Dev Note #97: 3.10 Update Preview #2: Party Raid Revamp

MEME

Greetings Heirs, We are here with new Dev Note covering Party Raid Revamp. After we released 3.10 Update Preview, we went over various feedbacks to clarify some misunderstandings & to go over more details of our intention with Party Raid Revamp. ========================================================= Current State of Party Raid ========================================================= We believe that Heirs that have been playing Heir of Light since the launch of Party Raid are well aware of the direction we wanted to take with Party Raid through Dev Notes. In Party Raid, we wanted Heirs to have fun by putting collective efforts with other Heirs real time to defeat powerful boss. To make this possible, we set certain schedule for Party Raid so that significant number of Heirs can get gather up for Party Raid in the set schedule. Furthermore, we tried to reward Heirs with quite satisfying reward per each clear. Finally, we implemented different rewards for each floor to motivate Heirs to climb higher up in the Party Raid. However, we received multiple feedbacks about limited entry schedule. As Heirs continued to have trouble finding Party even with the entry schedule, we decided to temporary change the Party Raid schedule. We ended up expanding Party Raid schedule from opening 4 hours daily to opening 6 hours on the weekdays and 12 hours on the weekend. As we expanded entry schedule for Party Raid, we adjusted reward per clear while improving Party Point reward from Daily / Weekly Missions to balance out the change. After the change, we saw increasing number of Heirs playing just enough Party Raid to receive Daily / Weekly Mission rewards. Since 3 rounds a day / 21 rounds a week can easily be achieved through Team Support of Guild Members or Friend, number of Heirs actually looking for party dropped rapidly. After going over months worth of players' data after Party Raid's launch, we learned the following: 1. Party is usually formed through Team Support of Guild Member or Friend. 2. Actual real-time Party Raid rarely takes place. 3. There are two types of Heirs: > Heirs that participate only 1~3 times at the most > Heirs that participate in Party Raid whenever they can. There have been several issues with Party Raid such as difficulty of engaging with actual real-time Party Raid and polarization of participation & reward acquisition between Heirs. Furthermore, it is true that the current direction we are taking with Party Raid is significantly different from our initial direction. We concluded that major Party Raid revamp is necessary for Party Raid content to be widely loved among Heirs. Le'ts jump right into the details. ========================================================= Major Changes =========================================================

MEME

There are three major Party Raid Changes: Implementation of daily entry limit, extension of Party Raid schedule, and addition of new "Add My Team" function. While we changed Party Raid schedule so that Party Raid is available for 23 hours and 30 minutes excluding 30 minutes of system maintenance out of 24 hours, we created limit on daily entry so that all Heirs can participate in similar amount of Party Raid. While we considered making weekly entry limit instead of daily entry limit, we were afraid that rushing 140 rounds of Party Raid on the weekend can be very stressful for Heirs, especially when there are other contents on the weekend that needs to be visited such as Shard Farming, Gear Farming, and Awakening Dungeons. Therefore, we created daily limit that allows Heir to play Party Raid for 30 minutes to 1 hour daily. Since it was quite challenging to find a party in Party Raid, it was very difficult to actually participate in Party Raid at all without proper Support Team lined up. In order to improve on this issue, we added "Add My Team" function. By adding "Add My Team" function, it will be significantly easier to participate in Party Raid for Heirs that have proper servants built up for Party Raid by decreasing stress of finding a party. While this could be a good news for Heirs that wanted to participate in Party Raid on their own, we believe that this news can be disappointing for Heirs that enjoyed actual co-op aspect of Party Raid, helping each other to clear each floor. We understand that it may seem like Party Raid is losing its initial direction. We wanted to give more value to servant development and team formation of an individual Heir, while easing the stress of searching 2 other active members to participate in Part Raid. Since Party Raid becomes significantly harder as Heirs climb up the floor, it is very difficult for single Heir to properly develop all 9 servants for Party Raid. In Stage 3 for example, we expect Heirs to form a party of two Heirs, forming 2 teams on their own while filling out one last team with another Heir. While Heirs can improve their team to the point they can clear Floor 3 on their own, we expect Heirs to challenge Floor 4 with two other Heirs instead to claim significantly better rewards. Through Party Raid with two other Heirs, Heirs will be able to improve their team until they can utilize two teams of their own. Furthermore, Heirs tend to focus on 4 main servants rather than developing various servants. It is very likely that 2nd team and 3rd team of Heir A that plays 3rd Floor are weaker than 1st team of Heir B that plays 2nd Floor. Therefore, we expect co-op aspect to remain relevant in Party Raid. We believe that it is important to improve reward per each clear with this Party Raid revamp. Therefore, we will be improving reward per each clear. ========================================================= Reward Buff ========================================================= ⭕Party Point Change per Clear

MEME

⭕Amount of Reward & Rate Change

MEME

⭕Party Raid Daily / Weekly Mission Reward Change

MEME

As you can see it on the table, we decreased Party Points from Daily / Weekly Missions as we improved clear reward. Based on 3rd floor, Heirs will be able to receive 600 Party Points by playing 20 rounds of Party Raid along with 400 Party Points from Daily Mission. Total amount of Party Points received per day increased to 1,000 Party Points from 824 Party Points that Heirs used to receive for playing 3 rounds per day. This change may not feel like a buff in terms of Party Point if Heirs don't participate all 20 rounds of Party Raid per day. However, on 3rd Floor, Heirs will be able to receive reward equivalent to 150% ~ 200% of previous reward from 20 rounds of Party Raid per day with increased reward and drop rate. On 4th floor, this number goes up to 200% ~ 300%. Technically, this is a huge improvement in terms of time efficiency as Heirs can receive 40 ~ 60 rounds worth of rewards through only 20 rounds of Party Raid. Additionally, price of Party Shop items will be adjusted. ========================================================= Party Shop Price Change =========================================================

MEME

It is true that it was difficult to purchase various items from Party Shop with the Party Points that Heirs used to earn. Since we improved clear reward while we decreased Party Points from missions, this change could affect Heirs that only played 1 ~ 3 rounds of Party Raid per day negatively. Therefore, we decreased price of 1st & 2nd purchase on major items in Party Shop. With the Party Raid change, Heirs that collect 1,000 Party Points through 20 rounds of 3rd floor will be able to make some sort of purchase every day. To make things even better, Heirs can now purchase Special Summon Stones twice a day as we decrease the price of Special Summon Stone from 800 Party Points to 500 Party Points. Also, we will be significantly decreasing price for 3rd ~ 6th purchase to make the items more available. ========================================================= Summary ========================================================= Party Raid changes can be summarized as following: 1. With new "Add My Team" function, Heirs no longer have to be stressed about searching party. Party Raid can now be played on one's own with properly developed servants. 2. While higher floors have significantly better rewards, it is very difficult to form all three teams for higher Party Raid floors. We expect party matching to improve with expanded schedule and increased participation. 3. As we improved clear reward and decreased price on Party Shop, Heirs can acquire a lot more rewards than before. We also received a feedback asking for additional entries on the weekend. For now, we believe Heirs can claim significantly more rewards than before with improved clear reward as long as Heirs invest proper amount of time everyday. While we had a big goal when we first designed Party Raid, sadly Party Raid did not quite work out as intended. We expect various feedbacks after the Update as we are quite determined to revive Party Raid content with big changes. Please feel free to leave comments if you have any feedbacks or concerns. Thank you.