Offline Interview Recap

Hello, Ritsu the translation man here.

Due to a request, I'm posting a summarized version of a lengthy notice KoG put on their website about a meeting with the TF team players in person. There are some interesting things in it, but translating it whole is not worth, because they keep saying things like "we'll try to make things better", "sorry for the mess we've caused" etc.

Enjoy!

(At first, they said they're sorry for delaying the notice.)

1. Specific reasons for not responding to player inquiries

They explained how Elsword is developed by KoG and published by Nexon in Korea, how they are different companies, and the relation between them. Even though they are independent teams, certain problems are discussed together. Due to the split, it was not possible to address each and every adventurer opinions. Therefore, they made a Q&A channel for players to ask various questions and receive official responses. They think they didn't provide enough explanation for the purpose of the Q&A service, so players were confused.

2. The communication process needs to be improved

KoG believes the communication issue is two-way. They are trying their best, but could not always provide the best feedback. Direct interaction with players is avoided because of the controversy the previous events brought. Mentioning how corona affected them distancing away from players, they see the issue of being not transparent enough and will work to fix it.

They will keep us informed when major content arrives beforehand. Lastly, they felt like disclosing a little bit more (landing pages, videos on their YouTube channel, the 4th path public letter, etc) as planned on the previous conference. Also saying they weren't able to satisfy adventurers.

3. Tenebrous Gear, Gear Drag Switching, Gaia Server EXP issue, LuCiel bugs

In the first paragraph, KoG explains how they noticed the Tenebrous Continuous Damage option error and the entire process behind it. They said they wanted to fix it before new content comes, because it probably would cause much more trouble. After fixing the error, they lowered the HP of raid monsters to make it not affect the timers as much. They don't really know why the value wasn't disclosed at first, probably just an oversight.

After hearing the voices of the TF team, KoG will refrain from temporarily mitigating the issue via providing compensation (the unholy +13 buff), instead they will try to understand the meaning of the problem and fix it in the roots.

About the LuCiel issue, at first it was reported by overseas adventurers. KoG thought it was a temporary issue that could be solved easily. However, it's turned out to have been a thing for a very long time. "Look's like we're not good at judging the severity of errors", they say.

Regarding the Gaia server having an extra EXP, they were aware of it, because it was used as a buff when opening the server. Although the visual information about it being active was removed, in the inner workings of the server, it was still on. They are taking 100% of the blame on them for not being able to discover it quickly. They realized the issue only after it became a problem.

They didn't know about the equipment drag switching method, and only figured it out thanks to tickets from the CS. The error was there for a very long time. They treated it like every other bug and tried to fix it as fast as possible, but didn't realize that certain gameplay patterns hinged on the bug, with many players thinking it was a feature. The developers didn't recognize that it greatly affected player damage output.

They explained that the Korean client is slightly different from the rest of the world. Some errors do happen on both, some only in Korea, some only on the overseas clients. It's difficult to operate because Elsword service works on top of 6-7 countries.

4. What are the principles of carrying out balance patches?

They check the dungeon clear information window, the same one adventurers can see. Also trying not to include situations like a 10m CP person playing Varnimyr raids. In addition, the balance team checks information provided by players on the balance forum and combines it with the data they have. They are only checking the data, so they can't handle individual opinions too well.

5. What do you think about characters performing much different than their equipment should allow them to?

(Here comes the sad part.) KoG prioritizes concept and clear personalities of each character rather than their performance in gameplay, because other RPGs and Elsword are not alike. Skills are balanced to reflect the character and match the idea for it. "However, some balancing work needs to be done, and it seems that it hasn't been done properly so far."

6. What is the root cause of this problem and what is the role of the director and the company?

Each unit (operational, business teams and the director) talk about things like the lack of communication, trying to improve the development process, that the advance notice guidance was insufficient, etc., etc.

7. The size of Elsword department

There were about 80 people at the start, but currently it's more than 100 and it keeps expanding. Nexon team consists of 11 people, and the business team of 5-6 people. They are partially moving from Daegu to Seoul to increase the amount of manpower supply because of some weird employment laws at the current place.

8. The development process

They explained that it takes about 6-8 months to develop a new region/set of dungeons and about a year for a new character, including working on the concept. Once they're initially done, the content is QA'd throughout, they ask the business team for feedback. Finally, the content is pushed after confirming that it's ready.

9. How reports work and what the role of the director is

Important updates and issues are reported according to KoG's internal processes.

Regarding the director's role, he is responsible for making decisions.

10. The features, the weaknesses and the strong points of Elsword according to KoG and Nexon

KoG says what's interesting about it is the unique fighting system, and they very much don't want to lose it, which almost happened, as mentioned on the previous conference meeting, when they attempted to replace the game's engine. Thinking of improving the game in another way. The balance problem seems to be a serious issue in their eyes.

Nexon loves strong personalities and emotions that each character carries with it. They like the diversity of their lore and were excited to come across it when making path story movies. Regarding the weak points, they are no different than KoG, and additionally mention that they'll try to address the issues of communication.

11. The profitability and the direction of Elsword (PvP vs RPG)

Elsword was released as a PvP focused game, then shifted to an RPG team play game. With how long Elsword is in service (currently 16 years), changes were unenviable.

Regarding the business side, the game receives the most funds and the most work is being put into it, and it also provides the most revenue out of all the games KoG keeps in service.

12. Why are some of the 21 improvement ideas not implemented?

They said it takes time and they will try to look into user opinions more, yada yada

13. Why there are insufficient developer notes

Patch notes were explained in a simple technical way. However, there is a need to elaborate about the changes, so in future patches, especially balance patches, developer intention will be much more clearly described.

14. New content bugs i.e. in Challenge Mode and the QA process

They only have a tight period of 2 weeks to QA content before releasing it, that's why there's so many bugs. They will try to increase the QA time.

15. The problem of poor game quality - too many probability-based systems

They said a lot of games have RNG systems. The issue is known, saying the materials are a problem. KoG mentions that some improvements were done in the past, but they need to add more as they proved insufficient. They are considering a pity system for Enhancement (literal: enhancement ceiling system???), but they also understand that they need to think it through, and the possible aftermath of introducing it. They also mentioned that switching Abyss weapon to progress based rather than chance based was a step into reducing the reliance on RNG.

16. Old content is neglected

Pet PvP and Mount Racing content was released as a method to run away from the mess of neglected content. Instead, the opposite thing happened - right after the events, neither of these were played anymore. They will try to improve them so that they can be worth to play.

For PvP, they tried various methods, such as the PvP special equipment, but it wasn't well-received. They are trying multiple ways to revitalize matches, but haven't found any definitive answer so far.

17. Some stuff about the use of cheats, etc.

KoG just says that they check 100% of abnormal behavior and asking you to report them if you suspect someone is doing nasty things.

18. Overseas service related

Publishing the game is spread across multiple countries, not the same country as with Nexon (which is also in Korea, just like KoG).
Internal workings of each publisher will always slightly differ from what they offer. The update timing is also an individual case for every each of them.
They will try to improve overseas Elsword service after consulting it with other publishers.

19. Why have event rewards become worse?

They are balanced directly by the director depending on the situation. Recently, there has been feedback that they are lacking, so KoG will try to increase them a bit more.

20. Selection criteria for the 6/1 Q&A

The questions can be about anything, there is no real criteria. They will try to include everything. If there are duplicate or similar questions, they will be merged into one topic and all explained.

21. Expressing willingness to secure the two-way communication

They are publishing a Q&A guide on 6/1. After that, they'll prepare a special place to communicate with adventurers, between July and August.

(The notice ends with an apology.)