diff --git a/CREDITS b/CREDITS
index f727b661..404de30c 100644
--- a/CREDITS
+++ b/CREDITS
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 * Gesior.pl (2007 - 2008)
-* Slawkens (2009 - 2021)
+* Slawkens (2009 - 2022)
 * Contributors listed in CONTRIBUTORS.txt
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
deleted file mode 100644
index 16d5c109..00000000
--- a/VERSION
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-0.9.0-dev
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/common.php b/common.php
index f0927d6b..df529a4a 100644
--- a/common.php
+++ b/common.php
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ if (version_compare(phpversion(), '7.1', '<')) die('PHP version 7.1 or higher is
 
 const MYAAC = true;
 const MYAAC_VERSION = '0.9.0-dev';
-const DATABASE_VERSION = 32;
+const DATABASE_VERSION = 33;
 const TABLE_PREFIX = 'myaac_';
 define('START_TIME', microtime(true));
 define('MYAAC_OS', stripos(PHP_OS, 'WIN') === 0 ? 'WINDOWS' : (strtoupper(PHP_OS) === 'DARWIN' ? 'MAC' : 'LINUX'));
diff --git a/config.php b/config.php
index 36eda984..4f4d4c5a 100644
--- a/config.php
+++ b/config.php
@@ -164,6 +164,8 @@ $config = array(
 		4 => 'Knight Sample'
 	),
 
+	'use_character_sample_skills' => false,
+
 	// it must show limited number of players after using search in character page
 	'characters_search_limit' => 15,
 
diff --git a/install/includes/schema.sql b/install/includes/schema.sql
index fb097bb0..8a12dd40 100644
--- a/install/includes/schema.sql
+++ b/install/includes/schema.sql
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-SET @myaac_database_version = 32;
+SET @myaac_database_version = 33;
 
 CREATE TABLE `myaac_account_actions`
 (
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ CREATE TABLE `myaac_spells`
 
 CREATE TABLE `myaac_visitors`
 (
-	`ip` VARCHAR(16) NOT NULL,
+	`ip` VARCHAR(45) NOT NULL,
 	`lastvisit` INT(11) NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
 	`page` VARCHAR(2048) NOT NULL,
 	UNIQUE (`ip`)
diff --git a/nginx-sample.conf b/nginx-sample.conf
index f826d21d..f659c531 100644
--- a/nginx-sample.conf
+++ b/nginx-sample.conf
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ server {
         location ~ \.php$ {
                 include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
                 fastcgi_read_timeout 240;
-                fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.2-fpm.sock;
+                fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
         }
 
         location ~ /\.ht {
@@ -22,4 +22,4 @@ server {
            deny all;
            return 404;
         }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/release.sh b/release.sh
index 6bf99385..e720a3a9 100644
--- a/release.sh
+++ b/release.sh
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ fi
 
 if [ $1 = "prepare" ]; then
 	# define release version
-	version=`cat VERSION`
+	version=`php system/get_version_for_release.php`
 
 	echo "Preparing to release version $version of the MyAAC Project!"
 
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ if [ $1 = "prepare" ]; then
 	# get myaac from git archive
 	git archive --format zip --output tmp/myaac.zip master
 
-	cd tmp/
+	cd tmp/ || exit
 
 	dir="myaac-$version"
 	if [ -d "$dir" ] ; then
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@ fi
 
 if [ $1 = "pack" ]; then
 	# define release version
-	version=`cat VERSION`
+	version=`php system/get_version_for_release.php`
 
-	cd tmp
+	cd tmp || exit
 
 	# tar.gz
 	echo "Creating .tar.gz package.."
diff --git a/system/get_version_for_release.php b/system/get_version_for_release.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fa378dbb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/system/get_version_for_release.php
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+<?php
+
+require __DIR__ . '/../common.php';
+echo MYAAC_VERSION;
diff --git a/system/libs/CreateCharacter.php b/system/libs/CreateCharacter.php
index 6eb4771b..09ee5d89 100644
--- a/system/libs/CreateCharacter.php
+++ b/system/libs/CreateCharacter.php
@@ -193,8 +193,14 @@ class CreateCharacter
 		$player->setManaSpent($char_to_copy->getManaSpent());
 		$player->setSoul($char_to_copy->getSoul());
 
-		for($skill = POT::SKILL_FIRST; $skill <= POT::SKILL_LAST; $skill++)
-			$player->setSkill($skill, 10);
+		for($skill = POT::SKILL_FIRST; $skill <= POT::SKILL_LAST; $skill++) {
+			$value = 10;
+			if (config('use_character_sample_skills')) {
+				$value = $char_to_copy->getSkill($skill);
+			}
+
+			$player->setSkill($skill, $value);
+		}
 
 		$player->setLookBody($char_to_copy->getLookBody());
 		$player->setLookFeet($char_to_copy->getLookFeet());
@@ -234,16 +240,22 @@ class CreateCharacter
 
 		if($db->hasTable('player_skills')) {
 			for($i=0; $i<7; $i++) {
+				$value = 10;
+				if (config('use_character_sample_skills')) {
+					$value = $char_to_copy->getSkill($i);
+				}
 				$skillExists = $db->query('SELECT `skillid` FROM `player_skills` WHERE `player_id` = ' . $player->getId() . ' AND `skillid` = ' . $i);
 				if($skillExists->rowCount() <= 0) {
-					$db->query('INSERT INTO `player_skills` (`player_id`, `skillid`, `value`, `count`) VALUES ('.$player->getId().', '.$i.', 10, 0)');
+					$db->query('INSERT INTO `player_skills` (`player_id`, `skillid`, `value`, `count`) VALUES ('.$player->getId().', '.$i.', ' . $value . ', 0)');
 				}
 			}
 		}
 
 		$loaded_items_to_copy = $db->query("SELECT * FROM player_items WHERE player_id = ".$char_to_copy->getId()."");
-		foreach($loaded_items_to_copy as $save_item)
-			$db->query("INSERT INTO `player_items` (`player_id` ,`pid` ,`sid` ,`itemtype`, `count`, `attributes`) VALUES ('".$player->getId()."', '".$save_item['pid']."', '".$save_item['sid']."', '".$save_item['itemtype']."', '".$save_item['count']."', '".$save_item['attributes']."');");
+		foreach($loaded_items_to_copy as $save_item) {
+			$blob = $db->quote($save_item['attributes']);
+			$db->query("INSERT INTO `player_items` (`player_id` ,`pid` ,`sid` ,`itemtype`, `count`, `attributes`) VALUES ('".$player->getId()."', '".$save_item['pid']."', '".$save_item['sid']."', '".$save_item['itemtype']."', '".$save_item['count']."', $blob);");
+		}
 
 		global $twig;
 		$twig->display('success.html.twig', array(
diff --git a/system/libs/pot/OTS_Player.php b/system/libs/pot/OTS_Player.php
index a32bed8a..b5f48dc6 100644
--- a/system/libs/pot/OTS_Player.php
+++ b/system/libs/pot/OTS_Player.php
@@ -2489,7 +2489,7 @@ class OTS_Player extends OTS_Row_DAO
 
         $value = $this->db->query('SELECT ' . $this->db->fieldName('value') . ' FROM ' . $this->db->tableName('player_storage') . ' WHERE ' . $this->db->fieldName('key') . ' = ' . (int) $key . ' AND ' . $this->db->fieldName('player_id') . ' = ' . $this->data['id'])->fetch();
 
-        if($value !== false)
+        if($value === false)
         {
             return null;
         }
diff --git a/system/migrations/33.php b/system/migrations/33.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..12fe4c2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/system/migrations/33.php
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+<?php
+// Increase size of ip in myaac_visitors table
+// according to this answer: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/166132/maximum-length-of-the-textual-representation-of-an-ipv6-address
+// the size of ipv6 can be maximal 45 chars
+
+$db->exec('ALTER TABLE `' . TABLE_PREFIX . "visitors` MODIFY `ip` VARCHAR(45) NOT NULL;");
diff --git a/system/templates/rules.html.twig b/system/templates/rules.html.twig
index 83e0103f..55490047 100644
--- a/system/templates/rules.html.twig
+++ b/system/templates/rules.html.twig
@@ -1,8 +1,2 @@
-{% if constant('PAGE') == 'rules' %}
 <b>{{ config.lua.serverName }} Rules</b><br/>
-<textarea rows="25" wrap="physical" cols="70" readonly="true">
-{% endif %}
-{{ getCustomPage('rules_on_the_page') }}
-{% if constant('PAGE') == 'rules' %}
-	</textarea>
-{% endif %}
+{{ getCustomPage('rules_on_the_page') | nl2br }}