We have been exhaustively investigating sources of lag on our server for
some time now, and we have found two major causes. Firstly, the amount
of gold generated and stored on each character contributes hugely to the
dreaded aeonic disturbances. Gold is constantly being generated,
removed, or otherwise moved around in a way that over-stresses our
servers - for purchasing from shops, from gold drops while bashing,
quests, gambling, purchases from the credit market, et cetera.

In order to improve server performance, we will soon be implementing a
new system to replace gold sovereigns. Each character will receive a
'cheque card' on which will be stored a monetary value to represent
gold. Instead of getting gold sovereigns when you complete a quest or
kill a denizen that would drop gold, for example, the cheque card's gold
value would increase. We will be getting rid of personal bankaccounts,
though they will still exist for organisations. (Depositing and
withdrawing from banks will be changed to work with the cheque cards.)

In addition to resolving lag issues, I'm excited to say that we've
negotiated a mutually beneficial arrangement with a major credit card
company. They have agreed to sponsor the cheque system in return for us
implementing an additional opt-in system that will, at certain time
intervals, display current promotions and special offers to you when
your cheque card is used. If you choose to opt in to this system, then
whenever such a promotion is displayed to you, your cheque card's gold
count will increase.

I did mention a second major cause of lag, one which should be no
surprise to you as we have been battling it for some time. Our databases
are slowed down by the sheer amount of items. This is the reason, for
example, that we limit the number of items that can be stored in
stockrooms, and why we have increased vial capacity in the past - to
reduce the number of vials carried by adventurers. Unfortunately, our
efforts have not been enough, and there is still an overabundance of
items within adventurer inventories.

As a result, we have decided to set a weight limit to what can be stored
in inventories. We feel that this would add further realism as well -
how realistic is it that you can carry around 10 bear corpses and 20
full suits of armour at the same time, after all? We have not decided on
the maximum weight yet, but in the near future, you can expect that the
more weight you are carrying, the more it will affect you (slowed
movement, et cetera), until finally you are unable to move at all
without getting rid of some of your inventory. The Riding skill will
become more relevant as a result, as of course, you will be able to
carry more if you have a mount with you. Cart and wagons will become
available as well, for those who simply need to carry more, including an
extra-capacity artefact cart.

A third (and more extreme) solution we are considering at this point is
the possibility of splitting up Achaea into at least two separate
servers, where two versions of the game would run simultaneously. One
server would accommodate those connecting from countries in the Americas
(Canada, the US, and Central and South American countries), and the
other server would accommodate those connecting from anywhere else -
Europe, Africa, et cetera. We would hate to do this, obviously, as it
would mean you would no longer be able to play with adventurers from
certain parts of the world (and they, no longer with you), but there is
a possibility that it will become a necessity. In our research into the
feasibility of such a solution, we have found that, due to the vagaries
of internet routing, there is a chance that we may not be able to
include access to New Zealand on either of these servers. We will do our
best to find a way to work around that, if it comes to it.

Penned by My hand on the 18th of Ero, in the year 505 AF.