Q: When's the last time I can get a free level?

A: EDIT, 5:00 PM EST: Correct answer from the Lord of the Underdark:

"If you gain 47 naturally in your cycle, you can still gain a Free Level to 48. If you gain 47 via Free Level XP, you can't gain free exp any further, as you would need to gain a natural level.

"What it boils down to is that it is subjective by your character's progress if you can ding 48 on Free Level XP. The last *guaranteed* level you can receive Free Level XP is 46."

EDIT, 5:30 PM EST: Sanya here, there's a million exceptions at the top of the system and I'm trying to head off appeals and confusion. Sorry in advance for making it worse!

Here are the examples that should clarify the situation:

I am level 46. I gained 46 via Free Level XP last cycle. I happily whack stuff until I ding 47. It has been the required number of days since my last free level, so I am eligible for free experience equal to that of the points needed to get me from 47 to 48. I get a free level that takes me to 48. I am not eligible for free experience again on this character.

I am level 46. I gained 46 via Free Level XP last cycle. I happily whack stuff until I ding 47. It has NOT been the required number of days since my last free level was granted, so I do not get free experience. I am not eligible for free experience again on this character.

I am level 45. I gained 45 via Free Level XP last cycle. I happily whack enough stuff to get to level 46 AND 47 over the course of the week. It has been the required number of days to get free experience, so I am eligible for  free experience... but it's not enough to take me to level 48, as the XP I would receive is based on the first natural level I received in the cycle: 46. The XP to go from 46 to 47 is less than the experience to go from 47 to 48. I am not eligible for free experience again on this character.

Q: WRU Autopromoter?

A: Still fried. Has anyone looked at our available Operations job openings? Because the sooner we hire those people, the sooner the Lord of the Underworld can focus on the Autopromoter and the Herald instead of, oh, keeping the servers running.

The Herald and related features are very important, but without the servers, there is no need for the Herald at all!

Q: For quite some time now people have claimed that you regenerate power faster if you have more than 50% remaining and slower if it falls below 50%.  Any truth to this or just another tale to scare my Dwarven children?

A: The Shiny New Code Overlord replied: "I'm gonna have to call shenanigans:  A player's current power level has no effect on how fast their power regenerates."

Tell your children that little dwarves who gossip grow up to drink white wine.

EDIT TO ADD, 5:06 PM EST: The Spell and Style Goddess says that your friends arguing otherwise aren't totally crazy. Before version 1.78, what you describe in your question was true. However, our team leads suggested we change it and presented reasons why we should. So we did.

Q: I have recently been re-leveling some artifacts I had at level 10, taking advantage of the trade in system implemented.

Battler I had as a 1h slash weapon, and it is now a 2h slash polearm weapon. However, it levels very very slowly now.  I've leveled it before on this character, and on other characters without problems, and a friend is currently leveling a 1h slash version of it, and its going much faster than mine.  It almost seems like the polearm version is still set to the old leveling rates of artifacts.

Do some artifacts level differently, based on what form you get them in?

(Golly, I hope not)

A: Gack, I hope not, too! And as it happens, the content team agrees. You have found a bug, or more accurately a simple bit of oversight. I apologize, and thanks a ton for letting us know. We'll have the fix in 1.83.

Q: If I roll a character on Mordred, am I locked out of the insta-dungeons?

A: The Moderately Evil Overlord confirmed that the answer is no - "Instances on Mordred are open to all.  He can use them but other people can come in behind him and gank him."

Just to be sure, I asked, "Are we talking about ALL instances? Including the task dungeons?" And the head of Camelot PQ replied "Correct.  Every Instance on Mordred. Including the throne rooms."

 ***

Lots of announcements tonight!

Last week I said there would be three more Pendragon versions, but we ended up combining two of them into next Thursday's test patch. Just keeping you posted.

April Fools! We took a few minutes to upload some special content, just for the weekend. On Mordred, personal mounts are… special. On Gaheris, we strong encourage everyone to go on epic raids to kill Legion, the dragons, Apocalypse, and more. On the RP servers, a few guards seem to have lost their minds. And on all the servers, buying a five silver horse ticket will get you a screenshot you won't ever forget. Our apologies to Monty Python. Everything will revert to normal on Monday morning.

When we put the small files up for the April Fools pranks, we also uploaded a quick hot fix: "- Players attempting the Albion Track Race quest will no longer be teleported to an incorrect location."

I got a letter from a player wondering if there was an in game way to recruit for new guild members aside from standing in crowded zones yelling. While there isn't yet a handy in game method, have you considered our Community News page? Go to the top of the Herald and click the Community News tab. There's a "submit news" button. Your news just happens to be that you're looking for three healers and two tanks.

Completely unrelated to anything else in this column, but I'd just like to give a hearty thanks and a hug to everyone who understands and uses paragraph breaks when they send feedback and questions. That is all.

More and more people seem to be wondering out on the boards if Mythic's going to be able to support Camelot and Warhammer. Guys, I promise you - we have two totally different teams for the two totally different games. Warhammer has the eighth floor of our office building, and Camelot has the seventh. We'll keep putting out patches and expansions as long as that's what the community wants. This is the game that put us on the map!

Have a great weekend, and get some great screenshots.