From the Desk of Zane Wyndham: EQUINOX

Good afternoon everyone. I write to you today with very exciting news regarding the future of NirvanaOnline and Network Nirvana as a whole. Over the last two years we've been forced to reexamine every aspect of NirvanaOnline and our business model as a whole, slowly moving to a more online experience. Running Minecraft workshops during a pandemic hasn't been easy, and with fewer library clients than before the pandemic we've had to introduce a few new features and changes to our business model to stay profitable. Our player numbers in between workshops have been stronger than ever, and we want to capitalize on that aspect of our business. What does this all mean? It means that we're going to be doubling down on our online experience while still running workshops through our library partners around Iowa and beyond. This is a new transition and an overall new state of Nirvana that we call: EQUINOX!

Essentially what we're doing with this transition is a proper relaunch of NirvanaOnline. When we originally launched NirvanaOnline at the Cedar Falls Public Library in June of 2016, we didn't really have the chance to ring it in with all the fanfare, pomp, and circumstance that we would have liked to. Since then, we've been committing to improving the core experience of NirvanaOnline and adding hundreds of hours of new content every year to keep even our most dedicated players busy with quality content that can be experienced either solo or with friends. I'll be the first to admit that we haven't been the best when it comes to advertising our product and thus we've been slow to attract new players to NirvanaOnline outside of our library workshops. With our EQUINOX re-release we'll be changing all of that, all while reinvigorating the core experience of NirvanaOnline by making some long-overdue changes to the central systems of the game. This will all be wrapped up nicely in a bow made of our new advertising model. From here on out you're going to start seeing NirvanaOnline on any site where you see Minecraft creations being posted. Reddit posts and articles on Planet Minecraft are already being prepared. We've worked extremely hard on NirvanaOnline over the years, and it's time to properly show it off.

From here on out we're making a commitment to structuring our development time equally between creating new content, improving the core experience of Nirvana, and working on advertising and spreading NirvanaOnline to new parts of the state, and even the world! We've already spent an incredible amount of time investing in content for the game, with over 800 hours of it already live in Nirvana right now. With the upcoming release of Nirvana's next Game World, we're anticipating another 200 hours to hit servers in early June, so now it's time to focus on the core of the game as well as the promotion of everything we've built. This also comes with a commitment to make the game more welcoming to new players with a variety of overhauls to our Player Onboarding Program coming between now and June.

Up next, we have a breakdown of some of the most common questions you're likely going to have, and a better explanation of why we're doing this and what this means going forward. Read on at your leisure and find out what we have planned for the EQUINOX update.

If you'd like to know what exactly is on the way in terms of content and updated Quality of Life features, check out the article here.

What does this mean for NirvanaOnline's existing experience?

NirvanaOnline's current experience has been drastically improved by the EQUINOX update with more streamlined code and a better explanation of gameplay mechanics with a reworked onboarding program and updated loot tables and entity spawning. Essentially, everything you know and love about NirvanaOnline will only be improved by the update. No content is getting retired with this update, we're just making the experience more streamlined for you. For more information check out the article here.

Will I lose all my stuff when NirvanaOnline relaunches on February 1st?

Nope! This update will not reset anyone's inventory or account progress!

Will there be downtime while this update is applied?

NirvanaOnline servers will go offline for a period of 24 hours, beginning at noon on January 31st and ending at noon on February 1st when the update will be fully applied and go live. This allows us time to kick out all of the bugs and make sure we're delivering the most polished update possible!

Will the EQUINOX update cost money?

Nope! The EQUINOX update is a totally free Quality of Life update to the game and exists to improve the overall health of the game for years to come. There are a couple things in the update that you may choose to spend Vegnacite on, but as always Vegnacite can still be earned in-game without spending a single cent if you should choose!

Why are you doing this?

The EQUINOX is meant as a total refresh for NirvanaOnline to improve the overall lifespan of the game and to make it easier to attract new players to the game. We decided that it was time to grow our audience in a big way and pairing a massive rewrite of the game's code with a relaunch of our overall web presence and advertising plans seemed like the best possible way to go about it! New players will enter NirvanaOnline the best, most polished, and most stable state it's ever been in!

How long has this been in the works for?

To make the EQUINOX update happen, we had to rewrite 80-85% of all of the game's code we've written over the last 6 years, so it's been a few months in the making. It took a small army of developers, interns, and technicians to get to where we are currently at, but you could say that we've been building to EQUINOX since day one.

How much new content is being added with this update?

In terms of actual content, we estimate that we've added somewhere around 20-30 hours of content to the game with EQUINOX, but the majority of the overhaul is focused on making existing content more self-explanatory and easier for new players to experience. The update is also designed to help our self-driven players experience new adventures and pursuits with the Fisherman's Guild, the Hunter's Guild, and the Slasher's Guild. Between the three Guilds and the self-driven pursuits introduced between the three, we estimate that each of them adds 80-100 hours of game time before obtaining every reward, defeating every beast, catching every fish, and collecting every Title.

When does EQUINOX go live?

February 1st, 2022!

What's next after EQUINOX?

The Season of Babel will be running until April 2022, and after that, we'll be focusing on GW22 and all of the amazing things we have for the next Summer of Nirvana. Until then, we'll have new Big Game Hunt targets releasing for the Hunter's Guild and new rewards unlocking for the Fisherman's Guild and Slasher's Guild with new challenges available for the latter. Stay tuned for more information and updates after EQUINOX hits the live servers on February 1st!

What's GW22?

GW22 is the codename for NirvanaOnline next Game World releasing in 2022. More information on that will be releasing in April, so keep your eyes peeled to the NirvanaOnline Discord server, which you can join at https://discord.gg/gdbBqT8!

How can I subscribe to NirvanaOnline if I'm not near a participating library?

You can subscribe to NirvanaOnline by heading to our Patreon page here and pledging $5 a month. This money will help us to continue to create new content and exciting new levels for you in the future. After your done with Patreon you'll be contacted within a few hours with information on how to get connected and we'll add you to the guest list!

Is there a Free Play Week happening right now?

Yes! NirvanaOnline is free to play all week until the EQUINOX update takes servers offline on January 31st at noon! Just log into NirvanaOnline with the server address "NirvanaOnline.beastmc.com" and start adventuring right away!

Thank you everyone for all of your support over the years, and we hope that you'll continue to join us for many, many years to come! We've got some awesome plans in store for you, so stay tuned for what surprises are just around the corner!