Dutchy

Masters of the Forge #1 with [GM] Dutchy is also on YouTube!
Sadly there were some troubles with the audio - even though I tested it beforehand, the intro-music got copyright-problems... 😐  
This link points to a point in the stream where its still a acceptable entry :

Successfully disputed the copyright claim - hooray, now with audio right from the start. Unfortunately, that leads to a new export to YouTube. New link:
 
 
Thanks to @Dutchy again for being my first guest! Next up is @Majora, Project Lead of the SR Team.

Thank you for asking me as your first guest for your first "dev-talk-like podcast series", it's an honour.
Definitely looking forward to it! 

Thank you for asking me as your first guest for your first "dev-talk-like podcast series", it's an honour.
Definitely looking forward to it! 

"D-T-L-P-S" 😄

Thank you for asking me as your first guest for your first "dev-talk-like podcast series", it's an honour.
Definitely looking forward to it! 

Skylords and Skyladies;
Time for something new!
Masters of the Forge will shine a light on all those people working so tirelessly on Skylords Reborn - for the average Skylord, [Game Masters] are elite, mythical creatures too many know nothing about, and we will hopefully change that. So, in this dev-talk-like podcast series we will meet several Masters of the Forge in person, and hopefully I will be able to ask them questions that are interesting to you. And, you will also get the chance to ask them some questions! The series will be streamed on Twitch and afterwards uploaded on YouTube.
Please note that while the content created is supported by the SR Team and will be all about Skylords Reborn, this is no official event or dev-talk. The focus will be around the guest, what their duties are, how they feel about the game and its development - we will not elaborate future changes in depth or announce anything fancy. But hopefully we will know more about the guest and how It's like to be part of the SR Team.
Due to some connection problems, the start of this series was delayed and almost not happening, but the situation changed in a positive on short notice. So the first instance is already happening tomorrow, and I'm proud to announce that the first guest is the lovely [GM] Dutchy, Lead Moderator.
 
Quick Overview:
Guest                         [GM] Dutchy, Lead Moderator Date                          03. 09. 2023 Time                         19:30 CEST Link                           www.twitch.tv/kapostream  
At this point, three to four of this podcast-like streams are planned now, and they will continue if there is interest in them, otherwise they will just fade out. So if you want to support this kind of format, please join the stream or take interest in the YouTube video of it, so we estimate properly if this is worth the precious time of the Masters of the Forge - in case of interest, the planned length of this series is 10–15 episodes.
Kapo
 
 

Thank you @Vultagxand @Linkz for helping out the Moderation team ❤️ 

Greetings Skylords!
A new month; a new Community Update! It's time to bring you up to speed with everything going on in Skylords Reborn!

• Yearly Survey Results

Once more, a huge thank you to everyone who took part in our 2023 Survey. This year, more than 1700 of you generously shared your feedback on a wide array of topics, ranging from general perceptions of the project to thoughts on balance and upcoming features. As always, your insights will be instrumental in shaping our future updates and guiding our areas of focus. Just like last year, we have gathered all the responses and condensed them into a brief presentation.


 
• New Card Reveal - Tectonic Shift

Today we have an exciting upcoming Stonekin card to show you, first teased in our Stonekin Deep Dive. Take a look at Tectonic Shift!

 
Terrestrial Gate
Grants the targeted friendly Stonekin building the ability to relocate to another spot within a 100m range. After the relocation, the building will be more vulnerable, taking 50% more damage for 20 seconds. Reusable every 20 seconds.
 
Please note: We are still testing the card. While we are generally happy with it, numbers, effects and artwork might still change before release. 







By casting this spell on your Stonekin building, you grant it a permanent teleportation ability, akin to the mechanics of the Phase Tower. Once the spell is cast, you'll have the liberty to teleport the building multiple times throughout the match at no additional cost. It's worth noting that the teleportation range spans an impressive 100 meters, which is twice the distance covered by the Phase Tower (50 meters)
Tectonic Shift is meant for the building-focused Stonekin archetype. If you are interested in more information about this archetype, please take a look at our Stonekin Deep Dive! 
Below, you can see the teleport effect in all its glory:
 
• Voice Acting – Update

We have successfully completed our search for voice actors to bring our upcoming new cards and characters to life!
The next steps will be to finalize the scripts and get the voice actors to record their lines. We are very happy about the chosen candidates, and can't wait to show you more in the future. 
Everyone who applied as a voice actor should have received an e-mail about the results of their trail take. If, by any chance, you haven't received this email, please don't hesitate to reach out to me (Majora) directly via Discord or by sending a direct message on the Forum.
Thank you, and to be continued!
 
• Events

In between our monthly Community Updates, we host various events and tournaments, so be sure to keep a close eye on the in-game event tab and the forum calendar to stay informed and not miss out on any exciting events!
 
• FINISHED - CCC #12 - Say Goodbye To One
This CCC was a throwback to the very first CCC, where Skylords had to complete rPvE on difficulty 1 as fast as possible. Enough players participated to unlock a scratch code for the whole community! More information.
 
• Host your own tournament / event
Want to host a tournament or event? Please reach out to our other Event Organizers, @Metagross31 or @Minashigo Hiko. We can help you out with various topics and are glad to discuss potential ideas. We can also sponsor the prize pool for your event. If you have a cool idea for a PvE event, or want to host a PvP tournament, please don't hesitate to reach out to us, we will gladly assist you.
 
 • Gameplay Trailer

Continuing from our cinematic trailer, we're thrilled to present a fully voiced gameplay trailer for the game! We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Dreamlord for once again lending their voice to this project. We are already seeing an increase in new Skylords finding out about the project after watching the trailer, which is lovely to see!
As a volunteer project, we are very limited to what we can do on the marketing side, so this trailer reaching the masses is super important for us. Please help us out by liking and sharing the trailer! As a thank you, we have also added a scratch code in the comment section of the video. Please don't share this code with other players directly, but point them towards the trailer instead!
We hope the community can come together to make this trailer a great success!

As a labor of love carried out by volunteers, Skylord Reborn's growth has been dependent on word-of-mouth recommendations and reconnecting with BattleForge's former playerbase. With over 130,000 registered accounts, we've been pretty successful in doing so. However, we remain convinced that there is still a lot of untapped potential. While a substantial portion of our player community comprises BattleForge veterans, there exists a vast expanse of real-time strategy (RTS) and trading card game (TCG) enthusiasts who are yet to discover this unique blend of genres. The above trailer was created with this in mind, showcasing the game for what it is in a way that does not require BattleForge knowledge. The next step is to actually reach those players, which brings us to....
 
• Contribute - Spotlight

There are two roles in specific we would like to highlight this month.
First off, we are looking for an active and passionate outreach coordinator, helping us reach new Skylords by contacting streamers, influencers, media, and other potential parties. This role can make a drastic impact for Skylords Reborn, so please consider applying.
 
• Marketeer / Outreach Coordinator
As a Marketeer / Outreach Coordinator, you are responsible to spread the word and create awareness about Skylords Reborn, attracting veteran and new players alike. 
Your tasks will include actively researching and reaching out to potentially interested streamers, YouTubers, Discord channels, game magazines, among others. You will be responsible for the communication to and from interested parties and for any promotion deals (for example involving scratch codes). Please note that Skylords Reborn cannot do any paid promotions. 
More information. 

Second, we are looking for someone to help us in the Event Department. Where an Outreach Coordinator draws in new players, Event Managers try to keep them invested by providing fun events to participate, either by hosting them or supporting community members in doing so.
 
• Event Manager / Organizer
As an event organizer, you are responsible to design and organize official events and tournaments from start to finish. This process includes research for new and fun event ideas, design the event and rewards, promote and organize the event and ensure it runs smoothly as a whole. 
Furthermore, you will also be responsible for the communication from and to the community for anything event and tournament related and to guarantee all rewards are handed out accordingly. Lastly, as an event organizer, you are also the contact person for unofficial community events and tournaments seeking for sponsorship from the project. 
More information.

But there are more roles available. Below, you can take a look at all our open positions. 
Skylords Reborn is a community-driven project fueled by the passion and dedication of over 45 volunteers. We are always on the lookout for like-minded individuals. If you have a passion for gaming, programming, design, or marketing, we invite you to take a look at our open positions!
 

 
• New Team Members

We had five new members join the project the past month!

We have two new moderators; Linkx is our new Discord Moderator, while Vultagx is our new Global Moderator. Feel free to contact them if you have a question or run into any issues in the game or on our Discord.
We also have two new developers; Pierakor is our new Tool Developer. His initial focus will be on the Special Effects Editor, which we use for editing and creating new special effects in-game. He will work closely with our two Tech Artist to improve our tool according to their needs. Lucas Ansei is our new Web Developer. He will be working with our other developers on the internal web-interface.
Last but not least, Kayrie has joined the team as a Map Artist. He will help out the Map Department who are currently working on new Campaign Maps, making sure they will look visually appealing. 
 
• In Conclusion

That's all for this Community Update! We appreciate you taking the time to read through it.
As is tradition, we're including a scratch code as a small token of our appreciation for your support.
The code will reward you with a Stonekin booster: NEWT-ECTO-NICS-HIFT

The code is valid until October 1st, when we will bring you another Community Update. 
We're always looking for ways to improve and value your feedback. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to share them with us. We'll be back next month with more updates on our ongoing projects and upcoming features. You can also sign up to our e-mail newsletter here. 

Archive
• Skylords Reborn Documents (Deep Dives, Behind the Scenes, PvP Guide)  
• Overview Community Updates
• Community Update August 2023

Hello again Skylords, Skyladies and other Skybeings; it's time to announce the winners!  
First of all, I’d like to thank everyone for making the Crappy Community Contest #12 happen – no matter in what way: developing the idea, participation, sponsoring prizes, spreading the word or helping me to organize it.
In total, we reached a total number of 75 participants – thanks to the Skylords Team for sponsoring the code: CCC1-2BYE-TOTH-EONE
 
Here are the top ranked Skylords of the CCC #12:
1st place      S      02:16.9        Trando            
2nd place     S      02:22.0        RadicalX
3rd place      S      02:25.0        Dutchy
4th place      N     02:50.8        AAA                  Fastest Nature
5th place      N     02:55.9        Carofex
6th place      N     02:58.6        LoveBF              Fastest Newcomer
7th place      N     03:01.6        NachtwolfYT
8th place      N     03.06.4        MephistoRoss
9th place      N     03:07.0        Hauclir
10th place    N     03:07.9        Lobo
11th place    N     03:09.7        Hrdina_Imperia
12th place    N     03:10.0        Stiles
13th place    N     03:11.2        Lebovin
14th place    N     03:11.8        Magisou
15th place    N     03:12.4        Batkia
(S = Shadow, N= Nature. Fastest Frost time was 03:47.8.)
Special Achievements:
Overload: Build all orbs and monuments. (Claimed by Fayt89) Better safe than sorry: Build towers. (Not Claimed) Cheater: Play a fire card. (Not Claimed) Congratulations to all winners! I will send out all prizes as soon as possible. If you are interested, see below for the top replays, and a complete time list of all entries, so you can check how you stacked up.
 
Winners of the Random Draws
The dice gods have determined the fate of the following cards:
 

I will send you all prizes as soon as possible through in-game mail. I'm also reserving the right to make corrections on rankings and prizes, since the large number of names and cards makes it very likely that I made a mistake.

Complete list of times and winning replays

Behind the spoiler tags, you find a total list of times for all entries. This is the split between the factions:

Total list of entry times:
If you watch closely, you may spot that 5 times two people landed in the exact same time and have been decided by the time of the submission. Four contenders were disqualified.

Here are the replays of the top three runs, plus the best Nature run:
1st place: CCC12_02.16.9_Trando.pmv
2nd place: CCC12_02.22.0_RadicalX.pmv
3rd place: CCC12_02.25.0_Dutchy.pmv
Fastest Nature: CCC12_02.50.8_AAA.pmv
 
How on earth are they so fast?
 
In conclusion
First and foremost, I'd like to thank again all those who helped with this event. Of course, I'd like to thank the generous sponsors for all the prizes they gave: @Ultralord, @ElementG, @Trando, @RadicalX, @Bonobobobo, @Dragonclaw, @Majora and the Skylords Reborn Team.

If you have a crappy idea for a future CCC you may share and discuss that with me, I can host your idea, or you can host your own Crappy Contest! Feel free to contact me anytime. If you want to discuss or host a non-crappy contest, contact our Event Managers @Metagross31 and/or @Minashigo Hiko. They are super supportive and will help you to organize your event!

You have 1 hour left! @Draconnor

This event is so much fun. A real puzzle to figure out how to optimize even the smallest details. Very much looking forward to what everyone else came up with!

Looking forward to seeing all the non-fire explosions to keep us cool on these warm days. 

Looking forward to seeing all the non-fire explosions to keep us cool on these warm days. 

New sign up link for the tournament: https://challonge.com/t9c1c9yp

Hey, Maybe you can share your ideas in this thread to keep everything together:
 
 

I don't really want to double-post everything, and I would prefer just to have one threat for all my stuff so not to spam-over other people's ideas.
Also, I am pretty sure my thread will soon have more cards that the other one. So, posting all the stuff in another threat would simply push down cards of other people and would make them hard to find/notice.

3041, there you go

Also a special shout out to Ultralord who celebrated his 1 Year of Streaming on Twitch! 🥳 

He spend the last 12 months with over 160 hours on 100 streams, showcasing 22 events, 120 replays and was joined by over 40 co-hosts. So go show him some love 🙂 
 

Greetings Skylords!
A new month; a new Community Update! It's time to bring you up to speed with everything going on in Skylords Reborn!

• QoL Patch

Last week, we released the long-awaited quality of life patch, resolving various minor bugs and improving the Forge's performance to ensure smoother gameplay. Additionally, this update now allows you to watch outdated replays, although replays impacted by patches will still experience desync issues. Check out the full patch notes here.
We are also still hard at work on our next content patch. We apologize for announcing the Lost Souls changes too early. Our bottleneck in card descriptions has been underestimated, as all cards in Skylords Reborn require translation into English, German, French, and Russian. This translation process, especially for the changes made to cards, can significantly impact our progress when translators are occupied or inactive. If you would like to assist with this effort, please check the contributor roles available for translators.
 
• Cinematic Trailer

A few months ago, we released a video showcasing the significant changes and improvements made to Skylords Reborn compared to the original BattleForge over the past 2 years. As part of our ongoing effort to attract more new Skylords, we have now created a cinematic trailer designed for RTS players unfamiliar with the original game.
Please support the game by sharing it with your friends who might be interested in the game!
 
• Card Rework Spotlight - Stronghold

While new cards usually get the spotlight, reworking existing cards can be just as exciting and impactful. Skylords Reborn has a lot of unused and underpowered cards, which, if reworked, would functionally constitute an entirely new tool for players to use. Stronghold is one such card. The T3 Frost tower is beautiful and imposing, promising an unconquerable fortress, a powerful and immovable bastion able to hold off hordes of enemies by itself. Unfortunately, anyone who has used the card knows this description is fantasy. We have been working on Stronghold for a while now, and are happy to showcase our new design, which we think will make the card worthy of its name and image.
To help Stronghold become a fearsome fortress, we intend three major changes to its existing design. First, we are increasing Stronghold's single-target damage from 2420 dp20 to 4000 dp20. Second, we are giving Stronghold two new abilities. The active ability will allow the player to defend against 50m siege units like Lost Dancers without needing an additional unit or building, and “To the Last!” will make Stronghold more deadly as it loses life points. This will synergize well with Frost building supports like Glacier Shell and Shield Building, allowing the player to keep Stronghold at a lower health threshold without endangering their defenses. The idea of "To the Last!" is to tap into the image of Frost as a faction which does not easily give up. Instead of losing hope in difficult situations, the Lyrish defenders manning the Stronghold dig in their heels and fight even more tenaciously in the face of danger. 
 
Cannon Turrets
Every 3 seconds, turrets deal 164 damage each to enemies in 10m radius, up to 246 in total.
 
 
Bombardment - Active Ability 
Cost: 40p
Activate to shoot a mortar shell that deals 800 damage to enemies in a 15m radius around its target, up to 3200 in total. Knocks back small, medium, and large units.
 
To the Last! - Passive ability
If the fortress has equal to or less than 3000 life points left it will deal 25% more damage and take 25% less damage. 
 
 
To the Last! - Passive ability
If the fortress has equal to or less than 1500 life points left it will deal 50% more damage and take 50% less damage.
 
 
Slowed Construction - Passive ability
Construction time is increased by 50%.
 
 

We also added a new visual indicator to show the various states of "To the Last". Below, you can see the Bombardment ability in action:
 
 
We hope you are looking forward to these changes coming to Stronghold! They are planned for release alongside our new content patch. We are not able to share a release date yet, so stay tuned!

• Survey - Update

A big thank you to the 1500 Skylords who have already submitted their feedback in our yearly survey! The survey will close at the end of the week, so if you haven't shared your thoughts yet, please take a moment to do so. Your feedback will be anonymous.
As Skylords Reborn is a community project, we value knowing what our players like and what could be improved. Your feedback is crucial for our continuous game improvement and player base growth! As a token of appreciation, everyone who fills in the survey will receive two boosters.

• Voice Acting – Update

A quick update on our search for new voice actors: We're thrilled to announce that we've received 24 trial takes, offering a diverse selection of voices to choose from.
Now, our Audio Editor will carefully assess the sound quality of each file, followed by selecting the voices that best match the characters. We're excited to bring these unannounced characters to life and can't wait to share what we have in store for you!
 
• Fire-themed Forge

As we progress with the development of upcoming campaign maps, we have also been working on a new Fire-themed Forge skin as a side project. Although it is not officially a Summer Forge, players will soon have the option to select from the default Forge, the Winter Forge, the Spring Forge, and the upcoming Fire-themed Forge. Check out the teaser below:

Players automatically have access to the Winter and default Forge, while the Spring Forge is initially locked behind the "Outsourced Content" achievement, which requires completing 8 different community maps on Expert.
The Fire-themed Forge will also be associated with an achievement called "Never Thought of Him," which tasks the player with completing the Mo campaign using only Fire cards on the maps Convoy, Mo, Oracle, Ocean, Raven's End, and Slave Master. We have received feedback that the current reward for this achievement feels insufficient, and we plan to enhance it to provide a more appealing incentive for completion.
Players who have already completed this achievement will receive the additional reward once the Forge is released. Please note that the Forge is not yet available, but you are able to start working on the achievement in advance.

• Mapmaking fundamentals

We always strive to keep the playerbase informed about upcoming changes and the rationale behind them, whether it's through Community Updates, balance discord discussions, or Deep Dive documents detailing our design decisions. Originally intended as an internal guide for our current developers of new campaign maps, we decided to share the following guide with interested players, hoping it will also serve as a useful tool for aspiring community mapmakers. Don't forget, every Skylords Reborn download includes the Map Editor!
BattleForge campaign maps have a particular feel to them, and this feel is a fundamental component of the unique experience which is playing BattleForge. The goal of this design guide is to use existing campaign maps, particularly the best campaign maps, to understand and to categorize the distinct features of the camps in BattleForge’s campaign, such that we can better design future campaign maps. This guide is therefore intended to categorize the design choices of the original devs and to act as a reference for future development for both community and official map development.
Click here to check out the mapmaking fundamentals guide.
 
• Team Changes

Nukie has decided to step down from his role as Event Manager to allocate more time to his new job and personal life. Despite this change, he will continue to support the project with Moderation duties. We are grateful for his dedicated work during his time as Event Manager! 
Want to host a tournament or event? Please reach out to our other Event Organizers, @Metagross31 or @Minashigo Hiko. We can help you out with various topics and are glad to discuss potential ideas. We can also sponsor the prize pool for your event. If you have a cool idea for a PvE event, or want to host a PvP tournament, please don't hesitate to reach out to us, we will gladly assist you.
 
• Contribute

Skylords Reborn is a community-driven project fueled by the passion and dedication of over 40 volunteers. We are always on the lookout for like-minded individuals. If you have a passion for gaming, programming, design, or marketing, we invite you to take a look at our open positions!
 

 
• In Conclusion

That's all for this Community Update! We appreciate you taking the time to read through it.
As is tradition, we're including a scratch code as a small token of our appreciation for your support.
The code will reward you with a General booster: THAN-KYOU-SKYL-ORDS

The code is valid until September 1st, when we will bring you another Community Update. 
We're always looking for ways to improve and value your feedback. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to share them with us. We'll be back next month with more updates on our ongoing projects and upcoming features. You can also sign up to our e-mail newsletter here. 

Archive
• Skylords Reborn Documents (Deep Dives, Behind the Scenes, PvP Guide)  
• Overview Community Updates
• Community Update July 2023

Ultralord Thank you for Event and for Perfect stream 🙂

3041, there you go

Correct. But it was chosen this way. It could have been the other way too but then people will complain its no challenge 🤷‍♂️

You did, on the first of July when the survey went live initially 🙂 
So yeah, its the same survey.

We've uploaded a video on YouTube related to the survey: https://youtube.com/shorts/5TxA1RJjpg8?feature=share

Feel free to share this video around 😄 
 

We've uploaded a video on YouTube related to the survey: https://youtube.com/shorts/5TxA1RJjpg8?feature=share

Feel free to share this video around 😄