Development Update: April 17, 2020
Hello Pyreborn Champions!
Before starting off this mid April update, let us begin by expressing our profound gratitude to all of our amazing players for their patience and constant support. We’ve realized that April kicked off with a bang, but not necessarily the type of bang we were all hoping for.
An Explanation on the Recent Events
To start things off, let us address the elephant in the room -- the recent server downtimes and frequent maintenance. Due to strings of unexpected (and surprisingly unrelated) bugs that had previously gone undetected, our teams were in a constant battle to quickly repair and resolve the issues while limiting any possible ripple effects. Unfortunately, in execution this turned into a scenario where multiple maintenances were required. All of the teams here at Round 8 Studio and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America agree that service interruptions are unacceptable. Not only are we conducting a comprehensive investigation but have also implemented improvements to our monitoring systems. At the end of the day, our highest priority is to offer the most stable service to our community and we need to do better for you.
Outside of the recent server downtime, there is also the topic of bugs and just how widespread some of them were. From lumena balances being incorrectly calculated to dungeons being unavailable for a period of time, there’s no getting around the fact that there was some crazy stuff going on and difficult choices of how to appropriately respond. Again, we understand that all of these things are unacceptable and are doing everything in our power to ensure situations like this can be avoided in the future.
Game-Related Thoughts and Updates
While all hands on deck have been focused on getting the game back to a reliable state, we also haven’t forgotten about the fantastic feedback we’ve been receiving from our players. From our official Twitter (@BlessUnleashed) to our active Discord, it’s tough for the team to respond to every single piece of feedback but it is all being read and pushed to the team for consideration. Today we want to take some time to talk about a few points that seem to be “hot points” in the community.
The Enhancement System
We’ve read the feedback and understand that the enhancement system still leaves a lot to be desired. From the hair pulling fail moments to the grind of getting the materials for an attempt to enhancing your gear, we understand that changes need to be made, and changes are coming. Our devs are currently working on a system that will put a “bumper” on the total number of failures possible from their enhancements and other improvements to alleviate the stress that players face during enhancement failures. Most importantly, we are working to make sure these changes not only address the current feedback but can work as a long-lived system as we move toward the future.
PvP
We could probably fill a novel with the amount of feedback (and suggestions) that we’ve received about the PvP system. And if there’s one thing that we’re dedicated to though, it’s the ability to pivot and make changes as needed to ensure the system is not only fair but fun. To that effect, we are preparing a new system where players will automatically flag up for PvP when initiating combat with other players and can be attacked by other players without the defenders worrying about receiving unjustified penalties. Those who successfully kill the instigator will be awarded Honor points which can be used with other systems. Stay tuned for more details.
Upcoming Content
We’re looking forward to sharing details of our first content update soon! Besides a myriad of improvements behind the scenes to ensure more stability, we have a new 5-man dungeon to reveal, a new abyssal dungeon, a new Blessing to collect, and a ton of other smaller changes and additions and improvements to multiple systems that we can’t wait to reveal. Keep your eyes on our channels for some new details on April 21!
