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DEVELOPER'S BLOG
Dev Interview: Fishing, TBL, DPK and Balance
Greetings, Saviors! This week, we had a talk with our Head of Development (HOD) to find out more about a couple of updates that are coming to Tree of Savior in future patches, including PvP improvements, drop rate system changes and balance tweaks. Please note that the updates mentioned here are still being tested and can differ from the actual content that is applied in iTOS. The dev team is, however, working to bring these updates into the game within one or two months, as soon as testing is complete. Any changes will be announced in advance through the patch notes. That said, go ahead and read the full interview below! Staff: How are you, Mr. Head of Development? In our previous interview about renovating the city of Klaipeda, you and Maggi briefly talked about introducing fishing spots in-game, which is now becoming TOS’ first real “life” content. May I ask why you decided to go with fishing over other activities? HOD: I’m a little hesitant to call it Tree of Savior’s first real “life” content, considering how simple the fishing function is. Our goal is to introduce a sort of relaxing farming activity to contrast with more intense types of gameplay that require higher degrees of concentration. We figured fishing was the right answer to that. We also considered mining, but we didn’t want to risk abusing anyone’s graphic cards, so we crossed that out for now. Staff: Another question; you already made clear that you’re going to introduce a fishing function in the city of Klaipeda, but will there be fishing spots in other maps as well? HOD: Adding a fishing spot to Klaipeda was our original plan, following the renovation of the city. Besides that, some players may be surprised to hear that we’re also adding one to Cobalt Forest, and in the future we have plans to continue introducing fishing spots in other maps with streams or lakes. We expect the items from each spot to be different from the ones you can fish in the city of Klaipeda. Also, right now fishing is completely automatic, but we’re considering the addition of a couple of simple manual controls. We don’t think it’ll be anything too complex, just simple actions that can give the player an advantage. Staff: If you have plans to expand the fishing function, do you also want to develop other life contents for Tree of Savior? I would love to see a fishing spot in Goddess' Ancient Garden, by the way! HOD: That’s what we’re hoping to do, yes. We believe a good game should be able to offer the player the chance to live out their dreams, so we want to delve into that idea for our next projects. We’ve considered things like sailing a yacht, car racing, exploring deserts, jungles, oceans; any challenge or adventure that’s hard to come by in the real world. We’ve also thought about letting the players do fun things like car tuning, farm tuning, island tuning (we’re just really into tuning)… Or, if you want to enter more into the realm of fantasy, open a fancy bar and invite celebrities to exclusive parties, collect designer clothing or watches, sports cars… Basically, we want this kind of experiences that aren’t always feasible in your everyday life to be more readily available in Tree of Savior. Staff: In a way, the game is already letting us do that, I think. We get to become a Savior of a fallen kingdom and communicate with goddesses. That’s certainly an experience. I can’t wait to see what other dreams we’ll be able to live out in-game. Now, moving on to a different subject, after the big combat changes last May, the dev team announced the following: For our PvP sports content, the Team Battle League, we’re focusing on improving synchronization issues between server/client and location, as well as server speed. First, we want to change Team Battle League matches from the current 2:2 and 5:5 formats to a single 3:3 setup. We also intend to balance out a few skills and systems that hinder the concept of TBL as sports content. Some of the aspects we’re thinking of including in this rebalance are the immunity to multiple target devices (knockdown, stun, freeze and other ailments that cause the inability to control your own character), the duration and effect of long buffs/debuffs, and the stat gaps between different items. Any changes we make related to these, however, will only apply to TBL or other battle-type contents played in similar instanced zones. Finally, regarding TBL, we also feel inclined to add some improvements to the current point and ranking rewards. I heard you’re doing some real progress on these updates, and I’m sure players are looking forward to seeing them applied. I’m excited about them too, I think I’ll finally bring out my mighty musket! Hahah. From what I saw, however, there was no news on the synchronization issues or the point and ranking rewards. Can you let us in on how that’s progressing? HOD: For the location sync issues, we increased the processing speed of PvP-specific server machines, which slightly minimized the location differences that happen between client and server with high movement speeds. For one, we fixed the error that made characters appear in a different position after being knocked down or becoming incapable of combat. Our next goal is to monitor PvP controls in Team Battle League to create a better environment for GvG battles, which we also want to update. We aren’t done with Team Battle League improvements, though. We also have a patch ready with new point and ranking rewards, and we plan to introduce new timed costumes for top-rank players of the season. Finally, we created new PvP rules regarding stacked mass control instruments, movement speeds and debuffs. These rules are going to be applied to characters equally in all enclosed combat areas like TBL and, of course, we’ll keep tweaking them as required by the circumstances. Staff: Enclosed combat areas “like” TBL, you say…? Could that be a hint? In any case, there’s another subject I would like to discuss today. In kTOS, you recently announced that you're going to change the current DPK item drop rate system to a probability-based one. If I remember correctly, the DPK system was put in place to guarantee that an item gets dropped after a certain threshold is reached, whereas a probability-based system means that there’s a chance you won’t get the item even after farming for an entire day. I’m curious about the reason why you decided to remove DPK and go for this probability-based item drop system instead. Also, I would like to ask if a “personal” DPK was never an option you considered as a viable drop system. HOD: Ultimately, for a system like non-personal DPK to thrive you need an environment in which you have several players farming at the same time. If only one or two players are hunting in the same zone, the advantages of DPK (regular and consistent supply of items in the server) are lost, and it inevitably creates tension and rivalry between the players. Because of this, we can see why so many of our players spoke out in favor of a “personal” DPK counting system. The problem is that Tree of Savior is serviced all over the world on Steam, kTOS and other local servers, and in each of those the farming environment is different. Changing to a personal DPK system wouldn’t solve the fundamental issues of DPK itself, and besides, your personal kill count rewards already come from the Adventure Journal. So all in all, we felt that a probability-based item drop system was more appropriate for the game. Now, after moving from a fixed count DPK system to a top-down one, and now to a probability-based system, I’m sure the players will be wondering, “So what’s the new drop rate?” It’s not our policy to reveal the exact drop rates of each item, but we ran thorough simulations to ensure that the items weren’t dropping less than before, and then we set the drop rate a little higher than that. One thing we did was double the supply of Monster Gems, which under the DPK system was rather low. For Hunting Grounds cubes, we added ⅛ pieces of those cubes to the Grounds so that players can get items from them more frequently. Another thing I would like to mention is that, as pointed out by many of our players before, a lot of the fields in Tree of Savior often get ignored after the quests are complete or they’re “skipped” altogether. We’re only trading DPK for a probability-based system now, but we have other things in mind to improve the fun aspect of farming in fields, which we hope will help bring more life into those forgotten maps. Staff: It’s certainly sad to see so many of those beautiful maps go unnoticed; good to hear that you’re working to change that. Now, another subject that’s always been much discussed is balance. According to your latest kTOS test server balance patch, any additional SPR a Pardoner gets from stat-enhancing buffs is going to be excluded from the total SPR counted when opening a shop. Would you like to explain the reasoning behind this decision? HOD: There was some lack of foresight from our dev team when creating the big combat changes earlier this year, in that we didn’t consider all the possible ways in which Pardoner buffs could be affected. This led to certain shop buffs becoming powerful enough to visibly affect the game. Overall, we wanted to adjust the balance of Pardoner shop buffs in a way that doesn’t make them vastly superior to Priest buffs, but without taking too much from the convenience or performance of general Pardoner buffs. We’re still considering other changes to Pardoner shop buffs, but we’ll announce more details after we have something more concrete. Staff: I see what you’re saying. Hopefully everyone playing a Pardoner will understand, too. If possible, I also want to ask about the other contents of your latest balance patch, which sounded very interesting. From what I saw, it was divided into 3 categories: 1) increased overheat, 2) stacking skills and 3) other changes. Let’s start with overheat, then. I’m sure an increase in overheat is good news to anyone using those types of skills, but I have a question. Consider a skill that can be used in 3 times and has 15 seconds of cooldown time. Using the skill only one time will still require 15 seconds for it to be restored back to the full 3 hits. If each hit is worth 5 seconds of cooldown (considering the total is 15 seconds), why doesn’t the skill restore 1 hit every 5 seconds? HOD: We at the dev team can see how having to wait for a period of time that’s the same as the entire cooldown of a skill to restore a single hit is not the most reasonable option. We’ve been meaning to tackle this inconvenience for a long time now, but I guess it was always pushed back by bigger, more urgent issues. We aren’t ready to apply the “3 hits / 15 secs = 1 hit / 5 secs” rule you suggested just yet, but we are considering restoring the hit count after the skill’s total cooldown time has passed when one or more hits have been used. Staff: So you don’t know when that’s going to change yet, then? Well, I hope you have a chance to work on it soon. Would you like to comment on 2) now? Your notes state that you’re going to allow players to stack certain skills with the same skills of other players. You know, every time there’s another Plague Doctor in my party I always feel like they’re “stealing my spot”, so I’m glad that’s going to change. You’re not allowing all debuffs to stack, however. Both the Fletcher’s Broadhead and the Highlander’s Crosscut can inflict Bleeding, but I didn’t see any mentions to Crosscut in your plans. Is that intended? HOD: Those plans concern only skills where DOT (damage over time) applies, so shared debuffs are not included. Black Death Steam, for example, is an attack that only Plague Doctors have, and its DOT merely borrows from the common debuff structure; in reality, it deals damage equivalent to other attack skills. The Highlander’s Crosscut, on the other hand, is simply a skill with an added Bleeding debuff, the same way some skills can have Stun, for example. The Fletcher’s Broadhead is a skill where the DOT comes in the shape of the Bleeding debuff, making it similar to Black Death Steam or the Wugushi’s Needle Blow. Staff: So the difference is that those skills are damage-dealing skills, but they happen to be structured like a debuff. I see. I won’t bother you much longer, but I have one final set of questions about your balancing plans. First, what do you intend to achieve with your next balance patch? In other words, what direction can we expect TOS balance patches to take in the future? How far along do you think you are regarding your ultimate balance goals? Finally, how much more do you want to change with future patches? HOD: After the big combat changes, PvE difficulty was reduced by a lot. It’s hard to tell where the next patches will take this aspect of the game, since our goal is to follow whatever needs are felt at the moment, whether that implies a more difficult or an easier gameplay. What I can tell you is that we did consider the connection to future new regions and contents when applying the big changes, so we don’t predict anything too drastic. We haven’t reached all our balancing goals yet, of course, even considering the next couple of updates we have in store. We have a summon behavior improvement patch that’s already been developed and is now awaiting review. We are also working on a series of other aspects of the game, including more class-specific issues. One thing I want to say is that we hope players don’t think we’re done with a class after it’s been patched one or two times. We’re always looking to improve class balance. And lastly, I can’t tell exactly how many balance patches will make it into the game in the near future, but our plan is to keep working on them until new classes arrive. Staff: Ooh, new classes *_* I would love to hear more about them, but I can tell you’re busy so I won’t take any more of your time. Thank you so much for this interview. HOD: No problem. Thank you to our players for reading!
[EDITED] Update on the Optimization Process
Greetings, Saviors! This is TypeBPenguin, the programmer in charge of optimization for TOS. Firstly, I would like to apologize for not giving you an update on how things have been going in a while, and for the delay in the optimization update. We needed some time to reconsider the optimization process for there were certain stability issues. These issues have been dealt with since then and, with that success, different aspects of the optimization process have improved as a result. In this quest for optimization, we set out one goal: make the game run without a hitch even with 100 players on the screen! Now, as some of you might already know, this is not an easy task. But we set our goal high and we will dedicate our time and effort to realize it. Also, we have set up a specialized test environment. As you can see from the screenshots below, 100 player characters are moving about, casting skills, jumping and doing all kinds of activities. This would be an ideal environment to test the optimization. Optimization Process The first and foremost thing to solve were the client stability issues from the previous optimization process. During the numerous tests, certain side effects from the previous optimization process have been found and, regrettably, for the sake of stability, we had to forgo some improvements. However, through other optimization processes, we were able to obtain both stability and improved performance. 1. Our resource management system has been improved by applying resource background loading and data pull. What we have achieved was a reduction in the time wasted on resource loading. The graph below compares performances before and after the resource management system application. The unit is ms/frame and the red graph indicates the before, while the purple graph indicates the after. The test environment for both is the same as the one shown in the screenshots above. Please look at the number of spikes and duration. Through the application of these measures, we were able to obtain the best of both worlds and have the benefits from the previous process along with the huge reduction from resource loading. 2. We created a separate thread to process articles, models and other ingame factors to reduce processing time. Most of the total processing time is spent on updating models when 100 characters are on one screen. When characters cast skills, naturally a number of particles are created. Consequently, more time is needed to process the particle effects. Here, we thought of a way to process them in different threads. 3. We reduced rendering time and draw call numbers by improving the rendering pipeline. We have improved the Character Depth MRT process and other unnecessary rendering processes that we weren’t able to do last time. The graph above was obtained in a test environment and based on the results from replays where certain features were locked. There might be a margin of discrepancy in the actual gameplay environment. Also, we must be prepared to deal with unexpected side effects like last time. Therefore, we took some time testing and re-testing to find possible issues so that this optimization process will perform without major problems. Likewise, we did have to sacrifice some performance to ensure better stability, but the ultimate goal was to provide our users with a safe and sound gameplay experience. Ingame Test The graph below is based not on replay scenarios but rather the actual ingame environment like the screenshots above. The red graph indicates the before, the blue graph the after. The first graph is recorded when loading 100 characters doing various activities. The second graph is taken after the character loading and doing various activities. We can clearly see certain significant improvements in the overall processing speed and reduction in frame drops. Closing Words Aside from the processes we have mentioned above, we are also working on improving inefficient algorithm structures and other tasks to reduce even 1ms for our users. We will keep on striving to improve the optimization process. As always, thank you for playing and loving our game :D UPDATE: We thought we'd add in a few words on the general timeline for the new optimization measures after seeing your feedback on this post. One part of the processes described here has already been implemented in kTOS and we hope to apply it to iTOS as early as next week (January 3, 2017). Keep an eye on the weekly patch notes for more on that. Other processes still need some fine tuning before we can bring them into the game, so we'll keep working on those and hopefully we can let you in on more updates in a near future.
[EDITED] Future Improvements: Auto Match, EXP Tomes and More
Greetings, Saviors! We’re back today to introduce a whole roster of new features and improvements that are making their debut in the kTOS servers on March 30, 2017, and that should be introduced to the Steam version in a couple of months. As always, remember that these contents can look slightly different when they arrive on iTOS. 1. Two to Four Player Party Auto Match Function To reduce queuing times in instanced dungeons with less participation and provide more flexible party options, we developed a new auto match function that allows you to play in an auto matched party of 2 to 4 members. Basic 2-4 Auto Match For this new function, we added a ‘Match 2 to 4 Players’ button to the instanced dungeon UI. While in the queue, players who selected this option will have a check sign over their icons, while those who chose regular auto matching will appear with no check sign. To enter an instanced dungeon in a party of less than 5 members, however, all players currently shown in the queue must have selected the ‘Match 2 to 4 Players’ option. Also, a 2 to 4 member party can only enter an instanced dungeon after 5 minutes in the queue. To cancel the 2 to 4 player party matching option, you will need to cancel the matching process altogether before selecting a new option to enter the instanced dungeon. ▲ A confirmation message appears after you click the ‘Match 2 to 4 Players’ button. Auto Match with Party You can also combine the ‘Match 2 to 4 Players’ option with the ‘Auto Match with Party’ function. After you click ‘Auto Match with Party’, the ‘Match 2 to 4 Players’ button becomes active, allowing you and your current premade party member(s) to enter the instanced dungeon in a party of 2 to 4 players together. This function also requires that 5 minutes pass in the queue before a party of less than 5 members can enter the instanced dungeon. All it takes is one premade party member to select the ‘Match 2 to 4 Players’ option for it to apply to all other premade party members, and the same goes for canceling it (any premade party member can cancel the process). The 5 Minute Rule If the current queue shows 2 to 4 players who have selected the ‘Match 2 to 4 Players’ option, after 5 minutes of queuing, the 2-4 member party will enter the instanced dungeon as such. If at least one person in the current queue hasn’t selected the ‘Match 2 to 4 Players’ option, the waiting continues until the party has all 5 members as usual. ▲ Unless the player in the red square clicks the ‘Match 2 to 4 Players’ button, the waiting continues until there are 5 members. After 5 minutes have passed in a queue with 2 to 4 players who have all selected ‘Match 2 to 4 Players’, the system will assess two conditions to decide whether the party is ready to enter: 1) The time at which the first player entered the queue 2) The time at which a new player entered or abandoned the queue The overall waiting time is counted from the moment the first player enters the queue, so as soon as that player has waited 5 minutes in the queue, the party will be ready to enter as long as there is one other player in the same queue who has also selected ‘Match 2 to 4 Players’, even if it’s only been 1 second since they entered the queue. 2. Crafting With Timed EXP Tomes There have been multiple occasions where we handed out 14-day EXP Tomes as compensation for extended maintenances and other inconveniences, but the problem with these was that players were only able to use them one by one like a regular EXP Tome. Now, we have decided to allow EXP Tomes with time limits (expiration date) to be used for crafting x4 EXP Tomes in the same way regular EXP Tomes are. And of course, x4 EXP Tomes crafted from timed EXP Tomes can be used to craft x8 EXP Tomes as usually. [EDIT] You will not be able to use expired EXP Tomes to craft x4 EXP Tomes. 3. Item Drop System Improvements Until now, materials and other items dropped by monsters in TOS can be obtained based on a system known as “counting drop”, which allows items to drop after a character has defeated a certain number of the same type of monster. The system isn’t perfect yet, but we believe the new formula to be a little more reasonable and appealing to players. Current DPK System In the current system, the DPK value is defined by a random number between a predetermined minimum and maximum values. For example, if a monster’s minimum DPK value is 900 and its maximum DPK value is 1,100, a random number between 900 and 1,100 is generated. When a player defeats that number of monsters, the item drops, and after it’s dropped once, a new random number is generated under the same principle, continuing the cycle. Revised Top-Down DPK System The revised system combines DPK and drop rates in the following formula: 1 / (set DPK value – current no. of monsters defeated) This means that, if a monster’s DPK value is 100, every time you defeat one monster the drop rate will change from 1/100 to 1/99, to 1/98 and so on. In other words, there’s a chance the monster will drop the item even before you defeat 100 of them. Here, too, the DPK value is reset every time the item drops. 4. General UI Improvements 4.1. Market Retrieve Tab In the current Market Retrieve tab, it can be hard to tell which items were sold, which were bought and which were canceled. To improve on this aspect, we added a few bits of information to the Retrieve tab UI that tell you exactly where the items and silver in there came from. 1) On the left side, items are tagged as 3 different states: Sold, Bought and Cancelled. 2) For items you sold, the UI will display information regarding the transaction. 3) The quantity of items sold and bought is displayed separately. 4) You can filter the items in your Retrieve tab by type at the bottom of the window. 4.2. Monster and Exploration Alerts These are new system alerts that tell you when you’re close to completing a monster hunt or map exploration Adventure Journal achievement. The alerts will appear on your screen up to 3 times a day (one for every individual achievement) once you reach 70% of completion on any of those types of achievement. Monster Hunt Achievement – Example Let’s say an Adventure Journal achievement requires you to defeat 100 monsters. Once you defeat 70 monsters, you will see a one-time alarm telling you how close you are to completing the achievement. You will only see this type of alarm up to 3 times a day, so even if you reach 70% on a fourth monster hunt achievement, you won’t receive the corresponding alert. Map Exploration Achievement – Example Whenever you reach at least 70% exploration on the map your character is in, you’ll receive an alert about the EXP Card rewards you can receive by reaching 100% exploration. You will only see this type of alarm up to 3 times a day, so even if you reach 70% exploration on a fourth map, you won’t receive the corresponding alert. 4.3. Party UI Improvements The ‘Nearby Party Info’ list shown on the left side of the screen lets you check for parties formed around your location, but until now it was only an interface displaying party information, without actually allowing for any type of interaction with the parties listed. There was also the problem of private parties being “exposed” in the list. To improve on this, we applied two simple changes to this feature: 1) When you click on any parties listed, the UI will now include a ‘Join’ button that allows you to join the party. 2) Private parties will now be, well, private, and will not appear on the party list. 5. Other Changes We have two other changes prepared for this next kTOS patch: removing black hole gimmicks and increasing the maximum number of members in guilds. 5.1. Black Hole Gimmicks Removed We understood that black hole gimmicks, being virtually inescapable, were becoming a nuisance for innocent players walking by and a stressful interruption to hunting and questing. As such, we decided to remove these gimmick and make their rewards obtainable from other gimmicks in the game. We’ll be removing black hole gimmicks from the following regions: Alemeth Forest, Kalejimas, Elgos Abbey Main Building, Salvia Forest, Maven Abbey, Grand Yard Mesa. The rewards you could only obtain from the Grand Yard Mesa black hole will become available at the “delivery recharge” gimmick in the same region. 5.2. Maximum No. of Guild Members Increased This change will probably be a welcome one to those looking to create bigger guilds, as we’re allowing any guild to have at least twice the number of members they currently have. Here’s how the new ‘maximum no. of guild members’ rule will apply: 1) The maximum number of members allowed when a guild is first created will increase from 25 to 50 players. 2) Each level of the ‘Increased Maximum Members’ attribute will increase the maximum number of members allowed by +3 instead of +1. We hope you're looking forward to seeing these features in iTOS as much as we are. There's no date set as of yet for when these will arrive, but we'll make sure to keep you updated with any new implementation plans.
Introducing: Instanced Dungeon Multiply Tokens
Greetings, Saviors! We have another new feature coming up that we want to introduce to you today. We will be adding a new creative item, found only on specific maps, that can help with boosting your level. Keep reading for a preview of how you will be able to use this new feature, and remember that this is expected to arrive in a future major content update very soon... Q. What is the Instanced Dungeon Multiply Token? It’s an item that consumes all your remaining instanced dungeon daily entries, but multiplies the amount of items and EXP obtained in a single run by the number of entries consumed. For example, if you consume 2 entries, the amount of items and EXP obtained will be 3 for a total amount of 3 of each item and 3x the EXP! Basically less work for more gain, no? Q. Is there anything that we have to be aware of when using it? Only that there is no level limitation to use the Instanced Dungeon Multiply Token, but you can only use up to 2 Multiply Tokens per instant dungeon or mission (because 3x is the maximum). Q. Where can I get Instanced Dungeon Multiply Tokens? You can obtain Instanced Dungeon Multiply Tokens on specific maps, but where exactly you can obtain them is a secret. You'll have to go out and search yourself. Q. Will the Instanced Dungeon Multiply Token apply to the whole party? Nope! Once you use it, the item will disappear and it only applies to your character. Pretty exciting right? Happy Hunting (in the very very upcoming future), Saviors!
Weekly Question and Answer
Greetings, Saviors! Today on the blog we’re talking about our Saviors' Q&A. The following statement is indicating that many of our saviors posted these questions frequently. 1. The game still feels slow, even after the optimization patch. How much more and when do you plan to further optimize the game, and when can we expect a lag-free Tree of Savior? A. We thoroughly applied all of our previously announced optimization measures, but because every user’s playing environment is different and there are so many diverse factors at play in-game, we still cannot guarantee that the expected improvements will show in every single situation. There are still some areas in the game we can speed up, so we plan on continuing to improve the lag issue through frequent patches. 2. Do you have any plans to develop a class or rank reset potion? A. Creating a character in TOS involves making choices about stats, skills, attributes, classes, and many other things. It is possible to revert a character’s entire state to what it was like the day before, for example, but rolling back their class or skills while maintaining the level and stats intact is not an easy task. We will, however, consider making it possible to give up class advancement quests to allow picking a different class. 3. We’re being affected by the bug that joins 10-15 people together in instanced dungeons. If you’re going to allow large numbers of characters to be matched together, why don’t you introduce stronger boss mobs or random hidden bosses? A. This bug is an issue that’s been affecting only our Steam servers, and something we’re working to fix as soon as possible. We did try playing dungeons with over 10 people in a test version of the game, but it was just too confusing and complicated. That is why we want to keep the parties to 5 players or under. 4. There’s a connection problem happening every time the Gravity Pole skill is used. Are you fixing this bug? How far along are you on this issue? A. This bug has been around for a long time, but we haven’t been able to accurately reproduce it so far, so until now we’re still not entirely sure of how it can be fixed. This is especially true considering that it has never occurred in the development server, only on the live server. We’ve recently found and revised some aspects we think might be related to this bug, and we expect to apply them as soon as we’re done with testing. 5. Sometimes a character’s head will just disappear, which is a shame considering the otherwise beautiful graphics of the game. Are you fixing this bug? A. The dev team is well aware of this issue. We’ve set up a testing PC to figure out whether this happens only with specific video cards. We’ll try to fix this issue as soon as possible. Thank you for reading and have fun playing Tree of Savior.
On the State of Server's Economy
Hello. Today on the Developer's Blog, we would like to address a few rumors circulating the forum. While we were working on recent issues related to Steam's payment system, we came across a post with a screenshot of a user owning two or three hundred million silver. Some of you commented that it was demotivating. The payment abuse and that screenshot have been reported to a certain Korean website as well and an article came out stating that Steam server has serious problems. Some users even say a server wipe is needed. Is it necessary? You might wonder. A short answer would be ‘no.’ First, the screenshot is simply not true. We can look through our server database and figure out the actual amount of silver the account in question owns, what the user traded, and the movement of silver on each server. We can even identify which top 100 accounts possess the most silver. We can identify daily changes of total amount of silver. It turned out the user in the screenshot only owned less than a hundredth of the alleged amount. Due to the nature of MMORPGs, data in the game client can easily be altered. We believe that screenshot is also a result of such practice, and the change only appears on the user's own screen. This altered data doesn't get transmitted to the server that deals with monetary transaction, meaning the game's economy isn't affected. Contrary to what some users pointed out, the TP obtained through transaction exploit is irrelevant to the silver increase in the game. Even if abusers purchase and sell Tokens using the TP they unfairly gained, it does not generate new silver. The silver simply moved from one account to another during the transaction. During those transactions, actually total amount silver decreases due to 10% market fee. This may have influenced silver's RMT value or Token-to-silver ratio, but we have confirmed that it did not affect the total amount of silver circulating the servers. We take economical stability seriously, and our GMs monitor the statistics every day. Whenever we make systems related to trades, we make sure to check for possibilities of the damage they may do to the server's economy. We plan to explain the bot problem and the report system we made to counter it in our next blog post. Thank you.
Latest Performance Improvement Tests
Greetings, Saviors! Today we want to let you in on some tests we’ve been conducting to improve overall frame performance in Tree of Savior. We’ve compared the current performance in the game in ms with the values obtained after applying two improvement measures intended to minimize elements responsible for frame drop issues, as explained below. Particle Instancing: Optimizes function call when identical particles (objects) are rendered on the screen to improve processing speed. Quest Loop: Considers all existing quests but only updates when their status is changed to either ‘available for start’, ‘ongoing’ or ‘available for completion’, making for a more efficient processing of quests. Blue represents the data obtained before the optimization measures, red represents the data registered after the measures were applied. perf1 avg time: 31.6ms / max time: 137ms perf2 avg time: 25.5ms / max time 266.6ms avg time difference: 6.1ms / max time difference: -129.6ms avg time improved 0.8 times / max time improved 1.9 times ▲ MAINLOOP: Overall game performance time. The time required to render and show a frame in-game. FPS will increase as this number decreases. perf1 avg time: 0.1ms / max time: 6.5ms perf2 avg time: 0.5ms / max time: 74.8ms avg time difference: -0.4ms / max time difference: -68.3ms avg time improved 4.5 times / max time improved 11.6 times ▲ UPDATE_QUEST_LOOP: The time required to check quests in-game. While most are checked server-side, some are being checked by the client. There will be less lag the less time this takes. perf1 avg time: 0.1ms / max time: 2.2ms perf2 avg time: 0.8ms / max time: 3.3ms avg time difference: -0.7ms / max time difference: -1.2ms avg time improved 9.5 times / max time improved 1.5 times ▲ UpdateAnimation: The time required to show the game’s animations. It shows how much time is required to show a character’s movement per frame. The less time it takes, the less time is required to show a character’s animations. perf1 avg time: 0.6ms / max time: 7.9ms perf2 avg time: 1.4ms / max time: 4.1ms avg time difference: -0.8ms / max time difference: 3.8ms avg time improved 2.3 times / max time improved 0.5 times ▲ RenderVertex: The time required to show game effects. It shows how much time is required to show the game’s effects. Game effects will appear to be smoother the lower the number is. Looking at the results obtained from our internal tests, we expect these new measures to bring significant improvements to the performance of the game. We’ll be continuing to test the new measures more extensively to stabilize them, and we hope to bring these improvements to you as soon as they’re ready.
Re:Build - FAQ
Table of Contents 1. Rank System Changes Pt. 1 (Click here) 2. Rank System Changes Pt. 2 (Click here) 3. New Content: Borutos Kapas & Astral Tower Closed Quarters (Click here) 4. FAQ 5. Compatibility Issues & Solutions (Click here) 6. FAQ 2 (Click here) Greetings, Saviors! As you can tell from the title of this post, here we’ll be discussing in more detail possible questions you may still have about the [Re:Build] update. We remind you that the full extent of skill changes and other updates will be released only through the patch notes when this update hits, but we hope this can satisfy your curiosity on some of the patch’s novelties. Q. Why aren’t you letting players exchange armor items as compensation for compatibility issues? We have provided armor exchange services in previous patches that dealt directly with the functions of armor items, as not doing so would result in losses for players who had already farmed for items according to their own needs. With [Re:Build], however, the armor mastery changes don’t affect players in the same way, and so we’re not providing an exchange service for armor equipment. In this update, we’re increasing the performance of all kinds of armor mastery by the same standards, but the basic functions of the items themselves will not change. It may feel as though Leather-type armor becomes relatively more important with [Re:Build], but due to the formula adjustments, it ends up performing very similarly to what it does prior to the update. As for the “class-specific armor mastery” we talked about in part 1 of the [Re:Build] details post, that will come later with the introduction of the next generation of items. We aren’t sure yet of when that will be ready, but it will likely have a more direct impact on the game’s items, so we will certainly consider an exchange service when the time comes. Q. We’re worried that game content is going to remain unbalanced after [Re:Build]. We, too, recognize that the high efficiency of certain game features has caused players to largely forsake others. To combat this, we want to transfer some of the elements of popular content to features that are less efficient. On the other hand, this involves tampering with aspects of TOS beloved by many players, so we will need to be careful about any changes we make. Nothing is set in stone yet, but we’re working on a few content revisions to supplement and reinforce the purpose and meaning of each of these game features, and we will let you in on the details once we have more concrete information to share. Q. How did you end up choosing ‘Scout’ as the new class tree? Our main focus with this update was to make sure that the distinctive traits and personality of each class were maintained no matter what build you create. Equipment compatibility was, of course, a major aspect of it. Some compatibility issues were solved by transferring a class to a different tree, like in the case of the Hackapell which, despite currently being in the Archer tree, contains a majority of sword skills (only one skill uses a bow). This wasn’t the case with the soon-to-be Archer tree Rogue, Corsair, Shinobi, Bullet Marker and Schwarzer Reiter. For those classes, we decided to gather them up into a new tree altogether; one where they could synergize. Based on the variety of roles in this tree we added the closest related classes: Linker, Thaumaturge and Enchanter. Then, as you know, in TOS each tree is named after its base class. Rather than constituting a significant part of the lore, class trees help distinguish in-game roles in a way that is meaningful to your build, while still ensuring a healthy degree of variety. Of course, every class has its role in the game’s lore, and we realize that some classes will lose some of theirs by being transferred to a different tree. However, we believe that it is more important for players to be able to create their own unique character builds in a cohesive structure (hence the Bokor tree change, for example: we wanted it to be compatible with other summoning classes). Base classes are decided less on the basis of being the “tree representative”, and more on how well they work with the other classes in the tree. If you look at the Swordsman or Archer trees, for example, their base classes don’t exactly represent the identity of the tree in general. The important thing is whether they are compatible with other classes further up the tree, which is why the Scout, a class with few attack skills, no weapon restrictions and plenty of utility, was chosen as the starting class for the new tree. Q. Since you’re transferring Quick Cast to the Chronomancer skill set, aren’t you worried that it will become a mandatory class in builds with lots of casting? We understand that, in the current game, getting Wizard C3 is almost a mandatory step in casting-heavy builds. Because of this, our goal is to make most casting skills easier and more comfortable to use even without Quick Cast. Casting convenience will also be supported by weapon types like the Rod, increasing the importance of farming for varied equipment items. We hope these changes will define the Chronomancer’s Quick Cast as a nice plus, rather than a necessity, and we will continue to watch out for its usage to ensure it doesn’t become “mandatory”. Q. Where does the name of the new field boss – Boruta – come from? Boruta is the name of a noble devil from Eastern European folklore who busied himself with corrupting fellow aristocrats. According to tales, he preferred to leave those of lower social classes to the mercy of other treacherous devils. ※ Note that the above content is still under development and may be subject to changes before it is finally applied to the game.
Combat System Changes QnA Session 1
Greetings, Saviors! As explained in the last section of our 'Plans for Combat System Changes' post, we gathered a few of your questions from the forum about the new changes for a Q&A session. Here are the answers from the dev team. Please keep your questions and suggestions coming in [this thread] for the next Q&A session! Basic Stats Q1. SPR looks like it’s going to become less effective without status ailment resistance or magic defense. What can SPR be used for now other than saving up on potions? A1. Well, I can tell you that SPR is going to become a lot more important when it comes to saving up on potions. SPR will have a bigger effect on SP, and with the increase of SP consumption in several skills, it will be difficult to keep casting them like before without investing at least a little in SPR. Q2. How will DEX affect skills? Will magic skills also be influenced by DEX? A2. The attack speed increase from DEX will not apply to all skills. Magic skills, for example, will not have their attack speed increased by DEX. Q3. If critical attack is under DEX now, does that mean STR will no longer have an influence on anything critical-related? A3. That is correct. Q4. Will DEX increase the speed of basic attack for all classes? A4. Yes, it will. Q5. You talked a lot about how attack skills are going to change with the new combat formulas, but do you also have plans regarding non-attack skills? A5. Yes, the new combat formulas are going to affect non-attack skills as well. Realistically it would be hard for us to explain how our plans will apply to each individual skill, but we will announce skill-specific changes when they do happen via the blog or our patch notes. Other Stats Q6. How will critical rate and critical resistance work? If critical rate/resistance were removed from the main stats, how will they be calculated? Also, will there be other ways to increase your critical rate other than items? A6. Critical rate and resistance will come from items (including additional stats), skill buffs and attributes, with a new critical rate calculation formula. Our plan is to add critical rate mostly to leather armor, via added item stats and full-set effects, and to attributes. In the case of leather armor, we expect it to have lower physical defense than plate, lower magic defense than cloth, but instead come with critical rate and other attack-centric additions that make it stand out from the other types of armor. Q7. How will property attack and resistance work? Will you make resistance skills more significant in PvP? A7. Property attack and resistance are going to be calculated the same as before, with a subtraction formula. The new way basic defense is calculated is unrelated to property attack, which means this type of attack is going to deal actual damage regardless of the enemy’s defense. Q8. Will magic amplification remain the same? Or will you make it a little more advantageous to Wizard classes? A8. We have no changes planned for neither the values nor the calculation formulas of magic amplification. Q9. Block and penetration are factors that matter in PvP. Will they matter more now in PvE as well? A9. Regular monsters blocking players’ attacks enough to taunt them is not really a common issue. As such, we don’t have any plans to increase the importance of block and penetration in regular monsters. You may, however, find some high-block monsters in certain raids or in specific locations. Q10. Are boss monsters included in your monster-related changes? A10. Yes. We’re readjusting the attack, defense, HP and other combat factors of all monsters to match the new combat formulas. Items Q11. How will green gems change? A11. All gem stat options will remain the same as before. Some gems may become a little more or less valuable depending on the circumstances, but we have no plans to exempt players from gem extraction fees. Q12. Will you revise the additional stats you get from gems and Enchant Scrolls? A12. So far we haven’t considered changing them. Q13. You mentioned a lot of changes about the transcendence of weapon equipment. What about armor and accessories? A13. The transcendence changes we talked about will apply in the same way to armor and accessory equipment items. Q14. Will we need the same amount of Blessed Gems as before to transcend equipment? If not, can you share the specifics on how that will change? A14. Using the Lolopanther Two-handed Sword (level 270, unique) as a standard for all equipment, the amount of Blessed Gems needed will be almost the same. Items with a higher level and grade will require a little more, and vice versa. The amount will be different for each piece of equipment depending on its level and grade, and on whether it’s one-handed/two-handed/sub-weapon or weapon/armor, so it’s too much for us to publish the exact values for every single item here. I’m afraid you’ll have to see for yourself in the game. Q15. Any changes planned regarding collection bonuses? A15. After we apply the big changes, we want to monitor the value of those additional bonuses, along with the added stats of gems and Enchant Scrolls, and then we will decide whether they need to be revised. We also think it would be good to readjust the difficulty of achieving these collection bonuses. Summons Q16. How will SPR affect summoned creatures specifically? How much will the damage of summons increase with SPR? A16. Investing in SPR is going to increase the damage (not the attack) of summoned creatures, although it’s hard to tell exactly how much the damage of the average summon will increase with the new combat formulas. Q17. If higher SPR increases the SP consumption of summons, by how much does it boost their DPS? Unless there are serious improvements to DPS, it sounds a little unreasonable. A17. The SP consumption of summons will become a fixed value instead of a percentage. Q18. Will INT also affect summons? A18. No, it will not. Reset Event Q19. If I want to advance into a hidden class, will I have to take the advancement quest during the reset event? A19. If your character already advanced into a hidden class before, you’ll be exempted from taking the quest again and your requirements for that quest will not be reset. If your character has never advanced into the desired hidden class, however, you will still need to meet the advancement requirements. Q20. During the reset event, will you allow all players to learn attributes instantly, similarly to the benefit offered by Tokens? A20. No, we have no plans to allow that.