Dev. Note #9

 

 

Greetings, Regulars!

 

This is <Tower of God: New World> PD. Eonsan Jeong.

 

In this Dev Note, we would like to talk about recent suggestions, with a focus on specific plans, as well as more definitive improvements and timing of application.

 

* The screenshots in this Dev. Note were taken in a test environment, and may be subject to change. Due to the nature of the test environment, all images are displayed in Korean. We ask for your understanding.

 

 

 

1. 1. Reorganization of Pass Products, which was mentioned in the last Dev Note

 

The target date for applying the pass products’ integration and reorganization, which we have promised, is the end of March. (Expected date: Between 3/26 - 3/28)

 

The main direction is to consolidate the current four types of regular passes (Mission, Conquest, Underground, and Ignition Pass) and irregular event check-in passes into two passes (basic and advanced) and irregular event passes.

 

The Basic pass is an extension of the ‘Mission Pass’ where you can obtain rewards by earning mission points. You can receive Shinsu, EXP, and Normal Summon Tickets through the basic mission pass reward chest.

 

When you purchase this pass, you can comprehensively obtain Suspendium, additional Normal Summon Ticket, EXP, Shinsu, and coins. Points can be earned through Chapter clear rewards in addition to missions.

 

The Advanced Pass will be available when you clear Adventure 16-20, and is designed so that you can choose the reward you want between the Black Market-based rewards and the Ignition Weapon-based rewards.

 

If you choose the Black Market rewards, you can receive Normal Summon Tickets and  Black Market Tickets, and upon purchase, you will be able to additionally obtain Black Market Tickets, Enhancement Extract Selection Chests, and SSR+ Soulstone.

 

If you choose a reward with Ignition Weapon as the main reward, you will be able to obtain Master Keys as a basic reward, and additional Master Keys and Rare Shinsu Sea Whetstone when purchasing the pass.

 

You can currently receive all rewards when you log in for approximately 30 days during the 50-day operating period.

 

However, there were opinions that the pass period should be shortened because those who access the game frequently will not receive rewards for the remaining period.

 

We are working together to ensure that compensation can be received without interruption within a period of one month.

 

Existing pass products will no longer be available for purchase once the update is done, and those that have already been purchased will be over once the ongoing period is completed.

 

In addition, in consideration of the suggestion that there are so many types of existing limited-time products, we are discontinuing some products and also preparing products with newly adjusted benefits.

 

We are also preparing a feature that provides a certain level of discounts when renewing the period of a pass or limited-time products.

 

Through this update, we will prepare without a hitch so that any issues that have been felt to be unreasonable can be resolved. We will provide additional information about the completed UI and balance in the March Dev Note.

 

 

2. 2. Content Improvements 

 

First, in the 2/29 update, Trial of Origin has expanded to No. 600. While supplementing the volumes for the basic PVE mode, detailed balance nerfs to the Adventure Stage and adjustments to the Conquest Mode will be additionally applied.

 

We will continue to adjust the balance while monitoring the progress of each update so that many Regulars can enjoy the game more happily.

 

Some Regulars left feedback that it is unreasonable that the damage dealt was lower than Regulars with lower Link levels, even though their Shinsu Link's level was higher in the Underground Laboratory.

 

Improvements will be made over a total of two rounds, and we plan to take additional responses based on the trends.

 

First, improvements to the stat and skill balance have been applied to the 3 Underground Laboratory bosses, Data Zahard, Data Khun Mascheny, and Data Urek Mazino, on 2/29. The balance of Data Edahn and Data Gustang will be adjusted on 3/13.

 

Tower of Alliance Season 2, which we mentioned in the last Dev Note, has returned on 2/29. We look forward to the competition becoming more interesting. If there are no issues, we will be able to operate it on a regular schedule along with the Alliance Expedition.

 

In addition, the Hell Train Arena event, which was mentioned in the 2024 First Half Roadmap, is scheduled to be held in early April.

 

 

 

Hell Train Arena is a concept that connects the Hell Train and the Name Hunt Station, the main story location of Tower of God Part 2, and is an event-type arena that Regulars of all servers can enjoy.

 

All Regulars will board the Hell Train according to their Adventure progress and can move to the front and get off at the Station. Points can be gained or lost depending on the battle result, and compartments are assigned based on points.

 

The lower section of the train consists of single-deck battles, while the upper section consists of three-deck, best 2 out of 3 battles.

 

When you get off the train, you will find the entrance to Name Hunt Station. From here, the battle begins in a named area set on Floating Island. If you win against the Regulars of your choice, you can immediately move up to their rank, and victory is determined by building a total of 5 decks and winning 3 out of 5.

 

Hell Train Arena is not content enjoyed only by certain Regulars but is designed so that all Regulars can enjoy it together. We are preparing to provide fun to Regulars by integrating all servers and competing together during the event period.

 

We will provide you with more complete content in the March Dev. Note.

 

In addition, Colossal Worms and Net Dolphin Queen, bosses based on Shinheuh, are being prepared as event boss battles. The contents of these events are also being prepared to be presented in a different format from the previous one throughout March and April.

 

We will quickly develop a mode that joins forces to defeat the world boss and other game modes that you have suggested.

 

The image below is a sneak peek of the Net Dolphin Queen, a giant monster currently in development.

 

 

 

3. 3. Release of Teammates

 

There was feedback asking why the game's original teammates and collaboration teammates are being prioritized and updated at short intervals, despite there being many popular characters from the webtoon.

 

We would like to apologize for not being able to create a balanced lineup. For the remainder of 2024, we will build a lineup that focuses more on the original webtoon’s teammates.

 

In the 2/29 Update, ‘Shilial Zahard’, who also appeared in this collab story, has joined the Tower, and ‘Vicente’, one of Hoaquin’s five siblings, will visit our Regulars in March.

 

We are carefully preparing various original Tower of God teammates this year, so please look forward to it.

 

 

 

4. 4. ACC, EVA Stat Dependence

 

Through the 2/16 patch, we have taken action to significantly reduce the dependence on ACC, and EVA Stat for the entire Adventure section. There were also opinions that the Adventure has definitely become more enjoyable than before.

 

As many Regulars are still mainly distributed in the 26F - 28F, and as we are planning to expand the Adventure floor to the 70F at the end of March, we plan to make additional balance adjustments to the overall section to make the journey up the Tower a more enjoyable adventure. This balance patch is scheduled to be applied somewhere in March.

 

Also, until content that can further increase ACC and EVA Stats is added, we will try to avoid any inconvenience caused, by adjusting the balance based on the current growth range as the maximum.

 

As a means of additional growth, we are preparing for the additional growth of individual teammates using the concept of the original webtoon’s ‘Revolution Road’, and this will be developed in the form of additional stat growth according to the Limit Break that has been previously progressed.

 

It has been designed so that additional upgrades can be done from R grade to SSR+ grade teammates, and events and content related to this are also being prepared. We will provide additional details through the March Dev. Note.

 

 

In addition, we also identified concerns about making frequent adjustments too quickly, no matter how well-intentioned the balance adjustment may be. We are working hard to ensure that all details are stabilized in March.

 

 

5. 5. Optimization that can decrease crashing and infinite loading

 

We are checking for the issue that many Regulars have mentioned - occasional crashing or continuous loading when performing repeated battles or loading battles. We have identified meaningful points and will apply them as a priority in the March Update.

 

We plan to take measures such as distributing this as a recommended build update as soon as it is ready, even before the regular update at the end of March.

 

Optimization is continuously being done in parallel with each build update, but it is time-consuming as it has to be done in response to so many device types and diverse environments.

 

We apologize for any inconvenience caused, and we will continue to increase our priority so that we can provide you with a better gaming experience soon.

 

In addition, we are also preparing to increase UI response speed and loading speed, and reducing installation capacity.

 

 

6. 6. Diversification of event types

 

We would like to share with you the types of events we are preparing.

 

On 3/13, ‘One-Fifth Matchers’ can be obtained through an event in line with the White Day season. It consists of a 3-match lottery based on White's five alter ego teammates, and was prepared with the intention of waiting for “White”.

 

At the end of March, an event will be held where you can open the door and earn rewards through a relay based on ‘The Untrustworthy Room’, which appeared as a testing location in the 'Floor of Tests' in the original webtoon.

 

We are preparing for the 'Tower Marble' event (Tentative name) in early April, and in addition, the new mini-game 'Fish Slapping Dance', which was mentioned in the last official live, has entered the polishing stage and is being finalized so that it can be introduced on 4/24.

 

 

In addition to the types of events mentioned above, new events with ranking factors are also being prepared, and we will provide additional information on these in the March Dev. Note.

 

 

7. 7. Reward balance adjustment

 

We are continuously expanding the supply of reward balance through events, but it was difficult to easily adjust the regular content rewards due to the burden of retroactive application according to the accumulated experience during the service period.

 

•  - Adding Agency Service Center request rewards
•  - Expanding Underground Laboratory rewards
•  - Expanding Arena rewards

 

In the case of the Agency Service Center, we are preparing improvements to enable an additional supply of goods by adding requests first. For the Underground Laboratory and the Arena, which operate on a seasonal basis, the direction is to increase rewards when a new season starts.

 

In addition, we would also like to improve this by allowing Regulars to view advertisements and receive rewards as needed, even if they do not necessarily have to pay for additional goods or items while distributing rewards through events will remain the same as now.

 

This part will not be structured in a forced form that causes inconvenience to the game, and we will provide additional details through the March Dev. Note.

 

 

8. 8. Request to make Mazino and Shilial's costumes from The Tomb of Tortured Souls Story Event

 

Thank you so much for your support and love in the last collaboration. From the first day of the collab event, many Regulars asked us to make the costume that Magino wore in the story event. So after confirming the information, we quickly started producing the costume.

 

To make a new costume, we are producing a large number of animations, including battle scenes. We ask for your understanding that it may take a lot of time. We are currently working on it, aiming for 3/13.

 

 

In addition, we are also producing a costume for Shilial Zahard, so please look forward to it.

 

 

9. 9. The result of <The Ultimate Popularity Contest> costume poll

 

Planned as a half-anniversary event, this event has been a really long journey:

Selecting the top teammate through an in-game popularity poll, suggesting costume concepts through the Official Forum and Naver Cafe, and finally, voting through the Forum.

We sincerely thank you, Regulars, for your interest and enthusiastic support regarding this.

 

In the half-anniversary popularity poll, Yihwa Yeon was overwhelmingly selected as the 1st place, and as a result of the final vote based on the five costume plans that received the most opinions, ‘Fire / Flame Concept Costume’ was selected.

 

Our Art Team was hoping that 'Bunny Girl' would be selected, so they were a bit disappointed.

 

After the results were announced, some Regulars raised doubts about whether the poll was conducted accurately and whether the costumes were made and planned in advance. We would like to provide detailed information to clear up any misunderstandings.

 

The final vote on the costume concept was conducted by Korean and Global Regulars.

In the case of Global regions, regions such as English-speaking countries, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand are included. Please check the table below for the final number of votes held at the global forum.

* Only the one who has an actual game account can participate in forum polls, and it is a system that does not allow duplicate participation or intervention.

 

[Final Results for Costume Concepts]

Costume Concept	KR	GOB	Total Number
Bunny Girl	336	331	667
Wedding Dress	177	186	363
Witch	51	193	244
Swimsuit	219	369	588
Fire / Flame Concept	141	592	733

 

When looking at the actual numbers, Korean Regulars may find it quite surprising that the rankings were Bunny Girl, Swimsuit, and Wedding Dress (in that order). However, it's worth noting that the most votes came from the English-speaking community, with fire-related concepts leading by almost double the votes of the second-place Costume concept, followed by Swimsuit, Bunny Girl, and Witch (in that order).

 

It's possible that the role of the Flame User, a special position in the original work, resonated more strongly with English-speaking fans of the original.

 

We wanted to address this aspect regarding the final results of the costume vote first.

 

Additionally, there were some concerns raised by some regarding the costume featured in the leaked resources being identified as Yihwa Yeon with a fire concept. However, we would like to clarify that this costume is prepared for story cutscenes and is intended to be provided alongside the upcoming story content as "Casual Yihwa Yeon's Costume."

 

The fire-related concept costume that was ultimately decided upon entered the concept art phase following the announcement of the voting results. Modeling and animation works will follow, and while it will take some time for the final costume to be ready for release, we are preparing as quickly as possible. Further updates will be provided through the Developer’s Note once the concept art is finalized.

 

 

10. 10. Other improvements

 

 

• - In the end-of-March build, a feature will be added that allows for the expansion of the target of Friend Support beyond just friends to include Alliance members.
• - A feature that allows checking the equipped equipment information borrowed through Friend Support will be added in the end-of-March build.
• - Convenience will be improved when using multiple items, from default handling to scroll sensitivity and quantity settings. This enhancement will also be included in the build at the end of March.
• - Additionally, a feature allowing users to directly check the information of time-based recharge tickets, such as event campaigns, in the main lobby will be implemented in the end-of-March build.
• - To prevent the continuous running of ads in the chat window, chat input will be unlocked based on stage progress, and this improvement will also be included in the end-of-march build.

 

Furthermore, numerous improvements are underway. We will continue ongoing efforts to address the various inconveniences you have brought to our attention, in order to ensure a pleasant gaming experience.

 

 

While we initially intended to briefly outline the content we are preparing through Developer's Notes, we acknowledge that the explanations were insufficient and lacking.

 

Through this Developer's Note, we aim to provide more definitive information and schedules regarding the development stages that we are preparing for and hope it is helpful to our Regulars who enjoy the game.

 

In the upcoming March, we will work even harder to provide a better gaming experience.

 

Thank you.