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DEVELOPER'S BLOG
Weekly Question and Answer – September 2nd, 2016
1. When are you going to develop new content for Guild Battles and Team Battle League? Besides the Guild Battles currently available, we’re working on adding a new PvP gameplay mode. This mode is still in its early stages, but we’ll update you with more details as soon as it’s a little more developed. As for Team Battle League, we would like to expand the current stages in the future, and we’re considering different ways to use TBL features like the spectating mode. 2. Will you consider allowing premade parties into Team Battle League? Including premade parties into TBL isn’t a feature we intended to add initially, but we also recognize that doing so has the possibility to increase social content and allow friends to play together. Because of this, we will be considering the possibility of allowing premade parties to queue for TBL matching, and we will continue monitoring your feedback on this. 3. We noticed the companion UI includes equipment slots. Does this mean our companions are getting their own equipment someday? We’re reviewing different options for companion equipment at the moment. One option would be to have specific items that would alter the physical appearance of your companion when equipped. Another option would be to have the player equip their own items on their companion, similarly to when they are applied to your characters. We will keep actively considering these possibilities for a future update. 4. It would be nice if the guild UI included the times when each guild member is online. What do you think? We think that’s a great idea. We can see how being able to check when each guild member is online would be convenient for guild masters to manage their guild and plan for guild activities. We will most definitely be looking for ways to include a feature like this in an upcoming update. 5. Is the current party setting of 5 players meant to represent one of each class tree, and if so, does that mean we can expect another class tree in the future? We developed parties to be composed of 5 players for gameplay purposes. We found 5 players to be the optimal number that allows you to distinguish the movements of other players without filling up the screen too much. We didn’t really intend to have a different class tree represented in each individual team member when we thought of this number, and we have no plans to develop a new one any time soon. 6. I want to know why guild members can no longer use the guild invite function. We realize this is not the most convenient setting for guilds when the guild master is not logged in, that is why we are developing an alternative function that will allow the guild master to give guild members permission to invite others into the guild. We also plan to add a feature similar to a stand or stall for guilds that they can set up in the long term to recruit new members. 7. Any news about the bird companion? If you’re wondering about the Battlebird companion, we’re planning on releasing it on Steam very soon, so you won’t have to wait much longer. We will also be launching a Battlebird item package for the TP Shop, similar to what we did for the Penguin companion.
GM QnA Session : April 7th, 2017
Greetings, Saviors! We are sharing here a compilation of the questions answered at our latest GM meetup in a summarized Q&A format. Thank you to everyone who showed up! Q : Do you have any plans to launch more gesture macros? A : As you can see from our recent video, yes, we will launch more gestures in a future patch. Q : Can I get detailed information regarding Rank 9? A : I hope to know the exact date of arrival. We are planning to release Rank 9 this year; you will be informed via an announcement on our website once it is ready. Q : There aren't that many bugs on kTOS, why do we have them in iTOS? A : That's not quite true. It has been our highest priority to continue to reduce the amount of bugs that may be found and we have made considerable progress in doing so. If there are still bugs that remain they can be reported on the Forum so that we can address them and develop the game further. Q : Getting disconnected in TBL (Team Battle League) is a big waste of time. I hope you can make a system to re-enter TBL. A : Thank you so much for your nice suggestion, we will pass it on for the proper team to consider. However, we think creating stable connection conditions in TBL is more important than a re-entry system. We will keep trying to stabilize our servers and client. Q : Client unexpectedly closing errors occur frequently after the migration to VS 2015. I'm wondering if you're fixing it. A : Yes it's our top priority and it's not always caused by VGA related issues. Q : I wonder if you a plan to punish people who leave the party after entering the Royal Mausoleum or Canyon missions in Saalus Convent. A : We do not have plans for that yet, but we will inform our designers about this issue and try to find an improvement. Q : We feel that we have a lack of end-game contents. Do you have any plans to make more end-game contents? A : To be honest, we are not sure of what end-game contents are coming but we guess more plans will be released after the rebalance patch. Q : We are facing the problem of 0% map exploration for 2 weeks now. When can we expect this issue to be resolved? A : Our dev team members are still finding out the reasons for the 0% map exploration problem. We will try to fix it as soon as possible. Q : We are really curious about how IMC improved the DPK system in iTOS. Can you explain what things have been changed and improved? A : As we have done with the Mystical Cube, we are planning to have an interview with the team to give you more detailed information through the dev blog. Q : There is bug on the Cyclone skill that reduces it from level 15 to level 1 sometimes, which often causes less damage. A : We have the same bug on kTOS too, we've already informed our QA team to test and we hope it is fixed soon. Q : Do you plan to do anything about players who didn't get any Practonium from the Mystical Cube even after trying for 3 months? A : We know many players have complaints about the RNG system of the Mystical Cube and we will forward them for possible improvements Q : Many players don't know the Unstable Cube can expire. What are your plans to improve this? A : The team has made a few UI adjustments that will display this information more easily to players. Please wait a little longer for the update. Q : It's a shame that not many people play the field bosses, it feels like the content is being wasted. Any changes planned for field bosses? A : That's a fair point. We will pass on this feedback to the designers and maybe request for more field boss events, for example with cubes. Q : I like GM meetpus, but I wish there was a dev meetup too. A : GMs do pass on all your feedback to the dev team, and we try to give you information back from the devs too. That's the reason we have the dev blog on our website. Q : Any plans to add new level 270 and 315 items? A : We're looking forward more 270/315 items too, but we can't be sure of when they will be released. They are still in development. Q : Why are words like "hunt" censored in the chat window? A : We agree, and we will try to improve this. Q : I saw in your combat changes video preview that you're rebalancing a lot of aspects in the game, does that mean we're getting a class reset too? A : Yes, we want to open a reset event when this rebalance update arrives. You can read more details about it on our dev blog. Q : Do you know that some skills are causing fps drops? A : Yes, we are aware that skills like Divine Might can cause fps drops especially in TBL. We are working to find the cause and will try to fix it. Q : Are the new user event rewards tradable? A : No, the event rewards are untradable. Q : There's a problem where I can't see the quest NPC. A : Please send in a ticket about your specific quest so we can try and help you. Q : Will non-Token users be able to use Team Storage too? A : Many players have made this request. Something is being worked on, but the final changes will be announced later when they are ready. Q : I wish there were checkpoints in the Solmiki Area like we have in the Lolopanther Area. A : That's a good idea. It could help improve disconnection issues as well. Q : Can you make the Kabbalist's Revenged Sevenfold be less powerful in PvP? A : PvP balance is next on our list of improvements, but we can't be sure of which skills will be affected. Q : What are you doing about the people who abused the Symbol of Wealth issue? A : We did not ban anyone, but they are on our watchlist. Q : Any results you can share from the South America ping test? A : Thank you for sharing your test results. We haven't decided anything yet, but we will let you know when we do. Q : Will you be adding new monster cards or monster gems? A : Not yet. We want to focus on stabilization and balance first. Q : What about new social functions like a marriage system, fishing, etc.? A : Again, stabilization and balance will come first. Q : What was your favorite update in TOS? A : Personally, the update on March 14, 2017 was my favorite. Q : What will happen to the Agny Necklace? Are you going to make other items like it? A : You can read about it on our recent Combat System Changes dev blog post. Q : Will there be other ways for Swordsman classes to defend themselves against magic in PvP? A : We're not aware of any plans yet. As a Swordsman class player myself, it does hurt to be hit with magic. Q : How are you fighting against Hook64 and other unauthorized programs? A : We keep taking new measures against it, but the details don't appear in the patch notes. Q : Any chances you'll improve the Sadhu class? A : There are no plans yet for specific classes, but it could be possible after the general balance update. Q : Will you be using Steam wallpapers and badges? A : That's something we have been wondering for some time now, but so far it's not one of the top priorities. Q : Will you release the Chronomancer Master hair and other NPC hairs and costumes? A : Those are good ideas, we're always open to suggestions for hairstyles and costumes. Q : What are you doing about AFK and macro users? A : We're reviewing a few measures and will relay your ideas as well. Q : Why can't we exchange items we get from the Exchange shop for medals? A : There are some improvements on the way. Please check our Future Improvements dev blog posts. Q : What about a search function for the Exchange Shop? A : That's a good idea. We still want to improve the Exchange Shop UI. Q : Can you make skill effects flashier? Some skills don't look that powerful. A : Not yet. We want to focus on stabilization and balance first. Q : We need better functionality in guilds. There isn't much to do as it is. A : There should be some guild improvement plans coming soon, maybe. Please wait a while. Q : Will there be other ways to obtain hairstyles other than buying them at the TP Shop? A : We're not sure, but getting hairstyles through other ways sounds like a good idea. Q : Please get rid of guild neutrality. It's less fun when guilds can be neutral. A : We don't think guild neutrality will be removed from the game. Q : I wish there was a button to enter instanced dungeons and missions like the one we have for TBL. A : There are no plans to develop one yet, but we agree it would be practical. Q : Why do potions have a cooldown time? TOS is not even a MOBA. A : I personally think it's maybe to prevent balancing issues and such since there are some examples of other famous MMORPGs also having cooldown periods for potions. Q : Mouse mode is a little inconvenient. It's better than before, but some actions can still improve. A : We apologize for the inconveniences of mouse mode, that's something that is being worked on. Please let us know exactly what aspects of mouse mode are inconvenient so we can work further to improve on it. Q : Why don't you do events for returning users? A : We want to make events specifically for returning users too, but unfortunately it's been impossible because of certain technical issues. Q : I wish you could introduce more food buffs like the dumplings. A : We'll take note of that, keep sending any ideas you have about items and other aspects of the game. Q : I wish I could make my companion big forever like it was during the trickster event. A : We noticed a good reaction from the players during that event, so we may consider ways to make it happen. Q : Will you give us another Rank Reset Voucher when Rank 9 comes out? A : Any updates about Rank 9 should be announced through the website when they're ready, but we're still considering what to do about the Rank Reset Voucher item. Q : When will we get new companions and costumes? A : We're always considering new ideas for new companions and costumes, and want to keep releasing more. We take suggestions from the players too, so feel free to keep them coming. Q : I wish there were more food accessories like the sushi series, for example curry. A : Curry sounds like a good idea for a hair accessory, too. p.s During the GM-Meet Up, there was disconnection problem on Fedimian Server. We apologize to those users and we will also provide rewards to all users who have participated. "
[Video] Balance Changes Preview : Feb 23, 2017
Greetings, Saviors! As you may remember, throughout the month of January we made a few posts on our blog where we discussed some balance changes we're working on. If you haven't yet, do have a look at them here: Balance Talk Jan 6 / Jan 13 / Jan 26. Part of the changes we planned are now ready to be implemented on kTOS, so we wanted to share with you a preview of what the rebalanced classes will actually look like in-game. In this video we feature Warlock, Cannoneer and Monk skills: check them out below!
Weekly Question and Answer – August 5th, 2016
1. The spectator mode in Team Battle League and Guild Battle matches can have the side effect of revealing each team’s strategy to the opponent. How do you plan on dealing with this issue? Currently the spectator mode in Team Battle League and Guild Battle matches works by allowing anyone to watch them in real-time, a feature which, some players have pointed out to us, can be used to “spy” on the opposing team’s constitution and strategy. We understand the implications this brings to the competition, so we want to consider developing alternatives to the real-time spectator. For example, a transmission with a short delay (e.g. 1 minute) that would still allow players to spectate the combat, but minimize the possibility of an unfair advantage. 2. We have physical block in the game, but no magic block. Do you have any plans to introduce magic block or evasion later on? It’s true that magic has no block, just like it has no critical either. We can also say that we don’t intend to add a block feature to magic. As you know, magic allows for resistance to specific types of attacks or states, and that is the way we conceived magic-type attacks from the beginning. We don’t see ourselves deviating from this concept, so it’s safe to say magic is going to remain unchanged in terms of these features. 3. Can you set the time of Team Battle League and Guild Battles according to each server region, instead of using the EDT standard for all servers? After receiving feedback from players in different time zones about this issue, we can see how our current time settings for Team Battle League and Regional Guild Battles aren’t the most convenient for all regions. As such, we have started to prepare for setting different time slots for each region and are currently working towards implementing them. We hope to bring these new time settings to the game as soon as possible so players in every server have better chances participate in Team Battle League and Regional Guild Battles. 4. When are we going to get momentary invincibility after becoming incapable of combat during Guild Battles? We did introduce this feature to our Korean servers the past 28th of July, so characters that become incapable of combat during a Guild Battle will respawn with momentary invincibility. We expect to add this patch to Steam as well when it’s ready, along with other Regional Guild Battle features you’re looking forward to.
The Lore You Know: Plague Doctor
Today we will dive into the history that inspired our Cleric Rank 7 Class and Class Master, the Plague Doctor. Although, I have a feeling many of you are already familiar with its history. The iconic image and role of the Plague Doctors came about due to the Black Death. The Black Death was a bubonic plague that arrived in Europe by sea in 1347 and over the next five years killed more than 20 million people in Europe alone. Now, keep in mind that the Black Death struck during Medieval Times where medical knowledge was limited and the people, highly superstitious. When the Black Death swept across Europe like a curse with seemingly no rational explanation, the people turned to the only ones willing to “treat” the disease – Plague Doctors. Plague Doctors were hired by towns and villages (not by individuals) to treat those affected by the Black Death. But the word “treat” can be used loosely here since it’s debatable whether the majority of Plague Doctors were helping keep the plague at bay or were increasing the rate at which it spread. Regardless, Plague Doctors had an array of treatments they used to offer medical care based on the Medieval medical practicie of the four bodily fluids. Doctors during this time believed that the human body needed a balance between blood, mucus, yellow bile, and black bile in order for the person to be considered healthy. This is why an infamous treatment of the Plague Doctor was Bloodletting. Besides treating the infected, Plague Doctors also recorded the number of deaths and took part in autopsies. Their easily identifiable costume was also a reflection of their role in society. As they were to be the closest to the diseased they had to prevent themselves from being infected as well. Their outfit was originally created by Charles de l’Orme in the 17th century and consisted of a leather hat, a beak-like mask with red glass eyes, a black overcoat, leather breeches, and to top it all off, a wooden cane. The “beak” of the mask was filled with drugs and strong smelling items to cover the scent of death. The Plague Doctors also believed that this protected them from the “bad air” of the plague. The leather hat was a symbol for 14th Century doctors and many believed the hat could shield doctors from bacteria. The black overcoat and leather breeches were to minimize skin exposure, while the wooden cane was a way for the doctors to examine patients and move bodies without direct contact. However, despite their costumes, the doctors were not immune to the plague and many of them fell ill or were ultimately quarantined. So now, if we take a look at our own Plague Doctor, we can see reflections of this history in their skills and class outfit – although our doctors are a bit more fashionable than the ones from history and a little less worried about minimizing skin exposure. And let’s keep in mind that the Plague Doctors of history did not purposefully pass on Black Death or other diseases to their enemies. In this case we wouldn’t want art to imitate life. References Dugan, B., 2013. Anatomy of 14th Century Bubonic Plague Hazmat Suits. [Online] History, 2010. Black Death. [Online] Medieval Medicine. The Humors. [Online] Plague Doctor Masks, 2017. History of Black Death. [Online] Sartore, M. 13 Horrifying Things Most People Don't Know About Plague Doctors. [Online]
Hayraven’s Unofficial Chronicles Part 2
Warm sunlight was shining through the window of the captain’s cabin. Hayraven, opening his eyes, awoke from his shallow sleep. He had dreamt another of his many recurring dreams. At times finding himself on a small boat, facing an unfamiliar foe, or at others recalling events from his past. He would dream of endless rope ladders and ghost ships. Visions of his crew and Vladislovas’ subordinates populated his subconscious; dreams that shifted but remained unchanged as well. He put on his clothes and stepped out onto the deck, where he was greeted by his crew. Hayraven raised his hand in response as he walked, but was halted by the sight of Seadog approaching. The latter looked up at the watchman stationed atop of the mast. Before Seadog could speak, the watchman cried out, “Mast sighted starboard!” Unaware of the fact that he would have been punished had his warning arrived only a second later, the watchman continued to shout. “Merchant vessel! Flag unidentified!” He soon followed with more information. “Flag confirmed! It’s a Kedoran Alliance vessel!” Hayraven nodded at Seadog, who understood his orders. The captain, having spotted the approaching vessel long before the watchman, sat down on a deckchair and quietly observed his crew prepare for battle under Seadog’s command. The merchant ship was now close enough for all the men on board to see. Seadog, who was standing next to the captain, muttered in surprise, “Huh. Who do we have here?” Hayraven’s eyes were also set on the group of heavily armed men on deck of the neighboring vessel. “Looks like Guerra’s Pledge of the Blade mercenaries are on board,” he said. Seadog spoke carefully. “They don’t seem to be shipping any cargo. If all they have are the mercenaries, their ship will be light and fast. Seems to me like they should be counting on that to retreat as fast as they can now… Unlike the Golden Note mercenaries, they don’t look like they travel with enough combat supplies, either.” “Running away would taint their reputation; that can’t be good for business. No, they’re looking for a fight here. Let’s grant them their wish”, Hayraven concluded. “Do you reckon Guerra’s involved?” “It doesn’t look like he is, Captain.” Seadog shot another glance at the watchman, confirming the absence of any new reports. Hayraven spoke again. “Look at the way they’re lined up. They’re expecting hand-to-hand. They think I’m going to fight them their way, do they?” “The Pledge of the Blade is known for the knives, but they should know their arrows, too.” Hayraven took Seadog’s words lightly. “We’re pirates; we start our fights from the ship, and if we can, we end them from the ship. Why let it escalate? It’s not like we’re fighting the Great Pirate Vladislovas now, is it?” Seadog acquiesced and began calling out the captain’s orders to the crew in a sonorous voice. Hayraven returned to his deckchair. The early stages of the battle were easy for Hayraven’s side. The wind blew in the direction of the enemy, protecting his ship from the merchant vessel’s arrows and allowing his crew to decimate a large part of the mercenary forces. Yet, no strangers to projectile attacks themselves, the Pledge of the Blade used wide shields to defend their crew. However, they were at sea, and if anyone had the knowledge to make the most of the factors at play, it was Hayraven. By controlling the movement of his own ship from its fortunate position, he made use of the wind and currents to tilt the enemy vessel to a nearly 45 degree angle. Not only were they now standing on a slope, the mercenaries had to maintain their balance over the continuous rocking of the waves, which to less seasoned sailors was no easy task. Once the Pledge’s numbers were sufficiently reduced, hand-on-hand combat began. Seadog coarsely shouted the order at the pirates. “Hook them! Hook the ship!” Hayraven’s subordinates hurried to swing their hooks into the enemy vessel. The mercenaries, in turn, bustled to and fro, cutting off the ropes attached to the pirates’ metal hooks using large two-handed swords. Observing the mercenaries’ fast response to his attack, Hayraven stood up from the deckchair. “They aren’t playing, are they?” He ran to the edge of the ship and swung his own iron hook at the merchant vessel, striking an unknown mercenary across the chest. The hook went on to bury itself deep within the ship. Another member of the Pledge ran towards Hayraven’s hook brandishing his bayonet. Seeing him, the captain withdrew his pistol and aimed. One shot was all it took to blast away the mercenary. Yet already another one was attempting to reach the hook. This time, the mercenary avoided the pistol shot, causing Hayraven to react with a smile of amusement. “Alright, this one knows what he’s doing. Let’s see you cut this, then!” As he spoke, Hayraven swung another hook at the enemy ship, one which the agile mercenary was unable to avoid. Struggling to free himself from the hook, the man bore deep injuries as Hayraven pulled him through the waters between the two vessels. The keel hauling eventually took his life before the captain could pull him up onto the pirate ship. The two crafts drew closer and closer, and Hayraven eagerly reached for the Jolly Roger. “Did Vladislovas ever hit a ship with the Jolly Roger from this far?” he asked, grinning blithely. Seadog, who had been standing by the captain awaiting new orders, shook his head. “At this distance? Impossible.” Hayraven replied. “That’s right. For anyone else it is.” With this, he launched the pirate flag across the waters. Seeing the Jolly Roger lodge itself in the merchant ship, Hayraven called out to his crew. “Go! Let them fear my flag! I’m giving twice the loot to the first pirate to slaughter a mercenary by the Jolly Roger!” Seadog followed with his own commands. “You heard the captain. The last man to get on that ship is riding the keel.” The pirates dutifully complied, echoing each other’s battle cries as they crossed over onto the merchant ship. The Pledge of the Blade were already behind their opponents in both number and morale, and having Hayraven himself join the combat only asserted their inevitable defeat. The Pirate Captain’s dust devil quickly spread terror among the last surviving members of the mercenary group, who promptly abandoned their weapons and surrendered. It wasn’t long before Hayraven’s subordinates executed the few who had dared to resist them. Finally, the captain and crew of the merchant ship, who had been hiding in a corner of the vessel as the battle was held, were dragged out onto the deck. These sailors had been spared by the mere efficacy of Hayraven’s powerful attacks. Had the conflict spread out across the entire ship, they were unlikely to have survived. The pirate looked down at the captured crew before addressing them. “Are these all the men you have? I didn’t think there’d be so few of you.” Their captain replied. “It is as Guerra requested, yes. The Alliance crew was reduced and the work was assigned to his mercenaries to decrease costs. Not only was the ship mostly occupied by these mercenaries, we are also carrying a considerable amount of our own cargo. It was very difficult for us to sail in these conditions, you see. Guerra’s men aren’t familiar with the sea; I suppose that ultimately led to their defeat today.” “According to your logs, the goods you’re shipping are heavy but they aren’t worth much. And you say you cut the freight charges, too. It sure doesn’t sound like a good deal for the Alliance.” “Before our encounter, Captain, the mercenaries were paying their passage as stipulated in the contract, tending to the weapons and cleaning the deck. As for the goods, they may not be worth much now, but surely you’re aware of how we do business at the Kedoran Merchant Alliance. The original value of those goods will pose no problem. That is why…” The captain of the merchant vessel stood up to adopt a bolder stance. “Should you release this ship, the crew and all of our merchandise in safety, I propose to write you a certificate. A document that guarantees you a generous fee from any branch of the Kedoran Alliance. Our goods won’t yield much profit to an untrained merchant. And as you can see, our current personnel are far too scarce to be of any help to you. Our only condition is that this ship arrives safely at its destination. Once that is confirmed, you’re welcome to claim your reward.” “So you’re offering me a paper that’s worth more than this ship, the cargo and a few crewmen. Is that right? And all I have to do is wait for you to dock and tell the Alliance to get my money?” “That is correct. I should say, our communications network is rather advanced; it won’t take long for the information to reach all our branches.” Hayraven pondered for a moment. “Alright. The Alliance always finds a way to avoid a loss, don’t they? Dirtier than pirates, you are. Then, the rest of the filthy mercenaries will stay with us, yes? Everything they had on them, too.” The captain of the Kedoran Alliance knew Hayraven was not asking for consent, and so he nodded in agreement. The surviving mercenaries and their belongings were moved to the pirate ship. Oceanid approached Hayraven and asked, “Should we get the plank ready?” It was the custom in pirate ships to force captured enemies onto a plank laid on the side of the vessel and demand that they choose between joining the crew and drowning at sea. Hayraven, however, shook his head. “Leave them be. I have a deal with Olfas Grimm. We’ll gather a few more prisoners and sell them off to the Monk Master. Let them starve until they’re weak enough, but not so much that they’ll mutiny.” The captain’s orders were confusing, but Oceanid acceded and returned to the crew. Hayraven was left to mutter to himself. “Guerra, you filthy rat. I hope you find me after this; maybe then I’ll finally get myself a worthy fight. This time we’ll use our knives. Hmm. Come to think of it, they do say Creak is a match for Guerra. Who knows, it could be fun to fight Creak, too. Bore a bullet hole in his skull like I did to Vladislovas. He’s not bad with his gun either, or so they say.” At the end of his train of thought, Hayraven became silent. He raised his eyes to the silhouette of the merchant ship slowly disappearing in the horizon before turning back to the captain’s cabin.
Weekly Question and Answer – October 7th, 2016
Q1. I would really like to ride a Guinea Pig companion. Will there be a way for me to do it in the future without a mounting skill? During our initial closed beta tests, Guinea Pig companions were actually mountable by all classes. Later, however, we ended up considering the possibility of it hurting the uniqueness of mounted classes, and that’s when we put the restrictions in place for Guinea Pigs. We don’t think we’ll change the current setup that soon, though, so it seems the only way you’ll get to ride a Guinea Pig companion is by creating a character in a mounted class. Q2. Will we ever get the current trading system of kTOS in iTOS? We did make some changes to the trading policies in our Korean servers which we trust would be welcome in iTOS as well. Currently, the new trading policies are undergoing a few internal tests in order to stabilize them before we bring them over to the international version. As always, you can keep an eye on our News page for future announcements with more details about these changes. Q3. Having the bosses in Siaulai Mission match the level of the highest-level character in the party can be a bit rough for those with lower levels. Any plans for improvement? We are well aware that this is an issue affecting auto-matched parties playing the Siaulai Mission. Because of that, we decided to make boss monsters match the average level of all party members, instead of the highest-level character alone. Development of this feature is fully complete now; it’s already been applied to our Korean servers, too. You can be sure we’ll bring it to Steam as well, you’ll just have to wait a little longer for this update. *P.S.: We would like to take this chance to clarify something about the new Dumpling items, as it seems to be confusing some players. When there are 20 or more levels of difference between your character and the monsters you're hunting, they will not drop Dumpling materials. Please keep this in mind, and our apologies for any confusion this may have caused.
Weekly Question and Answer – November 18th, 2016
Q1. On keyboard mode you use the space bar to interact with NPCs, but on mouse mode all you can do is click, which can be a bit complicated to use in busy cities. Any plans to work on this? A1. We are aware that TOS’ fixed quarter-view style can sometimes make things difficult for mouse mode users, especially when objects are too close or overlap. This is something that we’re concerned about as well and definitely want to improve. We’re still considering this issue in general, but some improvements that maybe could be applied in the future would be, for example, defining specific keyboard keys for certain actions or allowing for more flexible control setting in mouse mode. Q2. We know kTOS introduced equipment slots in companions already, but they only work with the same equipment used by player characters. Are you planning to add any companion-specific equipment? A2. Yes, one of the reasons we created those equipment slots for companions was to eventually have items made specifically for them. As of now, this feature is still very much in the early stages of development so there’s no telling when the final products will be out, but we are looking over a few companion equipment options, including some companion hair accessories.
Weekly Question and Answer – July 29th, 2016
1. Are you ever going to add new functions to companions? We’ve been receiving plenty of suggestions for new functions meant to improve the convenience of playing with companions, some of them rather interesting, so we’ll definitely keep reviewing those. Right now we’re thinking of developing a set of hotkeys or commands that would allow you to interact with a companion or use its functions without opening the corresponding UI. 2. The new Penguin companion is too cute! Please tell me you have other companions coming. Indeed, we do. Yesterday (July 28th) we introduced a brand new bird companion in our Korean servers, which we hope to bring to Steam as well, as soon as it’s ready. We also plan to keep creating and bringing you new companions in the future, so stay tuned for that. 3. I’ve noticed that, in Team Battle League matches, your companion’s HP and Stamina does not reset with each new round. Is this done on purpose? Originally, the HP and Stamina of companions weren’t designed to reset after each round of Team Battle League matches. After receiving more feedback from the players, however, especially those with classes that rely on companions for combat, we have decided to actively review our original design and consider resetting these stats for companions as well. 4. The torch mission in Siauliai seems too long. Do you have any plans to make it shorter? We agree that 3 minutes is a little long for the torch mission in Siauliai, but for now we don’t have any plans to shorten it. Instead, we will consider creating additional bonuses for completing more of other missions.