GM Notes Jan 7, 2021, 10:00 (UTC+3)
[Black Desert PC X Mobile X Console Calphe:ON Ball] Keyword Talk in Review!
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Daisy here!
After introducing the new content announced at the [Black Desert Calphe:ON Ball]
Daisy’s back with a review of the keyword talk. ╰(*°▽°*)╯
I wonder what keywords adventurers from all over the world were interested in,
Shall we take a look?
New Class Nova
Nova is a class that wields the Morning Star, a 1-handed blunt weapon along with the Quoratum, a large shield.
Her main weapon the Morning Star is basically a melee weapon, but also performs attacks where its chains extend. Therefore, you could say the new class Nova is a mid-ranged melee class.
Nova’s unique feature is the presence of the guards within her shield. These guards emerge to protect when Nova takes on a defensive stance, and she can order them to attack or defend. Nova can also use certain skills to deal joint attacks with her guards.
The guards were designed with a chess motif in mind, as they are divided into infantry and cavalry types with unique traits. Therefore, we hope adventurers will experience a play style never experienced before through Nova.
Nova is the last remaining heir of the Seric dynasty, who once ruled the continent before the rise of the republic of Calpheon. The hidden daughter of King Dahad Seric, she is also sister to the poisoned Guy Seric and Olvia-residing Leonardo Seric.
Why she had to hide her bloodline, why she spent time in a convent, and more shall all be revealed in her engaging storyline in Black Desert.
After the balance patches applied during the second half of 2020, the ratio between Awakening vs Succession improved significantly compared to the first half of 2020. However, there are still some classes that a skewed to one side and certain classes that are significantly different from one another.
First off, in the broader sense, we plan to add another Awakening-only Skill. Awakening tends to put a lot of pressure in swapping skills, especially so if the class is old, which results in lesser use of Awakening skills. So, we aim to compensate for this avoidance by adding another Awakening-only skill. It's only one skill, but we want it to be meaningful. Of course, adding a new skill just on Awakening might be a little disappointing for our Succession users so plan to add one more skill that can be used in conjunction with the Awakening Skills.
We have also tried our first Balance FGT in Korea and there was a lot of shortfalls that we weren't able to plan ahead. We would really like to take this opportunity to thank all the participants who helped us out in ironing out the details. There was a lot of requests from our servers abroad for the FGTs, but we couldn't go through with it because there was difficulty in meeting offline. So, we are trying to do it through online means. During FGT, there were many voices saying that certain classes were OP. As we have mentioned in the Heidel Ball, it's important for us to consider how the users feel as well so we are trying to buff other characters instead of nerfing the powerful classes. Sometimes we will need to nerf because Conquest Wars and or other large-scale battles as they have very different mechanism, but we'd like to keep the nerfing to a minimum.
Lastly, many adventurers mentioned the issue related to elevation. We are mopping up on development for this problem so there will be updates for it soon. It took us a lot of time trying to change the structure of action mechanics. So, we hope that adventurers that were affected by this issue find the updates meaningful.
Additionally, the elevation problem with the clunky motion when riding horses will be fixed as soon as possible. For framerates, we can only say at this moment that we'll try to optimize settings as much as possible. Black Desert emphasizes free movement and action as much as possible, so framerates are going to be slightly different with each PC setting. A quick fix would be to fix all framerates to 60 during PvP and this is an easy solution to close the gap but limiting framerates will also influence strategy and gameplay so we are trying to avoid that. We wil try to optimize framerates as much as possible.
We are trying hard to think of ways to include the story so that it fits in naturally with the gameplay. I want to be careful at this moment because nothing is decided, but some of the options we are considering are story dialogues through voice acting, more active role for NPCs, and story progression on the field instead of quests in front of NPCs. Our main purpose is to really do away with the RRR smash.
Recently, we have been experimenting with individual space without interruption of other adventurers for a more immersive story environment. Once fully developed, it'll be called as the "Independent Story System." For example, in the Calpheon questline before renewal, there was a scene where Belmorn would lead the Shadow Knights and the Black Harpy Elites in the invasion of Calpheon. In our system, adventurers would be able to join that very invasion as a participant. I can't say when we wil be able to release this, but we wil let you know as soon as we have news.
We have mentioned our focusing on PvP contents during our [Black Desert Calphe:ON Ball], but we aim to focus on it until the beginning of 2021. We might have been too careful in approaching PvP content. We are reflecting on this and would like to change things by trying to be more active in renewing the Node/Conquest War first, then Thornwood Castle.
Season ServerAs we have said during [Black Desert Calphe:ON Ball], we wil be releasing the new class Nova with the Winter Season. The focus we have put on the Winter Season was new content exclusive to the Season Server and helping new adventurers get settled into Black Desert.
One of the advantages of Season Servers is that people who started together can party up and have some fun. We are thinking of more Season Server exclusive content like Tuvala gear, so we have made some improvements there.
We have been analyzing the data constantly and we saw a lot of adventurers confused as to what they're supposed to do once the Season Server was over. We definitely have plans to compensate this by giving lots of rewards to warm the winter and help new adventurers get settled into Black Desert.
The new dungeon, Atoraxion, that we introduced during [Black Desert Calphe:ON Ball] is highly focused on cooperative play. The boss battle will require challenging tactical choices, straying away from the traditional “holy trinity” role system. In addition, there were a lot of feedback about wanted more guild contents, so we are also thinking of implementing this dungeon content for guilds. Either way, it will be a content that is well worth waiting for.
Existing Content RenewalThe latter half of 2020, we have made many small and big content updates, world and field boss updates, and the Old Moon Grand Prix update. We will also continue to improve and change existing contents in 2021.
Our current focus is on improving trade. However, there is still a lot to prepare, so we can’t go into full detail on what’s actually going to be made until sometime in the latter half of 2021.
In 2021, we are looking into it and want to rebalance and change some of the current rewards. However, we won’t be applying this change to every content. This will cause an issue where people with less time might feel forced to play a certain content, while those who have a lot more time will end up profiting a lot more than others. So, we plan to group up a couple of contents for a specific reward and adventurers will be able to choose which content they wish to play to receive this reward. For example, let’s say we group up Savage Rift, Altar of Blood, and Altar of Training. Adventurers will who play Altar of Blood will end up receiving the same reward as those who play Savage Rift.
Many adventurers are sending us feedback about rewards related to Papua Crinea. The original intent for Papua Crinea Island was for adventurers to just relax and explore new places. It wasn’t a necessary spot that you had to go to get stronger, so the rewards aren’t as good as other areas, and we wish to keep it this way. However, we would like to add other attractive rewards for the many adventurers who do visit. Some may not know, but many adventurers enjoy using the Stoneback Crab or Mischievous Jack transformation scrolls. With this in mind, we want to diversify transformation scrolls and make Papua Crinea the transformation hotspot.
Back in open beta days, there were times when we worked hard to get a noble wagon and did trade all day long. Those days are greatly missed, so we would like to revive the trade content. However, rather than simply improving profitability, we are preparing to make a more detailed and advanced trade content. To tell you a little bit about the current concept, you would join the Xian, Shen, or a specific region’s merchant guild and compete with each other. Our goal is to bring you this update sometime in the second half of 2021. This is only in the idea stage, so please note that it may change when it is released.
One of the mottos of Black Desert's development is to make it enjoyable and regret-free when choosing to play any of the numerous contents. We will work hard to make sure trade and hunting does exactly that.
We prepared new large ship designs. However, since existing ships are faithfully performing their respective roles, it is unlikely that the new designs will be released as new ships. We are preparing a variety of ways for you to obtain it, so get ready.
We would also like to take this opportunity to apologize for the update delay on the Great Expedition Part 2. In fact, the initial direction we wanted to take with the blue battlefield has completely changed and some of the plans for Great Expedition Part 2 has been moved to our Land of the Dawn project.
The blue battlefield was initially designed as a team-to-team battle, like the red battlefield, but where each team would capture specific spots and protect it. After doing some internal tests, we concluded that it wasn’t enjoyable due to ship movement and cannon range limitations. Thus, we steadily improved the usability of cannons and later added a pirate system. If you are an adventurer who has been sailing steadily since the days of the sailboats, I think you will have felt that the use of cannons has become much easy. All this was done to turn the entire Black Desert sea into a blue battlefield. You might not have noticed the reason for these changes, since there really are not a lot of reasons to compete with each other. In the future, content updates like the addition of limited quantities of trade goods at sea nodes may be added to stir up some small competition.
However, we plan to maintain the stance that no advantage will be given to pirate adventurers. The fact that you can interfere with other adventurers is judged to work well as content, and we believe that the number of people who visit the ocean will steadily increase only when adventurers who play peacefully are given priority.
Also, we are preparing a supply ship for the convenience of those who enjoy sea hunting. You will be able to call the Old Moon supply ship anytime, anywhere to resupply on cannon shells and food. Of course, you already know that the Old Moon Guild love money. It will be a lot more expensive than the price provided at the ports.
Many adventurers gave us reports about the music sheet note issue. It might take some time, but we are doing our best to solve it. Also, we are preparing more high-end instruments that can reproduce better quality sound. In addition to that, new methods and effector functions will be added to these instruments, allowing you to enjoy various performances with a much richer sound. Please look forward to it.
New ClassOur stance about creating new classes and races were explained during the presentation. We are definitely willing to add a Dwarf and Papu character, but I can’t promise it.
We have been thinking about more customization options, including hairstyles, but... There are no plans of anything new being added during the first half of 2021.
The image that you are seeing right now is a hint of the new class that is planned to be released 2021. It's still in development, so we can't give you a more detailed image, but we can tell you that it'll be a fun class to play.
Also, we believe that the opinion of our adventurers regrading new classes are very important. For example, the concept of Hashashin first derived from your opinions. We created him, tested him and now he's live on our servers. In MMORPGs, our classes represent us or what would like to be. However, 20 classes are not enough. We would love to hear from you about what type of class you want to play and be. With enough data, we wil make sure to develop one with them in mind.
Of course, new treasures will continue to be added. However, it is difficult to say what will be added as there is no confirmed content at this time. If you have any good ideas, please feel free to contact us through customer support. We will actively review it.
Using some spare time for treasure, I have over 1 million sulfur in my warehouse but no treasure map pieces. This makes me want me to change the content so that you can get a treasure after reaching a certain requirement. But, that’s also when I’m reminded of Jaehee Kim telling me, “A treasure should be a treasure.” Just like in life, the charm and value of a treasure seems to shine even more when connected with the element of surprise.
We increased the role of Afuaru to give you a better chance, added scrolls to Dreighan to slightly improve the benefits from treasure and we plan to continue releasing such updates one at a time.
For this part, I don't think there's anything else I can tell you, but good luck. In Black Desert, there are areas that we can change and areas that we shouldn’t. Gear enhancement is an area that should never be touched. Instead, we will continue to review and improve ways to make preparation for the enhancement a little more convenient, such as Naderr’s Band or Stack Workshop events.
MountsWe are thinking and experimenting with many different ideas for a new mount. As you have suggested, snow bears and O’dyllita giant wolves are also included in our experiment. I can’t tell you when or what will be released, but once we finish testing and are satisfied with the result, we will make sure you know. Also, tier-10 horse, airships, hot air balloons, and water mounts are not going to be released in the first half of 2021. However, a Mythical version of Diné and Doom is planned for release.
First of all, in the case of Diné, we are developing a function where it can run on water. It's not 100% finished yet, but here is a short clip.
We thought it would be really cool if Diné could run on water. Of course, that doesn't mean you’ll be able to run all the way Port Ratt. We are going to make it so that you can easily cross to some extent.
Jaehee talked about creating an Outfit Task Force at the Heidel Ball. Soon after, we established it and got right to producing a variety of outfits.
These are being prepared to make an appearance in 2021. A couple of months have passed since the establishment of the task force and we are doing our best to make an efficient working process to maintain a steady production pace. Just know that TF is a work in progress and will continue to produce awesome costumes that will be to your taste.
Eradicating behaviors that negatively affect the game, such as usage of unauthorized programs and macros, is one of the major tasks of Black Desert. We have been detecting and preventing these problems through usage of security programs, 24-hour monitoring, adding a report function, and we even developed and applied our own macro detection program called “Pearl Protect.” We have had success in detecting and banning accounts abusing these programs.
Additionally, we are also reviewing and developing programs to block the movement of silver using the marketplace. Before we had the current system, reports from our adventurers have been the biggest help. I would like to sincerely thank all our adventurers around the world for lending us your strength.
We will have to continue to improve in many areas, including Pearl Protect and our internal processes so that any abnormal play that occur in the game can be detected and be taken care of more quickly.
Our company has been focusing much more on delivering quality translations for our titles. We have made many changes within our company and Localization Center. The processes were improved to ensure the quality of localized content, and we are continuing to work towards providing you all with the best content possible in your respective languages. Our localization specialists are hard at work reworking past and current game content to match your expectations and also provide you with better future content. Although this is a priority for us, it is also a time-consuming process. We ask that you be patient with us as we work towards this goal.
EventsMany adventurers gave up feedback about our events. We are trying by first making different variations. For example, 2020, our usual Thanksgiving guest, Targargo, showed up with a mate, Halloween was dealt differently in Florin, and moles appeared in gardens. It will be difficult to change everything at once, but we will continue to make changes so that adventurers can feel that something was new and fun.
We believe that events are an invigorating factor in gameplay and an important factor that directly or indirectly influences growth. We have held a lot of events in 2020. For 2021, we will avoid events with high difficulty, events that will make only some adventurers happy, and events that are difficult to participate in. We will solely focus on making events that are accessible by majority of the adventurers. Also, with the exception of special weeks like Christmas and other holiday seasons, there were weeks where multiple events were ongoing at the same time, while during some weeks, there were little to none. We will do our best to balance out and schedule the events better.
We are constantly observing and listening to feedback from adventurers around the world, and yet, since we have mainly communicated through the patch notes, there were some mishaps in getting all we wanted to say through to the adventurers.
Starting in 2021, we will create a new channel of communicating with our adventurers. We also will work on improving our process with our forums and Discord channels of each region, so that we can actively share and catch the opinions of smaller groups.
There will be more effort put into actively utilizing Black Desert Global Labs in 2021 as well. Currently, the Global Labs are used as teasers for upcoming content, but we mainly do this to also have adventurers try it out and give us their feedback. The main source of gathering your opinions on upcoming content is solely through the official website, and we seek to improve the Global Labs by creating a better means of collecting such feedback.
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