The Protogames Initiative

The Protogames Initiative is also known as Drop 4 and was released on February 3rd, 2015. This drop included many new features.

Level 50 Veteran Shiphands
- More challenging versions of the current shiphands with rewards to match. To try veteran Shiphands, Exiles can head to Thayd and visit Granny Adina in the Traverse Tunnels, while Dominion citizens should seek out Old Kess in Illium’s Spaceport Alpha. Level 50 players can also access all veteran Shiphands through the Group Finder. Queue for these on your own, or look for other players to join in. Enjoy increased Renown gains, new rewards, and a shot at some crazy-rare new mounts.

They Came From Fragment Zero
- A new starter level Shiphand mission designed for level 6 players (with a veteran mode for level 50 players). Blast off to an asteroid of the Halon Ring and uncover peril, and potential loot, in a spooky Eldan facility that is definitely not as "abandoned" as Freight Supervisor Bo's Ekose crew expected. Help Bo find her lost crewmen and learn the Shiphand ropes in a visually stunning out-of-this-world experience!

Protogames Academy
- This level-10 dungeon will teach less experienced players the tricks of the trade, introducing them to complex group content mechanics, while providing access to more support-role gear earlier in the leveling process. Keep your ears on – a Protostar representative will soon call your datachron and invite you to see everything the Protogames Academy has to offer!

The Ultimate Protogames
- New level 50 dungeon (with Veteran Mode) will pit you against randomly assorted examples of the most diabolical and deviously devised diversions to ever emerge from their Top-Secret Weapons Division.

Itemization Revisions
- Increased quality of rewards and experience from dungeons and raids. All dungeon medal calculations have been updated to use a point system. Everything you do in a dungeon will affect your total score, from killing bosses to making the entire group wipe. With these changes to elder game itemization, players will now have an opportunity to get tokens that drop from raid bosses. These can be exchanged at a vendor for specific pieces of gear for your class. In addition, randomized items now have better stat distributions, and random items will always roll for a specific spec (e.g., Assault Warrior) rather than random stats.

20 Man Datascape Raid
- Datascape 40 has been revamped to scale down to 20 man. All encounters have been balanced for these smaller groups.

Improved Warplot Queuing and game mechanics.
- Warparties can make their Warplot public for Mercenary matches, and earn Warcoins for each rental. Warparty members can queue as Mercenaries, instead of only getting to play in Warparty matches. Warplot fortresses cannot be breached until nanopak nodes around the fortresses are all captured. Be sure to keep these nodes though, as losing access to a node after a breach will bring the barriers back up. The generator at the heart of the fortress has also been reworked so that it cannot be attacked until all the plugs linked to it have been destroyed.

Improved Renown Vendor Itemization
- Renown can be used to purchase quality imbuement gear as well as unique costumes, mounts, and more. You'll also get a lot more Renown for completing veteran Shiphands and Adventures.

New Currency "Glory"
- New currency aimed at those who like a challenge. Glory can be earned by completing veteran dungeons and overcoming raid encounters. Glory vendors can be found alongside daily quest NPCs in either the Traverse Tunnels of Thayd, or Spaceport Alpha in Illium.

Additional loot for 'pug' groups
- Additional rewards will be granted to those adventurers who queue for random Shiphands, adventures, dungeons, battlegrounds and more in the form of a 'bonus bag'.

In-game Character Customization with Gear Preview
- Visit any Protostar Modification Specialist (the same NPC's that do the costume changes and dyes) and select the "Character Chop Shop" to try out some new looks. Change your character's hair, face and body. You can now preview a sample of beginning, middle and endgame class gear sets in the right side menu. While there you’ll also notice that race, class and path lore descriptions have been shortened, and revised for greater clarity.

New Housing Decor and Options
- Customize your housing property with new Terrain Sets. From the dusty dunes of Malgrave to the ice floes of Whitevale, players have more control over the look of their plot than ever before. Give your plot a whole new theme. New house called the Underground Bunker will free up your land for building and still give you a house to call your own. Since it's completely underground and accessable via a hatch, it's not difficult to figure out how to implement it into your land design. Use it as a "basement", turn your land into a mysterious island with an even more mysterious hatch. Build a spaceship or garage over it! Landscape around it!

More ways to get Elder Gems
- Three new level-50 quests are available at the Venture Board in the Capital cities. Complete one each week and receive 40 extra Elder Gems - which can even exceed your weekly cap. These quests progress as players participate in the targeted content throughout the week.
  - Group PvE Quest - Completing dungeons and adventures will give progress for this quest, with bonuses to credit based on the player’s medal. The longer, and more difficult the content, the more credit attained.
  - PvP – Completing battlegrounds, arena and Warplot matches will progress this quest, and winning matches will get you bonus credit. The larger the match size, the better it gets.
  - Good Old-Fashioned Questing – This counts most level 50 quests, including regular zone quests, world story quests, and dailies.

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