Retiarius Concept Designer - Maggi
The Retiarii are gladiators who use the net (or 'rete'), one-handed spear and dagger as their main weapons in combat. This class is specialized in using the rete to entrap or disarm their opponents.
Onmyoji Concept Designer - Maggi
The Onmyoji are able to summon divine spirits and use the magic of Yin and Yang in combat, which allows them to effectively face a large number of opponents simultaneously.
IMC Games CEO Hak Kyu Kim
We sat down with the CEO of IMC Games and creator of Tree of Savior Hak Kyu Kim to talk about the state of the game, what’s being done behind the scenes, and what Mr. Kim envisions for the future of TOS.
The Popolion Post: Mr. Kim, welcome to the The Popolion Post! We’re very excited to have you here for our first issue. It’s not every day that we get to hear from the creators behind TOS, after all. Do you have a quick word for our readers?
Hak Kyu Kim: Greetings, Saviors! And congratulations on the first edition of The Popolion Post! I am quite excited to be a part of this project, and to be talking you guys through our new magazine.
TPP: We understand that it was your idea to create an online magazine for the players of TOS, and that you were closely involved in the process from the beginning. What made you want to start The Popolion Post?
HKK: I wanted to create something that could deliver information to our players in a more cohesive and meaningful way. I mean, we always have the Developer’s Blog, but the posts there don’t exactly follow a consistent schedule. I figured a magazine format like The Popolion Post would be a better way to communicate regularly with the players. Also, for those who stop playing TOS for a while and come back, it’s a good way to catch up with what’s happening in the game.
TPP: It’s a meaningful time to start something new, too, because this month Tree of Savior is celebrating its second anniversary on Steam! As the “father” of TOS, how do you feel about that?
HKK: Hahah, working on TOS does feel like raising a child sometimes. It’s going to take a lot more effort for it to truly thrive, but I’m extremely grateful for all the love it has received since the beginning, and I’m confident it will continue
to grow strong and healthy. Our developers are all very fond of the game, and I know they too are always thankful for the support of the community.
The most important thing to me right now is building a sense of trust between us the
players. If we manage to solve the game’s problems one by one and keep adding elements that appeal to our player base, I believe the community will be happy. We need this to assure our players that we aren’t going to treat the game as a mere
product to be sold, or abandon it altogether; that we’re committed to making Tree of Savior a better game for many anniversaries to come.
TPP: Besides our new magazine, we hear you have been busy with other aspects of TOS. Can you tell us what your role is in running the game?
HKK: In 2017 there were several internal changes at IMC. Until last year, I had been mostly focused on TOS Mobile and other new projects. Then, our Vice-president, who was also our first producer, stepped away from the company and I took full charge of TOS. Now I work on all things related to the service of the game.
TPP: And how do you assess the current state of TOS? What do you think the game needs to become even better, and what are your plans to improve it?
HKK: As far as game content is concerned, the dev team is always working to make TOS more engaging and entertaining [TPP: Make sure to check out our Q&A with them on page 27!]. Personally, I’m also highly concerned with stability, optimization, and improving server structures. Last year we managed to address many of TOS’ server instability problems, thanks to the efforts of our programming team.
One of the biggest problems we faced when we first launched Tree of Savior was precisely the lack of optimization.We ended up having to invest too much into setting up new machines for the servers and it caused a series of other problems for players.The situation has improved a lot since those days, but I recognize that it is still a key issue that needs to be worked on, which is why I’ve been focusing on client-side optimization. I believe that, especially as an MMO, where the fun comes from doing things with other players, optimization is crucial for the success of TOS.
TPP: Many of our players still feel the need for better game stability, so that’s good to hear. Can you share with us any details about the work you’re doing to optimize TOS?
HKK: Of course! I’m currently focused on client-side optimization. We’ve already completed a few patches which are going be applied gradually to kTOS servers starting this month. Right now, however, the client we use for TOS can’t be fixed by
changing just one or things about it. It needs to be reworked from the bottom up, so the whole process is going to require a lot of work, and a lot of testing.
We’re looking at things like graphic engine and other resource management,
unnecessary data being transferred in connections with the server, excessive script processing… any aspect that can hinder the client’s performance, really. We’ve been conducting internal tests quite regularly, too. What we do is: we have a
few dozen people play boss raids with an updated version of the client, then we look at the replays of their sessions to assess the performance of the client and catch any elements that we can use to further optimize it. We just repeat that
process until, gradually, we fine-tune the client patches for better results.
TPP: Cool! We can’t wait to see those client optimization patches on iTOS. Now, another thing our players want more of in the game are guild and community features. There has already been some talk of new content in the dev blog, but what’s the current development status in those areas?
HKK: Guild content is a big deal for any MMORPG, so I understand the sentiment. In Tree of Savior, guild activities are still relatively underdeveloped, in part due to optimization obstacles to guild-based PvP, and in part due to the relative
lack of guild member management systems. As of now, the development of Guild Territory Wars, which were previously announced through the dev blog, is already complete. Unfortunately, we’re being held back by – again – client optimization issues,
which we need to work out before the content is ready to be applied to the game.
As for guild management features, they tend to require a lot of complicated processes. In our current legacy code-heavy server structure, it’s hard to provide
the right specifications for those processes, so that’s another challenge. In order to solve this problem, we are working towards moving guild and community content from our basic socket/CPP server structure to a new HTTPS/C# setup. The first
real outcome of this endeavor is going to be a “featured guild” system, which is already being developed for a future patch. After that, we have plans to continue building other specific functions for guilds.
<Link to video of our latest client performance optimization results:
https://treeofsavior.com/page/news/view.php?n=1323>
One of the programmers, hard at work.
TPP: It seems like you’re really focused on improving all the basic MMORPG aspects of TOS right now, but how important is making it stand out within the genre? Looking at IMC’s main releases, whether it’s Tree of Savior’s charming visual style or Granado Espada’s distinct MCC system, it does look like you pay attention to what makes your games unique.
HKK: Definitely. As a creator of games, I always challenge myself to make something no one has ever tried before; that’s what’s so meaningful about my work. On the other hand, I also think securing the stability of the game’s service is crucial, so my job is trying to find the right balance between the two. In the future, I hope I can continue creating interesting games with even more unique features.
TPP: Speaking of that, and since you mentioned working on TOS Mobile earlier, can you tell us about that project? How far along is it?
HKK: The development of TOS Mobile is going along smoothly so far. I believe we’ll be able to reveal a bit more about it soon. To be honest, when we first started working on MTOS, I worried a lot about how to bring together the elements of both
mobile games and MMORPGs into this new title. We couldn’t just have it do the same thing as PC TOS but on a mobile terminal, since it wouldn’t suit the format of a mobile game and it wouldn’t offer anything new to those who are already playing
the PC version.
As it is, the PC game is characterized by the large screen and complex controls which require more of the player’s constant attention, whereas the mobile game needs to be simpler and able to go everywhere with the player.
Because of this, our vision is to have PC TOS distinguish itself through things like guild activities, PvP and high-difficulty PvE features, while mobile TOS focuses on gameplay elements such as life content, collecting, easier character growth
options, etc. In other words, we want the PC and mobile versions of TOS to be worth playing separately for different purposes.
TPP: We’re sure our players will be looking forward to that! Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today.
HKK: The pleasure is all mine. Thank you to everyone supporting Tree of Savior and The Popolion Post!
Velcoffer's Nest Gatekeeper
Dragons are known to have existed since ancient times, but their entire species was confined long ago after a great war between goddesses and demons. Then, with Medzio Diena, the seals that imprisoned them grew weaker and, one by one, the dragons began to awaken.
One of the first ancient dragons to escape confinement was Velcoffer, who now inhabits Section 5 of the Tevhrin Stalactite Cave.
Velcoffer’s Nest can be entered via the Gatekeeper Kupole standing guard in the area. The 5-player raid mission is structured like an instanced dungeon, the rewards consisting of Cubes that drop Velcoffer Spirit Fragments (character-bound). You can collect these fragments and deliver them to Blacksmith Teryaberis for Legend-grade Velcoffer equipment.
The new Blacksmith Teryaberis NPC, who produces Velcoffer equipment from the Spirit Fragments, will be added to the city of Fedimian. All items in the Velcoffer series, as well as future Legend equipment, will be enhanced, transcended and maintained only by Blacksmith Teryaberis.
Velcoffer’s Nest will share its clear count with the other Legend raids: Earth Tower’s Lolopanther and Solmiki Areas. Entrance will be limited to one time per week, per character (two times for Token users), but each entry will count only if the mission is cleared, so you can keep trying until you succeed.
Unlike Earth Tower, where each area drops a different kind of item needed for the equipment, in Velcoffer’s Nest there is no division. Velcoffer Spirit Fragments can be found in the entire map and are used for all types of Velcoffer weapons and armor.
The Lv 360 Velcoffer Legend series comprises weapon and armor items of all kinds, plus costumes (you will no longer get Legend accessories from raids; instead, we’re making future Demon Lord field boss accessories Legend grade).
When complete, a set of Velcoffer equipment has the potential to surpass not just Lv 350 Unique items (Primus, Masinios, etc.), but also the next generation of gear in terms of performance. For this reason, set and individual stats are going to be applied to the Velcoffer series through a system different from the current Lolopanther and Solmiki ones.
| Type | Magic | Rare | Unique |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapons (incl. Shields) |
Raffye | Berthas Raffye |
|
| Armor |
|
|
|
Newly created Velcoffer items will not come with their own stats. In order to apply individual stats to a piece of Velcoffer equipment, players will need an item called Ichor, which can be extracted from equipment of other grades.
The chances of extracting Ichors from equipment are low. If you succeed, however, the host item is consumed and replaced with an Ichor that contains all of its stats (the extracted Ichor will also be tradable regardless of the state of the original equipment). Failed attempts consume 1 Potential, and items with 0 Potential are destroyed.
Ichors can be extracted from Lv 350 weapon and armor items of all grades, and the process requires a set amount of Nucle Powder and Sierra Powder to complete.
list of current items you’ll be able to extract Ichors from.
Once you have an Ichor, you can apply the stats it contains to a Legend grade item.
Ichors are categorized according to the type of equipment they are extracted from, and can only be used in Legend items of the same type. Weapon Ichors are divided into One-handed Sword, Staff, One-handed Bow, etc.; similarly, Armor Ichors come in Top, Bottom, Gloves and Boots varieties.
Below are a few examples of how different Ichors can be used on items of the same type.
And these are examples of how Ichors cannot be used, since they aren’t intended for items of their own type.
In conclusion, getting an Ichor with top-notch stats will not be an easy task, but you can replace the Ichor you have on a Legend item at any time. Replacing the Ichor in order to apply better stats on your equipment will not reduce its potential, nor is there a chance that the attempt might fail.
Applying set effects to Velcoffer equipment is going to require a special item called Faerytiris Solution that’s able to store EXP when activated.
The solution can be purchased from Alchemist Master Vaidotas Winterspoon and it absorbs part of the EXP you obtain when hunting monsters. Your character will still receive their full share of the EXP, however, and the solution will store it even if you’re already at maximum level
Once you collect enough EXP in your bottles of Faerytiris Solution and use them on your Velcoffer gear, a random prefix is generated.
There are a total of 5 different prefixes that act as key tags from which you can compose sets of 3-5 by equipping items that have the same prefix.
You need 4 bottles of the solution for each weapon, and 1 for each armor item (the bottles can be used more than once).
Velcoffer weapons also count towards the set effects, so in total you can go for one set of 4-5, or two sets of 3, considering all the combinations (left hand, right hand, top, bottom, gloves and boots). Plus, the set effects will include not just the usual passive and conditional stats, but new active skill effects as well.
The regular way to obtain Velcoffer gear is, as we mentioned, doing raids and collecting the required Spirit Fragments little by little. However, if you’re lucky, there is a (slight) chance you might get a finished Velcoffer item at random from one of the reward cubes.
The finished items all possess the same stats and performance but they are character-bound, meaning they can’t be traded or moved via Team Storage regardless of their potential or transcendence status. If you don’t need the item or it doesn’t match your character’s class, you have the option to dismantle it for some Nucle and Sierra Powder, plus a few Velcoffer Spirit Fragments.
Finally, along with the Velcoffer equipment we’re introducing the Velcoffer Costume and Helmet.
The Velcoffer Costume and Helmet can be obtained only through the rewards cubes (they can’t be created from Spirit Fragments), but they are 100% tradable. Besides the cosmetic appeal, wearing both the costume and the helmet as a set also has the effect of reducing all damage taken inside Velcoffer’s Nest.
We’re creating a notice board which guilds can use to promote themselves and recruit members. The promotion board includes different information about the guilds like guild level, activity (Adventure Journal points), average team level, etc., which all players can access. The board allows players to directly send join requests to the guilds they are interested in, and guild administrators can then use the promotion board to manage and process the applications.
In order to register the guild at the promotion board, the guild master must upload the guild’s banner (512 x 200 png) and cover page (1024 x 768-3840 png).
Guild masters can set up the guild’s banner, cover page, intro text and promotion status under the guild settings menu.
Players interested in the guild can look at the Info tab for more details and use the Apply button to send a join request.
Since any player can apply to join a guild through the promotion board, there is no need for the applicant and the guild master to meet in-game in order to process the request.
The guild’s administrator can simply access the board and accept or decline the application.
With the omission of advancement quests from Ranks 2 to 8, the function of Class Master NPCs became limited to selling attributes and consumables. Now, we want to bring quests back to the Class Masters.
Starting from the lower levels, each Master will include their own independent subquests, most of them rewarding your character with Attribute Points. We expect to update Master quests over multiple patches in the future.
We have plans to update the rewards and frequency of the Mercenary Post’s daily quests.
First, we’re going to make these quests playable 2 times per day, per character. The quests will consist of simple monster hunting (adjusted to your character level), without the current item gathering component.
The basic EXP rewards, on the other hand, are getting big boost with added Silver and Attribute Points. According to the day of the week, the daily quests will include only one of the new rewards: Silver from Monday to Thursday; Attribute Points from Friday to Sunday.
Silver rewards will be calculated based on your level (level x n Silver), while Attribute Point prizes are awarded as 1 or 2 tickets of 100 Points (or up to 3 tickets if you’re at maximum level).
Finally, we want to introduce a system that grants characters minor passive stat increases according to the total amount of titles they possess. The image above gives you an idea of how the system works. We don’t want each stat to depend on a different kind of title, so we expect it to apply the stat boosts based only on the overall number of titles.
ToS - Fedimian Night Market + FF3 Equipment Upgrade !
TOS Fedimian Night market
Kastytis, Henry Swyn and Anabell Swyn - Concept Designer Maggi
It’s been hinted at on the dev blog before, and now it’s closer than ever to becoming a reality! Have a look at what’s coming when TOS’ new Beauty Shop opens for business.
Can’t wait to get my hair done here!
The Beauty Shop is going to be the new hotspot for all things cosmetic in the city of Klaipeda, where you can change the look of your characters and try on any outfit in TOS! The Shop will be divided into two floors, with a hair salon on 1F and a fashion boutique on 2F.
The Beauty Shop will be located near the Fishing Spot in the city of Klaipeda. Have you noticed the Coming Soon sign…?
When you enter the Beauty Shop in-game, the “camera” stops following your character like it does in regular maps. Instead, you get a fixed perspective, with your character moving freely around the shop.
Concept Designer_Minkyoung Kang
Age: Unknown, but appears to be in his late teens.
Although he is a young man of unknown origin, the clerics have proven that Kastytis holds special favor with Goddess Jurate. What’s more, when asked about his life before moving to the Kingdom, he simply bypasses the question away with a polite smile and an apologetic look.
Kastytis has just recently moved into the neighborhood but his sociable nature, esteemed etiquette, and charisma has made him a few curious fans. The air of mystery that surrounds him and his unique sense of style has made him a hot topic of discussion amongst the people. On top of that, his sudden arrival just happens to coincide with the recent reappearance of Goddess Jurate. Some say he might be one of the helpers of the Goddess who stayed on the Kivotos, Goddess Jurate’s divine ship, but was finally able to fulfill his wish to take his first steps on land.
Whatever his origins, it goes without saying that when it comes to his designing work he spares no pains and approaches it thoughtfully and with an air of confidence.
Age: 24
His last name, Swyn, is a nickname given to him by those who admire his magic-like craftsmanship. He was born and raised on Vernike Island where his reputation preceded him. His sudden resolution to travel with this sister, saved his life as his birthplace was destroyed on Medzio Diena. His boat drifted across the sea until it finally landed on Kiren Province, where he spent his time mourning his lost homeland. However, recently, he has announced his return into the world of hair-styling and has moved to start a new business. Although his past is filled with pain, he presents a cool and chic demeanor to his customers, always ensuring that they feel comfortable in his styling chair.
Age: 21
Anabell Swyn’s decision to travel with her brother, Henry Swyn, resulted in her surviving the disappearance of Vernike Island. From a young age, both she and her brother were recognized for their skill and thus were given the last name, Swyn. Her given name, Anabelle alludes to her graceful and beautiful character. And because of her positive personality she was able to help herself and her brother overcome their loss and start new lives together in Fedimian.
The dev team is preparing some very interesting updates for Team Battle League. Here’s a quick look at what you can expect when they arrive in the game.
The Team Battle League is going to follow a new season calendar with TBL points awarded according to your place in the season ranking. These points can be exchanged for Companions, Legend Cards and many other rewards.
After the update, Team Battle League matches are going to apply the same attack and defense values to every player’s weapon. That way, even without investing heavily in enhancement and transcendence, any eligible player can participate in the League. This doesn’t mean that your hard-earned gear will have no place in TBL, however! All your other equipment stats will still count, so you can keep their advantages in combat.
With the introduction of the new Legend Cards, we will also be adding PvP-exclusive Legend Cards which you can only get from Team Battle League!
The new Team Battle League costumes are going to include combat stats specifically catered to PvP!
(This is a preview of new content that is still under development. The finished product may look different when it is applied to the game.)
The dev team has hinted about wanting to develop new formats of PvP content before, particularly when it comes to guild wars. Here, we introduce you to a different kind of GvG experience being developed called Guild Territory Wars.
The goal of Territory Wars is to create a guild activity that’s challenging and highly rewarding, one that requires optimal teamwork from the guild members and strong leadership from the guild master.
Guild Territory Wars are a large-scale PvP challenge in which guilds can battle each other to seize areas of territory in a field.
We believe Territory Wars – and the hefty rewards we have planned for them – can help promote healthy competition, creating a real purpose for guilds to grow and develop.
The plan is to have Guild Territory Wars begin every Sunday at 8 PM and last a total of one hour. Before the schedule begins, players will be able to select whether to take part in the wars or not through an option in the Guild window.
Only the guild master will have the authority to opt in or out of Territory Wars. This is in line with a series of other updates we have planned for guild content, which aim to solidify the role of leader for guild masters.
Spot Areas are maps where players can fight in Territory Wars, with Spots being the sections of land you can seize. According to the grade of the Spot Area, the rewards for seizing the corresponding Spot will be different. As of now, we have a total of three Spot Areas planned out (the ones in the table above), but we will consider adding more areas to the game depending on how they perform.
When the Territory Wars schedule starts, entering a Spot Area will require you to select one of two options at the green arrow in adjacent fields. Here you can jump right into the war zone, or skip the battle and enter the map as you normally would.
After moving to the Spot Area, guild members can battle in true PvP style to either protect their seized Spot or seize the one held by the rival guild. Members of the guild that seized the Spot in the previous Territory Wars will be allowed to enter the Spot Area 5 minutes before the war begins to plan out their strategy.
During the war, each Spot Area will contain a Territory Tower, with the land around it forming the Spot that can be seized by a guild. To gain hold of a Spot, guild members will need to earn points by advancing into the perimeter of the tower. The guild that currently holds the Spot, on the other hand, can fight back by reducing the points of the invaders. The final score will then determine which guild will hold that Spot during the next Territory Wars.
1) Earning Points (Invading Guild)
The invading guild earns points every second according to the number of members within the perimeter of the Territory Tower. Below is a table that shows the amount of points earned by invading the Spot of the guild that holds it.
2) Taking Points (Protecting Guild)
The guild protecting their Spot can deduct points from the invading guild, also according to the number of guild members within the perimeter of the Territory Tower. Here, too, the amount of points taken from the invading guild every second increases proportionally to the number of members of the protecting guild inside the Spot.
3) Final Score
The first guild to score exactly 1,000 points in the war seizes the Spot. In certain situations, however, the guild may not be able to gain any more points, like in the example below.
If, like in this example, two or more guilds have gathered all the conditions to reach 1,000 points, their score will no longer increase. Instead, those guilds will need to gather all of their members inside the Spot in order to win. We should note that there’s still room for improvement in the point system, but we will keep you notified of any changes.
4) Protector Buff
Guilds that succeed in seizing a Spot will receive a special Protector Buff that boosts their members’ combat abilities. Not only that, the more wars a guild manages to keep hold of a Spot, the more intense the effects of the buff will be.
During the war, a powerful boss monster will appear, which guild members can defeat in order to receive temporary beneficial effects. These boss monsters can make a big difference in the amount of points you earn or take, becoming an important part of your guild’s strategy. We do, on the other hand, understand that there could be aspects about this feature we haven’t fully predicted, so we’re open to adjusting any rules necessary to make the system as fair as possible.
2) Spot AmplifierThe Spot Amplifier is a structure that extends the seizable Spot beyond the perimeter of the Tower, decentralizing the dispute and allowing guilds to stack up their points through different strategies. The Amplifier can be destroyed, and the guild of the player who deals the last blow to it receives additional points as reward.
3) Safe Zone
The delimited area around the green arrow in the Spot Area is designated as a Safe Zone, where attacks are nullified. This zone can be used for guild members to restore their stats or for other tactical purposes.
Winning the Territory Wars and securing a Spot is certainly worth a generous reward. After every period of war, guilds that succeeded in seizing a Spot will receive a set percentage of the amount of Market fees they paid during the past week. This prize is delivered in the form of items to the Guild Storage.
Again, this a feature we are still polishing. Any changes we make to the rewards should be announced separately.
The TOS developing team answers your questions and comments!
Q. It’s hard to enjoy the game with other players when you character isn’t as good as theirs. It’s too much of a high price to pay for a bad choice or a sudden rebalance.
A. It’s true that your character’s combat power will always be important in raids and other battle-focused content. But it would be impossible for us to make every single build viable in that way, considering the nature of TOS. What we try to do instead is develop new content that can be enjoyed by different kinds of characters. Every time we create a new feature for TOS, we try to think of how it can be made available to new types of characters, not how it can be used by characters built for every different purpose.
Q. There isn’t enough role distribution in combat. The role of tanker in particular lacks a lot of definition, and there are barely any item stats for tankers and healers.
A. We agree that the concept of tanking in TOS is very vague, and that healers could use some rebalancing. We’re currently preparing a patch to address the role distribution issue that’s going to deal with agro management and healing functions and, following that patch, we also have plans to develop some item stats for tankers and healers. Another thing we want to do is introduce new boss combat patterns like 100% accurate attacks (that you can’t escape by jumping, etc.), to increase the need for tanking and healing roles. This is going to be a moderate change, however; we don’t want an entire party becoming incapable of combat because of one tank/healer’s mistake.
Q. The traditional roles are fine and dandy, but since we have all these versatile dealers in TOS (with a bit of support or healing), wouldn’t time attack bosses (raids) be more entertaining?
A. Your clear time does say a lot about your party (regardless of how the roles are distributed in it), so this is a really good suggestion. We’re actually looking into whether it would be possible to apply a time limit to the new Velcoffer raid we’re developing. We think it’s a good idea, and we do want to create new content with time limits or different rewards according to clear time.
Q. Boss attack patterns are too simple and repetitive.
A. This is definitely an area we want to work on. As we mentioned earlier, we’re developing new boss combat patterns to promote better role distribution, which we intend to implement on Unique raids, Legend raids (the new Velcoffer’s Nest) and field bosses. Other than that, we also have plans to develop more varied attack and item setting patterns in general.
Q. One of the most important elements of any gameplay feature are the rewards, but we feel like TOS is lacking in that aspect. Quest rewards are especially bland and leave players with little motivation to complete them.
A. We agree that rewards are important, but there is a limit to how much we can increase their material value. We believe that the answer is to diversify the kind of rewards available, and we plan to do that by focusing on life content, cosmetics and other rewards that will have more distinctive value. There’s obviously more to improving the game’s less popular features than just by providing meaningful rewards, but it’s a step in the right direction. For quests in particular, our plan is to connect the main storyline of Character Rank 10 to the new Unique and Legend raids in a systematic way, and to drastically increase the range of rewards for other quests as well.
Q. Why are daily Legend raid entries shared?
A. Legend raid entries are shared within the team in the same way that Unique and other categories have a shared entry count. Solmiki gear is still useful, even if it’s not exactly a substitute for current Rank 9 Unique equipment in terms of performance. Although you can always clear the same Legend raids with another character if you’re looking to get the equipment from there, we are preparing to introduce new in-game items that you can exchange for additional entries in lower-level Legend features to help improve the situation.
Q. We have so many nice fields in the game. How come all the goods come from the Hunting Grounds?
A. Regular fields can be accessed by any character looking to complete quests there, so they have a set degree of difficulty that’s lower than Hunting Grounds, and therefore yields relatively weaker rewards. We understand that items dropped in regular fields are also limited, so for a lot of players there is little to do in them besides farming for Unique materials. We don’t think every regular field monster should drop valuable items, but we are considering adding heavier drops to Elite monsters. Also, we recently applied a kTOS patch with some daily quest improvements to help shift the Silver supply from instanced dungeons to the fields. Combining that with the Challenge Mode is going to make for a more effective farming experience in regular fields, we believe.
Q. Unlocking new classes (especially hidden ones) is so difficult now, we feel like it kind of takes away from the freedom of class selection.
A. We’re aware of the difficulty to unlock a class when the process isn’t clear or when there are other setbacks at play; it’s something we want to improve on with more thorough internal tests and feedback analysis. Our standard degree of difficulty for regular classes would be something like an unlocking process that lasts about 30 minutes to an hour (not counting player-to-player competition and other obstacles). For hidden classes, of course, the process needs to be more obscure and difficult. This was our intention since the early stages of the game’s development, but even here we made hidden classes relatively more accessible when we released Unlock Vouchers.
Q. Production classes should be able to level up through their craft. Why do classes like us have to use instanced dungeons?
A. Even when you do advance into a production class in TOS, you’re still left with plenty of room to invest in more combat-oriented classes further down your build, so we aren’t considering any EXP gimmicks for production classes at the moment. We want to avoid distributing classes in a way that allows players to go full production, but we also want to promote the growth and balance of characters built around production classes.
Q. There doesn’t seem to be that many big flashy skills anymore, compared to when the game was first released. Why is that?
A. Lately the design of TOS skills does seem to have taken a slightly different direction. We would like to bring back some of the pizzazz of older skills, however, and add more eye-catching elements to the new class skills we’re currently developing.
Q. A lot of skills require specific items to use, which can get a little inconvenient. Do you keep these items around just to balance the skills?
A. The main reason is to address the low need for investment in those classes. Whenever there’s a content update, most classes need to make new investments for their own combat abilities, but many support class skills don’t require that. Characters in those classes can often continue to grow stronger while using skills they learned in lower Ranks. The standard is for skills to have a limit on how much they can evolve in terms of performance, with the final effect varying according to the character’s level and items.
Q. We miss comical gear like the Toy Hammer. Also, you should get rid of Briquetting level restrictions.
A. We don’t have anything specific to reveal yet, but we are working on a Briquetting update which will improve on the fun component of equipment item appearance and effects, among others aspects.
Q. We have too many unwanted low Rank recipes and materials rotting away in our inventories. Is gem enhancement really the only good use we can give them?
A. The excessive variety of recipes and materials is an unfortunate remnant of the game’s earlier days. In recent Ranks our tendency has been to minimize that, and now we’re also working on a system where you can trade unwanted recipes and materials for more useful items through a merchant NPC.
Q. Us Alchemists have to leave our characters out at night making potions while we sleep. Is this the life you want for us?
A. The whole potion-making animation with the props falling from the sky is part of what makes the style of TOS so charming. On the other hand, we can see how in this case it isn’t the most practical solution, so we have plans to implement a patch that will reduce the amount of time it takes to craft potions in the future.
Q. When are we getting more Circle 3 costumes?
A. We expect to add them to the Beauty Shop that’s now under development [see the preview on page 21!], along with more hairstyles and a new hair dye system.
Q. We’re having a hard time clearing the new Master Quests because of lag issues.
A. One of our biggest priorities at the moment is dealing with optimization and location synchronization issues, not just in Master Quests but in all major strategy-based gameplay features. We recently finished developing a patch that’s now ready to be tested and it’s going to bring some improvement to those areas.
Q. Thanks to unidentified items we now have some stat diversity in equipment, but the Market UI still doesn’t reflect that, which makes it inconvenient to use.
A. We may have mentioned it in a previous dev blog post, but there’s an update we’re already working on that’s meant to revise a lot of Market functions and UI, precisely to make it easier for players to filter the available items and better display the stats of the gear being sold.
Endearing moments
Klaipeda/Producer_san
2 Years Worth
Klaipeda/Poppet
Year 2 Weapons
Klaipeda/oAo
Rank 2 All-star
Telsiai/Mesarthim
Happy 2 years anniversary: Dragoon
Varena/Powerworm
Join the Party!
Varena/Exitosus
Somewhere far away
Varena/Revenant6th
Red Carpet Anniversary Party.
Telsiai/ParkZz
A Mysterious Celebration
Silute/niccorinu
2nd Year Squishies
Orsha/NACJAC
Pirates Party ~
Klaipeda/GreyFr0st
Happy-Cake-Party
Telsiai/PoetCat
Concept Designer_Mina Kim
Concept Designer_Mina Kim
Concept Designer_Bo young Kim
Concept Designer_Mina Kim
We GMs like to start every
GM Playdate with a conversation session!
Like always we gathered at the Gateway of the Great King to play games, hold boss fights, and hand out some amazing prizes. Our latest GM Playdate was a few weeks ago and boy was it a blast!
We played a round of hide-and-seek, where each GM scattered to a new location on the nap and tried to creatively blend in with their surroundings.
After hide-and-seek we decided it was time for our lovely players to face off against our most powerful monsters and demons – gigantic, high level versions of Dullahan and Starving Ellaganos. Although these creatures gave it their all, they were still no match for our brave Saviors.
As we mentioned in the Playdate, there will be announcements and updates in the upcoming week that we just don’t want to ruin the surprise of just yet. We also have a new project on the horizon that will give a behind the scenes look at TOS so we hope you look forward to it!!!
By the time you get this message, much time will have passed. I am Laima, the goddess of fate and wisdom. 600 years ago while creating this revelation, I foresaw a great deal of death and suffering. If you are seeing this, then I am afraid what I foresaw has come to pass. The demons have started the first of the cataclysms, and the goddesses have vanished. I knew all of this would occur and did everything I could to prevent this fate, but my power was not enough. Instead, I wandered through far-seeing dreams for an answer. You were at the end of them... a Savior. You were at the end of it. You are the only one who could save this world. Unfortunately, the demons could not stay still, knowing that I possess strength in clairvoyance. I was forced to hide until the time of your appearance. And to save you...You had to be hidden amongst all the Revelators. There was no other way. I decided to divide my being and remain within many revelations. Revelations that I continued to create secretly over a millennium. Savior, if you can help me regain my form, we can stop the demons' sinister plans. You must recover the revelations that I have hidden throughout every axis of time. This divine task may be a heavy burden, but it is something you must bear. Perhaps in the muddy midst of your trials and tribulations, something may come about. But among the rest of the Revelators only you... Only you can save the world with me. I will wait for you in the highest gardens.
In this posting we will be reminiscing on TOS memories.