Legacy Mode & Beyond

Hi friends,

Last week, IRE decided to put Starmourn into “Legacy Mode”, which effectively means we will be fully volunteer run with no paid support from IRE. Paid promotional items will no longer be offered and payments will not be processed towards the game. Starmourn players can retire their characters into other games, but characters from other games can’t be retired into Starmourn.

More importantly, the server will remain active and everyone’s welcome to continue to play their characters or make new ones! Despite what you may have heard, this game is not anywhere near dead yet.

There have been a LOT of questions floating around, so we’d like to address some of the big ones right here and right now –

• Omg everyone’s leaving aren’t they?
  • The volunteer team is still here, and Neritus intends to stay on in a volunteer capacity. We love the world of Starmourn and the community we’ve built together.  
    
• Open PK everywhere?! 
  • Starmourn will not be going Open PK. Instead, we will simply continue to use the Lawlessness system as always should players wish to choose the Open PK lifestyle.
    
    An “Open PK World” would simply mean that there are no admin around in-game to address PK disputes. This will not be the case any time soon for Starmourn as our team is staying on. 
    
• Does this mean no new dev work in Starmourn? 
  • Not in the slightest. It mostly just means paid promo items and other paid content will no longer have to be our focus.
    
    While development work may slow down from the absolutely insane velocity we’ve carried for the past 12 months, we’re ready to continue our projects as planned. Neritus will also have a follow-up post sometime in the next few weeks to discuss his plans, so be sure to keep on the lookout for that, too!
    
• Anything related to retirement
  • For retirement-related queries, please reach out to Iron Realms directly via email at jeremy@ironrealms.com.

Wondering what volunteer development in the future might look like? Well, let’s do a quick recap of some of the things we’ve accomplished so far this year as a primarily volunteer team –

January

• Officialized the Starmourn Cultural Conflict channel, where we present to culture-minded players and get their feedback on upcoming changes
• Released the first ever Hack Dungeon quest line with a new fave NPC Crake ++ added hacking QOL improvements – experience for ICE kills + hack queueing
• Finalized the massive Facilities release with some player feedback and rebalancing.
• Added 2 wilderness areas to give equal access to all factions
• Created the new CRAFTPEDIA for crafters which would lead into the new design trends system
• Began compiling all known lore and holes as the start of Project HomeYouBettaWerk
• Argus made pod racing for a promo item and will never do better than that. Over 3,000 lines of prog in that promo item
• Ran a mini event in the Deja Brew with a reunion of Song military squads that players can engage with and RP off in the future via RP requests!

February

• Figment, Elan, and Kauka join the team to provide some much needed bug crushin’ love and code expertise
• Created Krellstones as a functional game with special promo game versions to collect
• Created SPACE RACING where players can drop checkpoints in space to create and run their own race courses 
• Released TRENDS – the new design system by which players can contribute to the game and earn major marks
• Ishvana Fleet incursions were dramatically improved and they hit much harder now (xoxo git gud, friends)
• Ran a mini flower discovery event for Syzygy as part of their player plot journey

March

• Created and released 18 new design tutors (1 for each tradeskill for each faction) with custom locations and backstories for each
• Opened design quests to all players for the first time, via these tutors.
• Added over 100 new materials, ingredients and colors into the Trending system.
• Introduced ship furnishing shops on Iota with interactive furniture items, themed goods, and pet-like droids
• You can now view SENT messages – significant QOL improvement

April

• Elan crushed like 300 bugs in a weekend – Just one example of all the effort being put in by the team
• Released the Archaeology system with SEVEN unique areas and 10+ things to discover with unique components to recover for each (and more to come!)
• With Archaeology, released the concept of MUSEUMS through which each faction can complete free/open RP endeavors to study and recover artifacts and specimens through Archeology research

May

• Major Cosmpiercer system overhaul released – The Ishvana threat looms more aggressively than ever before, now taking an active part in Cosmpiercer engagements with AI space combat, ground combat, and even hacking bodies
• Major cache / ta-deth crystal overhaul – New ways to obtain crystal charges with options for noncoms to participate in crystal recovery. Also created the RICH cache system and timed releases to aid in coordination between the factions.
• Ran a major RP event whereby the captains of the sector fought to defend the known Cosmpiercers from a massive assault. Resulted in many piercers being destroyed, but one was saved. Nice work, spacers!  
• Saw the first real push for the mercenary system as factions blurred the lines to team up and fight the Ishvana threat!
• Expanded on the RPWHO system, allowing players to auto-flag themselves with a CONFIG option.

June

• Beachapalooza month long event – Released 6 new quests and several new NPCs to interact with on the Glittering Shores of Litharge. Poor Grilrek, probably still getting bullied today.
• Began implementing physical changes to Janilyn as part of PHYBW, including a Customs House, interactive elements like the first Quest Board, racial shops, over 15 local produce items and meals, and a refresh of the map (with much more to come!).
• Added quite a few additional design type options to the CUISINE tradeskill including fudge, tofu, and biscuits!

While we don’t have a timeline for these items, projects on the roadmap ahead include reworking the newbie experience, the addition of some much anticipated tradeskills, several new areas, a new player race or two, the continuation of player plots, new arena types, the continued development within PHYBW, and so so much more. 

So… yeah. While last week’s news might’ve been scary, we’re not gone yet and we have no intention of leaving any time soon. The rest of the team and I look forward to continuing our work with this community and the ever growing world of Starmourn. <3

With love from your Starmakers and Storytellers,

Argus, Marra, Neritus, Elan, Figment, and Kauka