Hello, Masters.
This is Moonsoo Hyun, the producer for OUTERPLANE.
First, I'd like to apologize for the inconvenience caused by various issues that have occurred after the June 7th update. The issues that we have identified have been addressed through the June 13th update, and we will do our best to respond to any issues that might remain or be newly discovered as quickly as possible so that we can minimize any potential inconvenience to our players.
In today's Developer's Note, we'd like to announce our planned updates through the month of August. In addition, as many of our players have raised questions regarding topics such as when Demiurge Stella will become available, the schedule for new hero releases, and the balance adjustments as mentioned in the previous Developer's Note, I'd like to take some time today to address them and talk about our plans going forward.
1. Update Roadmap: Overall Direction and Update Details
▶ Update Direction
1) Short-Term Direction
- Primarily, we are focusing on resolving various issues remaining within the game and reducing gameplay fatigue.
- To that end, we will be reducing the difficulty of Daily Missions while also improving the supply of Clear Tickets and how they're acquired. We will also be reducing the difficulty of purchasing gear from the Survey Hub, thereby indirectly reducing the difficulty of progressing through Hard difficulty. Additionally, with the recent addition of Guild Raid content, some quality of life issues have come to light regarding exchanging gear sets, and we will be working to develop and implement a solution as quickly as possible.- We are also working to improve various other elements throughout the game, and until we feel that enough issues have been resolved and that the game has stabilized, we plan to continue releasing patches on a weekly schedule.2) Mid- to Long-Term Direction
- We are planning updates that will expand the scope of available content in order to provide players with more gameplay to enjoy and more objectives to work towards.
- Key points for each month's updates are as follows:
# June
- In June, our goal is to introduce group content for Guilds to enjoy and gameplay objectives for individual players through the addition of Guild Raids and a League system for the Arena.
- We are aware of the various issues that are affecting Guild Raids, and we plan to fix as many of them as we can before the next season begins in order to ensure that our players have a more enjoyable and comfortable experience.
- As there is not much time left in the month, we plan to focus on providing stable updates while moving forward with various planned improvements.
# July
- July marks the beginning of summer, and the beginning of our summer event. (This will likely come in the form of a new Summer Event Story Area)
- Furthermore, our main content update will feature the expansion of difficulty levels for the Special Request Dungeons used to farm equipment. - We also plan to expand the Archdemon's Ruins, and Challenge Missions will be added to the Guide Quest that provide challenges involving new content. # August
- In August, we plan to update the Story area of Season 2 Part 1.
- Additionally, Light/Dark Element Raids will be added as well as Hard difficulty to the Skyward Tower to provide additional challenges for daring Masters who wish to take them on.
3) Events
- Events to promote various in-game content will take place regularly on a weekly cycle following the July 4th maintenance.
- The events will rotate on a per-week basis and will consist of the following: : Increased Raid gear drop chance and decreased crafting cost : Increased acquisition of Pieces from Side Stories and increased acquisition of Investigation points : Increased acquisition of Arena Medals and increased acquisition of Guild Coins and Medals :Various other events such as hot time events
- There will also be additional events outside of the fixed schedule outlined above.
: We expect to release Event Story Dungeons at a rate of about 1 per month and estimate the volume to be similar to
or greater than The Reaper and the Gangster.▶ Update Summary - Many of you have provided us with valuable insight regarding inconveniences in the user experience and the structure of the game.
- With that in mind, we are preparing the following updates that will take place through August. Please refer to the image below for details.
2. Recruitment and Balance
▶ Recruitment 1) Plans for New Hero Releases
- We plan to release new heroes at a steady pace of once every 2 weeks.
: The new heroes are being planned to fill in gaps in the availability of 3★ heroes of each battle type for every element in order to round out team compositions when building elemental teams. We plan for these heroes to have effective use cases in PvE, PvP, or Guild Raids depending on their characteristics. 2) Demiurge Stella Recruitment
- Demiurge Stella, the highly anticipated final boss of Season 1, is scheduled to be added with the June 20th update.
- Given her iconic status as a character, we plan to introduce her through an exclusive recruitment under the theme of Season Boss Recruitment. Her Targeted Drop Rate Recruitment will be available for a period of about 3 months, so that players will have a chance to recruit her without being too pressed for time.- Demiurge Stella will be available for recruitment through a separate recruitment resource, Call of the Ruler, which can be purchased from the in-game shop.- In order to provide a wider variety of opportunities to acquire Call of the Ruler, exclusive missions will be available whose completion will provide 2 free recruitment opportunities every day for 1 month following the update. (Up to 60 recruitments in total)- Demiurge Stella was designed as a Light element Bruiser Striker, and she displays outstanding performance in PvP and Boss Raids.
▶ Hero Balance 1) Hero Recall Feature
- The Hero Recall feature as mentioned in the previous Developer's Note is planned to be introduced as a part of the June 27th update. (The name of this feature may be subject to change)
- This feature will be available through the Hero screen. Using it will refund all growth resources used on the hero with the exception of Hero Pieces, and obtained Exclusive Equipment will be taken back. (Slotted Gems will be moved to the Inventory)- Codex Growth Goal rewards and Trust Level rewards will not be provided a second time. (Does not apply to Exclusive Equipment)- This feature will be available for use 2 times, and the benefits will be provided equally to all accounts. (New accounts included) 2) Hero Balance Details
2-1. First, we have made adjustments to Rin and Alice on June 13th.
ㄴ Rin: The effects of Skills 1 and 3 have been modified to allow Rin to better serve her role as a damage dealer against
Fire element enemies, and the damage of her Burst level 3 has been increased. ㄴ Alice: The effects of her Skill 2 and her Exclusive Equipment have been enhanced to improve her performance in PvP. 2-2. We plan to make the following changes as part of the 2nd balance update
(June 27th / to be introduced with the Hero Recall feature)
ㄴ Talisman Adjustments : The Talisman's Chain Points/Action Points recharge effect will no longer activate from additional attacks. (Does not apply to additional turns)
2-3. Currently, Noa and Vera are the only heroes capable of recharging Chain Points/Action Points through the method above, and therefore they will be the only heroes affected by this change.
ㄴ Because Noa's damage increase proportional to Max Health is capped, we decided that there were largely no issues with her damage output.
ㄴ However, we felt that her ability to reduce Weakness Gauge and recharge Chain Points through additional attacks and her Skill Chain Passive were too powerful, so we have made these adjustments. 2-4. We plan to introduce these changes side by side with the Recall feature to minimize any inconvenience players might encounter while progressing through the game.
2-5. Additional Adjustments
ㄴ While Noa is meant to be a damage dealer effective at generating Chain Points, a critical element in clearing Boss Raids,
we felt that dependency on her had become excessive, leading us to the changes outlined above. In exchange, the following adjustments will also be made to Chain Point generation as a whole. : Adjustment to Chain Point generation depending on the elements of heroes on the team # Before = 4/5/6/7 per hero of the same element in the team >>> After = 4/6/7/8 : We expect this change to improve Skill Chain generation in the early game and in later Raid Dungeons that players will be tackling with heroes of a single advantageous element.
2-6. Future Balance Adjustment Plans (After July)
ㄴ We plan to make changes improving Weakness Gauge reduction and Chain Point generation for natural 3★ heroes.
(These changes are still under review, and we plan for them to be implemented between late June and early July.)
We will do our best to adhere to the development plans outlined in this Developer's Note, and we will review each and every update with care to make sure players can enjoy the game to its fullest. We hope that you have a fantastic summer, and we wish you all the best. OUTERPLANE will continue to listen to your valuable opinions. Thank you.