These are some of the planned changes that Innogames want to test out and implement in the first half of 2009. Please note that it's not guaranteed that everything here will happen on the English version depending on feedback.
Quest series for character classes
In January or February we would like to introduce quest series for character classes. Each quest series will consist of around 30-40 quests. There will be quest providers on the map which one must go to to receive the quest. As well as this, there will also be items for each character class. The quest series for workers, soldiers and duellists will receive roughly the same amount of exp, money and items. Adventurer quests will likely receive around 10-20% more.
These will probably be included in version 1.17, but may be in version 1.16.
Forts
We would like to introduce shoot-outs in the form of forts. Towns will be able to band together and fight against other forts. The exact concept hasn't been decided yet, we are still working on it. We hope to start development of this in January.
Flash games
In 2009 we would like to introduce poker to The-West. We have already started implementing a Rock, Scissors, Paper game but unfortunately this hasp roved to be quite difficult. If we overcome these challenges we will start working on Poker and other flash games. This is still to be decided, so there is no guarantee we will do this.
Item sets
There will soon be item sets for certain character builds. The more items of a set you wear, the better effects they will have. For example, there will be a set for trappers and if you collect all the items in the set you will get a better bonus.
Trade
Trade is something that we are thinking hard about. These are a lot of problems and things to think about though so this is causing delays. However, this is a very desired feature so we will definitely overcome these problems and begin development of this soon.
Duels
We are also going to work on changing duels. We would like duels to take place on the map instead of only in cities. As well as this, we would like to introduce more depth and tactical options, such as special attacks and special defences.
Backpack limit
This isn't for certain as we know it will trigger a lot of controversy. We would like to limit the number of items that can fit in a backpack. For example, a basic backpack would only be able to hold 30 items. Depending on your horse and other items you would be able to carry more.
Chat
A chat will be integrated in to the game. There will be a city chat and a general chat.