[Dev Blog] Summer Edition
Dear Settlers,
A Dev Blog provides a glimpse behind the curtain. It's written by our Game Design Team and it's not translated to avoid information loss or unintentionally changed facts. This time, BB_Alex provides answers to some of the most pressing and frequently asked questions of the Community.
Summer Edition
Greetings Settlers!
The crisis was averted and summer is finally here. But what comes next? Are we working on new content? Those and many other questions were asked in the forums, and I think I am able to cover some of those concerns with a DevBlog.
So, when do we get content for level 62 - 70? How is level 70 supposed to be reachable for more than 5% of the players?
I would like to say "soon", but this word has its own unique definition connected to TSO. As mentioned in the last Dev Blog, we wanted to finish the Pathfinder to be able to focus on new content directed at certain level ranges in the game. And this is exactly what we are doing right now. Our goals are set. We want to create a higher resource drain and provide more experience points in exchange, to allow for faster progress and the opportunity to reach level 70 for more than 5% of the players. We want to provide more content built on known TSO mechanics. But we also want to create something new and unique, to try a slightly different approach, which should increase the variety in the game and offer alternatives when it comes to the chosen playing style. In order to achieve this goal, we have to rework one specific part of the game: Daily Quests. Their value and contribution to the game are not high enough, and we want to change this. They should have a bigger value in the game and fuel the new content. More detailed information will be released as soon as everything is set in stone. Feature development is dynamic with things changing during the process, and I don't want to make any promises I might not be able to keep.
Will you introduce better buffs for our barracks?
The new content mentioned before should provide some unique rewards and we aim to introduce one unique buff for barracks.
Why are rewards of unpopular adventures not changed?
Rebalancing is a very sensitive issue. Unless it is done right, it could negatively impact the in-game economy and value. There has to be an up-to-date framework and ruleset, which will guarantee the value of rewards inside each adventure. One way of maintaining the value of a reward is making it unique by limiting the sources from which it can be acquired. For instance, "The availability of Magic Beans is related to Fairytale adventures" is such a rule.
Over the years, The Settlers Online has evolved and changed. You now have more uniquely skilled generals and the wide variety of buffs provide more opportunities, altering the initial difficulty of adventures. As a result there might be a need for the difficulty to be adjusted. This is just one of several variables that need to be taken into account. Other basic rules have to be re-evaluated. The rule "Adventures should be doable with default generals" is one of those, and it is a very important one. It has a big impact on the amount of losses during an adventure and it also impacts the balancing of the rewards. This is one of the main reasons why some players are able to complete adventures and get a better reward/loss return. The discussion about the Platinum Ore rewards in the Arabian Nights Adventures is a very good example. A simple increase of rewards won't do the trick.
There are no plans to adjust the balancing of adventure rewards in the near future, since this would require a lot of preparation time.
Have there been drop rate changes for adventure and treasure searches?
As mentioned above, re-balancing is a very sensitive topic. That is why there have been no changes on the drop rates of adventure and treasure searches for quite a long time.
Can we have the Star Menu organised alphabetically?
After the introduction of the Stacking Feature, we kept on working on improvements and comfort functions for the Star Menu. Check out the latest Sneak Peek and visit the test-server to see the latest changes.
There are a lot more questions and topics. Too many to cover all of them. At this point I would like to thank the Community Management Team for collecting all these questions and topics, since I am not able to read every thread in every language. And of course a big "Thank You" to the players for all their inquiries and suggestions.
I will use the DevBlog to give you feedback on your suggestions and answers to some of your questions.
Thank you for your contribution and we are looking forward to your feedback!
BB_Alex
Feel free to share your feedback > here <
Happy settling,
BB_Amta
