[Gesslar]

We have finished development on our most unique guild to date, the Alchemists.
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The theme of the guild includes:

The Four Basic Elements of All Matter and Energy:

• Earth: Cold and Dry, Melancholy
• Water: Cold and Wet, Phlegmatic
• Air: Hot and Wet, Sanguine
• Fire: Hot and Dry, Choleric

The Three Principles of Nature:

• Salt: The Contractive force in Nature. Crystallization, condensation.
• Sulfur: The Expansive force in Nature. Dissolution, Evaporation.
• Mercury: The Integrative force in Nature. Interweaving and balancing that of the Salt and Sulphur. Circulation. Dynamic equilibrium.

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Alchemists make potions, dusts, oils, and similar items. Perhaps most unique to the guild is the fact that they do not use standard gear. They must obtain gear within the game and then return to their lab's infusion chamber to transmute it into something suitable for their use.

[MudMann]

Just out of curiosity, after my experience of Threshold (mostly good I must admit, great helpers), is this guild avaialble to any new starters. or a registered / second character only option.. in other words, you have to pay LOTS of real cash. I know Thresh is moving to a free environment, and is still in the process but I still have my doubts. (The 'not free' issues I raised personally still have not been resolved, hence I wont play till they are.. not that I mind paying for a good mud.. but free IS free after all)

If this is a free option, then sounds cool and well worth a look.. if not and my bank balance will be hit, not really that interesting an announcment as very few people, other than those who already play the game and probably already know about it anyway will be excited, or able to take action to see the new class.

[Threshold]

I should start off by explaining a couple of Threshold terms. A "guild" is functionally similar to a "class" on many other games. A "citizen" is someone who has paid at least $50 for any combination of perks throughout their entire time on Threshold. A "restart" or a "reroll" is when someone gets rid of a current character and makes a new one in its place. Some games call this "remort."

Citizenship used to be required after your first 100 hours. I always thought 100 hours of gameplay was a pretty generous "trial period." As many of you know, we got rid of this requirement a few months ago, and now people can play Threshold as much and for as long as they like with no citizenship or any other financial requirement. They can attain any level. They can fully maximize their character, its abilities, its skills, etc. without paying anything. There are perks and extra features you can pay for, since Threshold is still a commercial game. There are also a few features that used to be linked to citizenship that we are unlinking from citizenship when we discover them.

Now, to answer your question. The alchemists guild does not have a citizenship requirement to join. The only significant question still outstanding is whether or it will be completely open to anyone (they can just walk up and join), or if it will require an IC application. This question is unresolved because we want to let the players of the guild decide this through role play.

I should note, however, that when we create new guilds on Threshold we phase them in through a series of stages. We do this so the core of the guild are people actually devoted to playing that guild and not people curious to "see all the new stuff" and then play something else. When we did not do this in the past, it was not very much fun for the dedicated players who were trying to actually establish a guild identity and community.

So when we make a new guild, the first stage is to let beta testers of the guild restart a character and make a character in the new guild. The second stage is when we take applications from citizens who want to restart an existing character and join the new guild. The third stage is when we take applications from anyone - citizen or not. The fourth, and final stage is when the guild is simply open to anyone who wants to join and meets the IC requirements.

The alchemists are in the third stage. People have to apply to join, but they do not have to be a citizen. So yes, it is a free option.

[Newworlds]

Originally Posted by MudMann If this is a free option, then sounds cool and well worth a look.. if not and my bank balance will be hit, not really that interesting an announcment as very few people, other than those who already play the game and probably already know about it anyway will be excited, or able to take action to see the new class.

I disagree. I think that when any game comes out with a big new feature it is interesting and exciting and noteworthy of attention in the area this was given (Mud Announcements). Alchemists and the way Threshold is handling them sounds promising and fun!

Good job Threshold. Good announcement!