Welcome to part 2 of the Siena the Queen blog! Today we will look at the new linking (or you could call a broadcast system as well) functions, another of the new pieces of content which may not be new to the MMO genre but add much needed features to the game. The first feature allows you to mark out specific areas on any map, and send that as a link on the chat. I will try to explain this as best as I can, but you really have to go through the process yourself to understand how simple it is.

1. Open the GPS map by pressing 'M'
2. Find the map and the location you want, hold down the ctrl button, and rightclick on the map.
3. You will see the map name appear on the chat window, as a link. If you press enter to send the chat the link will become visible to other people, for example selecting a spot anywhere in Pontus Ferrum will broadcast 'Pontus Ferrum' as a link in the chat.

The link visible in the chat box



4. Anyone who now clicks on that link will have it marked on their map with a green cross.



The mark visible on the Pontus Ferrum map


5. The link obeys the rules of whichever chat you have active when you create it. Guild chat will be visible to your guild only, while using the shout will make it visible to the entire channel.


You also have several options available on the these links, once they are displayed on your map. You just need to righclick on the link to bring up another menu, allowing you to delete the link, edit the name, and so on. The Mini-Map option creates a point on your GPS at the top right of your screen, allowing you to view the point as if it was a quest point (only it will be displayed in purple, not red). The Chat option allows you to re-send the link in the chat box.



Menu on the map-link


Of course, this feature by itself is not that useful to the general playerbase, although I do think it will make the job of the Game Advisors much easier if they need to help a player find a specific quest location. Of course, with a bit of thinking this system can easily be used in Tierra Gloriosa (the war fought between the two nations, 6 times per day on a special map), especially if you have 5 seconds or so to organise yourself.


You can edit the tags and resend it, so that players will see a link with whatever name you gave it. For example:





or, even in Tierra Gloriosa





That is one possible use for this, and it is a minor enough function to play with. It is also directly connected to the second part of the new Linking system - showing off your items in the trade. Let's imagine you've dropped something really rare, and you want to show it off to your friends, or everyone around you. Simply locate the item in your inventory, hold down ctrl and rightclick on it, and you should see the item name displayed as a link in the chat. It's exactly the same as the previous map-link examples. Any player that now clicks on your link will have a message box appear with the full details of your item, exactly as if they were holding their mouse pointer over it. This box will be visible until they close it again, and you can display absolutely anything like this, even if the item is account bound, or undroppable.



Showing of your latest rare drop



Or simply something that is not droppable


I think with this blog I've covered most of the minor parts of the coming update. The next blog update will take a look at something a bit more exciting, discussing the new Blended Runes, which has the ability to give you some really impressive stat boosts, or some of the new dungeons. As always feel free to ask questions in the comments section related to the blog, and I will try my best to answer them.

Useful Links:

Cabal Online: www.cabalonline.com

Cabal Online EU Forums:  forum.cabalonline.com/index.php

The Tester's Blog:  forum.cabalonline.com/blog.php