DAoC Developer Michael Knudson posted a new Dev Diary, giving us a behind the scenes look at what we might be seeing in the upcoming 1.110 patch:

Greetings and salutations,

It's been quite a while since I last spoke to everyone. We've been really busy working on the New User Journey that Stuart mentioned a couple months back as well as other features that will enhance the DAoC experience.  One of which is within our battlegrounds.

Many of you already know or have heard of the quests offered in the battlegrounds and have noticed that you can now gain bounty points there as well. With the introduction of the last two sets of battleground quests for Leirvik and Cathal Valley in 1.109c, our next step is to add Bounty Merchants within the battlegrounds in the upcoming 1.110 patch. These merchants offer players a chance to purchase improved weapons, armor, and accessories far superior than the aurulite counterparts currently available. 

We will be replacing the aurulite merchants in the battlegrounds starting with the Hills of Claret all the way through Cathal Valley with these new vendors.  The items offered by the Bounty Merchants are pre-templated and when the full set is equipped it will grant the player an almost perfect template, nearly capping the character's attributes, skills, resistances, and so on. The aurulite reward from the battleground quests will also be removed and replaced by Bounty Tokens which players can use to acquire a sum of bounty points to spend at the merchants or save for future investments.

We are also introducing the Royal Stewards to the battlegrounds which are within each of the realms' portal keep with the exception of the first three battlegrounds (the Proving Grounds, Lion’s Den, and the Hills of Claret). These NPCs will offer players a quest which rewards a substantial amount of bounty points if the player is able to reach the realm rank cap for that specific battleground.

In addition to these changes, players will find Battleground Teleporters in each of the quest hubs providing convenient transport to the battleground appropriate to their level.  We've also added Hub Teleporters at the portal keeps within the battlegrounds allowing players to be transported back to the Quest Hub so they can continue their progress there or if they wish to the realm’s border keep. Lastly, Realm Enhancement Buff NPCs have been added to battlegrounds and for a small fee they will provide a complete set of buffs to the player.

Now we'll move on to the actual Quest Hubs.  One of the features that we will be introducing is a series of Epic Encounters in each of these hubs in which players are participating in.  These encounters offer players an opportunity to apply what they have learned and to work together to defeat a superior foe and a chance to acquire unique rewards through specific Epic Encounter quests which are available.  One of the more interesting things about these Epic Encounters is the credit system we've implemented.  This system grants an area credit when the encounter is complete to any and all players in the area, regardless if they are solo, grouped, or battlegrouped; giving every player a chance to progress without "waiting in line" for others to finish first. This is just a taste of what to come with the upcoming patch. 

Until next time, I'll be seeing you on the Frontiers!

Best Regards,

Michael Knudson