Hello!

In this, the second part of the developer diaries we will discuss the factions and the advancement of the player. As you know, factions are a major source of new equipment and weapons for the player. During the completion of missions and various actions in the battle, the player receives reputation with their selected faction. At the same time the player can improve the reputation with only one that one specific faction but of course, nothing prevents them changing the active faction as many times as they like. The players themselves can choose to focus on one faction for quick leveling, or to upgrade a few at the same time.

Our initial concept was that all factions were divided into two types. Starting factions represented by the Scavengers and Black Market, and were designed primarily to familiarize you with the game. As it evolves, players have the opportunity to cooperate with The Renaissance Army and The Fringe Settlers, which offer better equipment and weapons. Since the inception of this system, we have received requests to give Scavengers and Black Market higher level items, so that they can confront The Renaissance Army and The Fringe Settlers. Although abandoning the original concept required thorough analysis, it was decided to make all factions of equal strength. Thus all the factions will retain their unique characteristics.

Simultaneously with this change, we will have reduced the range of levels of items. Instead of the 15 item levels, we will have 10. Current level 5 items will join the 3rd item level after the update. We will also increase the amount of reputation needed to obtain each level. Thus, new players (wishing to advance to level 10 equipment) will need to spend as much time as the older players took to advance up to level 15.

Anticipating your questions, we will speak about the goals that we pursue with this change; first of all this change will allow a reduction in the time spent in matchmaking by roughly x1.5, so the match will be available to more players. Secondly it will allow, on the one hand, to reinforce the difference between adjacent levels (level 5 and 6 items will vary in strength more than level 5 and 6 items do currently) and on the other hand to reduce the difference between the initial and final levels. In addition, some levels will give a choice of several different play-style items (in truth, our goal is that at each level of equipment from one faction has at least 2 different sets), which will have a positive impact on the diversity of gameplay.

What kind of equipment is waiting for us? Let’s talk only about the key items that will be added to the game. The new Scavengers outfit certainly will appeal to fans of anomalies and snipers. To the arsenal we will add weapons produced in post-Soviet territory, including AK-9, AK-107, and a sniper rifle, SWDC. Black Market is a supplier of equipment that combines high mobility and good protection from bullets. New weapons will be presented, mainly with Belgian production, including assault rifles, FN FNC, FN SCAR, pistol-machine gun FN P90, as well as the famous machine gun FN Minimi. The initial outfit of The Fringe Settlers is well suited to those who like to collect artifacts, and the gun PP-91 Kedr will allow you to effectively fire at short distances. The equipment of the Renaissance Army, as currently, will have the best level of protection from bullets of its level. Primary weapons will be supplemented by the machine gun AEK 919K "Kashtan", and carbine SOK-94. A more complete list of changes to the equipment and weapons will be available to review prior to the release of the update.

In addition to the factions, changes will affect how a player earns reputation. The current system has several disadvantages. The main contribution to upgrading reputation is completing missions set out by the various factions. At a high level, missions are quite complex and not all players are able to complete them. Although we believe it is right that skilled players have the opportunity to upgrade faster, it is obvious that the difference in the rate of advancement should not be so huge. Moreover, the success of some of the missions depends more on random chance than on skills or actions of the player. All this leads to the fact that it’s quite difficult for players to plan their actions. So, even approximately, it is impossible to say how many more matches are needed to be played to get a new reputation level with the faction. Another significant disadvantage is the inability to perform certain missions in certain modes. For example, missions associated with batteries in Team Deathmatch.

To correct the above deficiencies, we plan to change the mechanics of the missions from factions and to introduce additional awards for special actions in combat. A faction will issue only three daily missions. Each task can be executed on a "bronze", "silver" or "gold". If you've done the mission for "bronze", before the expiry of the timer, you have the opportunity to improve your score. The reward for the mission will depend on how well you did it. If you are not able to improve the result before the expiration of the timer, then you will be offered a new mission. When changing the faction those missions that have not yet been completed will be replaced by new ones from a new faction. Those missions which were executed, at least partially will be closed and during the day you will not be able to improve your score or get a new mission from the faction that you left.

We also plan to introduce a system that encourages successful actions of the player in battle. So for a number of "feats" such as the series of kills, melee kills and finding batteries etc. players will receive an additional award.

This story about the planned changes associated with factions comes to an end. We are looking forward to an active discussion of these innovations on the forum!

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