Holly6th Class – Summoner
User feedback for 2nd CBT is satisfactory but the game doesn’t feel like an MMO. How is the dev. Team evaluating this?- (PD Bae) – In-staff evaluation is not organized so I cannot say much, but we are focused on the higher than expected number of traffic in the servers. Truth be told, there was too much traffic for the staff to handle. So we ended up opening another server.
The additional server was meant to be a backup for if a server broke down. We were worried about severe drawbacks that may occur if the servers had any problems, but thankfully everything is running smoothly.
I agree that BnS does not feel like an MMO, because it’s a game focused on the combat. We wanted to make an MMO where enjoying combat is easy while satisfying the hardcore players as well. We will be developing other content that players can experience after combat.
BnS has a lot of features that mix the aspects of MMO and MO. We combined the wide communication available in MMOs and focused gameplay in small areas of MOs to try to produce the best results.
We know that there will be 8 classes total through in-game storyline. What is the first class that will be introduced? And will you add race-specific traits and skills?- Bae: Initial class concept had 6-10 candidates. The 8 grand masters you encounter while progressing through the storyline are the finalized classes. (The npcs you encounter when you do the quest to unlock your Talent tree) There are currently 5 completed classes and the 6th class to be added will be the Summoner as seen in a trailer. There is a talk of adding a never-before-seen class too.
There are also talks of classes using guns or musical instruments, but it is not final. We will decide based on user feedback and playstyle.
In the GStar Demo version, all races were able to play all classes. Removing the class restriction now is not difficult.
We are still deciding on that matter however. Whether we will be able to present racial traits well is also a matter to ponder over. Lyn Blademaster or Destroyer class may present some entertaining yet special aspect in the game.
However, we are still pondering on whether its better to use the same animation for all races for the different classes, or restricting class to certain races and using unique animations for them.
Team Manager Hwang: Talent tree provides different builds for the classes resulting in different styles of gameplay. The talent tree’s importance will be emphasized even more because it is still not complete.
Class advancement or different races is open for discussion and ideas, so we can’t say much on this matter.
It seems that content progress is too fast because most of the campaign is soloable.- Bae: The players seem to have a great understanding of the contents and controls. Solo play was our intention. We set the difficulty so that solo play is viable anywhere else, with the exception of big dungeons.
I am awed watching the solo-play videos. Further content is also geared in this direction. Being unable to level without a party is not even considered.
The players in any country claim that their content progress is the fastest. Korean playerbase usually says they are the fastest, but in reality, the countries are all similar. For example, World of Warcraft content progress is the fastest among European players.
If we look at the big picture though, the players that blow through content are a minority. The rest are casual, normal players. Even in BnS, there are a lot of players that have not reached the Giant Desert region yet.
It is indeed very hard to balance the hardcore and casual gameplay. Lineage and Lineage 2 era were considered hardcore, but it is different now. It is our duty to compromise and balance these two.
What about the future end content?- Bae: We haven’t decided on the level cap for OBT and beyond. Further updates will definitely raise the level cap higher.
We are focusing the end content on combat. Content where PvP, PvE, soloing, and party play aspects are all met.
We are steering away from the idea of faction-owned regions or monopolized content. We don’t want to harm the players by having the ruling-faction users abusing the privileges and rights.
2nd CBT saw a division of bosses among dungeons and open field. Field bosses are usually swarmed by players. Working as intended?- Bae: It is more of an obvious result rather than intended result. We can put all of these named monsters inside dungeons to fix this problem, but we are still debating.
I get curious watching players spending hours hunting a named monster when they can spend those hours questing or playing further for better gear. But I view these actions as entertaining, so there is no need for change.
We are focusing on preventing kill steals, but also letting the players communicate with each other. One of our tasks is to find a balance between the two and implement them in-game.
We received suggestions of instanced dungeons as well, and we are discussing on how to implement those into BnS.
When is the Tribe system coming out? Also, is there a raid or alliance content in the works?note: 문파 is what i translated into Tribe...but I am not 100% sure that is the correct translation. I am guessing it has something to do with texting b/c he was talking about it along with social networking, but I am not exactly sure. Not too familiar with korean slang~ >_>
- Bae: The Tribe system will come out exactly as it is named, probably around the time for OBT. Furthermore, we are adding a social networking communication. It will be like Twitter or Facebook. We will be adding more on these in the future.
Hwang: The last dungeon in 2nd CBT is the Sacrificial Grave and geared towards a party of 4 hardcore players. The dungeon is meant to have players get used to party play. Content involving a raid or alliance will appear in the later content.
I heard that the official launch may be later this year or be delayed further. Will the devs hold another CBT or delay the OBT?- Bae: There are delays while going through the developing process and new feedbacks that may arise from inside-testing. The 2010 GStar demo received a large number of feedbacks, thus the game was delayed because we tried to change the game accordingly.
There were many things to do after 1st CBT, and it will probably be the same after 2nd CBT. If we really want to hold OBT, it is possible after 1 or 2 months. All we need to do is refine the version we have now and expand on it, but whether the players and the creators will enjoy it is up for debate.
We will reflect upon the feedbacks we will receive after 2nd CBT. But we will not be delaying the wait. What the CEO said at the initial announcement is right. The game will launch either at the end of this year or early next year.
There is complaint about the lack of inventory space. What do you think of the suggestion that equipped items will disappear from the bag?- Hwang: We will change the inventory based on feedback. Equipped items staying in the inventory is working as intended. We designed it so that tablet-combine and such are accessible by simply opening the inventory. If the equipped tablet or weapon disappears from the inventory, the player will need to go through the hassle of opening another window for combining or whatnot.
The gathering and crafting features seem interesting but too boring. Players may create bots dedicated to just crafting or gathering.- Hwang: The features are designed with casual players in mind. It was meant for those players that only play once or twice a week. We are considering the problems of bots.
Gathering profession is first being tested in 2nd CBT, so it is receiving a lot of feedback. It and the auction house system are features that need to be fixed. You can sell cool-looking weapons acquired in the beginning to the npcs, because better looking weapons will appear later. (I don’t know why Hwang will even say this…its off topic)
Bae: Bots and hardcore players take up much of gathering/crafting once time passes long enough. There will be players that enjoy the very aspect of gathering/crafting, but that number will slowly diminish due to pressure from the bots and hardcores. Regular players won’t be able to enjoy gathering/crafting at all.
Depending on the market flow and balance, one player can monopolize gathering/crafting, thus receiving a huge advantage over others. We wanted to change that and cater to the casual players too. It is still deemed boring by many, so we are changing it so that certain materials drop from dungeons or monsters.
The disabling aspect of combat is receiving positive reaction. But without a tutorial the difficulty immediately scales, and there is also talks that succeeding a disabling skill on a boss monster will totally break that boss’s attack pattern.- Hwang: Tutorial on disables is in the works. But there are users saying that it is easy to use after trying it for the first time.
Now apparently you always win if you use any holding skills. The dev’s perspective is that difficulty against monsters should arise in any situation, and that players need to know what these are and react accordingly.
In reality, the demon boss will exhibit a pattern where it will stand up if the spider web skill is used. Finding a fun yet diverse party play is one of the steps we are taking.
Bae: It seems that disables are too easy in small dungeons while leveling. This is not a bug. The players are making good use of their skills. We are considering adding a penalty where a monster knocked down once can’t be knocked down for a certain amount of time.
But its not likely. Monsters in the leveling areas are meant as practice targets for players. Rather than skill or balance patches, having the right monsters in the right regions seem to be a better option.
We are planning to make monster AIs that react to disable attacks and counterattack depending on different situations.
1v1 PvP is fun because it requires strategy and patience, but that is not the case for RvR situations. Are you planning to fix this?- Hwang: There are a lot of skills that have hidden properties. The level is low right now so it is difficult to experience it. There are special skills that negate the effects of certain skills.
Attack skills also have properties that help other players. Only those players that delved deep into the talent tree will see these. For example the Summon Sword skill can protect your allies.
A lot of the community is trying to find the hints, and the devs are thankful for that. More on this will be revealed in the future.
There are currently 2 different factions in the storyling, but are there plans to further divide these? And is the P2P model confirmed?- Bae: The business model is up to the business department to decide. But we can safely say that stuff like inventory expansion will not be included in a P2P model. The factions will be divided more and more as players progress further into the storyline.
Stories based on allied combat in certain regions may appear: specific storyline of the 2 current factions, and the relationship with the Tribe. We may also have the players make their own storyline through the Tribe system that will be implemented later.
Will character customization be more freely accessible?- Bae: In reality, we can change it now. Each npc in-game is made through customization instead of modeling. Since a lot of players want free customization, we will implement that in the future.
We are aiming to make customization better than any of the games currently out.
There is no enchant system in BnS.
Were there any episodes of difficulties or determinations while making a game that is completely different from games like Lineage 2?- Bae: We actually did not plan to make anymore MMORPGs after Lineage 2. Developing process is very long and the cost is high. Its uncomfortable for the devs to be using money for such a long period of time. It is also very complicated skill-wise.
We started making games on 1998. Lineage was made by 1 person (what?!). BnS is the 2nd game where we used a team of developers (Lineage 2 being the first). Usually it takes 3-5 years to make a game, 2-3 years to launch internationally, so 7-8 years fly by just like that.
You wanna add a lot of things in MMOs but are limited by technical skills. You also need security protection from hacking and bots since the service is divided into the client and the server. We decided to not make MMORPGs, but our disappointment for Lineage 2 was too great.
We took our hands off almost immediately after Lineage 2 launched. Disappointment and regret soon followed because planned quests and combat features were not completed. We started again due to this. The developers are always like this.
2nd CBT is ending on the 10th. Are there any future tests?- Bae: We do not know. There will be a lot of work to do after 2nd CBT ends. We need to organize logs, receive the feedbacks, and also take the forum comments into account. Due to the amount of work, we will avoid immediately launching the game or refining the current version.
We will aim towards the best course of action for both business and technical aspects. It seems that having another test will produce a better product.
What are you preparing to make BnS be loved for a long time?- Bae: A game’s life span is determined by how long it can keep a person entertained. Meeting good people and building relationships while having fun are major factors. Some talk about the cash value of items but this is just a conceptual number.
Having an enchant system may indeed keep a game going for a long time. I personally think enchant system is good. But the problem is that the players and the devs abuse it. It grieves me that enchanting is a subject of frustration and hate.
Therefore, BnS will not implement an enchant system. Other games have it so we see no need to use it in our game.
BnS is aimed towards being a great game where you meet other people and have fun. Networking in MMOs was a gradual progress, but with the recent rise of social networking systems, ways of meeting other people are heading towards a different direction. It is an area where we need to repent.
Recent NCSoft games make use of mobile/hand-held devices. Will BnS also connect with the mobile applications?- There are a lot of ideas. Aion and WoW mobile apps came out similar, but this was the result of natural trend flow. Since a lot of people are connected through the network, we plan to do the same.
Some of the ideas include sending a message, crafting/gathering, and checking the auction house. We will also try to make it so that you can actually play the game on the mobile devices.
Lastly, we want to apologize to the beta testers for delays and server problems. We want to thank the testers for doing their duty even through all this.
We will take all the feedbacks into account and do our best to produce the best results.
Meimoa
Suleni
![[:P]](http://v2.insane.li/phpbb/images/smilies/insane_06.png "Zunge")
Zork
