Our Two New Place Reviewers!

Greetings Roblox News fans! Today I bring the exciting news of two fresh, new place reviewers will be joining our prestigious ranks. You may have been aware that a few weeks ago, we published a post announcing the opening of four roles on our site. After a long period of reviewing the application and replying to certain applicants requesting for more information, we have finally come to a decision on who we have chosen to hire.

Joining Banjobug who is our newly promoted Manager of our place review department are PeerPants and theovert! Congratulations are in order for these two talented individuals! They will be producing quality place reviews, and will be coordinating with Banjobug on weekly themed reviews and conducting meetings together.

PeerPants



PeerPants is both a friendly and enthusiastic individual who enjoys expression his opinions of ROBLOX Games in the form of place reviews. His work shows a certain spark with it's quality of content and his unique writing style. He will be happy to receive place review requests from users - provided they are of good standard.

theovert


Passionate in his work, theovert shows a flare with his writing style and vocabulary. Providing an exceptional quality article in his application, he showed me that he strives to complete great articles for all users to enjoy. Also feel free to message theover with place review requests.


Congratulations once again to our new employees - our catalog analysts will be announced tomorrow. I would like to thank everyone who sent us an application and apologise for not being able to reply to every single application. They were all great and I look forward to seeing more in the future! 

Thanks,

-Arbirator
Editor of Roblox News

Gift Guesses Gift #5: Festival Gift of Group Fundraising

Greetings gift collectors of ROBLOX. Today I bring you a gift guesses post on the Festival Gift of Group Fundraising which has already been given out. The gift is currently on sale for R$75 is timed to go off-sale in around 1 day.

'Raising the roof for fundraisers. Alright. Alright.'

How was the gift obtained? 

• The gift was awarded to anyone who made an item for their group and sold at least 1 of them by December 11th, 2012. 

How do I make group items?

Although this gift achievement has passed, I believe it would worth investing in some group items to raise group funds for advertising, but also to provide uniform to your members - particularly if you are in a war group. 

1. Navigate to the 'my groups' page and select a group you own.  Click the 'create items' button on the right hand side near the top of the group page. 

2. Once clicked, you will be given the choice of either creating a shirt, a pair of pants or a t-shirt. These are then uploaded like any regular clothing item. 

3. Once you have uploaded your group item and put it on sale for a price of your choice, it will appear in the group items tab. From here you can navigate to any of your group items and configure them. 

The money raised by the group items is all added to the group fund and not the owners account. This provides an alternative means of funding for advertising of the group. 

What may be inside the gift?

Due to the word 'festive' in the gift's name, \the item inside is likely to be strongly related to Christmas and the festivities throughout. The item could relate reindeer, Christmas decorations, lights, and of course; Santa Claus. It could also have something to do with groups inside, perhaps a crown of linked ROBLOXians could be within - although, this is unlikely because the gift only costs R$75. It is most likely going to be some kind of knitted cap as a pair of Shades have already been released out of the Newshound Gift. It might even be a Christmas themed Sombrero, but hey, that's just a wild guess. 

Happy hunting!

Thanks,

-Arbirator

Editor of Roblox News 

Roblox pushes out new "featherweight" update, new era of Roblox?

As everyone who has ever played games on Roblox knows, the lag from a large amount of parts will drop your FPS like a brick dropping off of a building (get it?). However, that is all about to change as Roblox recently pushed out the new "featherweight" update which will render bricks much faster, giving a 10 to 20 time increase in performance.

The featherweight was recently hinted by ZolarKeth, co-creator of the famous zombie-survival RPG Apocalypse Rising, in a recent interview done by Roblox. If you remember a while back, Apocalypse Rising sported a larger map for a couple of weeks, however, the map was shrunken due to complaints from players not being about to handle the enormity of it. In the interview, ZolarKeth mentioned his plans for version 4.0 of his game: a better inventory system, vehicles, and "new scenery and points of cover to get behind, as well as more detailed trees and buildings."

What surprised me about that statement was that Gusmanak previously mentioned that he will not develop vehicles into the game due to lag issues, and that the only way for this addition to happen, Roblox had to dramatically decrease lag cause by parts. ZolarKeth's statement, however, mentions the addition of parts to add detail to buildings and terrain, in addition to vehicles. This hinted that the "featherweight" update was quickly approaching.

Preview of Apocalypse Rising Vehicles

Soon after on December 4th, Shedletsky (formerly Telamon) posted a thread on IronNoob (a Roblox forum) that showed his major FPS improvements when playing EBR's Block Town, all the way from 20 FPS to 300 FPS. A demo was also available to download.

At first, the demo of the "featherweight" update had many bugs, including disappearing meshes, not being able to work on some computers, headless Robloxians, etc. However, most have been ironed out for the live release of this update. The update works on all parts that are anchored, attached to an anchored part via welds, without meshes, are not made of the material "Corroded Metal." That means it will not work for meshed parts, but don't worry, Shedletsky confirmed the Roblox development team is working on it.

What Does This Mean for You?

Whether you like developing games or simply enjoying them, you can now do it more efficiently and at a higher graphical fidelity. Although the update did not directly improve the graphics by adding more shaders or better textures, it gives the content creator the option of using more parts. More parts = more detail = better looking games.

How Do I Take Advantage of the Update?

As a player, nothing much. But as a builder, there is much to do to optimize your place for the update. Here are a few questions I want you to answer.

1. Does your place primarily use bricks with "BlockMesh"?
2. Does your place use lots of "Corroded Metal" bricks?
3. Does your place have lots of unanchored parts?

If you answered "Yes" to question 1, I have a possilbe solution for you. You first need take out all the "BlockMesh" out of the bricks. Then, you can smooth out the ugly bevel edges using my tutorial and then even add a material to make it look better than before.

If you answered "Yes" to question 2, this is the solution. You could just replace the material to another material. Or you could make a texture of rust and put it on all your bricks, although it wouldn't be bumpmapped and wouldn't look so well. I recommend just sticking with it and waiting for an update to fix this.

If you answered "Yes" to question 3, there might be something you can do. If most of your unanchored parts are not moving and not attached to an anchored part, ANCHOR THEM! Quite simply really. If they need to be moving however, you have little you can do.

Have fun with a lag-free time playing the new Roblox update! And look forward to Apocalypse Rising v4.0 because it looks really fun.

-yomamadude6

Gift Guesses Gift #4: Self-Referrential GIft of Referring

Greetings gift hoarders of ROBLOXia! Today I will be gift guessing the Self-Referential GIft of Reffering.  As the name suggests, this gift is likely to be all about ROBLOX's referral system.

The referral system is simply where an individuals tells another individual about ROBLOX and how to sign up. On the last page of the registering process, you are given an option to type in the name of the user who 'reffered you'. If you fill this in; the place will receive +1 to their all time refferal count and will be a step closer to the Inviter Badge. Alternatively this gift could actually be linked with referring yourself, which is an option on the 'share' section of the site.

The description reads: 'Get the references. They're not going to get themselves.'

Here are the several possible methods of obtaining the gift:

•  As mentioned above, the gift is most likely obtained by reffering users to join ROBLOX (not to sign up for BC however - this was used as a gift back in 2009 as the Wintery Gift of Thanks). You can do this through the 'Invite A Friend' and clicking 'Email to a Friend'. Perhaps you can get some new friends to join ROBLOX! You most likely need the 'Inviter Badge' to obtain the gift - this is simple to get; just get four new users to refer you. Alternatively you may need a larger amount of referrals - perhaps between 10-20, although this unlikely. 

• With a slight difference to the method before; you may need to click the 'Email to Myself' option and then send it to your verified email address. This method is possibly hinted at by the words 'Self-Referencing' and the use of a capital 'I' within 'GIft'.                                                                                                                       

• The final and least likely accurate method is referring to yourself in your own description. Some of my more hawk-eyed followers may have observed me copying TheEasterZombie's ingenious idea by putting: 'I'm going to refer to the Self-Refferential GIft of Referring in my description, just for banter.' in my account blurb. You may want to do something like this to - just to be sure to get the gift. 

A quick walk-through on how reffering works on ROBLOX:

1. You can choose to get your refferals through word of mouth or by emailing your friends through the ROBLOX interface. To do this, simply navigate to the 'Invite A Friend' page under the share section on the ROBLOX main bar. Before clicking 'Send invitation' button at the bottom of the page, ensure you provide a email address for the message to be sent to (you also have the option of personalising the message). 

2. When a user first signs up to ROBLOX, after going through the individuals age, username and password the site will ask you if you would like to add a user's name in the refferal box. This is shown below: 

What might be inside the gift: 

Because the gift is likely direcly linked to a ROBLOX badge; the gift inside could possibly be another medal hat similar to the ROBLOX Veteran's Medal from 2010. It could be a ROBLOX Inviter's Medal and even possibly be this retexture. On the otherhand, the gift could be relating to the gifts wrapping and including some kind of candy cane themed item such as a cap or gear. 

Thanks for reading Gift Guesses #4, happy hunting!

Thanks,

Arbirator

-Editor of Roblox News 

Arb's Christmas Gift #1: Gift of the 12th Star

Greetings Roblox News Gift hoarders! Take this last minute gift to celebrate the date of 12/12/12. It is marking the last time we will see the date as 12/12/12 for another 100 years. The gift will be on sale for 24 hours, so get yours quick!

I will be releasing a collection of 'Arb's Gifts' - this is the first. Look out for more posts!

Thanks

Playing the Market: Long Term Currency Investment

With the holiday season rolling around, it is a perfect money to make a little bit more money. Of course, there are always many ways to achieve the same thing, such as hats and present guessing. One that you might not have thought of, however, is investment through the use of the Trade Currency system. Now before you say "YO MAN, WE ALREADY KNOW THIS FROM THE OTHER AWESOME GUIDE YOU WROTE!" This one is different.

This method is for the lazy. It is slightly more risky than the other method and takes WAY longer for you to profit in. So now you are thinking, "HEY MAN, THEN WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS METHOD?" Well, as I said, it's for the lazy people in the world, as you only need to do 2 trades to profit. So, let's get started.

Ok, so this method only works when the time is right. And here are some examples of the right times of the year: Christmas, Halloween, Easter, New Year, Thanksgiving, etc. If you haven't noticed a pattern yet, it works on holidays pretty much exclusively, it can also work when a lot of really expensive hats are released. Keep in mind though, a spike in rates can occur at any moment, sometimes inexplicably, so keep an eye out for your chance to reel in the big one.

Most sane people will keep all their money as Robux because that is where all the hats are. However, some people (for whatever reason) decide to keep lots of their money as Tix, and when holidays hats and presents roll around, they will exchange Tix for Robux to buy the items. And that's where we come in to profit.

Those people will drive the rate of Robux to Tix WAYYYYY up. During these times, 15:1 rates are not uncommon. The concept is to buy low and sell high. We need to trade our Robux to Tix when the rates are high, and trade back to Robux when they are low.

If you don't know how to use Limited Rates, you should learn from my other guide or just use Market Order (but you will earn less). When you notice the rates are abnormally high,  trade your Robux to Tix. Then, after a little patience and waiting for the rates to fall back down, you will need to trade again, but this time, from Tix to Robux.

TL;DR Steps

1. Trade your Robux to Tix when the rates are high (14 - 15 is fine). You might want to leave some Robux to buy those festive gifts and hats.
2. Wait until the rates become lower again, usually when the holiday ends.
3. Trade your Tix back to Robux when the rates are low enough.

You can actually predict the amount of money you will earn buy doing:

1. Take your money you will trade
2. Multiply it by the rate right now.
3. Divide it buy the rate you want to trade it back at (10 or 11 is a good estimate).

So to review, trade to tix when rates are high during the holidays, and trade back to robux when the rates are low. And if you took nothing away from this guide, JUST TRADE YOUR ROBUX TO TIX WHEN THE HOLIDAYS COME AROUND!

Gift Guesses Gift #3: Commissioner's Gift of Commissions

Greetings fellow gift gatherers! Today I will be detailing the second gift released to the ROBLOX catalog. The gift is simply named ‘Commissioner’s Gift of Commissions’. The gift wrapping is of a light blue background with snowflakes of varying size randomly placed on it (much similar to the Snowpocalsype gift of 2011). However, on top of this is a collection of gear printed onto the wrapping. If you look closely you will be able to spot a ROBLOX skateboard, Woodland Staff, Decoy Deploy, Gravity Hammer, Katana, Red Stratrobloxxer, Fuse Bomb, and mini ninja.

The description of the gift reads ‘Do you have game? Do you sell gear? Did you do it more than 10 times? Great.’

 The method in which to get the gift is actually given to you in the description, you simply need to: 

• Add gear to your place and sell over 10 (I suggest selling 11 just to be sure). You will receive a 10% commission on each gear, meaning you will get 10% of the money the customer gave for the gear.


Courtesy of NonstopEpic - our very own Catalog Manager, here is a great strategy to get the gift: 

Okay, so if you've sold at least 11 commissions (since it's asking for more than 10) then you're going to get this gift. If not, then you can do the last-minute gift getting strategy.

• First, go to the Silver Ninja Star of the Brilliant Light. This gear is the cheapest gear item in the catalog, hence why we're using this gear for the commission. Click "Add to Game" and add it to one of your active places.
• Second, go try to find people who need commissions and/or are willing to help people get commissions. You can find people by going on the forums or checking item comments.
• Third, talk with the person about getting a commission. Most times the person will ask you to pay their commission before they pay yours. Try to be careful when doing this.
• Once you get at least 11 commissions, you can stop hunting for commission-buyers. You can check your commissions by going to your home page, then the money page, and then change it to commissions.
• Due to having to likely help a lot of other people with commissions while trying to gain commissions, you'll spend around 150 robux. 

 If you aren’t sure how to add gear to your place, check out the tutorial below: 

 1. To add gear to your game you need to first navigate to ROBLOX Catalog and search for ROBLOX gear. (Try looking for older gear because gear created recently can’t be added to your game). For the example below; I used the ‘bestselling’ discriminator to find the gear I wanted.

2. Then click on a gear of your choice, once on the item page, click the ‘add to game’ button underneath the buy button. A drop-down menu will appear and you can choose which of your active places to add it to (of course, BC members will have a wider choice). Rented gear is a popular option for gear commissions because it will require repeat purchase from players of your game if they want to continue using it.

What may be inside the gift?

 Due to the gift being based on Commissions which solely involve gear, the item inside Is likely to be a gear item. It could be some kind of money themed gear, such as a Robux or Tickets launcher linking with the money being raised from the commissions. On the other hand, the theme of the item could be related to the title; such as a Police Commissioners cap or badge, or perhaps even a baton.

 Thanks for reading and happy hunting!

 -Arbirator
Editor of Roblox News

Gift Guesses Gift #2: Razzle Dazzle Hollywood Star Gift

 Greetings gift hoarders of ROBLOX. The second gift has now been released named the ‘Razzle Dazzle Hollywood Star Gift’. The gift wrapping is covered in gold stars with a dark red background. The description reads ‘Lights. Camera. Action’ in reference to Hollywood and it’s massive film making business. This indicates that the gift will be something to do with fame and glamour. Perhaps relating to the film side of Hollywood it will be something to do YouTube like the Metube Gift of 2011. Alternatively, the reference to Hollywood may link with a users’s popularity on ROBLOX.

There are several theories floating around the ROBLOX forums on how to get the gift, which are detailed below:

• Upload a video straight to YouTube from the ROBLOX screen recorder (perhaps getting a certain amount of views on this video 500-`1000)

• Add a game trailer to your place – this costs 500R$ currently (perhaps needing a certain amount of views on this trailer 500-1000)

• A user  may need a certain amount of profile views to receive the gift (perhaps 10,000+ like the glittering gift of fame back in the Christmas of 2008)

• Users may earn the gift if they participated in the ROBLOX Game Trailer Contest held earlier this year.

What may be inside the gift box?

A number of film related objects could lie within the box. My immediate guess would be some kind of camera placed on the users head. It could also be some kind of trophy/award on the users head, but this is unlikely as this was a gift item from Christmas 2011 (Golden Pixel Award).  A director’s hat could lie within the gift – this could be a retexture using the current mesh or a completely new mesh. There is always the chance of it being a gear item – perhaps some kind of some kind of spotlight or maybe even a clapper board with ROBLOX related labelling.

Thank you for reading and happy hunting!

-Arbirator

Editor of Roblox News.

Hat Review: King of the Sea Folk

Hey guys, this is my second review I’m going to be doing this weekend. Today I’m going to review our Saturday limited called “King of the Sea Folk” enjoy!

Mesh: This hat has a bit of an unusual mesh, it’s like nothing I have ever seen before but yet reminds me of an older hat that was released this summer. This mesh is cool is fits around the avatars eyes very nicely, It’s a beautiful mesh I’m not sure how Roblox came up with it but I give it a 9/10, it’s a bit to wide.

Texture: This hat has a very complicated texture; it has little swirls around the top and bottom “crown” part. It is gold all over with a few lighting tricks and it has eight really bright blue specs on the little cracks in the crown. This texture is somewhat complicated but could be a little more detailed. I give it 8/10!

Pricing:  King of the Sea Folk hit the catalog on Sunday, I profited pretty well, it sold for 250 robux with 750 in stock, this hat could have done much better if it looked a little cooler and only had 500 in stock. This item was a win, like I said it made small profit an now sells for 450-500 robux on regular basis.

Overall 9/10!

Like what I write? Follow me on twitter @darkfish900

Black Friday Hat Review: Bluesteel Fedora!

Hey guys, guess who? Dark! I haven’t posted in ages guys, and I’m really sorry. I would just like everyone to know this 1/3 of the posts I will be doing today, I hope you guys enjoy these posts! Today I’m going to be review the Black Friday 2012 win item: Bluesteel Fedora.

Mesh: This fedora is like any sparkle time fedora, it has the same mesh and the texture is just a recolor.  The mesh a is great, I think everyone knows what the Sparkle Time Fedora mesh looks like because it’s one of the most well known mesh’s on Roblox.  Personally I love this mesh,  I think most people on ROBLOX like this mesh too.  I give the mesh a 10/10!

Texture: Like all other ROBLOX Sparkle Time Fedora’s, this one has like 30 little parts to it. There are the little dots and sections with lighting effects on them with a black background, it must be very difficult to properly retexture. This hat goes well with any pair of glasses or headphones especially the Clockwork's series, and deserves a 10/10.

Pricing:  Bluesteel Fedora hit the catalog 2 weeks ago, on Black Friday 2012. It was this Black Friday’s big win limited. It sold for 10k with 150 in stock, if it had 100 and sparkles it would be selling for 100k+ now but due to no sparkles and non “sparkle time” in the name, it’s not worth that much. Once it sold out it sold for 104k MAX now it sells for 60k on regular basis.  Overall 9/10

Overall 10/10!

Fun Fact: Bluesteel Fedora sold out in 51 seconds.

Another Fun Fact: Aludro created the bluesteel fedora.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to follow me on twitter! @Darkfish900