Hi.

The gamemodes, as they are, don’t seem sustainable for growing the server. We’ve seen discussion about this and have been planning on what to do next. We also thought that involving the community in what’s going on behind the scenes would be a good idea.

So here is what is up, my fellow gamers.

Starting with our current gamemodes:

Search and Destroy, the main attraction of Athios and nostalgic link to many for a server long gone… doesn’t cut it.

By its base design, it needs a decent amount of players for maximum fun -- 20 or so, ideally more… Ember Hours helps, but that’s more of an event than a gamemode.

It is not friendly to new players at all. Most kits have something special about them that can only be learned from repeated trial and error. Learning all these kits wouldn’t be too difficult, but there are no respawns. Make one mistake and it’s over, which is very easy to do as a new player. It’s not very encouraging. It’s something experienced players have gotten used to, but a new player is far more likely to play a more forgiving or fast-paced gamemode.

We struggled with content creators on this as well. Even when we managed to tear one away from Hypixel’s talons, they either struggled to understand and play the game themselves, or their viewers did. Again, not an encouraging system.

SnD needs players, which we couldn’t get for that gamemode. Okay, what then?

Our next move was to revive Disasters.

We planned that it’d be playable and fun, even with only 1 player. And I like to think that’s still true, though it does get lonely. It’s more fast paced compared to SnD as well, with games taking 3 minutes at the most. The base objective is fairly simple as well. Things happen. Survive them! The disasters have quite a bit of variety to keep it fresh every round, as well.

But it hasn’t popped off either. So what’s the issue? It could be a lack of endgame goal or something else to grind for. There wasn’t any real meaning to winning or losing beyond what you gave it. No reason to keep playing. It’s very much a minigame, rather than a gamemode.

Finally, on a server of our current scale, there’s always downtime between games. If you lose, you need to wait for the rest of the current game to end. If you die in the beginning, which isn’t unlikely for a new player, it can be a long wait… Compare this to a big server, where you can join and start a new round within 30 seconds at most.

We could keep trying new content creators, but this does pose a financial risk without guarantee of returns.

So what’s next?

We wanted to make a gamemode that would address the key issues we identified with SnD and Disasters:

Playable solo or with few players
Easy to learn/simple objectives
Longterm/endgame objectives

Here’s what we have to offer on that end.

Project Pinion
(Placeholder name)

A hybrid survival/roguelite gamemode.

• In the center of town lies a tower which stretches forever into the heavens, offering fortune and danger to bold climbers.
• Gather resources in the wilds and bring them into the tower for a stronger initial advantage.
• Inside, face custom enemies and acquire special loot.
• Use your experience and items to aid in future runs.
• Buy and upgrade a house or free build on a plot in the town.
• Play solo or party up with friends.

Here’s some more details about the tower:

We plan on it being split into multiple themed sections. Climbing the entirety of the tower in one session is not advised.
As you ascend, enemies get tougher and loot gets more valuable.
Floors within sections will be procedurally generated.
Should you die, you will be sent to the tower’s entrance with only what you brought.

We’ve got a lot more planned, but who knows what’ll happen during the testing cycle. Don’t want to promise something we can’t keep!

On that note. Something we do want to have in the future is a beta for this project, at least the tower portion. We’re planning to get you a playable beta by Summer 2022.

What does this mean for SnD and Disasters?

Both gamemodes are in a mostly balanced state, though balance patches are of course possible. Bugs are also there. To be fixed. There is currently one major update for SnD currently being worked on, focusing on modernizing its aesthetics with titles, subtitles, action bars, and all that fun stuff. (Note: Can be disabled via /prefs) Let’s face it. SnD was a gamemode that came out sometime before 2013 and it sure looks the part! We’ve already fully planned out on what changes will be happening, so you can expect the Aesthetic Update in the “near” future.

Once this is done we’ll be focusing all attention on Project Pinion. SnD and Disasters will continue to be maintained and balanced, but we aren’t planning on any more major updates for a while. Expect to see map rotations continue, as we’re still accepting submissions for both modes.

Additionally, since we expect Project Pinion to have a longer development time, we’re committing to consistent design and development updates. We want to keep you all in the loop and get your feedback along the way.

This is a big move we’re making. We started as a small community of gamers who grew up on SnD, and we’ve grown to have some big goals. Thanks to everyone who’s stuck around so far, and to everyone who’s joining us on this. We’ll see you in the Tower!

Hey guys, apologies for the lack of notice for this update but everything below is live now!

SnD

Death God - Added Death God to the kit pool

Pyro - Armor enchantments decreased to Blast Prot 6, Fire Prot 4, Projectile Prot 2, Prot 1

These changes are intended to revert a past overbuff and make Pyro not seem so tanky overall.

Centurion - Removed Sweeping Edge from sword (it didn’t do anything)
Added Sharpness 1 to the sword
Decrease Axes effectiveness against the shield from 5 energy to 3
Ghost Punches no longer stop the shields hit points from regenerating
While blocking Centurion now gains 40% damage resistance

Now Centurion will feel a lot safer behind their shield, as they should.

Burst - Bursts recoil damage has been adjusted slightly
When fully overheated, requires 2 seconds before cooling down
Burst dies if they shoot while overheated now
Added proper msgs in chat for the new feature

Burst has wielded a powerful weapon and top tier armor for a long time, its self damage mechanic hasn’t been enough to offset that. We’ll be watching over these changes to see if further adjustment is needed.

Ghost - Changed their sword enchantment to Sharpness 1
Ghosts now make footstep sounds

Ghost has always been a staple kit, these changes intend to align with the overall archer nerf and push ghost into a supporting role.

Arbalist - Armor reduced to the following
Leather Helmet
Iron Chestplate
Chain Leggings
Chain Boots

Shortbow - Armor reduced to the following
Leather Helmet
Iron Chestplate
Chain Leggings
Chain Boots

Archers deal an infinite amount of high damage while in total safety. Testing the waters with a general armor nerf, we’ll look at the “infinite” part of their ability if a future change is needed

Longbow - Reduced Punch 3 to Punch 2

With the updated combat system Longbow was really flinging the enemy, this is just meant to push it back in the other direction.(Note: This iteration of Longbow is still stronger than the pre-combat update Longbow)

Porcupine - Removed Thorns, being hit with arrows now increases your swords damage
Gain .5 dmg per arrow capped at 12 arrows (ouch)
Armor Enchants changed to the following, Projectile Prot 8

Porcupine has always been weird since your thorns would override your sword's damage, no thorns no problem. This does slightly change how the kit plays, but overall you still want to get shot and then head into battle!

Dwarf - Removed Slowness 1 after you delevel

General Changes

-Compass now accurately tracks invisible kits

-The last man standing fuse is now a one time use

-You can now place crates (and other killstreaks) under blocks, they’ll travel through as if the blocks above were never there

Maps

Based on the map poll we put out,,, a while ago(sorry). We’re rotating out a few maps

Removed
-Tashic Ruins
-Fancy Mansions
-Tropical Resort
-Boreal Crest
-Relic
-Valley of Death
-Coconut Mall
-Solluna Town
-[REDACTED] Laboratories

Getting into the Halloween spirit here are some spookified maps being put into the map rotation for the season.

Added
-Valley of Despair
-Dank Britches
-Nevermore Nights
-Nadir
-China’s Hell
-Haunted Ruins

Oh and the Halloween Cosmetics are available again!

We’ll be hosting some Ember Hours tomorrow at 8pm EST, hop on to see the new changes and earn some boosted credits!

This is a smaller update than we’ve released in the past, a lot of this was stuff we’ve been trying to get together for a while but other things had priority like.... the Aesthetic Update which will be following this one and like the update name states will be overhauling Athios and SnD especially to the aesthetic standards of todays minecraft servers, more details coming soon.

There has been some hot discussions recently about where Athios is and where it should be going, don’t worry all of this is being discussed internally and we want to let you guys know once we come to a conclusion.

Special thanks to @shadowstarcat for the banner image!

Hi. Been a while, huh? Hope you enjoyed the summer! There’s still some to it, but September is starting soon, and with it, both the school season and the actual season of fall. (or autumn i guess)

We’ve been doing a lot of planning on what we want to get done in the somewhat later future. We’ve also done a lot of planning on what’s coming in the very near future.

New Disasters

Bear Traps
Traps have been scattered across the map. A result of carelessness, or was it intentional?
Watch your step, or else you’ll be ensnared and injured!

Creeper
Aw man, there sure are a lot of creepers around. Their explosions won’t damage you, but the landing might!

Crumble
The very world crumbles away! Seek refuge in the center of the map.

Famine
You are very hungry. Don’t let anyone take your only food, or else you’re going to starve!

Geysers
Hot steam erupts from beneath the earth. Watch the ground or be launched into the air!

Melting
The sun’s oppressive heat intensifies. Buildings start to melt away. The heat intensifies. Houses slowly melt away. The heat intensifies. The ground melts away. The heat intensifies.
(Thanks MinerBat!)

Moon Gravity
Gravity is taking a vacation. Jump higher, float longer! ...Move slower.

Parasitic Mold
Patches of nasty mold infect the world, appearing and disappearing at random. Kind of gross. Don’t breathe it in. Or stand near it.

Rush Hour
They’re very late for work. Don’t get in the way.

Static Shock
The smell of ozone fills the air. Sparks gather near you. It’d be best not to get close to anyone. (Physically)

Termites
This place is infested. They’re eating everything! They’re eating everyone! Get out of there!
(Thanks MinerBat!)

Disaster Updates

Power-ups now have more flare to them.

The map name is now in the sidebar.

Blizzard
Now requires a minimum of 2 players to be chosen.

Borders
There is now 10 seconds of downtime between cycles.

Chicken Chase
Removed. Not a popular or fun disaster. Also had a few mini-disasters where Chickens would spawn and perish immediately.

The Floor is Lava
Water mostly no longer turns to obsidian. Tracks block updates between cycles, so destroyed or converted blocks no longer turn into lava.

Instability
A boss bar has been added to make it more clear on how to survive.

Plague
Cures now spawn in addition to power-ups, rather than instead of. Spawns 5 every 30 seconds at power-up locations and is indicated with a cyan particle.

Search and Destroy

@toomuchzelda has created a very interesting PvP system. We’re looking into adding it and are currently testing it on Athios. Thanks to him for making it, and for everyone in the community who’s helped him!

We’re looking to do a larger balance update for the gamemode in the near future as well.
If you have any special feedback, send it @woaxa’s way...

Maps

SnD

Taragarh Fort by @____EL_UBRE____ - Accepted

DIS
Atlantis by @Espios - Accepted
Jurassic Park by @MinerBat - Accepted
Iron Works by @tababysuper and Laddoss - Accepted

KASA Space Center by @MinerBat - Back in testing due to new update
Inferno by @Espios - Testing
Taragarh Valley by @____EL_UBRE____ , @Espios , @pigpig24 - Testing

Maps in testing phase not mentioned remain in testing.

Ember Hours

Huh? What’s that?

Well… “Official Gamer Hours” has been an idea for a while. We needed a bit of time to figure out how we’d do it. This is our implementation!
We’re also calling it this to not confuse it with the currently existing form of Gamer Hours, which is really any time when players are online.

Anyway. What to expect?

Rotating Schedule

Ember Hours will be at a slightly different time and day on a 4 week cycle. This is to allow for more flexibility in who can actually play! The schedule is as follows:

• Saturday 7PM EST
• Friday 3PM EST
• Friday 7PM EST
• Saturday 3PM EST

We’ll be starting it this Saturday at 7PM EST!

Active Boosters

Staff will activate boosters for more credits. Hurray for the economy..!
Sidenote, Fenix will soon start announcing boosters. We will announce when this is functional. Make sure to get the @gamer tag on the Discord, as that is where you will be notified!

In the future, there will be other things boosted as well. :)

Keeping it Fresh

If it’s the same thing every week, what makes it interesting?
We have some ideas for that. We’ll do our best to make every week distinctive, focusing on weird maps, specific free kits, or whatever else comes to mind. If you have ideas, you’re free to share them!

Release Date this Friday, August 20th!

The Future of Athios

That header probably scared you a little bit, but Athios has no plans to close or go anywhere anytime soon! You probably noticed a lack of noise from the staff team over the summer, but we’ve all been trying to enjoy ourselves before most of us head back to school. Once the school year arrives, we aim to dedicate more time to Athios and form that groove again. We have many ideas and plans for the coming updates, and are really excited to show them off. This update may not feel like the biggest thing after such a long hiatus, but we definitely still have the drive to continue delivering cool new things.

Secondly, we are going to slow down the advertising for now. Our social medias will still be active and maintained, but Athios is going to take a break from content creators. We really need the time to focus on how we will be able to maintain a bigger playerbase, and how we can achieve better retention. We’ve had highs and lows this past year as far as player count goes, and we decided the best way forward is to make sure we can steadily grow rather than create large spikes every quarter or so. We know that we can effectively get players, but can’t really keep them. Athios may not see any increase in our playerbase in the near future, but know that is intentional. We will resume with big advertisement initiatives after the coming updates.

P.S. Thanks to @Smalusion who wrote most of this update post!

1 year of Athios! Wow!

Happy birthday Fenix! It really doesn’t feel like it’s been a year, has it? And what a year it’s been… We’ve all been busy, I’m sure.

Here’s some fun stats!

From the server’s launch…

• Collectively, 23,000 hours have been logged on Athios. That's a lot of hours.
• With the force of everyone’s gaming might, 1,200,206 credits have been earned from SnD alone, along with 75,180 points.
• As of this update, 22 new SnD maps have been added to the server, counting the two in testing
• There have been 199,450 murders in SnD! So bloodthirsty!
• Over 60,000 messages have been sent on the Discord!
• I hope to have many more stats with you all.

Athios Updates


Boosters have been implemented! They will enhance the credit gain of anyone playing the selected gamemode!
Whoever uses a booster will add an hour of credit rain upon all who play, with their username boldly displayed to spread awareness of their generosity. They are available in the Athios store, though more ways of obtaining them may be in a future timeline near you…

Access these with /booster !


We’ve got some new friendly faces in the hub. They’re here to provide helpful links to wherever you may need to go! Say hello to… hm… I don’t think they have names. Just say hello! They’ll introduce themselves, eventually.
Regardless, they’ll provide players with Voting links, Discord/Forum links, a Store link, and a handy quick tutorial, to better welcome new players to the server! The tutorial is set to be expanded on in the future.

Fenix’s representative has gone on vacation for the time being.


The in-game cosmetics menu will be receiving an overhaul. No more shall you wait for RNG to bless you, for there is no more need of that. Now, all* cosmetics will be available at any time, provided you have the points to spare. Access your cosmetics through the golden ingot in your hotbar!

This part about cosmetics will be out later this week!

*Exceptions apply. Certain cosmetics are VIP-only or can only be purchased during events.

Above art by annisdying.

What’s on the SnD Side?

Kits:

Burst: Sword is now wooden

Ghost: Arrow stick time has been increased to 10 seconds. Reverts its last change

Juggernaut: Chestplate is now Netherite

Sorcerer: Barrier now applies 3 seconds of Slow, down from 5

Trooper: Regen from apples increased to 6 seconds, up from 4

Wraith: Arrow stick time has been increased to 10 seconds. Reverts its last change

Maps:

New Orleans, by Espios and xmaymayx - Testing

Shipwrecked, by Espios - Testing

We’re looking to reduce the amount of maps currently in rotation to increase the quality of gameplay. Want to help us with this decision?

Vote on this poll and let us know about your favorite maps!
All maps have been labeled with images for your voting convenience.

Click to vote! Athios SnD Maps Poll

How about Disasters?

General:

Power-ups have a firework to announce their spawn

The way Disasters are picked has been modified to discourage games where players can sit in a single spot the whole round

Bombs: A second wave of bombs will spawn halfway through the round

Cubes of Death: Takes longer to fully form

Gravity Shift: Players will begin to suffocate at high altitudes (Y100 and above)

His Gaze: More forgiving for the prompt where players must stop moving

Meteor Strike: Reduced damage radius

Plague: Cures glow, to be more easily seen from a distance

Thunderstorm: Reduced kill radius

Maps:

Complex 9 by Team ZBA - Testing

Shipyard Showdown by Espios - Testing [Not in-game yet, will be once map borders are edited]

What’s next?

There’s definitely a lot planned for the future. A lot of what we have here and in past updates is building systems for further and better expansions. There’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes. I’m still waiting for that first paycheck…

We’ve got stuff in mind to keep the server looking fresh and attractive to new players, as well as general upkeep.

But anyway.

Thank you for playing and supporting the server. We wouldn’t be here without all of you.

Party Time

Come on and join the server today for fun timez

New Gamemode: Disasters!

Take cover from the deadly Acid Rain as it melts both buildings and flesh!

Leap over great Chasms, or fall down into the earth!

Stay evasive as the Cubes of Death delete from existence whatever they capture!

Start falling up, then down, then up again as Gravity Shifts!

Hide from those not from the overworld during a corruptive Nether Invasion!

Don’t move too much, or too little, as you feel an explosive Instability within!

All these disasters and more are sure to get you in a panic!

To help you survive, pick between 6 kits and scavenge the map for 11 different power-ups.

Objective:

Survive the 3 random disasters for as long as possible. Win by surviving for 3 full minutes, or as the last player standing. Credits are granted for time survived.

Every round, 3 disasters will be selected and played. The disasters have an internal tier system that discourages having multiple super deadly (or super inconvenient) disasters playing at the same time, to keep the overall difficulty more balanced. There is also a system that prevents certain disasters from ever activating at the same time.

Kits:

Players are given access to several kits to give a starting advantage:

• Survivor: Starts with two healing apples to recover from various ordeals. Free!
• Hoarder: Adaptive scavenger, starts with two random power-ups. Free!
• Jumper: Has two powerful leaps to take evasive action with.
• Sprinter: Given two bursts of speed to escape those that chase after it.
• Blaster: Brings a bomb to bust down barriers.
• Defender: Can channel the spirit of the tank twice to shrug off danger.

Each kit starts with a set power-up, giving players a little control over how they want to survive.

Power-ups:

Power-ups spawn across the map over time in set locations determined by a map's builders. They grant a unique, usually helpful effect, focusing on health or movement.

• Desperate Leap: A second jump.
• Hasty Retreat: A burst of speed.
• Hoarded Rations: A golden apple.
• Disposable Teleporter: TPs user to a random player.
• Barricade: A set of blocks that can be placed or destroyed, but not picked up.
• Juggernoggin: Heavy temporary protection.
• Escape Plan: An enderpearl.
• Exhausted Wand: Slow, yet steady regeneration.
• Emergency Balloons: Slowly float to safety.
• Dud Bomb: Destroys blocks, but not players.
• Instant Door: Instant tunnel.

Disasters:

Disasters range from the lethal, to the destructive, to the inconvenient. The inability to jump may not hinder much, but if the map has been ravaged by meteors, falling into a shallow hole would mean a quick death.

There are currently 31 Disasters! For details as to what each disaster does…
Now announcing: The Athios Wiki! Coming eventually.

Or, check them out in-game! (Soon)


Why Disasters?

You may be wondering… Why add a new gamemode? Search and Destroy can struggle to get players, why potentially split the playerbase?

Not to worry, for there is reason behind this decision.

• SnD is very difficult or impossible to market right now. It’s hard to find content creators who are willing to play or even understand the gamemode. You may recall gameplay where creators die very early into a match…
• It’s also a fairly difficult gamemode for new players to get into, which can dampen player retention.
• Disasters is easier to start up as fewer players are required. A game currently fits 2-12 players and is fully playable at any count, unlike SnD, a team game that needs a dozen or more to feel like a proper game.
• Sidenote: New servers will be automatically created as needed as games fill up!
• Can make for better content.
• We’re reaching a point where SnD is starting to plateau in terms of potential additions. It’s very polished and hard to come up with new ideas, while Disasters has a lot more potential.
• Disasters is a lot more fun to some, being a PvE gamemode rather than PvP

Interested in making a map? We’ll have a Map Submissions Guidelines post out soon!

That’s about it for Disasters. See you there! I’ll be the guy who dies from jumping off a four block ledge after surviving a tornado.

Search and Destroy

Yeah, we have to write stuff here too. We’re not ditching this!

Maps Accepted:

Complex 8, by @Mythless , @Elitemaster5 , and @Dave_X

Shove Castle by @Espios

Venice [2 team], also by @Espios

We’ll have a new map testing phase sometime soon! Hang on tight.

On the Kits side...

Decoy - Decoy no longer has 0% health to kits that can see health

Skinner - Disguise no longer has 0% health to kits that can see health

This is more a bug fix than a balance, but it’s worth noting!

On a final note, there is now a cool on-death effect. This applies to Disasters as well!

We’ve all been working hard on this update, so we’re very excited for everyone to see it!
See you there!

May 14.