GM Notes Nov 15, 2023, 12:40 (UTC+3)
Black Desert Late Night Talk Highlights
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Black Desert Late Night Talk Highlights!
Greetings Adventurers,
In this Late Night Talk, we would like to update our Adventurers on the progress we've made regarding the development situation we discussed in the last Late Night Talk, as well as address some of your current thoughts on Black Desert.
Additionally, we've been reading all of your suggestions and feedback on the feedback board, and we're always looking for ways to address your concerns. However, we also recognize that this process of finding solutions can be lengthy, and therefore frustrating for our Adventurers. We hope that by updating our Adventurers on our progress in this Late Night Talk, we can help alleviate some of your concerns.
Updates on Topics from Last Late Night Talk (AOS, Outfit, Ocean Content, and others)
Class Balance
Damage Numbers
Shai Awakening Weapon: Artina Sol
Guild: Cannoneer
Miscellaneous (Ornette and Odore's Spirit Essence, Capped Node War, Seeds, and others)
Calpheon Ball + Raffle Event
Updates on Topics from Last Late Night Talk
· Arena of Solare
Sometime in November, Practice Mode for Arena of Solare will become available full-time.
As mentioned in our last Late Night Talk, we will also be adding rewards that can be earned by enjoying it. These rewards will be scaled appropriately, but you can also expect improved rewards when Ranked Mode for Arena of Solare is available.
In addition, we plan to add a Custom Mode to Arena of Solare. Custom Mode will be an invite-only mode with selectable map settings and no matchmaking. Similar to the Arena of Arsha function, an Observer option will also be added so that you can spectate other Adventurers’ gameplay.
· Arsha Server Revamp
As we mentioned in our last Late Night Talk, we'll be making changes to the Arsha server later this year. You will be able to fight without knowing the opponent unless you're in a party, and you'll be able to fight with guild members, giving you more freedom to fight. However, we realize that many people use the Arsha server while in large platoons (of 20, for example), which can easily interfere with solo Adventurers and smaller parties that are hunting mobs together. So, we will be updating Arsha server PvP to apply to those in platoons.
· Shell Belle Outfit
In early December, we'll be releasing a version of the Shell Belle outfit with the cape removed. We will make it exchangeable with existing outfit boxes and armor so that you can swap them out based on your preferred design.
· Farming Outfit
We plan to release a Farming outfit on November 15th. This functional outfit will make it easier to farm.
· Approach to Outfit Releases
From the previous method of releasing concept outfits, we are shifting to releasing female class outfits for all female classes, and male class outfits for all male classes all at once. We wish to help address the disappointment that can come from not seeing an outfit available for a class that you play.
· Ocean Content
The Guild Galley Ship and the First Mate sailors, which were originally scheduled to be updated to Global Lab together, needed more development time and unfortunately could not be updated together. The Guild Galley ships will be revealed to our Adventurers in two weeks, while the First Mate sailors will take a little longer. Alongside this, we are also working on the crewmate presets so that they can be implemented as well.
· Improvements to Skill Cooldown Slots
The function to allow skill commands to appear alongside each cooldown slot is in its final stages of development, and we will be releasing it in the Global Lab servers for our Adventurers to see in the near future.
· Matchmaking for Old Moon Grand Prix, Yar
The matchmaking system for the Old Moon Grand Prix was prioritized and is in the final stages of development. We apologize that a matchmaking system for Yar is currently taking more time to develop than the Grand Prix’s matchmaking. Shortly after implementing the system for the Grand Prix, we are preparing to roll out matchmaking for Yar.
· Other
We are also working on improving accessibility to the Magnus and the Black Shrine as well as updates to Adventure Journals, Music Composition, and Beast Mode for Berserker which were all discussed in the last Late Night Talk.
When it comes to streamlining items like Blackstones, food buffs, and elixirs, we're focusing on accuracy rather than speed, so we do not expect to be available to provide these soon. We are focusing on accuracy because these updates would have such a large impact on the overall content of Black Desert. That being said, the Black Desert team will continue to work on these updates and will bring good news for our Adventurers in the future.
Class Balance
We have completed PvE balance adjustments, including the damage changes, in the Global Lab update. After the update, we will be monitoring your feedback and data to fine-tune the damage output for the time being. And in consideration of the higher risk that evasion classes face for dying in top-end monster zones, we've recently implemented changes to class balance and the damage of Darkseekers' Retreat, but will also continue to make adjustments as we consider how different classes fare in top PvE zones.
As for PvP, as mentioned before, we'll be making updates with a focus on stability and characteristics. First, we've applied improvements to make them more intuitive with the Skill Add-on update on November 10th on the Global Lab servers, and we plan to make further updates that take into account various PvP situations including but not limited to stamina, protections, and mobility. However, we'll be making these changes carefully based on feedback from adventurers on the forum boards and the data we've accumulated, so we expect the implementation to take a little while longer.
As always, we'll be sure to communicate any changes in detail through the Global Lab Patch Notes.
Damage Numbers
Many Adventurers are wondering why damage numbers show on the Global Lab servers but not on the live servers. Unlike the Global Lab server, the live server has optimizations applied to reduce the load on the server.
As a game with a large-scale open world and a lot of skill hit counts, the game’s servers have a lot of optimization work going into them. These strikes are too many to be sent from the server to the client one by one, so depending on the server environment, the hits are divided or combined, but of course, the actual damage is applied correctly.
On a live server like this, it is difficult to provide the same damage representation as in the Global Lab because of the automatic optimization that occurs in various situations where many players gather.
We recognize that Adventurers are concerned that we haven't done a satisfactory job with damage number presentation from time to time due to the discrepancy between what's reflected in the patch notes and what's reflected in-game–we sincerely apologize for this. To prevent further inaccurate information, we're moving away from manually writing tooltip descriptions to drawing the actual numbers reflected by class skill data and automatically applying damage descriptions. We hope that with this as a start, our Adventurers can put more trust in us in the future.
Shai Awakening Weapon: Artina Sol
We're considering an update to Shai to other classes that will allow Awakened Weapons to be transferred when a Shai character has another character's Awakened Weapon in their inventory. This will hopefully reduce the need for adventurers to spend additional Refined Marni Fuel or Awakening Weapon Vouchers.
The update of the addition of Reform Stones to Shai’s Sunset Artina Sol was made to supplement some of the current limitations to Shai’s equipment.
As for the problem of tagging, we're currently considering ways to ease the transition from Shai to other classes.
Based on player gameplay style and data, we anticipate that making it easier to tag from other classes to Shai will lead to issues such as partying up in PvE with only Shai classes. In regards to tagging other classes from Shai, we are considering an update that will allow Awakening Weapon tags if a Shai has another class’ Awakening Weapon in their inventory. This will hopefully reduce the need for adventurers to spend additional Marni’s Processed Fuel or Awakening Weapon Exchange Coupons.
We are working on system messages to inform which parts are hit by cannons.
Additionally, we're looking into the possibility of allowing guild masters to award titles to cannoneers. There are a lot of factors that go into Node Wars that require quite some major work to award titles to actual cannoneers, so we want to make sure that Adventurers in charge of cannons are recognized by allowing guild masters to award them at their discretion.
We recognize the difficulties that Adventurers are having with guild invitations and guild management. That being said, development for the guild system is rather complex and thus requires a lot of time, so we ask for your patience while the Black Desert team steadily continues to work on it.
Miscellaneous
Lawless Land Update
We have reconsidered our plans to update all of Ulukita to be a Lawless Zone.
The decision was made as Adventurers will be working hard to craft Lafi Bedmountain's Upgraded Telescope and Ator’s Shoes, and making it a Lawless Zone would only add to the burden. We are still working on voiceovers, tests, and other such areas, but you can expect the Ulukita update in the near future.
· Dye Presets
We will prepare dye presets so that Adventurers can easily change dye colors.
·Shared Dye
We would like to implement dye sharing similar in form to the beauty album, where you can download dye information uploaded by other adventurers and apply it easily. However, it is quite a time-consuming process, so we expect it to be available next year.
· Placing Outfits in Regular Inventory
With the 11/17 Global Lab update, we'll be changing all cosmetic items that are stored in a regular inventory to be stored in the Pearl inventory, allowing you to utilize Patrigio's Apparel Bag as well. We hope this will help decrease the load from our Adventurers’ inventory.
· Changes to Ornette and Odore’s Spirit Essence, Drakania’s Lore
When developing new classes, we've always prioritized offering our Adventurers a different experience from the existing classes. Drakania was born out of the question of how we could provide an experience that could separate her from Warrior's Greatsword. We hope that you can understand Corsair’s Awakening Weapon was also a result of our thought process of how we could provide a different experience from Corsair’s Succession form.
When we previously stated that we would not be releasing classes that wield guns, it was because we wanted to avoid them as best we could given the context of the period and the impact they would have on PVP.
Odore and Ornette’s Spirit Essence were items that initially had great value as treasures for Adventurers, but over time it became more of a rite of passage for beginning Adventurers. Because our intention was not for treasure items to become essential, we increased its availability, expanded its use to make it less burdensome for adventurers, and removed its status as a treasure item.
· Carrack Appearance
The ability to fine-tune the look of the carrack (specifically the columns on the back of the carrack) is not currently structurally possible. However, we may be able to offer an option by creating a pillarless version that can be exchanged for an owned existing carrack.
· Difficulty with Ocean Hunting at Nighttime
It is currently not possible to attach lanterns like the Atanis Firefly on carracks. However, to improve the convenience of hunting, we are going to try to make it easier for Adventurers to recognize monsters by changing the looting visual effect. We'll be looking at ways to address the darkness of the ocean, and the difficulties thereof, in the future.
· Capped Node War
We are looking to fundamentally change the AP/DP limits for Node War, as we believe that the current capped Node Wars, rather than being a source of enjoyment for new Adventurers, are more of a burden on existing Adventurers who have been strongly playing consistently with certain guilds, and pushing them to optimize settings for characters, etc. based on these limitations.
· PEN Weapon Family Name Change
This is currently not possible. Due to the current structure, if you were able to change the Family Name, all the items on the Central Market would also change, which would also change the Family Name on PEN equipment currently owned after being bought by players.
· Carrack Ship Characteristics
As the number of sailors increases, Adventurers are able to enjoy the open ocean more comfortably. But on the other hand, many of the distinctive characteristics of the carracks have been lost. We will continue to improve the characteristics of each ship, in particular, the Epheria Carrack: Volante, as has been suggested by players, such as by reducing stamina consumption.
· Carrack Customization
We ask for your understanding in that it is difficult to make Carrack appearance customization/color changes possible due to the current structure.
· Black Spirit’s Adventure Board Dice Cooldown
We're currently working on an update that will allow Adventurers to roll dice while doing other activities via Auto-roll. We've decided to make this change because having multiple dice rolls at once can overwhelm the server, and hope that this change will make it easier for you to use up your accumulated dice.
· Seeds
Farming seed items are currently very difficult to convert to be stackable. There are several Pearl items that were recently changed to be stackable, but seed items are structurally different from these items, making it difficult to make quick improvements.
We apologize for the difficulty with the current structure of seed items, as they require installation functionality unlike other items.
· Life Skill Minigame Difficulty
We'll continue to work to make Life Skilling easier to enjoy for Adventurers overall, and we'll continue to tweak some of the minigames you'll find in Life content that is sometimes unnecessarily difficult.
· 1-Person Guild Missions
It is difficult for us to allow 1-man guilds to carry out guild missions.
We would like to maintain the current system in place because otherwise, it may lead to acts that can undermine the value of your gameplay such as real-money trading.
· Improvements to Locking UI for Horse, Wagon, and Ship Skills
With this Global Lab update, we are moving the lock button to the front of the skill name to make it easier for many Adventurers to adjust skill locks. Thank you for your feedback.
· Stable/Wharf UI
We are also working on overhauling the Stable and Wharf UI to make it more player-friendly, but as this will take some time, we should be able to provide a progress update next summer.
· Exchange NPC QoL
We are making improvements so that you can go to a single NPC to exchange for a Boss's Latent Aura item. However, there are complications that come with having a single NPC that can exchanged for many items, so we will be working on improvements to this as well.
· Gear Enhancement Method
We recognize the growing burden of equipment enhancement and will try to make strides to make improvements in this area in the future.
· Increasing the amount of base materials that can be purchased on the Central Market
We will continuously adjust the purchase amount by tracking the trading volume in the Central Market. Currently, if there is a large quantity of an item for sale, you can buy more at once, and if it is on pre-order, the amount is reduced. This is to prevent a small number of Adventurers from buying all the items at once so as not to draw away from the shared experience of Black Desert.
· Lara’s Daily Quest
We are changing Lara's daily quest to be a weekly quest, and unifying the dough required for the quest to reduce complexity. We will also find a way for unused dough to be used.
· Reason to Progress
For PvP, we are currently looking to expand content with the War of the Roses / by revamping Red Battlefield using silver profit / and by adding other challenging content to create incentives to progress.
For PvE, beyond the top monster zones, we are looking to add content that can help you feel the progress that you’ve made.
· Unifying Life Crystals
We are aware that your crystal inventory is overflowing with the different kinds of life crystals. As soon as we have finalized the approach that we are currently preparing, we will update our Adventurers.
· Add Character Accessories
Working on accessories is tied to working on outfits, and right now we want to focus more on the outfits that can be worn by our Adventurers’ classes.
· Add Campsite Furniture
Furniture that can be installed in your campsite to offer buffs right away requires additional consideration for concerns about balance such as buff duration, so it is something we hope to do within the next year.
· Heart of Karanda, Heart of Kutum
We will be changing the Heart of Karanda and Heart of Kutum to be registrable on the Central Market. When we first introduced the Heart of Karanda, we intended to make it a substitute item that was a bit easier in comparison before obtaining Garmoth’s Heart. However, as that idea has changed, we want to make it registrable on the Central Market.
During these two Late Night Talks, we felt that we wanted to center the official website as a shared space where we take things one step at a time. Going forward, we'll be taking more time like this to talk to you about what we're working on and where we're headed, and we're looking forward to hosting another event like this at the end of November where we can discuss with you about what's going on.
Calpheon Ball + Raffle Event
· Removing Expiration Date of J’s Hammer
We will be removing the expiration date of the J’s Hammer of Loyalty.
Currently, the expiration date of the J’s Hammer is extended until the Ball, but rather than continue to extend it in the future, we plan to remove the expiration date completely.
· Calpheon Ball Date and Event
The Calpheon Ball will be held on December 16, 2023.
In the hopes that you would look forward to the Calpheon Ball even more, we have prepared a special event.
The event, which will be available after the 11/15 (Wed) maintenance, will let you enter a raffle in which you have the chance to obtain Vell's Concentrated Magic, Garmoth’s Heart, or other rewards.
We have greatly increased the number of rewards that can be won this time around, so we hope that many Adventurers can participate.
Furthermore… Just by participating in this event, you can receive J’s Hammer of Loyalty, Royal Fern Root, and Mythical Feathers. Even if you do not get selected from the raffle, there are still plenty of wonderful rewards to go around, so we hope that you can enjoy this event.
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