News Producer’s Letter – Summer 2019 Update

[Sunshine]

Blade & Soul Senior Producer Nico Coutant gives a look at what’s been happening with Blade & Soul so far this year and what lies ahead: https://www.bladeandsoul.com/en/news/producers-letter-summer-2019/

[ORlON]

 

First of all I apologize if it is not understood very well since English is not my native language, I depend on an online translator. I find myself somewhat disappointed when reading the producer's letter. I love this game, I give it 35% of my total time, so I expect a lot from it. but for my misfortune I see little interest in the part of what is your group or company or whatever you want to call it, it is still using bases of existing suits to make "new", there is very little done to prevent the game from dying in the F8 (except now with the subject of the fish) but the worst thing is that when reading the producer's letter, I find that it is no longer sure that this year the oldest problem that the game has is resolved. lost many players, which is the graphic engine change. I do not know if you are not interested or very interested in them, but I think that should be the first thing on your agenda and not a class that is more or less like throwing balloons while the house burns, I always say Thinking is free. I would like to ask those who really handle the future of the game. How long do you think you will live this game if you still have the same problem that players can not solve (combination of different PC components and third-party programs) and with the same scheme that only the total routine points to? I would love to read a coherent answer and I repeat, I am using an online translator, be excused if there is something that is not well understood. Thank you for reading.

Edited June 27, 2019 by ORlON
bad

[Woah64]

U cant expect us to be satisfied when u write UE4 is comming, but u dont know when.
Every time u say something about it u act as u dont care... u just type it will happen...

Tell us more about it, we deserve to know.

Every time u type in producers letter what are u planing, we have lot to read, but only 2 or 3 words about ue4....

We dont need any kind of new content if we are going to play it on 15fps

And we are not happy

If u want to listen player base all will tell u same, we need better engine!

I love this game and i will play it even if it works rly bad, like trash....but i cant help to be satisfied with ur words when u tell us every few monts: " ue4 will happen"

 

[ORlON]

26 minutes ago, Woah64 said:

U cant expect us to be satisfied when u write UE4 is comming, but u dont know when.
Every time u say something about it u act as u dont care... u just type it will happen...

Tell us more about it, we deserve to know.

Every time u type in producers letter what are u planing, we have lot to read, but only 2 or 3 words about ue4....

We dont need any kind of new content if we are going to play it on 15fps

And we are not happy

If u want to listen player base all will tell u same, we need better engine!

I love this game and i will play it even if it works rly bad, like trash....but i cant help to be satisfied with ur words when u tell us every few monts: " ue4 will happen"

 

 

This will end up being like the story of the boy who looked after the sheep and to have fun he shouted: wolf. they all ran ... when the wolf came nobody believed him and ate it haha. If they continue like this, sooner or later, this will happen, those who keep the game will not believe them anymore, they will tire of their little imagination to diversify the game and they will leave. Do not think it's impossible, look how many games have already died because they did not know how to handle their own problems. No game survives only because of the longing of those who follow it, keep in mind that

Edited June 27, 2019 by ORlON

[Deadly Intent]

Please be aware that even when (eventually) they upgrade to UE4 they will still be on the same server that they are using now.  That's like putting a Volkswagen engine in a Ferrari.   It is going to look great but when you put your foot on the accelerator it's not going to be blowing anyone's doors off.

[Grimoir]

3 hours ago, Deadly Intent said:

Please be aware that even when (eventually) they upgrade to UE4 they will still be on the same server that they are using now.  That's like putting a Volkswagen engine in a Ferrari.   It is going to look great but when you put your foot on the accelerator it's not going to be blowing anyone's doors off.

This. While it will definetely bring improvements in a lot of areas and open doors to new things, it will not make magic happen.

 

9 hours ago, Woah64 said:

U cant expect us to be satisfied when u write UE4 is comming, but u dont know when.
Every time u say something about it u act as u dont care... u just type it will happen...

Tell us more about it, we deserve to know.

Every time u type in producers letter what are u planing, we have lot to read, but only 2 or 3 words about ue4....

We dont need any kind of new content if we are going to play it on 15fps

And we are not happy

If u want to listen player base all will tell u same, we need better engine!

I love this game and i will play it even if it works rly bad, like trash....but i cant help to be satisfied with ur words when u tell us every few monts: " ue4 will happen"

 

I mean.....i get what you are saying but....what do you want them to tell you if they do not know? They are working on it, and in todays stream they also said devs are very hard at work for it, but they dont know when its finished.

If they start saying any kind of dates, then people will be complaining "but you said this date....liars"....and thats most likely what they are trying to avoid.

[prietess]

I agree to the people above.

Your main issue with this game IS BAD OPTIMIZATION: people get low FPS, get lags, get high ping (this one might only be solved if there is rerouting of servers so that far located players are helped)

 

BnS is A FUN GAME, TOTALLY COOL and AMAZING CONTENTS, we don't need more contents if the very basic problem of game optimization is not solved.

But it seems that this game is only surviving because of the contents, bring in new contents, new players/ some of old players will come back to play, filling in the gap of players who quit.

 

[NorbertTheOpinionated]

Thank you for your hard work on the UE4 graphics update. I'd also like to stress for you to take your time. I can only speak for myself as a player, but I'd rather have it done well than done fast.

 

About the graphics improvement, I have a few things to highlight I'd like to request be fixed:

 

1) Jin thighs - you can see the polygon angles. I try to ignore it, but it has always bothered me a bit.

 

 

2) The outfits echomancer and technomancer have this weird crease in the chest area.

 

 

3) Yun fingers have always been horrible super long tentacles even when you make them as short as you can in the character creator. This picture is literally the best I could do to mitigate the horrible thin monster squid finger problem, and it is still a bit noticeable. If you look at a non-minimized finger model, it is WAY worse.

 

 

4) If you make Gon chests larger than a certain size, it looks like a graphical glitch occurs because the game doesn't know how to handle it, so they just turn into these weird triangular torpedoes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is just my opinion of course, but there are 3 surefire ways to improve a game's graphical appearance that I would point to if you want people to immediately notice. You know, not the little stuff, but the stuff that goes BANG! Then people immediately say, "Wow. That looks notably better."

 

A) Increase polygon count of curved surfaces ESPECIALLY on character models. A lot of stuff in the 3d game is actually a wire-frame model with a texture wrapped around it. If you see something that is supposed to be round, it isn't round. It has polygons put together to make it look round. Yes yes, more polygons for a video card to draw lowers FPS, which is why I am not necessarily advocating a huge increase in polygons, though I won't turn it down if you want to! Just a few more polygons in the right places goes a LONG way though. That is what I am requesting.

 

B) Increase texture resolution. Here is a picture of me scrolling my camera all the way into my character's head, so I am looking out of my character's eyes and then looking at the ground. The second one is of a wall. Eww. Gross. Look at how blurry and pixelated it looks. That could stand to be better. Yes I know you would have to increase the texture resolution of a lot of things in the game, which would take up a lot more hard drive space. Personally, I don't care if the game is 200GB in size.

 

 

Top: ground

Bottom: Wall

 

 

You know, a game called Nier Automata has some pretty low texture resolutions on certain things, and as much as I don't like to admit it, it hurts the game's presentation of an otherwise visually stunning game. A very excellent modder made a HD Texture pack. Sure the mod increases the size of the game from about 50GB to another 1.6GB more, but look at the box this picture. It gets undeniable results. The game simply looks better. It just does.

 

 

C)  Lighting effects. Seeing the rays of sun shining through a cloud from behind it and stuff helps.

 

There are other things that can be done that help too, but those 3 (especially the A and B) are immediately noticeable.

 

 

Edited July 3, 2019 by NorbertTheOpinionated

[swordin]

I would so love to be helpful to the BnS cause! I love seeing how passionate folks are for what goes into development of such a grand gesture.

 

glad to hear that thing are progressing (sometimes i feel like i need to hear such phrases more often than they need to be said...)

 

it is really exciting to bear witness to the results of years and years of labor from inspired artists, and even more so when the gravity of each individual mark can be realized in full!

 

i know it is a lot to ask, but i want to thank everyone So Much!!! 

[Viblo]

Aside from complaints regarding the engine transition, for upcoming producer's letters, it would be nice if you could detail exactly what kind of content is on the horizon. Based on older updates, I'm expecting Botany Center and Titan Chamber to be next either this month or the next, followed by Archer (in September, as you said) together with Cathedra Cliffs. I understand if you don't want to mention the specific item drops as that's for later articles, but some very brief lore might get us more excited for what's coming. :)

[Baskerville]

Hi all,

On 01/07/2019 at 10:04 PM, NorbertTheOpinionated said:

4) If you make Gon chests larger than a certain size, it looks like a graphical glitch occurs because the game doesn't know how to handle it, so they just turn into these weird triangular torpedoes.

First of all, thank you @NorbertTheOpinionated for the number of suggestions. In this case could you please tell us the slider values, so we can investigate?

19 hours ago, Viblo said:

Aside from complaints regarding the engine transition, for upcoming producer's letters, it would be nice if you could detail exactly what kind of content is on the horizon. Based on older updates, I'm expecting Botany Center and Titan Chamber to be next either this month or the next, followed by Archer (in September, as you said) together with Cathedra Cliffs. I understand if you don't want to mention the specific item drops as that's for later articles, but some very brief lore might get us more excited for what's coming. :)

We usually don't talk specifics and announce only a few weeks in advance, basically as soon as we feel comfortable and ready to do so. We have of course an internal road map, but things will usually be moved a bit, adapted, removed or added depending on the western market and community needs. In terms of lore, this is also usually work in progress by the localisation department until we are ready to announce. We know that you are all very excited about what is coming next to the game, especially when you keep your eyes and ears open for what is happening in South Korea with Blade & Soul, but truth be told, there is an unavoidable delay due to the adaption to the western market that is still significant enough so that we can't spoil you months in advance with information that might not hold true on release day.

[Viblo]

38 minutes ago, Baskerville said:

We usually don't talk specifics and announce only a few weeks in advance, basically as soon as we feel comfortable and ready to do so. We have of course an internal road map, but things will usually be moved a bit, adapted, removed or added depending on the western market and community needs. In terms of lore, this is also usually work in progress by the localisation department until we are ready to announce. We know that you are all very excited about what is coming next to the game, especially when you keep your eyes and ears open for what is happening in South Korea with Blade & Soul, but truth be told, there is an unavoidable delay due to the adaption to the western market that is still significant enough so that we can't spoil you months in advance with information that might not hold true on release day.

That's understandable. It's good to hear you're careful with giving out false promises, having been treated to that in other MMORPGs.

 

Thanks for the response!

[NorbertTheOpinionated]

11 hours ago, Baskerville said:

Hi all,

First of all, thank you @NorbertTheOpinionated for the number of suggestions. In this case could you please tell us the slider values, so we can investigate?

 

 

 

 

Just for the Gon picture you linked? Sure!

 

 

 

And the rest of the body proportions.

 

 

There you go.

 

Since I didn't really display good pictures of the Yun hand problem before:

 

 

Also, here is a Yun's hand.

 

 

Her hand kind of looks like a dead spider.

 

 

Hey honey. Want a hug? Blueghguleh!

 

 

Also, consider the new idle animations of some of the classes. Mostly, you see them around the dragon trade union Marketplaces, but a lot of them don't really make sense in that they are loud, and disruptive actions that would normally get a person arrested. For example, can you imagine being in a crowded area like Mushin's Tower, and drawing a gun (gunners do this), waving it around, and then firing it in a random direction? You'd go to jail! A lyn blade dancer reaches down, throws up a bunch of leave that weren't even there a minute ago, and cuts them into a million pieces right next to someone else's arm? You know what I am saying? In context, the new animations seem loud, spastic, and out of control. The kung fu masters and destroyers are just provoking fights. What if the mental image of your character that you intended to create isn't an aggressive violent jerk that acts like that?

 

Another graphical improvement option would be that since the game's FPS drops so low if you don't play with CTRL+F to have "show characters" off, and you can't turn off other character's skill animations while leaving your own on, you basically have to play with "show characters" off. This creates a problem if you aren't the tank because you can't see the tank other than their name, and you can't see their position other than to guess. You also can't tell who currently has threat/aggro unless you look at the boss and use the target of target reference, and then look for the name on the screen to see the position, AND you better keep checking about every 3 seconds or so in case the tank loses threat. It seems like it would be a major graphical improvement if we could just change it so that while playing with "show characters off," it would show who has threat and their position by showing not the character or their animations, but just the orange circle on the ground so you can estimate which direction the boss' next big attack is going to be pointed. I've had a lot of situations where the tank changes position, but I didn't notice because I can't really see because I am having to play with CTRL+F going to disable the character animations so my FPS stays above 19 even though I have a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660, but playing that way causes me to lose track of the tank's position and then the boss surprisingly whips around and clobbers me because I didn't realize that the tank flipped around positions and now I am out of position.

Edited July 4, 2019 by NorbertTheOpinionated

[Baskerville]

11 hours ago, NorbertTheOpinionated said:

Just for the Gon picture you linked? Sure!

Thank you, I've forwarded this. Since the preview costume 1 does have a normal breast shape, while preview costume 2 does not, this seems to be an actual bug, but right now I am waiting for our QA to investigate.

 

For the other issues, I think it is best to wait for UE4. We don't entirely know the full scope of the changes yet and how this will affect character models, especially since the Engine Upgrade is still work in progress at this point.

11 hours ago, NorbertTheOpinionated said:

For example, can you imagine being in a crowded area like Mushin's Tower, and drawing a gun (gunners do this), waving it around, and then firing it in a random direction?

Imaging being my colleague and shot at in the office with Nerf Darts all day long. This is called affection, embrace it.

11 hours ago, NorbertTheOpinionated said:

In context, the new animations seem loud, spastic, and out of control. 

Sounds like me at work. Jokes aside, it is fine that you don't like them, but others might and probably do quite a lot. If this comes up, we can incorporate this as feedback but I would not count on a change if it is not something the community as a whole would like to see.

[swordin]

The practice of adding idle animations alludes to them thinking of what players may enjoy. The animators clearly put great effort into the refined postures the characters can assume - no five minute renderings present.

 

it is true though: not all computers exist in equanimity; functional enhancements for readability during combat scenarios would be greatly appreciated by those who cant run on max or even mid-range graphic settings

[NorbertTheOpinionated]

9 hours ago, Baskerville said:

Thank you, I've forwarded this. Since the preview costume 1 does have a normal breast shape, while preview costume 2 does not, this seems to be an actual bug, but right now I am waiting for our QA to investigate.

 

 

If it helps with the investigation, it has a similar effect for a LOT of the Gon female outfits if you make a character similar to that, create it, go into the actual game, and as soon as you can have access to the showroom, go there, and then cycle through a bunch of the outfits. A lot of them have that weird effect. As you mentioned some of them do it. Some of them don't.

Edited July 5, 2019 by NorbertTheOpinionated

[JinVarrel]

On 27.6.2019 at 12:39 PM, Woah64 said:

U cant expect us to be satisfied when u write UE4 is comming, but u dont know when.
Every time u say something about it u act as u dont care... u just type it will happen...

Tell us more about it, we deserve to know.

Every time u type in producers letter what are u planing, we have lot to read, but only 2 or 3 words about ue4....

We dont need any kind of new content if we are going to play it on 15fps

And we are not happy

If u want to listen player base all will tell u same, we need better engine!

I love this game and i will play it even if it works rly bad, like trash....but i cant help to be satisfied with ur words when u tell us every few monts: " ue4 will happen"

 

first I agree with you but, 

we don't except anything let me remind you that blade & soul NA not the real developers they only publisher of the game ,- their studio found in korea , you don't except they go to there just to know any step being done , I belive that NCSoft NA are getting some update from the studio from time to time as they are the same company I am not that sure how its goes , but if you real want to keep updated about the UE4 go to the korea server , they only make a change for the game with the database and client editing , they don't have the game source , and all your suggestion can only be transferred to the korea , the studio taking care the game. I wonder if Bloodlust Studio is still their studio, I heard they sell the game to a china studio, its hard for me to believe it, because game like that you need to be a real stupid to sell it.

 

and change the engine from UE3 to UE4 its a totally head break don't thing they enjoy from that.

 

AS A Game Developer I know what they doing , what they suffer now

[Snowyamur]

So after reading the Producer's Letter, this is what I think.

 

Improvement on Player Reception

Spoiler

It's great to hear, from a Blade & Soul producer that the development team is

Quote

"continuously read[ing] [our] feedback on the game and us[ing] the community input to make appropriate changes"

but I can't help but feel dissatisfied that they didn't address plans to be more receptive and responsive to player feedback and suggestions.

This is one of the greatest issues present in both the game and its Forums because people still believe that no one on the development team is listening, and while the statement above proves otherwise, I think it would have helped to shed light on the issue around community engagement. Saying something about working to improve community responsiveness would have helped players at least know that what they provide to this community in the form of ideas, suggestions, etc. isn't for nothing. It would have also helped with strengthening the community's trust in the development team, let alone the company.

The recurring issue I read about on the Forums is people continuing to blame poor decision-making by the company on greed and money-making schemes. Now, if there's one thing for sure, we actually don't know if most decisions are made towards greed; we only assume that from incorporated systems like Treasure Trove and the severe RNG gambling with loot boxes. However, the fact that we make these assumptions is insight into how bad the trust is between the player base community and the company, while also being proof of how perception towards game industries has worsened, which is something I wished was spoken about in this letter. Saying that our feedback is continuously read isn't enough; there should have been stated agreement that the BnS Team will work towards improving its community engagement.

 

The UE4 Update

Spoiler

It's great that we're finally getting an update for the UE4 port for Blade & Soul because people have continuously asked about that, and the video helps to shed some light on it, but I don't think that video alone was enough of an update.

Maybe before-and-after changes would have helped to give people a more visual representation of how UE4 can potentially improve the game. Perhaps providing an approximated date for the UE4 update for Blade & Soul would have helped people get an idea of when they should expect the update, instead of continuing to guess in the dark. Even providing a list of how UE4 will improve the stability of the game would have helped players, who were curious about this update for a long time, know what to expect as beneficial to come for their own gameplay and performance.

Everything above could have been included in the video provided in the letter, which would have made it longer, but more detailed and insightful. Unfortunately, this content wasn't present in the 40-second clip. I know the video is a sneak-peak, but at this current stage of desiring updates on UE4, players want more detailed information, explanations, and insight into not only the progress on the update, but how it will make a player's experience playing Blade & Soul more enjoyable.

 

From the letter, the Senior Producer acknowledges that,

Quote

"We know that the Unreal Engine 4 upgrade to Blade & Soul has been on everyone’s mind, and while we don’t anticipate the game upgrade to happen this year, rest assured that development is progressing and we hope to be able to share some more news about it in the coming months."

but as someone who continues waiting for the UE4 update, what I really want to know is an approximation for the update's release. Saying it won't release next year is a start, but that's not enough, and we're still left in the dark on the progress. At this point, we need an approximation, not an ambiguous answer, and I think something like that should've been mentioned to at least give players a more accurate idea on what to expect. Sure, the producer mentioned that more news will come "in the coming months," but again, at this point, we need hard answers; we'll even accept approximates.

 

I'm sure this update will resolve many stability issues with the game, but there just isn't enough from the video and letter for me to infer how the UE4 transition will make playing the game more enjoyable and less annoying.

 

Resolving the Game's Technical Issues

Spoiler

In almost every Forum thread that's considered a rant, players state about the bugs they experience in the game. I've played this game long enough to know that these players aren't wrong, as I continue encountering bugs myself, on top of many other technical issues: 

• dynamic animations not working for certain actions.
• quest items being stuck in my inventory/ safe after using the [Level 60 Voucher].
• certain exercises in the Hongmoon Training Room not following the right spec., and therefore can't be completed. 
• the F4 Marketplace search bar breaking (but was fixed, only to break again).
• and many more.

Why doesn't the letter address anything related to working towards resolving gameplay issues, bugs, and technical problems? Players on the Forums and in-game mention these kinds of issues, and it's great that other players have resolved them, but they shouldn't have to resolve them had they been noted of and fixed by the game's development team. One or two of the things I stated above aren't necessarily gameplay bugs, but they're nonetheless issues that need to be resolved, which haven't been resolved with the current Empyrean Shadows update.

Mentioning something about working towards resolving many gameplay bugs and technical errors would at least show the community that the team acknowledges even the smallest of errors, and will work to remedy the situations they're currently in, strengthening the communication between development team and player base.

 

Acknowledging the RNG Gambling Problem

Spoiler

The most prominent feature of Blade & Soul is how it's about 80% RNG and 20% gameplay. Almost all Dungeon/ Raid loot boxes are RNG, loot boxes purchased from events are RNG, and using the Treasure Trove is RNG.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this game a gambling simulator now?

Players will actually spend thousands on Trove, hoping to get items they want, only to be left with dissatisfaction because the RNG system screws them over. I've read online about players using 200+ Trove Keys for this year's Tropical Treasure Trove, and they still couldn't get the items they want. It's clear already that this form of spending for an anticipated reward one may never receive is gambling, and Blade & Soul is not a gambling game.

How come something like this, which is discussed so prominently online, across social media, in-game, and on the Forums, is not being addressed in this letter? This is one of the leading factors as to why players leave this game and distrust the company that owns this game. Many players continue being dissatisfied by the high-levels of RNG present in Blade & Soul, and this issue wasn't even acknowledged in the letter, nor mentioned. Players are spending hundreds of dollars and euros to get desirable in-game items to make their experience more enjoyable, but the RNG is killing that off.

It would've helped if the letter addressed improvements towards the RNG system, perhaps even the removal of certain RNG systems inherent in the game to make it more fun and less of a grind. One thing I believed should've been mentioned was adding numeric percentages for the RNG boxes so players know the chances of getting something they want, so they don't go throwing away thousands for nothing. Why isn't that something written down in a wiki somewhere? Isn't it illegal to be withholding that kind of information from the player base?

 

As a player continuing to be active in Blade & Soul, I really want this game to improve. I think this game has great potential, but with how it's currently managed and the direction it's taking, it's sinking into the ground, and thousands of players have acknowledged this already. I only ask that please, listen to the community. Respond to us, talk to us, anything so we know that there are those listening to us. A letter doesn't exactly say if the development team is listening to us; direct responses will. 

 

Many of us, who still play and support this game, want it to improve; we don't want to see it leave our respective regions, nor sink into the ground. It's that valuable to the lot of us, and we want to see it become better.

 

Thanks for reading.

Edited July 8, 2019 by Snowyamur
Removed extra spacing in "Improvement on Player Reception"

[elecktr]

I was hoping to come back to this game this year when u add promised UE4. Currently its pain to play even with pcs that can handle every new game on ultra details. I'm very sad to hear you are postponing it once again. It won't stop players from leaving the game for sure. Instead of focusing on shitty mobile games u could have made 1 proper MMO.

[ORlON]

This game is the product of a company, as if it were a taxi company, you do not like its price or the car, you are free to look for another one. I think that is the attitude they are taking, all the problems mentioned and others are old, they are not new. there are people who love this game, I am one of those, I play this game for years now, not only this server and something I notice in this game, it is given in all the servers, they do not fix anything definitively, the game today today someone could play it with a grapple by hand, the maps, that to say of the maps ... space occupied of unnecessary way since those that are acargo of the game decided to dedicate this to only 3/6 maps (a total penalty) they lose time putting suits that are recycled garbage, do not respect the tastes according to the region (the lyn of crap in almost tooda new class, the lyn warden ... a lyn that stole the sword to a bm) returning to the costumes, the players spend some very long hours in shaping their character, but the people in charge of the game think they are urologists and create costumes that deform the characters, the trove, each one that goes away more disappointing than the previous one, stop making trove , put the items in the f10 at a high price and already, let d and frustrate the players