Ashendal

Friday, July 10, 2015

Yokai Revamped

This week we've got a total revamp of a planet. There wasn't time to do any other release though because of how large this is, and I appologize for that, but this is part of the overall process we're working on to not only streamline progression but help newer players as a whole.

I'll do a Too Long, Can't Read Everything; at the start though.

- Yokai as a whole has been revamped to make it so that it's part of the level bracket it's supposed to be in. The enemies have been adjusted down some and weird reward stats have been fixed to fit for where the planet is meant to be in the level curve. (I may have missed one or two but I tried to nab everything I could find) This includes a couple quality of life updates like adding a persistance roll to Tenjin's area so you don't get stuck at a 95 roll for days.

- Minar's Birthday weapon has replaced Korin's Ketchup Cannon in Soluna Main! The 4oJ mecha will remain up for this weekend and will then leave until next year!

Ok time to get into all the info about this release for those that really want to know.

Ideally MQ should be seperated out into 4 "sections."

- Basic covers levels 0-25. This gets you into the game, teaches you about effects without overwhelming you with a bunch, and basically gives you everything you need to know to understand how the game itself functions. Once you finish the Soluna Jobs and pick a house this should be around where you're at.

- Intermediate covers levels 20-55. Yes I know this overlaps with the last one. It's supposed to. This bracket is meant to cover the first storylines. Everything so far, not counting the brand new storyline is supposed to fit into this. That means that weapons and mechas from this shouldn't be doing end game effects and damage ranges.If you level quickly enough you may hit level 50 before the end of this so this means you may out level the planets.

- Advanced covers levels 50-85. This will be the next step of the MQ storyline as well as more advanced items and mecha. I have plans to make "Advanced" versions of things like certain holiday mecha, special offer items (these will get updated if necessary to auto change to the new specials once they scale to this range), and SCEM's once we get to this point that have effects that are more powerful than they are currently but AREN'T available to people below this level range. This keeps with the "level up, get stronger, fight stronger foes", mentality at the heart of any RPG.

- Expert covers level 80-100. (100 is the final level cap btw) This is the actual end game level bracket. This is where you'll get things like 85+ Defense and -90 Boost, and things of that nature. REALLY strong effects that go against REALLY strong foes. Getting them at level 50 means that there's no where to go and to actually have a final level cap we have to leave you something to get to there. This is still a long ways off but it's something to look forward to. It'll be a big accomplishment getting here and the power levels will match that. The enemies will match it as well but that's a given.

Yokai was just the first of these adjustments that will happen. Romero, Liath, even things like Westion Pt 2 and Lagos Pt 2 will get adjustments. It won't be in the next month because this takes a lot of time and work, but it will eventually happen. We want the game to feel like you're progressing smoothly, not hitting points where you get massive jumps in power or the enemies you face just suddenly eat your face for no reason.

Yokai is on the latter end of the Intermediate section so it is meant to give you a bit more of a challenge but also a bit stronger rewards. Some of those items were too strong and I've adjusted those down. However some items were too weak so I've adjusted them up some. I'm not perfect though and I had a LOT to get through so if you notice a weapon feels weaker than it should be or was adjusted but seems like it's an odd adjustment go ahead and ask me why on the forums post for this DN. It may be that I missed it in the crowd of items and I need to actually look at it! If I did adjust it I'll explain why the adjustments were made as well. This also goes for enemies. If you find an enemy that is still very very strong I either may have missed it or I didn't take off the total amount I intended to from its overall power. Again, make a post asking why in the forum thread for these DN's and I'll make sure to answer it!

Due to how much work went into doing this I wasn't able to get anything else done for this week. I wanted to do some new items for those players that had already completed the planet but I ran out of time. I'll work with Lyris and see if we can do something special for next week though to make up for it. I don't like not giving everyone something to do but in this case making sure parts of the game fit where they should and making sure new players and returning players aren't caught out with large issues was my priority. I hope everyone can understand that and I'll try my best to get something done ahead of time for the next planet revamp that way everyone has something to do.

Tags: #Ashendal