Viking Newsletter!

[HoboForEternity]

hnggggg

 

[Infinitron]

January Newsletter:

Sound the Horn!

Welcome back friends of the North! This month’s newsletter arrives with all sorts of things to talk about, from a summary of our most recent closed Beta to a highlight of a few skills that are new to the game, to how YOU can help us to raise awareness about Expeditions: Viking, and what’s in store for the Expeditions: Viking crew in the near future. Let’s get into it!

Rally the Hird!

First off, a warm thanks to you good people! One of the wonderful questions we get from the kind folk of the internet is:

“How do I show support for Expeditions: Viking?”

To answer that for you-- there are lots of ways, and we’d appreciate every bit of your support!

Spread the News

The first thing you can do is recommend us to people you think would enjoy playing Expeditions: Viking. You can suggest that they sign up to the newsletter (www.expeditionsseries.com), or visit the Steam store page (http://store.steampowered.com/app/445190/) and add the game to your (or their) wishlist.

Talk About Your Experiences

We appreciate all of you who participated in the Beta Test being so wonderfully active with your reporting and suggestions and for keeping those reports and discussions in the closed sections of the steam forum. We thank you for your candor and confidentiality. But now is the time for you to get out there and share! Do you have a player experience or screenshot that you’d like to share in an online community. We encourage you to do so! Whether it’s on a social media site (like Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest) or an online forum (like Reddit, 4Chan, Steam groups, RPG sites, or Youtube comments sections), get on out there and tell people all the things you’ve enjoyed in your experiences so far with Expeditions: Viking.

​

On that note, take a look at this shiny new video series that Youtuber Many A True Nerd released just last week https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btiRrrmlbDk&list=PLwH1xJhcXG0flPrqRSq1J2f_zJWN0Zfpp . The comment section is abuzz, so here’s a great place to get out there and talk more about Expeditions: Viking from a player’s perspective. Go on then, let's give Many A True Nerd some love!

Closed Beta Report



To start this off, if you’re new to the newsletter and were too late to join the previous Beta, fret not! We plan to host one more closed Beta before launch so stay tuned to the newsletter to find out more when the time comes!

A huge thanks for all of you Beta Testers who participated in the last Beta session. It was really exciting to get your comments, questions, and feedback, and we want to especially thank you for all the lovely bug reports.

There were nearly 200 bugs and issues that made it through initial reporting and into our system. More than 120 of these were resolved during the Beta, and we published 6 updated builds over the duration of the Beta with improvements abound.

This was such a great opportunity for us to hear back from you with feedback on user experiences and your comments and suggestions were paramount. Thank you again so much!
The Great Dane Axe

It’s finally here! Now you can crowd control and cleave your way to bloody victory using the devastating two-handed Dane Axe. But “what will I do in the shield wall without my shield?” you ask. Well, disrupt and destroy the enemy, my sword-and-boarding friend! As with most weapon types, investing skill points to level the Dane Axe skill will reward players with a total of 3 unique combat abilities:

Reckless Strike - at Rank 1 Reckless Strike is an attack action that currently gives the axe wielder a 25% bonus to damage on their attack but applies the status effect “Unbalanced” (we could have called it “Overpowered” *giggle*) which prevents the character from moving until the end of the next turn. Big Mess, No Fuss.

Pull - at Rank 3 players will unlock Pull. Pull is a crowd control ability that allows players to hook an enemy who is two hexes away by the neck and pull them into melee range. This is great for dragging enemies into unpleasant situations you’ve set up for them (like the ice patch in the gif), and while it won’t trigger attacks of opportunity, it’s great for forcing enemies into traps and the like.

Swipe - at Rank 5, Swipe is an attack action where the player will strike an enemy and any characters standing on either side of the target. Swipe cannot damage shields if blocked, however, and deals no armor-piercing damage. We were thinking of calling it Cleavey McCleaversen but it was too many characters.

Coming Up

We’re very excited to announce that we will be attending a number of trade shows and conferences in the coming months. You can find us at:


GDC San Francisco from February 27 - March 3 in San Francisco, USA for business development meetings and media presentations for Expeditions: Viking. If you’re in the Bay area and are interested in arranging an appointment contact us at info@logicartists.com

For a public demo of Expeditions: Viking you will find us at:

PC Gamer Weekender the 18/19 of February in London, England http://weekender.pcgamer.com/201-programme

PAX East the 10 -12 of March in Boston, USA
http://east.paxsite.com/

We will be taking media appointments at both PAX and the Weekender, if you’d like to reserve a time you can contact us at info@logicartists.com to arrange an appoinment or swing by the booth to say hello.

Stay tuned to the newsletter for information about the upcoming beta and release date info, not to mention a special release week gift for all newsletter subscribers!

Here are them skills.

 

[Sensuki]

Oh good another closed beta count me in Avonaeon

 

[Jack Dandy]

Awesome! I was hoping for many new combat skills.

 

[HoboForEternity]

fuck yis

 

[Mark Richard]

Whoever said 'size doesn't matter' wasn't on the wrong end of that bloody huge axe.

 

[Barbarian]

I loved Conquistador after playing it recently and I am looking forward to this.

A question though: will I be forced to play as a monk-killing odin-worshipping shitpusher or will I be able to side with the Christians and abandon the heathen ways? I am remided that the normans came to be just like that(in France off course, but still).

 

[Atomical]

I loved Conquistador after playing it recently and I am looking forward to this.

A question though: will I be forced to play as a monk-killing odin-worshipping shitpusher or will I be able to side with the Christians and abandon the heathen ways? I am remided that the normans came to be just like that(in France off course, but still).

That is a good question. There are three major factions in Expeditions: Viking, the Vikings, the Northumbrians, and the Picts. You're able to side with any one of the three factions based on your actions and choices.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Can you piss off all factions?

 

[Barbarian]

I loved Conquistador after playing it recently and I am looking forward to this.

A question though: will I be forced to play as a monk-killing odin-worshipping shitpusher or will I be able to side with the Christians and abandon the heathen ways? I am remided that the normans came to be just like that(in France off course, but still).

That is a good question. There are three major factions in Expeditions: Viking, the Vikings, the Northumbrians, and the Picts. You're able to side with any one of the three factions based on your actions and choices.

Awesome, but is religious conversion/baptism in the game? I know you guys didn't include it in Conquistador for some reason, but here it is even more important. At the end of the day the most succesfull vikings were the ones who converted and settled down. Rollo being the prime example. Siding with the Christians and not abandoning paganism doesn't make much sense.

 

[Avonaeon]

Can you piss off all factions?

Since you play as a viking, that's pretty much what siding with the viking faction does.

Awesome, but is religious conversion/baptism in the game? I know you guys didn't include it in Conquistador for some reason, but here it is even more important. At the end of the day the most succesfull vikings were the ones who converted and settled down. Rollo being the prime example. Siding with the Christians and not abandoning paganism doesn't make much sense.

No, that's not in the game.

 

[Barbarian]

Sounds tacky! But I will give you a vote of confidence and still support your game.

Conquistador was one of the most welcome suprises in gaming I had the last few years. Tried the game with very little expectations and enjoyed myself greatly.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Since you play as a viking, that's pretty much what siding with the viking faction does.

Can you piss off vikings, northumbrians and picts all at once?

 

[Avonaeon]

Can you piss off vikings, northumbrians and picts all at once?

By failing at everything, I suppose you can. Joking aside, you're a viking, part of the viking faction so to speak. So if your question is whether you can leave your faction and become your own faction (So that you can, as you say, piss off everyone), then the answer is no.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Oh well.

 

[Barbarian]

I enjoyed the way amerindian and colonial myths were presented in Conquistador(El dorado, the gate of the dead, etc). Will you be doing the same for norse paganism? Will Celtic Christianity and also Anglo-Saxon myths get a little love as well?

Is the release still set to Q1 2017?

 

[Avonaeon]

Not quite in the same ways, but yes, we do explore some myths.

We'll be releasing a press release soon.

 

[Infinitron]

February Newsletter:

Sound the Horn!

Salutations to all, and a special welcome to those of you who've recently joined the hird at the PC Gamer Weekender. We had a great time with all of you, welcome to the community!

Get ready to stand on the shores of Britain accompanied by those you trust and some you don't with only one goal, return home wealthier and more powerful than before. With the wind at our backs let us set our sights on far away lands and the promises of riches, glory, and the gates of Valhal. This is the beginning of a great adventure.

Scroll down and we'll tell you all about the upcoming pre-release beta, event news, and a special highlight on some in-game skills.

Raiding Party!

We set sail this month to England, just in time to raid the PC Gamer Weekender with our latest build. It was great to get all the face to face feedback on the game and to watch people playing the new build, we were really pleased with the results.

Oh did we mention that we came dressed for any outcome? Our resident Viking made an appearance (yes that's him gracefully demonstrating proper form with Arya Stark's Needle), happy to answer questions and pillag--er, we mean, provide support to the locals.

If you'd like to see a bit of coverage from the Weekender take a look at this lovely video from GameFace Show with fashion styling and accessories by Expeditions: Viking :D

Facebook Video Link - to start the show jump forward to 09:50

Twitch link - to start the show jump forward to 27:40

Final Beta Countdown

Great news! The third and final beta session is kicking off March 15th and if you're reading this newsletter guess what? You're signed up for it. We will send out an email on the 15th where everyone will receive their steam codes and the build will come online in the evening. The beta will run for a few weeks and we hope that you will all join us on steam to try out a whole lot of new content in the second campaign.

If any of you out there are interested in streaming or making youtube videos during the beta, feel free! But please wait until the second week to start your vids so we have a chance to resolve any prominent bugs or issues before you get started.

Should you know someone who you think would love to play Expeditions: Viking give them the chance by referring them to our website where they can sign up to our mailing list, which includes the Newsletter and Beta access!

Stick 'em with the pointy end!

We thought that this month we'd showcase for you, the skill highlights of another two-handed weapon available in Expeditions: Viking, the Spear.

Enjoy the benefits of poking people with a sharp object without all the hassle of having to stand close enough for them to poke you back. As with most weapons, investing skill points to level the Spear will reward players with a total of 3 unique combat abilities:


Extend - at Rank 1, Extend is an attack action which allows battlefield tacticians to go where no melee weapon has gone before, granting players melee attacks with a three hex reach, though at 75% or regular damage.


Smack - Sometimes despite your best efforts enemies will get inconsiderately close to your charaters. When that happen's those with Spear Rank 3 will be able to gracefully swat an adjacent target up side their head with the blunt end of the spear. This will count as an attack at 50% regular damage and will make the target Concussed (Endurance -3). The player's unit will then take a step one hex back without provoking Attack of Opportunity.


Distract - at Spear Rank 5 the Distract ability allows a character to draw the attention of an enemy and neutralizes the Attack of Opportunity of that Enemy. It will only work on targets that are exactly two hexes away.

Coming Up

Remember friends, there's lots more to come with Expeditions: Viking. As the snows thaw and the ices melt, the passages will open and our ships will cross the sea. Our April 27th release date is fast approaching and we're looking to you our trusted friends and allies to join us on this great campaign.

You will all be rewarded, a share in the spoils to each of you! As a token of our friendship, we'll be sending you all a special bonus code closer to release. You can use this bonus code on Steam to upgrade a purchase of Expeditions: Viking to include the additional items available in the Digital Deluxe Edition. This will include a digital copy of the original game soundtrack, a digital art book, and an ornate in-game sword to get you started on your quest.

All in all, it was a great month, we hope to see some of you at PAX East this year. Stop by the booth, say hello, and get a sneak peek at the demo build ahead of the Beta!

As always, stay tuned to the Newsletter for more info on Expeditions: Viking and keep an eye out for beta info on the 15th of March. Until next time!

 

[Infinitron]

Atomical Both of those links point to Twitch!

 

[Atomical]

Atomical Both of those links point to Twitch!

Dang it! how about this one for Facebook?

 

[Infinitron]

March Newsletter:

Sound the Horn!

Greetings Sons and Daughters of Odinn!

We hope that you have all enjoyed the Closed Beta, thank you to everyone that's joined us on the Steam sub forums. Your bug reports and discussions have been very important to us here in the final stages of development.

In this installment of the newsletter we're going to talk about the beta, give you all a quick summary of PAX East, show off the shield related combat abilities with their final animations, and give you all a breakdown of the mail list rewards we're sending out to each and every one of you!

PAX East 2017 Round Up!

We attended what was our last big public event for Expeditions: Viking. And while this year's PAX East was a fair bit colder than the last one, it was warm and cozy in the event hall thanks, in part, to our booth's Mead Hall design. With rustic wooden furniture and (faux) furs lain about, we build a cozy and comfortable space for fellow viking enthusiasts to sit down and enjoy an authentic viking experience.



As you can see our Resident Booth Viking made another appearance and mingled with some of the hippest characters in video gaming and nerd culture. Though despite his friendly demeanor, it seems his efforts to make friends were vastly misinterpreted as aggression. Good thing he quicksaved at the start of the event!

Final Beta Summary

The closed beta was a fantastic success. There were hundreds of thoroughly reported bugs, many of which have already been resolved making this our most productive beta session to date! This was such an incredible help and as a thank you, we will be sending each of you the Expeditions: Viking Steam Deluxe Edition bonus DLCs for free!

That way, when you purchase a copy of Expeditions: Viking on release, you'll be upgraded to the deluxe editions as a thank you from us! Stay tuned to next month's newsletter for your DLC Codes and thanks again.

Now that the beta is closed, remember to get back on Steam and Wishlist Expeditions: Viking, that way Steam will let you know as soon as we're available on the store!

Viking Shields, Viking Chic!

Whether swinging a sword or an axe, the Vikings were renowned, not just for their ferocity with edged weapons, but their defensive tactics as well. The cornerstone of that defense was their ability to protect themselves with shields.

To reflect this in the tactical turn-based combat environment of Expeditions: Viking, shields have their own skill progression. Leveling a character's shield skill will increase a character's shield block chance against enemy attacks (when holding a shield) and unlocks three unique abilities a player can use during combat.


Brace - at Rank 1, Brace uses an attack action to quick repair a shield to mint condition. While this does forego an attack for the bracing character this round, A fully repaired shield can go a long way toward keeping your front line fighters alive.


Defend - is an Attack Action that applies the Defending status effect to the user making the shield impervious to all damage until the start of the player's next turn. Highly valuable for characters who are being focused by the enemy forces.


Shield Bash - Pushes the target 1 hex away and applies the Knocked Down status effect. Characters that are knocked down are unable to act or block and have a base Damage Reduction of 0% and recovering from this costs 2 moves. Because not everything one does with a shield is defensive.

Coming Up

What's next you say? Well it's the release, that's what! Expeditions: Viking is coming out April 27th, which is just about a month from now and since we are now feature complete, we'll be working very hard to deliver you folks a polished and pleasurable day 1 experience.

PAX East was a whirlwind of fun as per usual and we are very glad to have met face to face with many of you in Boston this year! Now if you'll excuse us we're off to put our nose to the grindstone, it's time to sharpen our blades, and mend our shields, a great adventure is just around the corner.

Remember, to stay tuned for the April newsletter for your loyalty bonuses!

 

[Infinitron]

April Newsletter:

Sound the Horn!

Greetings Vikings!

It's official, our Viking expedition has landed, Expeditions: Viking released last Thursday and we've been busy! Read below for some coverage highlights, a recap of the release weekend, mail list rewards chat, and a talk of things to come.

We know this April Newsletter is showing up a little late, but we did send your rewards out prior to the release last week so you've all got your DLC codes in that previous mail out.

There's lots to tell you about, but if you want to skip all that and jump to the game page:

Buy Now

Coverage Highlights

Have a look at some of the coverage that's already come out for Expeditions: Viking. If you're into written reviews a number of them have popped up already! Here is a link to the Metacritic Page where you can read a number of reviews. Or you can jump to the staff pick, Hooked Gamers:

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If Let's Plays are more your style, there's plenty to watch already on Youtube, here are a few quick picks for you here to get you started:


ReformistTM started his Viking Walkthrough.

Aavak has also started an adventure!

Horath Drak dons a Viking helm while in battle during his Insane difficulty Let's Play.

Release Weekend Recap

Well the first weekend is over and we're working hard to patch in some fixes and updates for Expeditions: Viking. We were a bit too bold in our patching efforts over the weekend and introduced a few frustrating bugs as a result of rushing a build. It's unfortunate that this happened, but it was with the best of intentions.

If any of you have run into these errors, we've been pulling long days and late nights working to resolve them. We've released a 1.0.1.5 patch that takes care of the majority of high priority issues and we're very close to releasing a 1.0.2 patch (later this week) that should get the rest of them.

Even with these errors, there has been a lot of positive reviews and encouragement from the community. We are grateful for all the support!

Mail List Rewards

The mail list rewards were sent out last week before the game's release. All of you who were signed up prior to the mail out were eligible for the rewards. Thanks again for all of your support! Some folks have asked why the Blood-Ice DLC was also available for free on the steam store and we can clarify that for you here.

We made Blood-Ice to help promote the game at events, it let us give people something to take home with them to remind them of Expeditions: Viking and as a small token of our appreciation for them stopping by and checking out the game. With the DLC made on steam we had to decide whether to charge money for this solitary in-game item or to make it free. We opted for free. As such Steam's system automatically makes a download page for it and here we are.

In any case we hope you enjoy your Original Game Soundtrack and Digital Art book with our thanks!

Coming Up

Some of you might be asking, so now that the game's out is the newsletter over? No friends, stay signed up to the mail list to be first in line for info and updates on Expeditions: Viking and the RPGs of the future. And we'll continue to have special news and rewards exclusive to newsletter subscribers!

So stay tuned!