Happy 4th of July to all our American friends and to the rest of you, greetings once again. The last month has largely been concerned with preparing the game for beta phase 0 and everyone has been working very hard. A lot of work has been going into formal battles, which we will describe later in the newsletter.

Thanks to all who turned up for the Dev Chat on Monday, I think it was quite an interesting one and it was great to see so many people there. We've also had a lot of fun looking at all the competition entries we received and we're quite amazed at what you lot get up to in your spare time! So, without further ado, the winner!

Martial arts picture competition
Congratulations to Linda Eriksson whose entry to our martial arts competition was liked by all here in the studio. It seems that with the Kittah, we have, quite literally, created a monster! Linda, your prizes are in the post.

There were four other runner-up entries we liked and they are all going to receive a poster for their troubles. I'm not quite sure I'll be the same again after seeing some of the entries, there are some crazy people out there and their demented visions have a way of sticking in the mind!

Formal battles in Dragon Empires
One feature we're keen on for Dragon Empires is our formal battle system. This is part of our Blood Circus and city capture systems where players can arrange or take part in set-piece battles with a game-like element. Early beta players will be able to create these battles anywhere and at any time.

What this means practically is that players create a formal battle between their group and up to 5 other groups. Each battle has a game element like last man standing, protect the leader, possess the item or king of the hill. Players fight inside an arena marked out by monoliths and once the battle is won the winning team is well rewarded.

Formal battles add another fun element to the game and give players an easy way of trying PvP for the first time. They also can be a field in which players and groups can become famous and feared for their organisation and team tactics. Think Gladiator with less Romans and more magic!