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Elsword Official Developer Q&A

June 22nd, 2021 | Posted by 2nafishisgood in Elsword News | Event Notices | Korean Elsword Updates

https://elsword.nexon.com/Events2021/0621/D0A75C6AF4

Edit: 6/24. Added Q1, Q3, Q16, Q19, Q47, Q70, Q71, Q72, Answers to questions asked during the conference

Answers to Questions Player Representatives brought to the conference.

1 Player Suggestions
Q1: Why does the Elsword team think this conference was held?
 

We think the major reason is because of lack of communication. We couldn’t accurately identify the needs of our players and the management team couldn’t find a better way to communicate effectively with our players.
We are sorry that our update planning and other factors didn’t meet the players’ expectations.

* Summarized response from the Dev Conference

 

2 Player Suggestions
Q2: On the post ‘To our players’ that was posted on 4/21, Elsword team promised to ‘Hire additional developers to increase quantity and quality of contents’ and to ‘Enhance the internal QA process’. It has been 2 months since then, we want to know how the team is progressing on this matter.
 
We are continuing to hire developers and internal QA personnel. This isn’t something that can be solved in short term and we are working to hire enough personnel in the long term.

 

3 Player Suggestions
Q3: It’s been 2 years since the Elsword player conference team submitted their suggestions.
 
As time passed, there were too many player suggestions we couldn’t apply.  We didn’t want to disappoint the players so we continued to think for an appropriate reply but unfortunately, we never got to give a proper reply. It’s been too long now and we won’t be able to give a reply to the suggestions submitted then. We are sorry.

 

4 Player Suggestions
Q4: How is the current Elsword team in both Nexon and KOG structured?
 
It’s composed of Elsword development and live service team, development QA team, Nexon QA team, Nexon marketing team, and Nexon Management team. Various other organizations also partnered with us to service Elsword.

 

5 Player Suggestions
Q5: How much profit is re-invested towards Elsword?
 
Most of the re-investment goes into acquiring more development personnel.

 

6 Player Suggestions
Q6: How do Nexon(Management) and KOG(Development) work together?
 
Nexon is in charge of publishing the game and other service-related matters. KOG is in charge of matters regarding developing the game.

 

7 Customer Service and Management
Q7: How are player complaints submitted and tested?
 
Opinions received through the customer service center are reported to the development team or related department as soon as possible. It doesn’t end with just the initial report and is additionally reported in daily and weekly reports. In the case of bug reports, the planning and development team checks if it’s really a bug, then the QA team tries to recreate the bug in a similar environment to the initial bug report, once the bug can be recreated, it is sent to the development team to be fixed. Bugs that occur in certain situations require the exact environment to recreate and therefore could take longer to fix.

 

8 Customer Service and Management
Q7-1: Bug report point system has disappeared and the bug fixes haven’t been going well since then. Is there any plan for a bug report notice board or return of the bug point system?
 
The bug report point system didn’t work out as we intended and was removed due to spam-type bug reports sent with the intention of receiving points. We will consider running a bug report notice board and work on a proper reward system for players that report bugs. We will share the exact details in July through an official post.
Within July 2021

 

9 Update Planning
Q8: What is the process behind game updates?
 
Long-term development direction is established then a detailed development and update schedule is decided. Major updates are scheduled to be updated in the Summer/Winter break period in consideration of Elsword’s main target audience. A regular update process is as follows.
Planning and Concept -> Art resource creation/data setting/program development -> Internal development QA -> live update preparation -> Final QA -> live update.
Major contents can take between 6 months to 1 year to develop.

 

10 Customer Service and Management
Q9: There are too many inconsiderate macro replies to tickets or replies showing the CS team does not understand what players are trying to say on the ticket. Tell us how the customer service team is structured. What is the size of the team and how are the new CS team employees trained?
 
Elsword’s Customer Service Center is run by Nexon Communications.
CS teams are largely divided into Content, Case-Control, Restoration departments. New employees aren’t put in charge of Customer Service immediately and all current replies are being checked by trained personnel with at least 3 years of experience before being sent out. Employee training is composed of initial 3 months of basic game education, CS training, Customer study and reporting. Then they start working at each department ts.
 
 

 

11 Customer Service and Management
Q10: Ticket categories aren’t very user-friendly, users have difficulties choosing categories that suit their needs.
 
The current categories in the customer service center tried to focus on resolving issues. We tried to establish a game guide, GM encyclopedia and strategy boards so players can go to these sources for questions regarding in-game information. We will consider users’ feedback and add lacking ticket categories as soon as possible. Nexon CS Center is planned for a large revamp and Elsword CS Center will be revamped at the same time.

Within 2021 June

Completed

 

12 Customer Service and Management
Q11: Suggestion Board might as well not exist. There are no replies to the suggestions and most GM responses are ‘Use the CS ticket’ instead. What does the management team think about this matter?
 
We gather player suggestions through official suggestion boards, 1:1 player tickets and from global service publishers. We hold a meeting every week to discuss the suggestions in the suggestion board. (Suggestions are categorized into discussing now, discuss later, and not discuss). The reason we cannot give replies or feedback on the suggestion board is to prevent misunderstanding as accepted suggestions are subject to being cancelled or changed from the original suggestion. Therefore, we try not to give any concrete status on the player suggestion until it is confirmed to be on the future patch. We are open to suggestions on improving the suggestion boards.
Planned in the future

 

13 Customer Service and Management
Q12: Chat ban occurs immediately without a clear reason while consistent leeching, hackers and bots are not being controlled at all.
 
Chat ban isn’t a ban from games and is a measure to stop conflicts immediately. Therefore, it is carried out once enough reports are received. We had mechanisms in place so players aren’t banned for an extended amount of time from this system but we confirmed that the ban is occurring too easily with chats through the megaphone. We resolved this issue in March so more reports are required for the ban.
 
For bots and hackers, there are systems in place to catch them automatically once unusual play patterns ins detected. However, offenders behind the bots and hackers are always finding new ways to avoid detection and make it seem like they are not being controlled. We are working on various ways to detect and deal with them quicker. And just as we announced in June, we will take legal actions against offenders whom we can confirm their identity. Standards for sanctions that can be imposed are on the ToS.

 

14 Customer Service and Management
Q13: Shouldn’t players that negatively impact other players (leechers) be controlled immediately?
 
All these cases are controlled immediately. Periodical GM Crackdown posts are merely a campaign promoting more reports on these types of players. Also, it is difficult to judge these types of players only from dungeon damage and contribution so we have to rely on reports from players. If you meet these types of players, please report them with proper evidence.

 

15 Update Planning
Q14: There have been barely any changes to the events over the years. It’s to the point where players and predict which event is next. There’s a strong implication that these cookie-cutter events are there as a filler for meaningful content updates. Why are we getting only the same types of events?
 
In the case of events, there were various attempts in the past. However, due to our recent limited development personnel, we decided to focus more on the content update. Therefore, many development personnel that could work on new events were redirected towards working on the major content updates. We will try holding new types of events along the lines of not impeding the development progression of main content updates.

 

16 Update Planning
Q15: There is no meaningful content in weekly patches, only cash item additions.
 
Currently, Elsword does not have weekly patches. Considering factors like resources, content development and testing environment, patches are being held every 2 weeks in normal cases and it’s not only cash shop item additions.
Cash shop item additions have a separate schedule and aren’t related to content development and update schedule. There could be exceptions, but regular meaningful content patches are being held every 2 weeks. As for main content updates, they are released when the development process is completed.

 

17 Update Planning
Q16: It seems the Elsword team is trying to quell dissents through unexpected farming time events or other rewards.
 
If our update doesn’t satisfy our players, then we first try to fix what was wrong with the update and then give compensations.
If additional fixes to the update take longer, then there are times when we give out compensations first. But this time, we were hasteful in determining the right compensation. We are sorry.

 

18 Balance
Q17: What does the Elsword team think is the source of conflicts and exclusion between players?
 
Current balance patches are based on play data. We are also listening to player feedback when it comes to analyzing the data. We initially only checked damage rates and clear rates. Now, assuming that the character’s CP fairly exceeds the CP requirement of a dungeon, we started looking at the impact the character has on clearing the dungeons in party play. Despite our attempts, there haven’t been any changes in favourite pick characters for raids. We are looking into nerfing characters that players have become overly reliant on picking for raids.

 

19 Balance
Q18: Does the team think the dungeon result screen accurately portrays the player’s contribution?
 
The current dungeon result screen displays scores related to action like damage, combo, technical, hits taken…etc all of which were important focuses in Elsword’s initial development. Dungeons and contents updated recently have added focuses outside of action but these weren’t being applied to the dungeon result screen. We will think of a way to update the dungeon result screen to more accurately portray the player’s contribution. We are also open to suggestions on this matter.
Planned in the future

 

20 Balance
Q19: There were suggestions promised to be applied during the 2019 conference that hasn’t made it into the game yet. What does the team think about this?
 
There were opinions that could cause an overbalance in those data we received so we couldn’t apply some of them into the game. We think the reason for this was a lack of communication in our balance patches. We will attach developer comments in balance patches from now on.

 

21 Balance
Q20: Why are balance patches being scheduled in time for the new PvP league?
 
Elsword is carrying out balance patches every 6 weeks. This is to avoid confusion in play patterns and to have enough time to collect meaningful data. New PvP League open timing is also because of the above reasons.
 

 

22 Balance
Q21: Why is the Elsword team trying to fix the broken balance with minimal patches?
 
We tried to change more than just numbers since last year.
Most suggestions players send change regarding removing character’s flaws or apply certain character’s merits across all characters. Most of these changes are difficult to apply as they can damage the character’s unique traits or require reworking the character from the ground up. There’s also the reason to focus our efforts on meaningful changes due to our limited development personnel.
As we mentioned earlier, we’ll fix this issue by acquiring more development personnel. 
Planned in the future

 

23 Balance
Q22: There is a problem with some mechanics working differently with some characters.
 
We confirmed that the difference between the characters’ awakening animation and delay time is different across characters, ranging from 0.1~0.4 second difference. We determined that this issue, along with the quicker action speeds allowed easier catch comparatively. We will adjust so all characters’ awakening animation and delay time are the same on the 7/8 patch.
As for the escape skills, they were designed according to each character’s concept so it will be difficult to make them all function similarly. PvP balance patch including nerfing the escape skills is in the works.
Within July 2021

 

24 Raid
Q23: Did the Elsword team really do an internal test on Pruinaum Raid?
 
All tests are carried out internally. To gauge the difficulty, developers’ data from the live environment is copied to the internal environment for the test play. In the case of the raid, the difficulty was set higher due to the spec of top-tier players at the time of the update and the fact that it is the endgame content.
Within July 2021

 

25 Update Planning
Q24: What is the plan for revamps including the profession revamp?
 
We think continued revamps are necessary as many problems arise from continued service and updates. To prepare for this year’s main update, we made it our goal to improve the player experience from the level 1~99 progression zone. We also planned to improve the player experience from level 99~Raid progression by resolving issues of not enough resonance level, ways to obtain currency, fluency of character progression and the burden of enhancement. Profession revamp was part of this plan, we wanted players to obtain necessary items for progression through the profession system and make it possible to enhance outside of enhancement events. Regrettably, we think we failed to meet the players’ expectations with this patch. Various revamps and changes are planned for this year’s summer update like the revamp of level 1~99 progression zone, new PvP armour/weapon and changes to the giant boss battle entry. We plan to additionally discuss other contents that require revamps after the progression revamps are completed.
Within 2021

 

26 Update Planning
Q25: What is the reason behind not running test servers?
 
We tried running test servers in the past couple of times but these had very low participation rates compared to their upkeep cost. It was difficult to apply feedback from test servers due to a lack of participation and inadequate data.
Therefore, instead of running test servers, we’ll try to inform the players of update details earlier to ask for feedback.

 

27 Economy, Trade System
 
Q26: There were nerfs to the acquisition of in-game currency in the name of dealing with bots. This is causing serious difficulties for players
 
The nerf patch wasn’t due to bots. Instead, it was to balance content playtime and reward. However, the nerf might have been excessive which impacted the player negatively. We’ll try to address the issue in either the initial progression revamp or after.
Within 2021

 

28 Economy, Trade System
Q27: Is the Elsword team aware of the patches impacting the game’s market and causing inconveniences to players?
 
We have been posting early announcements if we think the patch impacts the market drastically. However, we might not have explained enough in our announcements or uncertainty of upcoming updates caused temporary fluctuation in prices. These are usually stabilized sometime after the patch. Market price changes from updates are inevitable, but we’ll look into ways to minimize the impact.

 

29 Economy, Trade System
Q28: What is the Elsword team’s opinion of combining the Solace and Gaia server market?
 
This issue was brought up in the official conference in the past but the development scale was too large and the matter was on hold.
We think combining the Solace and Gaia servers is the more realistic solution. We require more player opinions before progressing on this matter.
Planned in the future

 

30 Game Environment
Q29: Currently in this game, things like IP attacks, hacks, macros are going around and players are selling and buying these illegal programs. When it seems like these illegal programs are dealt with, more appears again. Couldn’t this be due to Elsword’s client being too old and vulnerable? What does the Elsword team think regarding this matter?
 
Elsword client has a base security solution installed and codes to defend against illegal programs. Additionally, we check for unusual play patterns and data to automatically or manually deal with players using illegal programs.
If a player using an illegal program is confirmed in Community, Youtube, In-game. We take action as soon as possible to deal with it long as it’s within our
However, new hack tools or modified hack tools are continuing to be created and this could make it seem like the Elsword client is vulnerable. We will continue to seek a solution regarding this matter and try to react faster from now on.

 

31 Game Environment
Q30: Is there a plan in place to improve the gameplay environment?
 
The 64-bit update is in development and is planned to be finished in the early half of next year. However, even with the 64-bit update, there likely won’t be any noticeable improvements until additional optimization patches are done. We’re finding it difficult to implement 32-bit and 64-bit at the same time and a situation will arise where players using 32-bit won’t be able to install. Due to this issue, we are discussing the appropriate time to apply this update.
Planned in the future

 

32 Game Environment
Q31: Is there a plan to improve inconvenient elements in raids?
 
Buff window improvements are planned together with the UI revamp.
We’re working on increasing the size of the current small 20-pixel icon to fit with the resolution of the revamped UI, making icons easier to recognize. We are also working on categorizing the buffs using different shapes and colours. We’ll also look into adding support for the colorblind.
For now, we recommend trying using the colour filter function in windows.
As for the cutscene in the Altar of Invocation, it will be fixed in the latter half of the year.
Planned in the future

 

33 Progression System
Q32: What is the progression process the Elsword team recommends?
 
There are various gameplay elements in Elsword like Dungeon, PvP and Farming, but we think the characters are most important.
Therefore the progression is designed so that players try out various characters and experience various enjoyments then based on that experience, pick a favourite character to focus on.
In the long term, we are looking into changing the progression process so players create and level various characters in Elsword.

 

34 Progression System
Q33: Did the Elsword team anticipate the negative impact the resonance system will have on the game?
 
Considering the players’ play pattern and stamina consumption pattern at the time of the resonance system update, we didn’t anticipate large gaps in resonance levels we see now. Play patterns have clearly changed since the resonance update and we carried out a resonance patch revamp a couple of times already. We will continue to improve the resonance system.

 

35 Raid
Q34: The reason Varnimyr’s uncertain raid weapon system was applied again in Pruinaum raids?
 
We are maintaining a chance-based system for weapon drops. However, to improve the player experience, we added a weapon drop gauge and weapon crafting for the Varnimyr raid and this was applied in the Pruinaum raid.

 

36 Raid
Q35: Raid rewards are lacking despite it being the endgame content. Are there plans to improve this?
Since raid provides the best weapon and accessories in the game, there are no plans to improve the rewards.
There are plans to improve the players’ raid experience by making it easier to acquire consumables.
Planned in the future

 

37 Raid
Q36: What is the reason behind the reduction of the raid player entry limit?
 
The game was overburdened due to an increase in resources. It was also to help players form parties quicker. It was also out of consideration of environments in the foreign servers. That’s why the Pruinaum raid was designed to be 6 player and Varnimyr was adjusted as well.

 

38 Raid
Q37: There are many problems in Pruinaum Raid. What was the intention behind the raid’s design and are there plans to fix the problems?
 
After the Pruinaum raid update, we discovered play patterns outside of our original intention. Here are some details regarding the upcoming raid fix patch. Some fixes are so players play according to our intention and others consider the players’ play pattern.
To lower the entry cut, a story mode will be updated on the 8/5 update and the raid will be rebalanced as well. Aside from simple stat changes, there will also be improvements aimed at giving players more time to deal damage like reducing Berthe’s howl duration, adjusting Berserk Berthe’s skill control time, adding groggy time to annihilator and increasing the interval between patterns.
As for the Black and White title, it was our intention for players to cooperate to clear the top endgame content. We think that cooperation is a necessary element in raids so instead of changing the title conditions, we will make it easier to meet the conditions through raid fixes.
Within 2021 August

 

39 PvP, Ereda
Q38: Does the development team realize why players avoid PvP content?
 
We think it’s because of the increase in the importance of gear and party members in 2:2. We are planning to improve this issue by distributing PvP gear to players in the PvP gear revamp. We are also looking into limiting manual parties.
Within 2021

 

40 PvP, Ereda
Q39: What does the team think about forcing players to play content they don’t want to play to obtain key elements of content they want to play?
 
It was to direct players to experience various contents but we think there are parts that are not working as intended. Regarding the PvP gear, it is planned to be only obtainable through PvP.
Within 2021

 

41 PvP, Ereda
Q40: Is the team aware of problems occurring from 1v1 and team matches sharing the same ranking?
 
We think we need to increase the matching pool and improve the PvP gear. Currently, the number of players that play PvP is so small that separating the ranks between PvP modes will result in an even longer matching time.  We are trying to increase the number of PvP players through the aforementioned distribution of PvP gear and balance patches.
Within 2021

 

42 PvP, Ereda
Q41: What is the reason behind neglecting Ereda Island over 2 years?
 
Ereda has gone through a couple of revamps but the results have been lacklustre.
But there are players who continue to enjoy it and we are considering improvements later. Once improvements are on the way in the future, we will try to listen to player feedback regarding issues like forcing players to play this content for the necessary items.
Additionally, skill errors reported in Eredia island will be examined then fixed as soon as possible.
Planned in the future

 

43 Economy, Trade System
Q42: Is there a reason why the personal trade limit is still 700m?
 
We think having a board market and personal trade at the same time distorts the trade process. Considering how illegal real currency trades and frauds occur mostly through personal trades. The development team intends to keep the current personal trade limit.

 

44 Economy, Trade System
Q43: What rating does the development team give to Elsword’s current trade system?
 
We think continuous improvements can be made to the board trade system. We will focus on bringing more quality of life updates to the board trade system in the latter half of the year.
Within 2021

 

45 Player Suggestions
Q44: Current dungeons rely too much on potions and many players are having difficulties acquiring enough potions. Many new players are leaving the game because of this issue. What does the team think about this issue?
 
We always consider potion acquisition for each content update.
We are trying to have consumable items drop in dungeons for each region but with the further increase in skill-focused dungeon playstyle in the game, we are aware that there are more potions being consumed than acquired. We are trying to resolve these issues in continuous content revamps.
Within 2021

 

46 Player Suggestions
Q45: Is there a plan to improve conditions in certain titles that require a specific rank or time attack?
 
We plan to improve the conditions of titles that require specific rank, and time attack conditions on the 7/8 update.
Within July 2021

 

47 Player Suggestions
Q46: What is the reason behind CP entry limits that don’t align with the dungeon difficulty?
 
Due to the fact that dungeons can be played in parties and the matching pool of players, we had determined the CP requirement should be lower than what’s appropriate. But we agree that there need to be adjustments to the CP system and dungeon difficulties. So for 7/8, we are planning to adjust the difficulties of Add dungeon and dungeons after Elrianode to align with the entry CP conditions.
Within July 2021

 

48 Player Suggestions
Q47: Is the team aware of various dungeon bugs?
 
The invisible wall bug shown during the conference has been fixed on 6/24 patch. We’ll continue to fix the other bugs as well.

 

49 Player Suggestions
Q48: Some dungeon elements are inconvenient when progressing a character.
 
Some dungeons were final dungeons in the past or have unique concepts which could include stressful elements or excessive map count compared to the newer dungeons. This issue is planned to be fixed on the 7/8 update.
Within July 2021

 

50 Player Suggestions
Q49: There’s not enough guides and support for new and returning players to convince them to play the game. What does the team think about this?
 
There are no plans to change the New player attendance rewards but we will think about changing returner attendance rewards. We are planning a new guide system at the time of the level 1~99 progression update.
Within 2021

 

51 Player Suggestions
Q50: Current Pruinaum dungeon rewards are lacking despite it being dungeons from the final region. What does the team think about this?
 
Pruinaum dungeon rewards were designed so Imprint stones, accessories and weapon release quests are the main focus. Rewards from dungeons planned in the future will serve a specific purpose like obtaining EXP.

 

52 Player Suggestions
Q51: Secret Dungeons, Special Dungeons and Event dungeons have been neglected for a long time without changes.
 
Secret dungeons serve as a middle step in the progression ladder, so they shouldn’t be necessary after certain farming zones. We think special dungeons are serving their purpose. Event dungeons were held to give out cash items and potions and became permanent after receiving player opinions.

 

53 Player Suggestions
Q52: Daily/Weekly/Monthly quest rewards are lacking and don’t give players motivation to do them.
 
We will carry out reward adjustments for Daily/Weekly quests in the latter part of the year. We think a revamp is required for the monthly quests. We are not planning to change any rewards for the story quests as their main purpose is for watching story scenes.
Within 2021

 

54 Monetization
Q53: Is the Elsword team aware of problems in the Elsword’s enhancement system?
 
There is the problem of enhancement being focused only on enhancement events and enhancement costs being different during enhancement events and regular times. We tried to fix this by holding mini-enhancement days but this still didn’t fix the issue of reliance on enhancement events. We are set on the direction that players should be able to enhance regularly without relying on enhancement events but haven’t decided on any details on how to resolve this issue. We will make an announcement when the details are decided.
Within 2021

 

55 Monetization
Q54: Is the team aware that the character’s progression relies too much on the ‘cash-shop currency’?
 
We think the major part of this issue is enhancement. We tried to resolve this issue by distributing gears obtained through the progression as +9 enhancements. Regarding the problem with the enhancement being only feasible during enhancement events, we tried to resolve this during the profession revamp but think that it was inadequate.
As for problems regarding reforging, we improved it during the reforge revamp.

 

56 Monetization
Q54-1: Are there plans to have a batch sale for often sold cash shop items like chlorite seeds and grotto tickets? Blessed Time and Space Scroll is already cheaper if you buy them in batch.
 
Time and Space scrolls were being sold according to past sale policy. The current sale policy is that single item price stays the same regardless of the quantity purchased. But there are times when packages are sold during events.

 

57 Monetization
Q55: Is there a plan to re-introduce the pity system for Ice Burners?
 
We looked into it but we will maintain the current system. There is no plan to re-introduce the pity system.

 

58 Monetization
Q56: There are too many monthly passes like services and they are overpriced. How were these prices decided?
 
They were based on usefulness, value and prices of current items but as we are continuing to receive feedback that the game relies too much on the cash shop currency, we will look into this issue as well when looking into too much reliance on the cash-shop currency issue.

 

59 Monetization
Q57: The increase in the value of unique items has increased the demand for gold stamps. Is the team aware of this?
 
We tried to improve this issue by having items drop sealed already. As a result, the demand for gold stamps has reduced by 70%. We will continue to patch as necessary.

 

60 ED Shop, El Point Shop
Q58: Items being sold at the ED shop don’t suit the current Elsword gameplay or are overpriced. Are there plans to improve this issue?
 
ED shop prices are difficult to adjust, due to having to consider markets of other countries as well. We will adjust the Mana Elixir ED price on the August update.
Within July 2021

 

61 ED Shop, El Point Shop
Q59: Why was the El Point Shop closed?
 
El Point Shop’s New products and management plans were cancelled so it was closed down. Considering the team’s current development specs and content update schedule, there are no plans to re-introduce it.

 

62 Community
Q60: Current in-game messenger and chat window seems outdated.
 
We are aware of problems with the in-game chat window and it will be revamped along with the UI revamp. We will update this soon as it’s ready. As for the messenger feature, it is linked with the Nexon plug so it might be difficult to improve. We will try discussing this with the people in charge of the Nexon plug.
Planned in the future

 

63 Community
Q61: Elsword’s block feature is too lacking.
 
We are approaching this issue carefully since it can be related to abuse. Block feature is also related to ToS so the current functionality of the block system is the bare minimum. We will consider fixes once we receive more opinions from players.
Planned in the future

 

64 Community
Q62: Guild System seems outdated. Are there revamps planned?
 
It was revamped once in 2017 and additional contents were added to it in 2018. Other contents became the focus after that so it will be difficult to revamp this year. We will prepare a guild-related revamp for the next year. However, the guild storage sort feature is impossible to implement due to system limits.
 
 
Planned in the future

 

65 Community
Q63: Is there a plan to change the guild expedition dungeon format?
 
This will be included in the next year’s guild system revamp.
Planned in the future

 

66 Character/Costume/Modelling
Q64: Many fans are curious about stories of non-canon paths. Is there a plan to show us this??
 
We are aware of the fan demand for more non-canon path-related content and we internally agree with this as well. However, we have been careful to approach the path-specific stories as there have been many fan works over the years regarding them. This summer, we are preparing content outside of the game that’s related to the non-canon path’s story. 
Within 2021

 

67 Character/Costume/Modelling
Q65: Is there a plan to fix the issue of some classes having two different voice tones due to class advancements changing the character’s personality?
 
This is due to old internal development rules being applied to recent characters as well. It will be difficult to fix but we will continue to look for a way to minimize the awkwardness.

 

68 Character/Costume/Modelling
Q66: We are curious why the team hasn’t continued to update the old character models. (Especially legs and feet)
 
We are continuing to update them. Within this year cash shop looks of Elsword up to Chung will be updated. But there is a limit to updating Raven’s model due to differences in initial development structure. We will try to work around the limit by improving the design and quality of the costumes.
Within 2021

 

69 Character/Costume/Modelling
Q67: Recent costume release qualities have been poor and feel the same across all characters.
 
As the number of characters increased, it has become difficult to create different-looking costumes for each character on costume releases. We will try to increase the costume qualities of each character.

 

70 Character/Costume/Modelling
Q68: Is the team aware of the physics engine difference between old and new characters’ costumes?
 
This isn’t a matter of physics engine. This is due to old characters having simpler bone structures compared to the newer ones. Adjusting the old characters’ base structure will make all of that character’s costumes incompatible so this is a difficult issue to fix. We are trying what we can to make them feel similar across old and new characters, but there is a clear limit. We will continue to look for a solution to this issue.

 

71 Character/Costume/Modelling
Q69: Compatibility issues occur because the costume creation process is outdated. Are there any plans for improving this issue?
 
For the recent costumes, we have been adjusting them so parts don’t overlap much as possible. There are items from the same category with different parts that can be worn at the same time, we kept these around due to some players using this to make their appearance. As for issues with appearance after being equipped, since Elsword’s costume structure is not automatic but a manual setting development, we are aware that costumes appearance don’t fit with each other seamlessly. Especially hat and hair accessories have frequent issues. We will try to fix this issue much as possible during the design steps of costumes.

 

72 Player Suggestions
Q70: Is the team aware of the 8 KOG game development principle?

We tried to follow it but are aware that it was inadequate. We’ll work towards making Elsword an enjoyable experience.

* Summarized response.

 

73 Player Suggestions
Q71: How did the developers feel after this conference?
 
We are sorry for our lack of communication and not being able to apply player suggestions properly into the game. We’ll try to listen to our players’ opinions much as possible and work toward creating the Elsword that players are satisfied with.

 

74 Player Suggestions
Q72: Why do you think people still play Elsword?

(Director)
I think Elsword’s action, character and story have satisfied our players. But during the process, players were disappointed by the direction of Elsword’s revamps and patches. We will work towards improving our core content so players can be satisfied.

(Game Character Design Lead)
I think people enjoy Elsword because they get to play as attractive characters together with their friends and family.

(Game Dungeon Design Lead)
I think players still play Elsword because there is a certain fun element that can be found in Elsword. I will work towards maintaining that fun element.

(2D Concept Lead)
I think players’ lasting love for Elsword’s characters is what makes them still play the game.

(Management Team Lead)
I think players still play Elsword because of all the memories that cannot simply be summarized as nostalgia. This gives special meaning to the players.

Answers to questions asked on spot during the conference

1 Customer Service Center/Management Activities
[Request for a reward system win bug reports ]
The Point system won’t be re-introduced. However, we will notify players of the new reward system in early July
2021 in July

 

2 Customer Service Center/Management Activities
[Additional categories in ticket creation]
Added a category ‘game information reuqest’ on 6/23.
2021 in June

 

3 Customer Service Center/Management Activities
[Addition of Suggestion board feedback feature]
To avoid confusion we are planning to only give feedback on suggestions that we can be sure will be implemented. However, we are aware that a lot of players are feeling their suggestions are not being looked at. We will find a way to resolve this issue.

 

4 Customer Service Center/Management Activities
[Players being wrongfully reported and banned through the in-game report system]
We are planning to keep our current report system. We will work harder to respond to reports in an appropriate manner.
Always

 

5 Customer Service Center/Management Activities
[Reinforced security against bots and hackers]
We are continuing our search for new methods to deal with them.
Always

 

6 Customer Service Center/Management Activities
[Reporting ill-mannered players]
We will keep our current system to deal with them. We will also try to give more details on how these players are being dealt with.
Always

 

7 Balance
[Balance Patch Improvements]
With the goal of making all characters being viable for Pruinaum raid in mind, we will examine the player suggestions we received as we work on a balance patch.

 

8 Ingame condition
[Dungeon result screen improvements]
We determined that the current dungeon result screen is not suitable for recently updated content. We are planning to improve it in a way that suits the new contents.
Planned in future

 

9 Balance
[More frequent balance patches]
We will work on frequent balance patches through hiring more development personnel. But it will take around 1 year with the increased development personnel to make a noticeable difference.

 

10 Balance
[Awakening delay time fix ]
All characters will have the same character motion and awakening delay time on the 7/8 patch.
2021 in July

 

11 Balance
[Escape skill changes]
We will do a balance patch on 7/8 based on pvp data.
2021 in July

 

12 Raid
[Fixes regarding character concepts]
We will examine the issue of some of Bloody Queen and Nova Imperator’s skill effects not suiting the character’s concept and come up with a fix on the 7/8 patch.
2021 in July

 

13 Update Plan
[Treasure Chest open count improvements]
We have solved the issue of chest open counts. We will continue to examine play patterns and feedbacks and look into solving any additional issues.

 

14 Ingame condition
[Request for a test server]
There are various problems preventing the use of a test server. We will try to give enhanced information on upcoming updates instead.

 

15 Economy and Trade System
[Request for more ways to earn ED]
We will try to fix this issue during the initial progression patch and after.
Within 2021

 

16 Economy and Trade System
[Fix for unstable market prices due to some updates]
We will notify players of any changes that could impact the market beforehand.

 

17 Economy and Trade System
[Combine markets of Solace and Gaia servers]
It is more realistic to combine the two servers instead. We’ll listen to players’ opinions regarding this matter.
Planned in future

 

18 Ingame condition
[Reinforced security against illegal programs]
Elsword’s Security solution and internal defence codes are continuously being developed. We’ll continue to deal with them appropriately.

 

19 Ingame condition
[Request for 64-bi]
It’s being developed with the goal of being implemented early next year. We are also planning optimization patches after implementation.
Planned in future

 

20 Ingame condition
[Request for detailed 64-bit development roadmap]
It can result in players having to change their OS so we’ll notify players beforehand when the update will take place.
Planned in future

 

21 Ingame condition
[Buff UI icon improvements]
We’ll make it easier to read and categorize the buff icons by Buff/Debuff/Event/Special.
Planned in future

 

22 Ingame condition
[Colorblind support]
We will look into it. Until then, please use the Windows colour filter feature.
Planned in future

 

23 Ingame condition
[Fix for problematic cutscenes with excessive lighting]
The cutscene during the Altar of Invocation will be fixed.
Planned in future

 

24 Progression System
[Request for more items to be bank shared]
Basic accessory items required for progression will be selected then become bank sharable during the 7/8 patch. We will give early notification on items that will become bank sharable.
2021 in July

 

25 Progression System
[Additional revamps to the Resonance system]
We will carry out additional revamps to resolve the problems in the system.

 

26 Progression System
[Request for addition of new skills and new mod skills]
New skill additions cannot be done immediately but we will consider adding more mod skills.

 

27 Raid
[Raid weapon drop gauge system improvements]
We are planning to keep the weapon drop gauge system. We will try to improve it by fixes like increasing the gauge fill rate..etc

 

28 Raid
[Reveal the current weapon drop rate on the weapon drop gauge]
We are not planning to reveal the weapon drop rate.

 

29 Raid
[Improve Raid Content Rewards]
We are not considering any ED or EXP improvements.
We are trying to reduce the resources required to play raids instead.
Planned in future

 

30 Raid
[Increase maximum party count for raids]
This is difficult to implement due to overloading in-game resources.

 

31 Raid
[Make it easier for players to enter raids]
Raid story mode is planned for an 8/5 update. Raid re-balancing is also planned at the same time.
2021 in August

 

32 Raid
[Fix problematic patterns in raids]
On the 8/5 raid fix patch, aside from the simple stat fixes, there will also be pattern fixes intended to give players more time to deal damage. Some examples of these fixes are reduction of Berthe’s howling duration, adjusting Berserk Berthe’s skill control time, adding groggy patterns to the Annihilator.
2021 in August

 

33 Raid
[Black and White title requirement fixes]
As the best title in the game, there was no plan to fix the conditions, after additional internal discussions, some of the title’s conditions will be adjusted on the 7/8 patch.
2021 in July

 

34 PvP, Ereda
[Make it easier for players to get into PvP ]
We are planning this by revamping PvP equipment and distributing them to players appropriately.
2021 in July

 

35 PvP, Ereda
[Request to fix effects on PvP Rigomor armour]
There are no plans to fix the effects of the gear since It will be difficult to predict the consequences of fixing the effects. We will make sure the next PvP gears won’t have the same problems.

 

36 PvP, Ereda
[Separation of Ranking between 1v1 and Team Matches]
The current PvP matching pool is too small to separate ranking. We will first focus on increasing the PvP matching pool.

 

37 PvP, Ereda
[Ereda Island Ravamp]
Ereda island revamp isn’t possible at the moment but we will consider it in the future based on player opinions.

 

38 PvP, Ereda
[Request to fix bugs in Ereda Island]
Reported bugs will be identified and fixed as soon as possible.
Planned in future

 

39 Economy and Trade System
[Increase in ED cap for personal trades]
There are many problems that occur through personal trade and the current limit is a device to minimize those problems. There are no plans to increase the personal trade limit.

 

40 Economy and Trade System
[Make trade board easier to use.]
We are planning a QoL update for the trade board later this year.
Within 2021

 

41 Economy and Trade System
[Control people abusing the trading system.]
We will look into the matter and see if a solution is available.

 

42 Player Suggestion
[There are not enough potions for dungeon play]
We are trying to solve this issue through events and various content. We’ll make it so players can continuously obtain potions through dungeon play.
Planned in future

 

43 Player Suggestion
[Fix for titles with specific clear rank or time attack as their requirements]
Aside from the ‘The SS’ title, titles with those requirements will have their conditions improved on the 7/8 patch
2021 in July

 

44 Player Suggestion
[Fix for Dungeon CP requirements not aligned with the actual difficulty]
Elrianode and higher dungeons and Add dungeon will have their difficulties aligned with CP requirements.
2021 in July

 

45 Player Suggestion
[Request to improve the CP calculation]
We haven’t found the appropriate system that takes into all the factors like buffs. We will continue to look for a way to accurately represent power.

 

46 Player Suggestion
[Fix for various errors during dungeon play]
The invisible wall bug we received during the conference has been fixed in the 6/24 patch. We will continue to fix the other bugs as soon as possible.
2021 in June

 

47 Player Suggestion
[Fix for certain frustrating patterns during dungeons]
Many of these frustrating patterns will be fixed during the 7/8 update. But dungeons like Elrianode City and the Capitalbound train won’t have fixed due to how the dungeon is structured.
2021 in July

 

48 Player Suggestion
[Improve New/Return player rewards]
We answered we weren’t looking at any improvements before, but after additional internal discussion, some rewards will be improved during the 7/8 patch.
2021 in July

 

49 Player Suggestion
[Ingame guide improvements]
The initial progression zone guide will be revamped on the upcoming summer update. Guide for character special systems are planned later.
Planned in future

 

50 Player Suggestion
[Increase rewards for Pruinaum dungeons]
There are no plans to improve the Pruinaum dungeon rewards. We will make it so that players can obtain more EXP and rewards in the new region’s dungeon during the summer update.
2021 in July

 

51 Player Suggestion
[Not enough Aurora tickets]
We are planning to increase the drop rate on the 7/8 update.
2021 in July

 

52 Player Suggestion
[Improved rewards for Secret, Special, Event dungeons]
These dungeons are already fulfilling their purpose so no updates are planned.

 

53 Player Suggestion
[Revamp contents that are being neglected]
There are no plans to revamp Sinister Intent dungeon

 

54 Player Suggestion
[Improve rewards for daily/weekly/monthly quest rewards]
These are planned to be revamped later this year.
Within 2021

 

55 Player Suggestion
[Improve story quest rewards]
The main purpose of story quests is reading stories. No changes are planned.

 

56 Monetization
[Enhancement System revamp]
This is planned to be revamped so players can enhance outside of enhancement events. We will notify the players when the exact details are determined.
Within 2021

 

57 Monetization
[Reforge revamp]
Additional reforge improvements will be done later this year.
Within 2021

 

58 Monetization
[Fix for spec up relying too much on Cash Shop currency.]
It will be difficult to promise any clear changes but we will continue to address this issue through fixing Reforge, Enhancement or distributing pre-enhanced gear.

 

59 Monetization
[Introduction of batch sale prices]
There are no plans to have items become cheaper when bought in batches. But we will consider increasing the interval of our package sales.

 

60 Monetization
[Reduce the price of core cash shop items]
There are no plans to reduce the prices of core cash shop items like the Gold Phoru Stamp. If there are any changes in the future, we will notify the players before the patch.

 

61 Monetization
[Pity System for Ice Burners]
There are no plans to re-introduce this system.

 

62 Monetization
[Revamps for Cash Shop currency]
We are receiving much feedback regarding the Cash Shop currency requirement being too overbearing. We will examine this issue again.

 

63 Monetization
[Make Synergy System permanent]
We will look into this matter internally again.

 

64 Monetization
[Request to decrease reliance on Gold Phoru stamps]
We are continuing to carry out patches that reduce the need for gold stamps.

 

65 ED Shop and El Point Shop
[ED shop price adjustments]
Mana Elixir’s price will be adjusted on the 7/8 update. We will notify the players when there are additional price changes.
2021 in July

 

66 ED Shop and El Point Shop
[Re-Introduction of El Point Shop]
It’s impossible to implement due to the current development team’s specs and update schedule. But we will examine it in the future when it’s possible.

 

67 ED Shop and El Point Shop
[Sale of Promotion Costumes]
There are no plans currently to sell promotion costumes

 

68 Community
[In-game Chat Window improvements]
Chat window improvement is planned as part of the upcoming UI Revamp patch.
Planned in future

 

69 Community
[Messenger System Revamp]
We examined if this was possible after the conference. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make any adjustments due to Elsword’s messenger system being linked with Nexon Plug.

 

70 Community
[Improvements to the block system]
No decisions have been made as the block system is related to terms of service. But we are open to additional examinations based on player feedback.

 

71 Community
[Guild System Revamp]
This will take time to implement and is planned together with the Guild Revamp next year. As the guild storage item issue reported during the conference, it will be fixed on the 7/8 patch.
Planned in future

 

72 Community
[Guild Expedition Revamp]
This will be revamped along with Guild System revamp next year.
Planned in future

 

73 Character/Looks/Modelling
[Request for stories from non-canon classes]
We have content outside the game regarding this planned for this summer.
Within 2021

 

74 Character/Looks/Modelling
[Skill voice and icons that don’t fit with the character’s concept]
The issue with base job skill voices cannot be solved at the moment due to it requiring fixes with the system. However, we will look into ways of making it feel less awkward.

 

75 Character/Looks/Modelling
[Revamp old character leg modelling.]
This cannot be fixed at once and require continuous adjustments. Within this year, all cash shop item looks for old characters(Elsword, Aisha, Rena, Eve, Chung) are planned to be fixed.
Within 2021

 

76 Character/Looks/Modelling
[Unique traits per character during costume updates]
It has been difficult to make each character’s costume stand out during cash shop costume releases due to the increase in the number of characters. However, we have been trying to make each character’s costumes stand out for ice burner costume releases.

 

77 Character/Looks/Modelling
[Release of Player Designed Costumes]
We are not planning any player-designed costumes due to problems related to copyright.

 

78 Character/Looks/Modelling
[Request to improve the process of costume creation]
The current costume creation process is linked to the base rendering structure so it’s not possible at the moment. We are planning to reduce the awkwardness within the current structure.

Too long, didn’t proof read

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21 Responses

  • Earlygame says:

    This must’ve been a ton of work, thank you 2na <3

    I missed an explanation about the Promotional Costumes thing. I wish they could've explained their reasoning. Kinda sad

  • UNub says:

    Just a reminder that this is mostly done for PR (public relations). The problem is that they don’t have short-term fixes and Nexon manages most every cash shop decision, including enhancements. And they’re not known for being very uhh…giving.

    Regardless, some things to note for problems that people won’t really understand at face value:

    –QA teams coordinate with each other. This means two separate teams decided Berthe Raid was ok to ship. If NOBODY understands the feasibility of content, well hiring more people WILL NOT fix the issue. They seem to be attempting to get “high motivation, high knowledge” QA people out of nowhere when the job tends to pay poorly. Don’t expect much unless they offer covid-like raises.

    –Character balance is screwed because we have no real measuring tools. They used Berthe Raid but rarely look at solo vs. party, healer vs. no healer, etc. We still don’t have DPS benchmarks or stable measurements based on gear. So when they talk about handling “lack of potions” and “gap in class performance,” they don’t have real tools to answer to this issue outside of biased player feedback. It’s painful but it’s the truth that MATH matters. They also gave no direct solution to this other than “hire more QA.” Yeah, hire a mathematician and make it his low pay/free passion project huh?

    –Costumes again get most of the focus. It is how they operate. Don’t flame, they are a business. At the very least there is a dedicated team for it and it’s not all they do.

    –Level design isn’t in their priority yet most character balance causes us to face level design issues. Imagine playing first dungeon in Pruinaum without the witch’s broom mount. Yeah, teeth-grinding, isn’t it? Raven/Els/Ele still have double jump attached to synergy, which they don’t plan on addressing either (synergy as a whole).

    –Lack of engine update/swap will screw most of the speed in their “planned updates.” Elsword 2 would be more viable but it seems they neither have the energy nor manpower to just “make another game.” Gives the idea that most graphics patches and content redesigns will take years. Just some food for thought as to why this game is so slow to do anything.

    Anyway, I’m not expecting much. If the early content revamps are good, we’ll be able to see more story fleshed out. However, it looks like we don’t have real solutions for anything yet other than communication. I guess that’s something, even if really late on a jank spree of last year. They’ve got a lot of work to do.

    • Aria says:

      bad level design and bad char design go hand in hand … if they nerf chars into the ground but dont touch the dungeons then life will be hell ,.. if they nerf dungeons into the ground without scaleing down chars then everyone will walk over everything

      • Aria says:

        this needs to be an all or nothing situation

      • Aria says:

        problem is theres also a third wheel to this problem … CP

      • Luc says:

        People act like balancing is over hard level thing.
        In game that have characters trait difference its normal to be good in dungeon A but bad in dungeon B. just because raid is dungeon A dev will buff it and resulting dungeon B became over powered and vice versa.
        just remove characters trait difference and make everyone have same traits. all characters have double jump, all characters have same cast time/cd. in the end characters is just like different skin now but will remove over rated balance patch. there’s no way you can balance as long as there’s characters trait difference except you make all dungeon is flat and same.

  • dongshinlee says:

    2na torturing himself and translating a dev note that he doesnt care about

  • regrets says:

    LOL
    “We tried to resolve this issue by distributing gears obtained through the progression as +9 enhancements.”
    KOG you still think that endgame dungeons are playable with +9 gears.

    • Aria says:

      more like KOG u really think handouts are gonna fix ur disgusting enhancement system … what about the gear that doesnt have the entry level free enhancement … and what about the forced enhanceing that needs to be done later on to meet reqs oof

  • TheLuiz says:

    for the love of
    why doesn’t this game just shuts down already
    it’s corpse already smell, just bury it for good

  • Tofu says:

    It has been years, and KOG still act as if +9 is enough for players to go and sail towards Els endgame…

    …Not even close.

    And then they lower the CP requirements as to “promote accessibility”, but also shoot us in the foot, by making it so much harder to get the bare minimum to play and actually do damage once you’re there. In the end, you’ll just have to rely on some whale to bother carrying you through like a toddler.



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