[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/34371660/f59d595c4aefd383b842e1e2f65534c82977b4f1.jpg"][/img]
It is time. Finally, Season 6 Chapter One is just over the horizon.

S6: Ch 1 marks a major destination and turning point for us and for development of Last Oasis. It is the culmination of multiple years and thousands of hours of development, testing, and feedback. There isn't much left to say except we hope we've managed to provide an experience that is both nostalgic and fresh.

On February 27th we will wipe all official servers and commence a stress test that will last through the weekend. This is a last check for stability and to validate a few things related to the server provider. Assuming the stress test does not reveal any major issues, we will conduct another wipe and launch Season 6 on March 6th at 10am EST. As a reminder, under the new Chapter model, we will expect full server wipes and resets every ~8 weeks, so expected Chapter 1 to last until early May.

Unfortunately, we will be launching the Season without Xbox compatibility. There is one small issue we just haven't been able to solve and as a result we have not been able to gain certification. We are still actively working to resolve the issue and will restore Xbox functionality as soon as possible.
[/p][p]---- [/p][p][/p][p]We will release a full set of patch notes on the day of launch, we just wanted to quickly recap our development focus for Season 6. We are confident we have improved the game in a variety of ways, but we understand there is significant work remaining. We hope that this is another major step towards rebuilding trust with the community and earning your assistance in making Last Oasis the game it deserves to be.

Events[/p][p]We put a ton of working into making Last Oasis event-focused. Between more on-map events, like overhauling meteors, creating unique team-based POIs on every map, and making event tiles a major progression focus, we wanted to create reliable ways that you could find other players to engage in combat with and, on the flip side, there was always something worth prioritizing.

While we know that a lot of the events still require significant development, both in terms of aesthetics and in gameplay, we have seen throughout testing they largely achieve their intended objectives.

[img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/34371660/af1caa4a0fa605a2bea3e824183b8843fef2a5cb.png"][/img]PvP Balance

While PVP in an open world sandbox will never be "fair", we have put significant guardrails in place to both make the experience more accessible for new or less experienced players, such as the Anti-Personnel Turret, which provides automated defense for walkers, and to limit power-scaling associated with numbers, such as prioritizing small and medium clan tiles, walker crew limits, and walker power limits.

We have also made major mechanical and balance changes, which makes fully wiping a Walker's deck more difficult and makes fully zeroing walkers more difficult.

And More

Realistically through development of Season 6 we worked on nearly every part of the game, far too much to add into a post. Fortunately, some members of the community have been playing and testing along the whole time, and Theodas has made an excellent recap video which touches on all of the major gameplay changes. It's very well done and timestamped, so if you're curious about something you should be able to find the answer here.

[dynamiclink href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KfeRgsEVl8"][/dynamiclink]----

We're sure you all have tons of questions about what is next, what are we thinking, when will we address x, y, and z. However, at this point, we've been developing without validating anything for a long while now, so it is simply time to turn it over to you and sit back and watch and see how things play out. We will be sure to keep you up to date with our thoughts and observations as the chapter progresses. We hope you're as excited as us and hope to see you all soon.

Steel yourselves, Nomads. The sands await. [/p]