In Update 2.35, we have decided to halve the number of experience points needed to go up from level 199 to level 200.

The 2.35 Update will also include a new underwater extension and equipment from level 200. We thought it would be interesting to use this update as an opportunity to make the content and rewards more accessible.



A character in level 199 with 30% experience in 2.34 will find they have 60% experience in 2.35.

A character in level 199 with 50% experience in 2.34 will automatically reach level 200 in 2.35.

A character in level 199 with 75% experience in 2.34 will automatically reach level 200 in 2.35.

After Update 2.35

Overall balance in the experience curve

Level 200+

Special achievements for reaching certain 200+ levels.

Ornaments

Titles

Auras for reaching certain 200+ levels

Ceremonial items

Extra pods

Market sites and extra merchant modes

Edit: After years of gradually increasing in power, we can understand how the prospect of characters that have different levels put the same power with only customizable differences to distinguish them may leave some of you feeling a little disillusioned. We are still exploring possibilities and we will soon share our ideas with you in order to discuss the final direction this new leveling system could go and get your feedback on our ideas. For now, we are not leaning in the direction of increasing the power of characters who reach 200+, but we would prefer to propose new character skins to push customization options or new spells to give players more tactical choices. The team is boiling over with ideas. For example, I personally would like to add a Light and Dark element that could only be used after level 200. These hypothetical elements would not work the same way as Air, Water, Fire, and Earth; they could offer new game mechanics other than direct damage, and offer characters new looks while in combat. We are also considering other utility-type benefits, like additional pods, or extra spaces in game markets. We’ll tell you more in the future!

Q & A

Why are you focusing on cosmetic and utility bonuses?

What is the point of offering 200+ levels if the power of characters does not increase?

What will the new maximum level be?

What will the progress speed be for these levels?

Do you plan to have a common experience gauge for all characters in the same account that have reached level 200+?

Will the game become "easier" or less meritorious because of these changes?

Will the experience we have already gained after level 200 be kept in the transition to 200+ levels?

Converting the experience (partially or totally) already gained after level 200 would let some people make the most of their existing experience points, but it could also penalize those who have invested their experience in other ways (mount and guild for example).

Not conserving experience gained after level 200 would mean all characters have to start again on an equal basis in a balanced and fair race to the 200+ levels.

Going from Level 199 to Level 200 has always formed a "barrier" that is particularly slow and laborious for some of our players to get past. We think that this is often discouraging and after this many years, we’ve decided it’s time to fix the problem.As a result, when Update 2.35 is released, a character's progress percentage in level 199 will be doubled to help them reach level 200.For example:Over the years, very high-level content (dungeons, sets, monsters, PVP, etc.) has become more and more rich and it would be great if we could smooth the path so that high-level content is available to a lot more people.The changes in Update 2.35 are just the first step in part of a larger plan to improve the experience curve.Between now and the end of 2016 we will be making other changes to the experience curve.Even though we have halved the number of experience points needed to go up from level 199 to level 200 in Update 2.35, we still think this stage will be unusually long compared to other levels.We don't really want to reduce the length of time it takes to reach level 200, but we do want to re-distribute the playing time required to reach level 200 more evenly between the 200 levels.For this reason, after the 2.35 Update we will be reducing the number of experience points needed to go up from level 199 to level 200 again, while redistributing some experience points amongst the other levels (1 to 198).We promise that this transition will be beneficial for characters that haven't reached level 200 yet, and that no one will lose any levels.In 2016, we are also planning to add additional levels after level 200. These will give players cosmetic bonuses and perhaps utility bonuses, without having any direct impact on battles.We simply want to offer players who like gaining experience points after level 200 the possibility to show to the rest of the community their commitment and accomplishments.We haven't actually established what the rewards for these 200+ levels will be, but here are a few things we are contemplating right now:We are not interested in creating an endless quest to increase the power of characters. This could quickly make a lot of our current high-level content obsolete.To offer power gains after level 200 we would have to create special new rewards and content for 200+ levels, which would make very high-level PVP even more inaccessible and reduce the amount of content available to players (current 190-200 content would probably no longer be the end-game content)We think that some players will just enjoy the chance to show the rest of the community how committed they are to the game.Players might also be interested in taking part in a frenetic race to gain experience points.It will create extra objectives that are optional and that players can try to achieve if they want to, but it won't make some content obsolete.We haven't decided what the new maximum level will be yet. The aim is to create a new maximum level that will satisfy the most ambitious players.We haven't decided on the progress speed for 200+ levels yet. However, we want these levels to be finished at a reasonable speed so that players are rewarded regularly.This is an approach that has merit and would evaluate all of the characters in a single account, but technical constraints are stopping us from taking a serious look at that possibility right now. We will keep an eye out for solutions.We don't think that these changes will make the game easier or less meritorious. Level 200 and very high-level content will probably become more accessible, but they won't be easier. Furthermore, the levels that come after level 200 will allow players who place a lot of importance on gaining experience to really make the most of their characters' evolution.We haven't made a decision about that yet. Both options have their advantages:We will put out a community survey on this subject.