As you know, Richard Garriott is currently in space as part of Operation Immortality, carrying the DNA of numerous people, including Jeffrey Moyer (founder of Allakhazam.com and president of the ZAM Network), in an attempt to "save humanity." He will dock with the space station tomorrow, and there's numerous ways to keep track of the rocket.

Of course, there's still work to be done here on Earth, and Tabula Rasa team members have posted some news on Deployment 14, which won't be seen until the update hits the test server.

Senior QA Tester Casey Thorp focuses on dynamic spawners, which will add new and interesting combat scenarios to the game. QA Tester Dwight Spaulding said that the number of treasure chests on Plains and Mires will be increased and contain better loot. Lastly, Software Engineer Raven Sherman said they will be adding four more tabs to the clan lockbox. The full post can be found here or below.

This week we have 3 new systems to talk about from 3 different Tabula Rasa team members. Please note that these changes won't see the light of day until Deployment 14 hits the Public Test Server as they are undergoing more tweaking and testing!

Casey Thorp - Senior QA Tester

Something is stirring in the ranks of the Bane. Your efforts in the war have not gone unnoticed. The Bane have been getting the tar knocked out of them by AFS forces, and as a result are more aggressive and responsive to the AFS presence in the field. Expect the unexpected as the Bane on Divide start gunning for receptives that wander into Bane territory attempting to skirt around or outflank base defenses and regular patrols of Thrax.

Be mindful as the Bane are calling in area specific mortar strikes with their reinforcements, and fighting harder than ever for their prime territories. The best way to stop the Bane bombardments is to neutralize any Bane forces in the vicinity.

Dynamic Spawners are the first steps of a system of modular kits that will add new and interesting combat scenarios to the already lush environments of TR. Dynamic spawners will introduce additional reactive elements to the worlds of TR and specifically focus on the presence of you and your fellow receptives.

Dwight Spaulding - QA Tester

The treasure chests on Plains and Mires will be improved, with more maps on the way. The number of chests has increased greatly, and not all of them are locked and require a cipher tool. This opens up more chest access to all classes in our game.

The chests are hidden, for the most part. Some are better hidden than others, so explore around a little and who knows what you might find. Some of the chests are actually corpses of fallen allies. Several of these new chests will provoke a response when looted, meaning the Bane just might show up to see what is going on. Some responses are more dangerous than others, but all should be manageable. Take caution when looting.

Finally, the loot in these chests should be better. The loot, as well as their refresh timers, will depend on their location and surroundings. Naturally, chests that are easier to find will typically not have the best loot. However all of these new chests will have a chance to drop green, blue, and even purple items. The easiest chests will have an extremely rare chance at a purple, while harder chests have a better chance. Explore away, and enjoy!

Raven Sherman - Software Engineer

As part of our efforts to improve inventory functionality and give you guys more inventory space, we will be adding 4 more tabs to the clan lockbox. This will increase available clan lockbox inventory slots from 100 to 500. Your clan officers will be able to purchase tabs 2-5 with Prestige that is stored in the Clan Lockbox. This new functionality for the Clan Lockbox will be similar to the changes we put in last time for the footlocker. Once it is up, please give it a try on PTS and let us know what you think. Also, please be aware that we are just using placeholder prices right now, the prices will be re-adjusted before this functionality leaves PTS.