in Shards of Britannia! 🚀 Embark on a new era of challenges, quests, and triumphs. Your dedication has fueled the evolution of our server, and we're excited to present a host of thrilling updates:

🏆 Season 2 Kick-off: Sharpen your blades and ready your spells as Season 2 begins! A fresh wave of challenges awaits, promising riches and glory for the intrepid.

🎁 Rewards Galore: Season 2 introduces a treasure trove of rewards! From the coveted Season Chest to unique items that will dazzle the most seasoned adventurers, your feats will be duly rewarded.

🌐 Updated Seasons System: We've fine-tuned the Seasons System based on your invaluable feedback. Expect a smoother and more engaging experience as you navigate through challenges, earning points and climbing the ranks.

📅 End Date: March 31st

Your journey in Shards of Britannia is about to reach new heights. Season 2 is not just an update; it's an invitation to partake in an epic adventure. Thank you for being a part of our vibrant community.

See you in-game! ⚔️🛡️

Just a reminder that Season 1 quests are about to conclude after today (not to be confused with Xmas Activities).

We hope you've enjoyed our first Seasonal Quests content release! Thanks for participating and we hope to provide as much or more fun in the next one and in future seasons. :) Stay tuned for updates about the next season

As the festive season twinkles with lights and joy, the team wishes to extend our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you. Your dedication and enthusiasm in exploring our world and engaging in epic adventures make this journey truly special.

This holiday season, we hope you’ve enjoyed the festive spirit in Shards of Britannia, collecting Christmas goodies, and reveling in the unique experiences our game offers. Your presence in our community is the greatest gift, and seeing you spend your free time with us is genuinely heartwarming.

May this holiday season fill your life with happiness, peace, and plenty of gaming fun! We’re thrilled to have you with us and look forward to sharing many more adventures in the coming year.

Happy Gaming and Happy Holidays!

In the mystical realm of Windemere, a dire threat looms on the horizon. The formidable Frostfang the Ravager and his savage horde have established their chilling camp in the unforgiving South-Eastern reaches of our land. Only the bravest souls can rise to the challenge and combat the icy terrors that threaten our world.

See Also:

• Updates Dec 13th

The Snowball Fight event is about to start again for the season:

• Snowball Fights are a PVP event that requires no skill and no items, all characters welcome!
• The event will run every 2 hours, avoiding overlapping with Faction Pillar events & server restarts; Players can also manually start the fight by using the Giant Snowball teleporter at Windemere bank and talking to the Snowball Fight Coordinator (requires at least 4 players from different households to be in the lobby)
• Before the event starts, portals will be created at each bank that leads to the Snowball Fight Arena waiting area
• Online characters will be sent a notification that the event is about to start with an option to Teleport To Event; this can be disabled in the Notifications Settings (fixed previous issues with pop-up appearing even when ignored)
• What's not allowed in the arena: Bandages, Potions, Pets (please bank your resources first, dismount & leave your pets in the waiting area or stables)
• After a 15 minute waiting period the game will begin and an Entrance Portal will be created for a minute at the entrance to the arena, please enter this portal immediately!
• After entering the arena there will be a 1 minute cooldown where you will remain hidden while other players load, after which you will become un-hidden and ready to start throwing!
• Snowball Fights require at least 2 players and no more than 20 players, and the game is Free For All
• The match will last 20 minutes or until someone gets 20 kills, whichever comes first
• The objective is to Pick-up & Use snowballs and Throw them at other players
• Players will automatically receive 1 Snowball when joining and you can find more on the ground
• Snowballs have a 90% chance to hit your target & they will do 50% damage
• You can Dodge snowballs by breaking line-of-sight or going out of range from the thrower
• You will also need to dodge periodic Giant Rolling Snowballs; these will flatten you if they run you over, freezing you in place for a moment, these will dissolve once they reach the water
• There's a chance to find Ice Bombs on the ground. Ice Bombs can be thrown like a grenade to freeze nearby players for a few seconds
• The Snow Cannon can be used, with a snowball in your backpack as ammo, to shoot Homing Snowballs that will follow the first player that comes within range and performs a normal Snowball Hit on them, giving credit to the shooter if they die
• Temporary heal potions can be found in the hidden Chests around the arena that may offer you a lifeline to stay in the game longer
• Tied matches are settled with a Sudden Death match where all of the tied players will be put into a final match until the last person standing becomes the winner
• All participants will receive a trophy etched with their game stats
• During the Xmas Season (dates TBD), participants will also receive Candy Canes that can be traded for Xmas Gifts
• You can use the command /snowballfight during the match to check your stats, or /leavesnowballfight to leave the match and forfeit

Santa's Workshop has appeared in the North Pole, SW of Windemere, and the Elves are busy at work on the gifts for this Christmas! Stay tuned in the coming days for more news from the North Pole