In a startling plot devolpment by Lasher and his team of immortals, players have awoken to discover that their non-existent world has been almost entirely replaced by another. Midgaard and the old continents are gone forever, replaced with new, unsettling and unspeedwalkable shapes.

"My initial reaction on getting up that morning was that obviously someone had used a time machine to meddle with our past, creating this new, alternative future", said Torasin, an unofficial (if there's any other kind) spokesman for Daoine. "But then I realised that this would have altered my memories too. I'm now leaning towards the 'shit happens' theory, where all this is just one of those things, you know?"

Other players have suggested various theories behind the motive for this change, including:

 - A cynical ploy by Melancholy's Map Inc., whose sales have been hit heavily by the automap feature, wishing to capitalise on their 'Atlas v2.0' range of products.

 - A cynical ploy by the Imms to make life inconvenient for people, forcing them to have to rewrite all their carefully copied and pasted speedwalks.

- A cynical ploy by the imms to introduce new continents which will melt players' faces off.

- A cynical ploy by the producers to reintroduce the character of Bobby, killed several seasons previously.

These, of course, are merely the more considered and rational opinions. For brevity's sake, the editorial staff have decided to omit the more outlandish conspiracy theories.

The Midgaardian itself has been flooded with mail and notes, asking why exactly the newspaper is now named after a place which no longer exists. Editor-in-chief Wolfe offered the following explanation this morning in a statement:

"You have two choices for an explanation. The first one is, unbeknownst to the Imms, we secreted a large rock from Midgaard's foundations into our cellars, thus saving it from replacement. As the only surviving piece of the city, we claim embassy status on our premises and are thus now a small sovereign nation. Your second choice is that we're just being secretly ironic.

"Either way, we have no intention of changing our name. Our name may not change with the times, but it sure beats us changing names along with The Times."

He then made his excuses and left.