Alpha 0.9! Brand-New Class System and Skill Proficiency Gameplay!

Official Website: [Wasteland OL Closed Beta Alpha 0.9 Update Announcement!] [Major Updates: 1. Closed beta player count increased to 800! 2. Added "Class System" and "Skill Proficiency" mechanics. 3. New status tier "Intermediate Citizen": requires 10,000 contribution points, allowed land purchase increased from 5 square meters to 50 square meters. ] [Optimizations: 1. New NPC "Heya": a silver-haired young woman of mixed descent, Ph.D. in Bioengineering, DNA-deficient with 79% cybernetic modifications, sole survivor of Vault 117, and a new-generation resident born inside the vault. A woman with a storied past, she seems to harbor many secrets. (Pic 1) (Pic 2) (Pic 3) 2. The shelter has expanded to Floor B3, opening up additional areas. Players are welcome to explore and discover more details on their own. 3. New marauder faction "Bone Chewer Tribe": Due to the Legion expeditionary force's defeat, chaos has spread like a plague across the parched soil of River Valley Province. A massive marauder tribe is rising at an incredible speed. "Chaos, death, and savagery! We shall rip open the throat of civilization, suck the marrow from its bones, and hang their hollow skins upon our banners to dry in the wind!" 4. Death penalty adjusted: Respawn cooldown remains unchanged. The death penalty for players below LV10 has been reduced from 40 silver coins to 20 silver coins; LV10–LV20 remains unchanged; LV20–LV30 has been increased to 80 silver coins. 5. Added the concept of "Awakening": Advancing from LV9 to LV10 will automatically complete the 1st Awakening. Gene sequence development progress will advance from Stage 1 to Stage 2, granting the player character at least one additional talent along with a qualitative leap in stat panel attributes and actual combat capabilities. 6. Fixed minor bugs. ...] [Due to the further increase in player count, the Player Handbook and User Agreement have been updated to the latest version, adding sections on "Rules of Engagement" and "Prisoner Policy." Players who have received closed beta qualification, please review them promptly to avoid causing a poor gaming experience for yourself and others. Pre-registered players, please also review them carefully; if you cannot accept the new rules, please cancel your reservation in a timely manner and wait patiently for the open beta release with richer content.] [Current Reservations: 23,333] "Alpha 0.9 Developer Log" Xiao Qi: "Hello everyone, I'm your beloved planner Ah Guang's—most beloved assistant! Since our CEO took the lead in working overtime, sparking the collective fury of the development, planning, and art departments, we decided to pack him into a canned starfish and sell him to a mutant tribe... In any case, we finally finished Alpha 0.9! This update is of momentous significance. As Ah Guang is still working overtime, he's entrusted me to chat with everyone about the new version's design concepts and gameplay!" "First, compared to 0.8, the biggest change in Alpha 0.9 is that we have added a class system and skill proficiency mechanics to Wasteland OL." "Honestly, when making this decision, we hesitated quite a bit. After all, what we originally wanted to create was a casual, relaxing sandbox game selling freedom and virtual community life—the kind where we didn't even plan to develop a character stats screen. The concept of classes seemed to run counter to that." "However, as game content expands and players participate more and more in open-world affairs, our NPCs are gradually falling into a dilemma—namely, what can be done is limited, so how do we allocate limited opportunities to those who need them more?" "Zhang San likes fishing, Li Si likes farming, and we have a hoe and a fishing rod. Ideally, we give the rod to Zhang San and the hoe to Li Si. But now the player count has risen to eight hundred. If tasks are arbitrarily handed out from on high, it violates the principle of fairness. Therefore, we needed a standard!" "And the class system and skill proficiency were born precisely for this!" "Take woodcutting as an example. When a player carries their VM to chop trees or completes a woodcutting quest, woodcutting skill proficiency will automatically accumulate. Reaching the cap will increase the skill level, ranging from level 0 at the lowest to level 10 at the highest. This level is independent of gene sequence levels, with each skill level calculated separately. Although leveling up a skill won't give you a direct work efficiency bonus, it will unlock more quests related to that skill with higher rewards, and even unlock exclusive titles—such as Ace Woodcutter or Forest Destroyer!" "Besides woodcutting, skills that can gain proficiency include Firearms, Throwing, Archery, Melee Combat, Medicine, Scavenging, Butchering, Cooking, Construction, Tailoring, Metallurgy, Manufacturing, Farming, Mining, and more... over forty types in total. For more details, players are invited to explore on their own!" "Compared to the skill proficiency system, the 'Class System' is more like a status symbol or title." "For instance, after registering as a Scavenger under Warehouse Keeper Guo Niu, scavenging skill proficiency accumulates faster, and you will be entrusted with important responsibilities during scavenging work, receive Scavenger-exclusive assignments, and after meeting the requirements, become a 'Master Scavenger' or even 'King of Trash'! "Under Granary Keeper Guo Ma, you can register as a Farmer or Butcher, unlocking more seeds or accepting more butchering orders." "In addition, some classes have certain skill proficiency thresholds. For example, if you want to become a Hunter and pursue targets more worth your while, you must reach level 3 in any one of Firearms, Throwing, or Archery, or pay 10 silver coins to undergo a hunting skill assessment." "Similar classes include Soldier, Architect, Prospector, and so forth. In the future, we will also open up Mercenary, Adventurer, Engineer, and other classes. Please keep an eye on the official website for more content!" "Newbie players can only register one class. As your status tier increases, the number of classes you can register will also increase. For example, Citizens can register two classes, Intermediate Citizens three, and so forth. Registered classes can be deregistered at any time, but related achievements and titles for that class will also be reset, so please choose carefully!" "Additionally, in the next version, we will resolve the camera feature, allowing players to capture beautiful moments through the lens." "If it isn't resolved in the next version, it definitely will be in the version after that!" ... Less than a minute after the update announcement and Developer Log were posted, over a hundred comments rapidly flooded the thread. However, the reason for the players' soaring excitement was not the newly introduced class system. In fact, it had practically nothing to do with the major update's content at all. Shadow Moon Remnant Wind: "White hair! It's white hair! White-hair lovers rejoice! (voice cracking)" This Child Is Truly Terrifying: "Too lewd, way too lewd!" Elaina: "Is no one calling her waifu? Then allow me to do the honors. (doge)" Jieyan: "Planner Daddy is awesome! (voice cracking)" Tail: "prprpr" Sisi: "Eww! This person! Wait, this tail!" Mole on the Run from the Canyon: "Tsk tsk, you horny bastards, does nobody care about the class system and skill proficiency in this update? Something this big, where's the discussion! Why's everyone obsessed with an NPC! (slams desk)" Fang Chang: "Sorry, this planner knows us too well. (nosebleed)" Ye Shi: "+1, Brother Mole, hurry up! (doge)" Mole on the Run from the Canyon: "Damn it! Even an upright fellow like you, Fang Chang, has defected!" The thread was bursting with excitement. Outside the thread, the rest of the forum was just as lively. The official website had been completely overwhelmed by spectator players, meme-posting netizens, and drama hounds. Especially because this Alpha 0.9 update had increased the player count directly from 500 to 800! Releasing 300 test slots all at once had made those lucky rookies ecstatic. What did having over two hundred acceptance speech threads popping up at once look like? Not to mention the tens of thousands eating lemons in jealousy and tens of thousands watching the drama. At its peak, threads were scrolling by at what felt like five meters per second. A newly posted thread sank straight to page two like a stone tossed into a river. Refresh once more, and it was gone completely. The server hadn't crashed under the strain, meaning the operators had definitely spared no expense! Having finished reading the announcement, Lao Bai glanced at the reservation count. Good grief. Just minutes ago it was 23,333, and in the blink of an eye, it had jumped to 27,777, barreling straight toward the thirty thousand mark! Did these people solve the questionnaire that fast?! ... Ox and Horse Club group chat. Since no one on the official website was discussing the new version, everyone had no choice but to head to their private chat groups to talk. WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "Feels good! My contribution points are sitting right at 10,000, ascending straight into the upper crust! (grins)" Kuang Feng: "I'm at 12,000. Saving contribution really pays off." Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes: "Damn, I'm still 2,000 short. How did you guys grind so fast?!" Jieyan: "Exactly! I only just reached Citizen. You grinding gods are way too hardcore! QAQ" Ye Shi: "Awesome, can buy land again! (doge)" Citizen rank required 2,000 contribution points, while Intermediate Citizen was roughly five times that. However, this did not mean reaching Intermediate Citizen was five times harder, because as rank increased, quest rewards scaled up in tandem. If one grinded seriously, it took about a month to reach; playing casually took two or three months. Daily activity alone gave a baseline of 120 points, not to mention that after LV5, many quests jumped to the 200–500 tier. As long as gear and level were up to par, contribution racked up quite quickly. For example, the group leader and dog mods had been constantly running the greenhouse ruins dungeon lately, pulling in four-figure payouts in silver coins and contribution, with contribution slightly higher. On average, peak daily income reached 600 contribution, and even low days brought around 400. Some crafting players were in a similar boat. Mosquito, for instance, had ongoing warehouse orders to produce nitrocellulose, which was constantly in high demand. Especially after the regional reputation system was introduced in the 0.8 update, which unlocked material donations, giving crafting players another avenue to grind contribution. Donating strategic supplies not only earned regional reputation for the "Capital," but also yielded general contribution points for the faction! Ten thousand contribution really wasn't that much. The topic soon shifted to the newly added class system and skill proficiency system. Fang Chang: "I just logged into the game earlier, and my Archery proficiency was actually level 4." Lao Bai: "Looks like past proficiency was counted." Fang Chang: "To be precise, it's likely proficiency accumulated after getting the VM. We can boldly guess that our current skill levels might have been designed based on that behavioral data." Ye Shi: "Proof confirmed that the Administrator gathers our personal data through the VM. (doge)" Kuang Feng: "By the way, Fang Chang, what classes are you planning to take?" Fang Chang: "Intermediate Citizens can carry three. For me, tentatively Hunter, Soldier, and Prospector." Kuang Feng: "Not taking Scavenger?" Fang Chang: "Not enough slots, nothing I can do. Hunter is a must—a money-printing machine. Just for the hunting reward bonus, it's worth it. Soldier goes without saying, probably the darling of this patch. Didn't they just introduce that Bone Chewer Tribe? It'll definitely come in handy. And Prospector needs no explanation—the ecological lab ruins will probably be a high-yield dungeon too." Jieyan: "Big boss! What class is good for a newbie? QAQ" Fang Chang: "You're Constitution-type, right? If you were Strength-type, you could equip Woodcutter first to grind your strength stat. For Constitution and Perception, equip Scavenger—it's a jack-of-all-trades class. Once you reach Citizen, you can add Hunter or Soldier, depending on how you want to play this patch." Ye Shi: "Picking trash is the GOAT! I don't care, I'm taking Scavenger no matter what. (doge)" Scavenger Lv99: "Who's calling me???" Ye Shi: "Whoa! You're still in this group." Scavenger Lv99: "Damn it! Listen to yourself, is that how you talk to a friend?" Ever since that last battle, this lizard bro had been "hibernating" and rarely popped up in the group chat. Seeing him after so long, Ye Shi actually felt a touch of warmth. Kuang Feng: "By the way, have you guys checked out the new map?" Fang Chang: "I was just planning to go. Want to team up?" Kuang Feng: "Let's go!" Lao Bai: "Huh? Don't you have class in a bit?" Kuang Feng: "No classes this morning. I can play until 12:00 before logging off." Ye Shi: "What a coincidence, I don't have classes all day. I can treat myself to the whole day. (doge)" Lao Bai: "You'd better pace yourself, kid. Don't play games all day. If you don't get a girlfriend in college, watch out for getting scammed once you enter society." Ye Shi: "Heh, why date someone? Is eating good food not great, or are games not fun? The 3D world is pure crap. You guys go compete in the rat race; I just need Xiaoyu. (doge)" Kuang Feng: "That sentence alone is enough to get you locked up." Ye Shi: "Hey, stop picking on me. When I go to the cafeteria, underclass girls still ask for my WeChat from time to time. What about you guys? Almost thirty, logging in on schedule every day to play games, so disciplined you don't have a sex life. Is lying flat like this really appropriate?" Fang Chang: "Tsk, kick this guy." Kuang Feng: "+1. And it's not that I don't want to, I just find it dull and boring." Lao Bai: "Let me open a poll." [Group Leader initiated a poll: Should we kick Eat Shit? 1. Yes, 2. Agreed] Ye Shi: "Damn! Where's the friendship? Also, why the hell are both options kicking me?!" Scavenger Lv99: "Hahahahaha, who told you to draw aggro? Serves you right!" They were all old friends, so it was just casual banter; naturally, no one was actually going to kick him. The group leader had things to attend to during the day and didn't log in with them. Fang Chang, Kuang Feng, and Ye Shi ate breakfast, agreed on a time, put on their helmets, and quickly logged back in. They thought there would be a long line in front of the Floor B2 elevator tower, but when they reached the hall, they found fewer people than expected. Taking a closer look—well, well, an emergency stairway had been added right beside the elevator tower! Hadn't there been a solid wall there before? It seemed the game operators had also realized the elevator's throughput bottleneck inside the shelter. With Floor B3 unlocked, players who didn't want to wait for the elevator could now move between opened floors via the stairs. If only they could upgrade that elevator outside as well! Arriving at Floor B3. Fang Chang looked around, rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, and gave his evaluation. "The layout here looks quite similar to Floor B2." Ye Shi chimed in, "You can't just say similar—it's practically identical." Kuang Feng looked toward a nearby wall, where a floor plan was displayed. "There are still some differences. Look at the corridor between Sector A and Sector B. At the end of the corridor on Floor B2 was a locked warehouse. But in the same spot on Floor B3, the space is clearly several times larger, and there are several more explorable areas." "Yeah, I noticed that too," Fang Chang nodded. "Looks like the core area of the new floor is right there... Let's head over and take a look." With that, Fang Chang took the lead, guiding the other two down the corridor. Passing through Sector A and Sector B, the first room they passed was white. Judging from the operating table-like recliner in the center, as well as the layout and interior decor, it seemed to be an infirmary or something similar. When the three stood at the doorway, two female players—one with chin-length hair and the other with a high ponytail—were already inside. Looking around, Sisi remarked in surprise, "It's actually an infirmary, and it kinda feels like a medical lab too... Wait, that inner door can't be opened?" Tail: "Huh? How do you know so much, Sisi? Do you visit often?" Sisi cast a sidelong glance at Tail. "You could say that, but I go to treat patients." Although it was the rather low-profile pathology department, where she dealt with formaldehyde more than living people every day, it still barely counted as treating patients, right? Tail: "Doctor! I'm sick, take a look at me!" Sisi listlessly extended both hands, making a spooky clawing motion. "I examine brains. You have to be cut open first." Tail: "!!! ∑(°Д°ノ)ノ" Sisi: "Eww, how can you make emoticons in the game?" Watching the two behind the glass partition, the three gentlemen fell silent for a moment and mutually agreed not to disturb them. Fang Chang: "Let's visit somewhere else." Ye Shi: "Agreed." Kuang Feng didn't speak, but nodded. The three continued forward, next passing a cultivation zone bursting with sci-fi flair. Not a single grain of dirt could be seen in the entire cultivation zone, only planting units shaped like aquariums—or so the official website's lore seemed to call them. Kuang Feng glanced at his VM and was surprised to find that the mini-map had updated with the names of every facility along with brief descriptions of their functions. It seemed this Alpha 0.9 update hadn't just added the class system, but had also stealthily modified several in-game settings. Not bad. At least they didn't have to rely entirely on their imagination anymore! "Looking at the map on the VM, this seems to be a cultivation zone... theoretical planting area of 50 mu." "Are there really 50 mu here?" "There are 50 shelf-like vertical planting units. I'm guessing each vertical unit equates to one mu of land." Wait, since they already had the greenhouse ruins, was there still a need for a facility like this? Or did this place house a seed bank storing pre-war crop seeds? Fang Chang pondered inwardly. Not far away, Makka Pakka was hugging a vertical planting unit, incoherently excited, babbling about who-knew-what. Standing next to him appeared to be the avid angler, Cut the Crap. "Get lost! Don't you dare touch my land!" "What land? This is clearly a fish tank!" "Does any fish tank in your house look like this?!" "%¥#@!" The three exchanged glances, tacitly deciding not to disturb the pair, and walked on. Further ahead was a very small room, with a radiation hazard symbol stamped on the entrance. "This seems to be the power room?" Checking against the text on his VM, Fang Chang said thoughtfully, "According to the official lore compendium, it should be the place where the fusion reactor is housed?" Ye Shi looked around and muttered, "There doesn't seem to be much to see here, and the open area is tiny... I thought we'd get to see inside the reactor." Fang Chang: "After all, cutting-edge tech that surpasses reality isn't easy to fabricate in a sci-fi game. Usually they just toss you a bunch of models and let you imagine the rest." The reactor wasn't inside this narrow room of under twenty square meters. In front of them stood a very thick wall and a closed alloy door. On the alloy door was a small observation window, through which metal scaffolds and the partial outline of what looked like a controllable fusion reactor could be seen behind the wall. Kuang Feng stepped forward, curiously leaning in for a closer look, and gave the door a gentle push. Yet the door remained utterly motionless, as if welded to space itself. Maybe this part was just a backdrop texture? Or had the operators not figured out how to write the lore yet, or simply didn't plan to waste time on trivial details? Seeing no reaction no matter what he tried, Kuang Feng drew his hand back, wearing an expression of regret. "A pity." While he didn't expect the developers to come up with any mind-blowing concepts, dealing with something related to his field inevitably stoked his curiosity. If only he could see what it looked like inside. ... While the players were exploring the new content of Alpha 0.9, Chu Guang, the Administrator of the entire shelter, was standing in the final area of Floor B3's "functional zone"—a warehouse that had not yet been opened to the players. Inside the warehouse sat two "black boxes," one large and one small. [Item: Black Box] [Designation: NO. 11] [Function: Production of Vital Signs Monitors] [Instructions: Place in an atmospheric environment, connect to power, input 3L of water, 300g of aluminum, 200g of iron, 100g of copper, 50g of nickel...] [Output: Vital signs monitors, organic/inorganic waste.] —— [Item: Black Box] [Designation: NO. X] [Function: Hibernation Pod for Clones] [Instructions: Place in an atmospheric environment, connect to power, input 100L of water, 50kg of aluminum, 30kg of iron, 5kg of copper, 100g of nickel, 8g of gold...] [Output: Hibernation pods for clones, organic/inorganic waste.] The smaller black box was only the size of an ordinary suitcase, similar in specifications to the one he had found in Vault 117. The larger one, however, was less a box than a small sedan. At the same time, a pale blue window hovered before Chu Guang—data cards projected onto his field of vision by the Administrator system. Walking over to the box designated NO. X, Chu Guang pulled out an instruction manual from a palm-sized compartment. It was drawn in simple diagrams that even an illiterate could understand. However... Nowhere did it explain what this thing was actually used for. Turning the manual over and over in his hands, Chu Guang's face took on a strange expression. Just then, Xia Yan leaned in from the side and voiced the question he was thinking: "Hibernation pod for clones?" "Ugh, what on earth is this thing even used for?"