Linkrealms Closed Beta starting 8/29

What exactly is a “Realm”, why the name “Linkrealms”?

The world of Linkrealms is divided into connected areas called “realms”. Each realm aside from public ones (such as NPC towns and dungeons) contains a portion of land which can be claimed by the players (one user = one realm). If a player owns a realm, he can customize it using the Realm Editor. A realm can include a home to store & display one's belongings, a garden for farming and livestock, or both. The Realm Editor comes with a very large library of graphics, covering multiple themes & styles that allow each player to create a truly unique environment.

Each realm is visible & available to other players whether the owner is logged in or not, 24 hours a day. Players & creatures can wander through the realm, and the owner's crops continue to grow. The maximum level of protection a player can set on his own realm depends on the server's ruleset (soft or hardcore PvP).

On Linkrealms, the progression of a characters is not based on its level, but rather on its skills. Each skill grows with use - for instance, using a sword to fight against a monster or another players will make the sword user's skill Severing grow. The highest level any skill can currently reach is 100 (10,000 points), although this cap can be passed by equipping some special items. Moreover, the sum of the levels of all skills cannot be higher than 700 (70,000 points).

Current Skill Archetypes:

Weapon Skills
Magic Skills
Crafting Skills (not counted toward skill cap, so you can max all of these)
Regeneration Skills
Rogue Skills
General Skills (currently only Prospecting)

http://wiki.linkrealms.com/view/Skill

Dungeons are unique points of interest in the world of Linkrealms. They're different from Hotspots in that they aren't located directly on the world map but on separate realms - often below ground level.

Dungeons can usually be accessed through a unique entrance located in a world map realm, aside from special ones that can be reached through peculiar methods such as Traveling Maps.

Even if not located on the main world map, Dungeons in Linkrealms are never instantiated. What this means is that different players or groups willing to run the same Dungeon have to either reach an agreement to share the progress and the rewards, or fight each other off (if the Dungeon features Open PvP or the users are playing on the Phoenix server).

Currently there are three types of dungeons in Linkrealms:

Linear Dungeons, in which the user has to progress through a series of locations (rooms, gardens, etc) to be able to reach the end of the dungeon. Access to the next location usually requires killing all the creatures in the current one, solving puzzles, or a combination of the two. The end of the dungeon often features one or more Boss monsters.

Phase Dungeons, in which the user is free to move through the same location (often fairly large) and has to battle creatures of increasing power until a Boss monster is spawned. Creatures in Phase dungeons often appear in waves, with each wave comprising a couple different monster types.

Regular Dungeons, that feature no specific progression (or anyway not of the kind described above). The player can usually enter this type of dungeon freely and just slay various monsters or minor Bosses.

It seems that Linkrealms also has specific server rulesets. This is what I imaged PoE's private/paid leagues to be like. Here are two of the simple rulesets:

Classic Ruleset:

- PvP restricted to the Stone Abyss dungeon and the Mount Viscous area (about 10-15% of the whole game world);
- Player looting possible only in the areas mentioned above and limited to certain item types (e.g. money, resources, foods/drinks);
- Player-owned land can be made secure by banning other players and by restricting access to cultivations.

Hardcore Ruleset:

-PvP free for all in the whole world besides a few protected areas (NPC towns and the starting zone);
-Player looting possible in the whole world besides protected areas and including equipment items;
-Possibility to temporarily bless equipment items through Bless Scrolls;
-Player-owned land can only be secured through doors and keys.