The original GU51 was sort of cannibalized - the fighter changes have been put on hold until further notice, and the other stuff that is mentioned below were hotfixed in on Feb. 5. They are a not-GU, basically. The upcoming Lavastorm revamp is now being considered GU51. If you're confused, don't feel bad, you're not alone. The important thing is that stuff mentioned below is now live, regardless of what it is called. :D

Maybe next month.

Just as she made the decision to procrastinate once again, a pile of books that had been teetering precariously for months finally lost the battle against gravity and attacked her. As if that had been a signal, several other items in the overflowing home also fell, and she heard an outraged caterwaul accompany one of the thumps from the music room.

Extricating herself from the attacking tomes, she poked a nose out of the library to find the cat furiously cleaning himself on the landing. No harm done, then, just his fur ruffled.

"Fine, I'll start th' cleaning next week." she mumbled heavenwards.

Another pile of books wobbled slightly, and some scrolls on top of them rattled menacingly.

"All right! All right, Bristlebane, I get th' message, ye durn trickster. Nae need tae threaten me wi' a flurry o' paper cuts! Jus' let me get some food in me an' I'll start right away!"

Rolling up her sleeves, the sturdy little halfling stomped downstairs to the kitchen to fix herself a solid snack, as well as preparing some provisions for later in the day. It was going to be a longggggg day.

Another muffled thump from upstairs was heard and she mentally corrected herself. It was going to be a long week. "Now, get out o' me head, ye durn trickster!" Mum muttered as she passed the little home altar to Bristlebane. "Go play a prank on Rodcet or summat!"

The days passed and piles of moth-eaten clothing, broken knicknacks, custom-made gear that had been outgrown and the like were tossed out or, where appropriate transmuted or sacrificed at the altar. Smaller piles of items suitable for hand-me-downs or seconhand shops were given away, or sent off to be sold on commission. Even tinier piles of items were set carefully to the side.

These where the Heirlooms. Items that had involved much hard work over time, but for one reason or another, as treasured as they were, weren't used. She had what she wanted, and then some, but, even knowing that she'd never use them, she'd held onto them. It was time to pass them on.

Since she had no children of her own, she selected various members of her extended family - nieces, nephews, second cousins, adoptees and the like and earmarked various items to different promising youngsters.

Tokens of appreciation from the Far Seas Supply Division were parceled out where they would do the most good. Void shards were also added to the pile - she was getting too old to go out adventuring, but they might make a good set of armor for one of the more active folk.

She was just, regretfully, placing a prized recipe book from Riliss on the top of the pile, when one of the above-mentioned relatives wandered in.

Fenrissa squealed. Loudly. "Oooooh! Is that the book that has the recipe for the Riliss Chicken Foot charm in it?"

"Yes, 'Rissa, but ..."

"I've always been curious about that one, but the last time I asked about it, I was told I needed more skill before I should attempt it. I've worked ever so hard since then, and I'm sure I'm adept enough to craft it. But those stubborn old iksar don't trust me enough to let me near a copy yet. Can I borrow it, pleeeeeeaaaase?"

"Actually, I was going tae gi' it tae ye, along wi' some Mara tokens, but..."

Another ear-piercing squeal - why did the young have to be so durned noisy all the time, anyway?

"Oooh, thanks ever so much! I promise I'll take good care of it!" 'Rissa snagged the book with an ungentle grab, causing Mum to flinch. "I can't wait to try it out! Fennory will be SO jealous!"

With that, the little brunette halfling turns and started to scamper from the room, only to stop dead at the doorway.

"While you're in a giving mood, Mum, I don't suppose you'd loan me the RPoD for a day, would y-"

"Out, out, OUT!"

Before Niami could work up a good head of steam over the impudence, Fenrissa continued her scamper out the door, giggling as she went. "Maybe just for an hour?"

"Och, I've created a monster.

Let's face it. Many die-hard crafters tend to be packrats, with several alts.

Many of us have bemoaned the need to grind a certain faction ... again, just to obtain a no-trade recipe book for yet another alt. We've also been heard to whimper, loudly and repeatedly, when we can't make certain Proof in the Pudding items for our "crafter epic", because the items are no trade, and the crafter is on the same account as the alt needing the item.

GU51 will introduce the concept of Heirloom items. These items, while still effectively no-trade, will be able to be transferred via the shared bank to alts on the same account.

While this will be great for adventurers, since it includes void shards (how many folks with multiple high-level alts have had to bring an alt other than the one that they wanted to work on into an adventuring mission, just to help make the group more balanced? {raises hand}), it also has benefits for crafters.

Among the crafting-related items that will be impacted:

• Far Seas Supply Division tokens
• Void Shards
• RoK faction recipe books (for special RoK faction recipes)
• Advanced Level 70-79 recipe books offered by the RoK factions (Advanced 70-74 in Rillis/Bathezid, 75-79 in Danak)
• Proof in the Pudding items

I will update this list if we get further details before it goes live, as there are still changes and tweaks going on with the GU50 code on Test.

In addition to the addition of the heirloom tag, there will be other several smaller crafting-related changes in GU50:

• Bountiful Harvest messages for roots and wood should no longer lump the yield message for the original harvest and the bountiful into one message. (So, if you harvest 2 wood, then get a bountiful of 1, you'll see the message for both, instead of a combined message saying you harvested 3 wood.)
• The gathering animation has been changed a bit
• Guild fuel merchants will now buy back tier 1 fuels
• The various crafting items with "Tools of the Trade" set bonuses will now be slightly different for the different sets. This impacts the earring (chest drop)/toolbelt (faction purchase) sets from Mara. The level 55 Tradesman's still has a 5% durability bonus for the set, the level 65 Artisan's set now has a 7% durability increase for the set bonus, and the level 75 Crafter's set has a 9% durability increase for the set bonus.

In addition, the Erollisi Day (Valentines Day) events are currently being tested on Test. A preview for the crafting portion of this limited time live event will be available soon, and a link provided here.