Godville Times
The Godville Times is the official newspaper of Godville.
General information
The Godville Times provides important information to deities about aspects of the game which change daily, such as the current prices of godville invites and gold bricks and the daily forecast.
It also allows readers to gain daily rewards through the crossword and bingo minigames, and highlights gods, guilds and Ideabox contributors.
It can be viewed even by people without a Godville account at godvillegame.com/news, although an account is required to play the bingo and crossword.
Every section of the Godville Times, including the by-line jokes under the nameplate in the header, and the jokes in the copyright block in the footer, is updated each day at server midnight (approximately 10pm UTC) with new content, and to reflect the conditions randomly generated for the new day.
All of the content in the Times is generated randomly, and all of it can be contributed to by submitting ideas to the Ideabox. When submitting, begin by indicating the section for the content, for example, Ad: “Bad Omen LLC” — we can make your life interesting again. Variables are supported in most Times sections, but bear in mind that the newspaper appears the same to every reader (so, for example, %hero_name% will not work as expected, but %random_hero% will).
Sections
Front Page
A small paragraph on a feature of the game. This tends to be the introduction paragraph of an article from the Godwiki and clicking the title links to the article itself. These are randomly selected from some preset ones just like the entries of a hero's diary. This section changes daily automatically. It has been present since the first edition of the Times.
Daily Forecast
The random facts we people have known for years can change on a daily basis. The Daily Forecast is a must-read for all gods to see how best to interact with the heroes. Forecasts have included accumulator charge restoring 70% of godpower, activatable artifacts being worth much more or less than usual, boss-monsters moving closer to the surface (so that digging is more likely to reveal them), all monsters carrying something of value, and increased chances of heroes getting an unexpected epic quest.
The Daily Forecast was introduced as part of Godville's third birthday celebrations in May, 2013.[1]
Bingo
The Bingo is a grid with three or four letters in each cell. It is played by clicking the "Show Inventory" button to show the contents of the hero's inventory.
If there are any artifacts in the hero's inventory whose names contain a sequence of letters in the grid, then the player may click "Extract from Inventory" to fill the appropriate cells. (E.g., a cell with "gen" in it could be filled by a portable photon generator or generic goodness in a bottle.)
The extraction removes the matching artifacts from the hero's inventory definitively. This cannot be done during any kind of adventure, trying to do so will display the following error message: "The hero's inventory is not ready for artifact extraction."
If the artifact is a regular one, this is worth 2 points. Filling a cell with a bold artifact is worth 3 points, and an activatable artifact is worth 4. If this results in a row or column being completely filled, then it is worth an extra 5 points, and filling the grid is worth an extra 10 points.
The extract button can only used three times per day. After that, the hero is rewarded with gold coins.[2]
Deities can also choose the "Give up" option to end the bingo earlier (instead of extracting 3 times) and claim some of the reward.
The Bingo was introduced in August, 2015.[3]
Godpower Cap
The Godpower Capacitor (Godpower Cap) is a communal godpower supply for all of Godville. The value in the capacitor slowly increases over time, and each god can press the "discharge" button once a day to gain the amount of godpower currently in the capacitor. Doing this resets the capacitor to 0%, unless Laplandville is open, in which case it is reset to 25%.
The Godpower Cap was introduced for Christmas in December, 2015.[4]
Famous Heroes
Each day, two heroes are featured here with a list of some of their achievements. To be eligible, a hero must be within the top 200 of any pantheons.[5] Being featured as a famous hero in the Times is a feat.
In prior editions, a god would receive a private message notifying that the god's hero would appear, or has appeared, in an edition of the Godville Times. After repeated attempts at this and an eventual realization that gods know everything already, this practice stopped.
It has been present since the first edition of the Times, originally called Famous Heroes of Godville.
Wanted
Posts of monsters with bounties on them and the sweet rewards received, along with the number turned in. The Wanted Monsters feature and newspaper section were introduced in March, 2012.[6]
Guild Spotlight
Like Famous Heroes, this section highlights two guilds every day, randomly selected from the top 100 positions in the guild pantheons. It includes the size, highest rank title, totem monster, and other information, along with the top 100 pantheon positions that made the guild eligible to be featured. This section was introduced in January, 2018.[7]
Buy and Sell
This is the best source of information on the markets. Here you can see 2 artifacts that will be worth more than usual today,[8] along with how many have been found and sold so far today.
Hero-traders can spend godpower for a chance to be featured here.[9] It has been present since the first edition of the Times.
Ads
Present since the first edition of the Times, the entries in this section had no bearing on the game rules or gameplay, until the redeemable ad feature was introduced on the 31st January 2024.[10]. Another pair of ads were added later on the 25th June 2024. [11]
One of the three ads present on the newspaper now has a button below it. Pressing this button gives the designated effect, at no godpower cost. It may also come with a side-effect.
| Button Text | Effect | Side Effect | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancel Quest | Cancel current quest | None | Can't be activated if the current quest's been completed or cancelled already. |
| Donate Gold | Halves gold coin total | None | |
| Drop Half | Halves amount of artifacts in inventory | None | Can't be activated if the hero or heroine-trader is in their shop. |
| Dump Tribbles | Removes all Tribbles from inventory | Removes all the inventory | Can't be activated if the hero or heroine has no tribbles. |
| Exchange | Swap all potions (healing artifacts) in inventory for bold artifacts | None | Can't be activated if the hero or heroine has no potions. The bold artifacts gifted can actually include bold activatable artifacts. |
| Forgo Side Job | Lose side job | Lose all gold | Can't be activated if the hero or heroine has no side job. |
| Get rid of Aura | Removes current aura | Lose ~13 HP [12] | Can't be activated if the hero or heroine has no aura. |
| Order a boss[13] | Summons a Satan Claus boss to fight bearing some gifts[14] | Costs 2025 coins | Xmas 2024 event only; Can be activated while in town, but the town guards would kill the boss without a fight and result in only one gift being handed out. |
| Pay to Encounter | Sends hero on a mini-quest to encounter a wanted monster | Costs entire inventory and gold | Can only be activated if the hero or heroine has at least both one gold coin and one artifact. Can't be activated if the hero or heroine-trader is in their shop. Tribbles are not removed from inventory. |
| Risk gold | Gamble on a hero's gold (specifically 5k gold) for a chance to double it | None besides losing gold | Can only be activated if the hero or heroine has at least 5000 gold. |
| Swap gold[13] | Adds a snowflake into the hero's inventory | Lose all gold | Xmas 2024 event only; Can't be activated when the hero has no gold. |
| Teleport to HQ | Teleports the hero to the town currently designated as its Guild HQ | None | Can't be activated if a guild HQ is not set, or if the hero is further than 500 milestones from the designated town. |
| Risk health | Gamble on a hero's health, either doubling or halfing the current value | None besides losing health | Statistically beneficial to activate when the hero is under 2/3 HP, as the possible health gained is greater than the health lost. |
| Flip personality | At the cost of 4 activatable artifacts, hero's personality is flipped up to three degrees | Lose 4 activatables | Can't be activated without the required artifacts or when personality is neutral. |
Guild popularity in...
A statement of the top 9 guilds by popularity for each town. As of July, 2018, this list is in milestone order for each town (updated daily with the map).[15]
Guild popularity in a town is a result of influences (encourages, punishes and miracles) performed by guild members in that town. Increasing guild popularity is a possible outcome of influences done in any town.
This section was introduced in January, 2012.[16]
Crossword
The popular Crossword feature was introduced in May, 2013.[17] After a god completes a crossword, the god's hero will receive an aura. The sooner a god solves the crossword after a new issue of the Times is published, the longer the duration of the aura.
For those having trouble completing the crossword without assistance, hints and guidance can be found on this forum thread. Additionally, the lists of Artifacts, Auras, Equipment, Monsters, Boss-Monsters, Skills, Locations, and Towns (or the Omnibus List, combining all of these in one place) may provide some assistance in finding a correct answer. If an answer looks correct, but is not, a god may wish to replace a space with a hyphen or an underscore. Hyphens and underscores are also regularly found between the first and second words of three word answers. Lastly, if all else fails, using a crossword helping website like http://www.crosswordsolver.org might help.
The first god to complete the crossword for each issue of the Godville Times receives an aura of about 5 hours. Each subsequent crossword completion will receive an aura with a duration of about 10-15 minutes less than the previous. The time will decrease until the minimum, which is typically 40 minutes. This occurs sometime after the 20th solution or so. Special days of double length auras and half length auras as noted in the Daily Forecast section of the Times affect the crossword reward auras.
Also, as of September 2022,[18] the crossword will uncover a couple more letters at 13:00 UTC (9:00 AM EST, 6:00 AM PDT) to help completing it. When this happens, the heading changes from "Crossword" to "Easier Crossword".
Ideabox News
This section includes a count of Ideabox or ER activity for the previous day, as well as highlighting one contributor to the Ideabox and one contributor to the ER from the previous day.
To be featured for Ideabox contribution, a player must have submitted at least one idea and voted on the ideas of others, and must also have qualified for a position in the Pantheon of Gratitude. To be featured for ER contributions, a player must have voted or submitted an improvement in ER during the previous day.
The Ideabox News section was introduced in October, 2012.[19]
Broken News
News relating to the game. This is the best source of gossip known. This is generated randomly, and varies from the special mention of guilds for their particularly original names and great achievements to news on certain in-game towns declaring something of some controversy.
The items featured here don't have any impact on gameplay: they are just for amusement. This section has been present since the first edition of the Times.
Market Quotes
The stock market of Godville. The price in gold of Invites to Godville and Bosscoins[20] appear here along with the percentage increase/decrease from the day before. It has been present since the first edition of the Times.
The buy price of gold bricks also used to be displayed until somewhere in Spring 2023.
Free Coupons
Since the July 8th, 2020, update,[21] a free item coupon is issued daily. This coupon cannot be collected when waiting for or during adventures.
When collected, a coupon for %v% © will be added to the champion's inventory and will be exchanged with said %v% at the end of the next trading session, meaning the obtained item won't be sold during the said trading session.
The things for which a coupon can be exchanged include:
- An activatable artifact
- Potions (healing artifacts)
- Tribbles
- An item of equipment
- A side job
- A point of interest
- A skill level-up
- A Quest spoiler
- 3000 Gold coins
Know Your Monster
Know Your Monster, also refered as KYM, is a time-limited event[22] where an artwork coming from a Godwiki monster article or from submitted Picturizer images is displayed everyday with an input box below. The event usually lasts 2-3 months.
The goal is to correctly guess the name of the pictured monster. It's not possible to make guesses during an adventure.
Correctly guessing the monster's name, including correct punctuation, will display a direct link to the Godwiki article and grants a special activatable artifact, a %monster% identikit, which will send your hero on a special mini-quest: Find the %monster%.
However, activating the artifact in town will have the same result as any other mini-quest artifact activation in town, just granting gold.
In addition, your hero will sell the indentikit to a trader in town or a roadside seller if it exists in his inventory at the time of the trading.
Completing the mini-quest will put your hero in a duel with a special Boss Monster version of the monster.
| # | Started on | Ended on |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 28th 2021 | October 25th 2021 |
| 2 | August 25th 2022 | November 25th 2022 |
| 3 | January 31st 2023 | May 17th 2023 |
| 4 | August 14th 2023 | December 30th 2023 |
| 5 | March 3rd 2024 | June 30th 2024 |
| 6 | August 2nd 2024 | October 20th 2024 |
| 7 | December 21th 2024 | March 2025 (est.) |
| 8 | June 17th 2025 | September 2025 (est.) |
| 9 | February 13rd 2026 | April 13th 2026 |
Game News
This is a list of the latest entries from the Godville Blog. Unlike most of the Times, this section is updated in real time, not daily. If a new blog is posted, it will appear here immediately. This section has no user-generated content, and cannot be submitted for in Ideabox, though if you have submitted an Awesome Idea which was implemented, it will likely be mentioned in an upcoming blog post. It has been present since the first edition of the Times.
Forum News
A list of the latest commented threads in the Godville forum, also updated in real time. It has been present since the first edition of the Times.
Former Sections
The sections in the Godville Times have changed over time. The following sections were once, but are no longer, included.
Breaking News
The Broken News from the day before. It was an original section from the second edition of the Times, but is no longer included.
Letters from our readers
The latest comments written by players that were posted on the Godville twitter feed were displayed here (automatically update in real time). It was an original section from the first edition of the Times, but is no longer included.
Back Issues
Selected back issues of the Godville Times may be found at the Internet Archive Way Back Machine.
References
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 67: A Long Time Ago...
- ↑ Godville Forum: Bingo!
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 89: Bingo!
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 92: Godpowerful Holidays
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 112: On Guilds and More
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 55: Most Wanted
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 112: On Guilds and More
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 55: Most Wanted
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 88: Jack of All Trades
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 167: Ad-ventures
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 171: Bold Meal
- ↑ Does not seems to be able to kill the hero.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Godville Blog, post 176: Holiday Special
- ↑ The boss would carry 2-3 gifts and would have one ability.
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 116: To the Point
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 53: Analyzing the Guilds
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 67: A Long Time Ago...
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 155: Pack Pets and More
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 63: Treasure Hunting
- ↑ Since the Datamine update (Godville Blog, post 130: Datamine)
- ↑ Godville Blog, post 136: Free Coupons, etc
- ↑ First season started with July 28th 2021 update: Godville Blog, post 145: Know Your Monster
- ↑ Log of a fight
| Godville's Goals and Activities | |
|---|---|
| Walkthrough | |
| Main Goals | Achievements • Feats • Pets • Temple • Ark • Lab • Book of Creation • Souls • Retirement • Constructs • Reliquary |
| Collectibles | Gold coins • Gold bricks • Gopher wood • Creatures • Boss parts • Glyphs • Souls • Invites • Relics |
| Heroic Activities | Quests • Side Jobs • Fishing • Digging • Arena • Sparring fights • Dungeons • Sailing • Datamine |
| Divine Activities | Forums • Godville Times • Guilds • Ideabox • Pantheons • Festivities • Dungeon Forge |