TL’s producer, Jongok Ahn, published the 10th Producer Letter, and talks about the new Dungeons, their high difficulty, the drop rate and the bugs that appeared after the last update.
You can find below the complete translation of the new producer’s letter, we apologize for any translation errors.
TL has reached the 100-day mark.
The 100-day journey has been an incredibly rewarding and meaningful one for us, but it’s also been one of the most challenging that I can recall. The memory leak on launch day still makes me giddy, the frequent server outages in the early days still make me feel bad, our first live broadcast under those circumstances was one of the biggest challenges of my life, and I still remember watching our first siege not too long ago and drying my blood. But through it all, we’ve been blessed by the support of our players, who have been so supportive of our smallest endeavors, that we’ve been able to make our 100th day a rewarding one. We hope you enjoy the content we have in store for Day 100.
Of course, we’re also facing challenges that we didn’t anticipate. After the 100-day update, many of you pointed out issues, but in just two days, we’ve gotten so many different perspectives that we’re feeling the full force of your love and excitement for TL. We’re also kicking ourselves for not getting this update out sooner.
We’re responding just as quickly as we can. We’ve been playing and validating the comments and questions you’ve sent us, and we’ve had long meetings about in-game trends and data.
It’s only been a couple days, and we may not see any changes, but we wanted to share with you some of the issues that have come to light so far, as well as our initial thoughts and immediate actions.
Difficulty of new dungeons
First off, we’ve noticed that a lot of people are feeling the difficulty barrier. The new dungeon, Isle of Terror, is aimed at the highest tier of players, so even if you’ve been playing consistently, you’re likely to notice some disparity in progression. If you’re struggling to clear it, we recommend focusing on armor progression to ensure a smooth experience. While many people focus on dealing damage, our strategy is centered around sustain. We don’t expect all six members of your party to be able to run through a pattern cleanly and without taking damage, but we do expect you to be able to do so.
Some people have asked us to adjust the difficulty of the new dungeons, but we’re not looking to lower the difficulty of the new dungeons at this time. We’re still within the clearance data we’ve been working with, and we’re predicting that even those who are currently struggling with the new dungeons will be able to clear them within a month.
Drop Rate in Challenge Mode Dungeons
We’ve heard from some people that the drop rate in Challenge Mode feels very low in relation to the amount of effort it takes, and we’ve increased the drop rate significantly, but within the parameters of consuming a spirit item, you have a chance of getting an item once every three clears. We think this will become more noticeable as you accumulate more clears in Challenge Mode.
And we think the bigger benefit of Challenge Mode is that it doesn’t just give you an edge in gear drops, it also gives you double Soulstones. The idea behind Challenge Mode is that it’s designed to be a farming space where you can invest the same amount of resources as you would in Normal Mode, but with a faster turnaround time from chance gear drops to guaranteed item drops. The more times you turn Soulstones into items, the more you’ll probably feel the effects of Challenge Mode.
However, we understand the fatigue that comes with increased clear times in familiar dungeons, which is why we’ll be nerfing the HP of all Challenge Mode monsters in next Wednesday’s update to improve your experience. We’ll continue to monitor the data to make sure we’re responding appropriately and quickly so that you can continue to make progress toward new dungeons.
Unusual Dungeon Entry
As we announced yesterday, we have a firm policy of taking a hard line on bugs like this. We are deeply sorry for the unintended inconvenience this caused to this long-awaited content, and we promise to continue to take the same level of action against players who exploit bugs to gain an advantage.
As for the operational side of things, I don’t think any more long-winded words are an excuse, and we’ll work even harder to bring you the level of service you’ve come to expect.
We’re organizing and recording all of your feedback. We will take your feedback into consideration and prioritize our short-term and long-term agendas to create better content, and we look forward to hearing more from you along the way.
Since our 100-day update, so many of you have stepped back into the TL world. As time goes by, we realize more and more how precious these steps are, and we are deeply grateful. We’ll do everything we can to enrich the game so that these steps don’t go back out the same door they came in.
We realize that the experience of running with you for 100 days is definitely paying off right now. We’re grateful for your support, but we won’t be complacent, we won’t forget our mistakes, and we’ll keep running. Stay tuned.
This update was all about sharpening what TL already had, and from here on out, we’re aiming to show you a new side of TL. We hope you’ll join us as we look forward to the new world of TL.
Posted by Jongok Ahn, Producer, Throne & Liberty.
