Don't Panic

Day 960, 12:19 • Published in Canada Canada • by Sperry


The switch to V2 is here. Gone are the simplicities of a daily salary, a big ol' attack wall, and reliable housing.

In the hours since the switch to V2, I've seen a lot of frustrated, annoyed, and confused players trying to figure out what has happened to their beloved world. I can already smell the "back in my day" articles as editors fire up their typewriters.

Enter the Vogons.


There are a lot of things that need to get sorted out. The minimum wage has accidentally skyrocketed to 8* what it was in V1, for one. Congress has now put forward a vote to lower the Minimum Wage to 1CAD/hour - which, assuming you work the average 8 hours per day, means Canada (and every other country) will be paying out 6-8 times what they used to be. Efforts have been made to get in touch with the admins to lower the minimum wage restrictions. Once that pig flies, Congress will likely set the wage down to ~0.18 CAD (identical to what it was in the pay-per-day equivalent).

Gold is harder to come by, too. With the rejigging of the military module, raw strength numbers aren't calculated the same way. And for those of us who have noticed, the Super Soldier medal is still calculated on the old system. A system which no longer exists. It's entirely possible that the admins have changed this over to the new system, but I haven't read anything to suggest that this is the case.

In another "omg mah gold is gone" move, the experience levels have been rejigged. And with no new gold to the level-climbers, as you have probably noticed. Why the change? The admins have shifted the experience paths from a gradual level-up to an exponential one. In other words, much faster early levelling, much slower later levelling. As a result many players in the low range have been boosted a few levels - I gained 3 - but they haven't gotten any gold for it. Why? "Bazcuz teh adminz R greed!" ... No. Because you haven't actually done anything to earn that gold. My experience didn't change, and in fact I'm much closer to hitting my next level (and therefore my next gold) than I was in V1.

Houses are now rent-a-trailer's. With even the mightiest building lasting only 100 days, the housing industry just got a lot more complicated. Right now it'd cost me 1500 CAD to replace the house I have in my inventory. By those numbers, I can only keep the Bank of Decay from rendering me homeless for another 8 months or so. After that I'm out on the streets.

But don't worry! I brought my towel.


Minimum wage through the roof? Check.
Gold harder for freebies and no level convert bonus? Check.
My mansion is now a shack? Check.
World ending: Nope.

Many things have changed. Many things will continue to change. There's a lot of disorder right now, but we knew this would happen.

The best thing you can do right now, regardless of your ePath, is stop and breathe. Take a look around. You have hours upon hours to weigh your options before you click that dreaded "okay" button, and in that time you can read around and find what you need to know.

I never played the beta. Today was my first time with a lot of this new craziness, and it took me a while to figure out how to avoid dying and leaving my intestines splayed across the screen.

But now, after some wandering, I've figured it out. I can stay at obscenely high Health & Happiness levels and still be homeless. I can make lots of money and trick my employer into giving me a raise. And I can still enjoy the party politics I've always played for.

The markets will stabilize. The clouds will part. You'll figure it out.

Now in the meantime, save yourself the stress, and Don't Panic.