Face-to-Face With the Developers — Hot Topics Q&A (August)

[olive garnet]

Hello everyone! Welcome to another Face-to-Face With the Developers!

In this Face-to-Face With the Developers, we'll be looking at some of the most hotly-discussed issues in the community. Thank you to everyone who reached out to us! We hope we'll be able to answer your most burning questions.

All of the feedback presented here has been collected from both the Chinese and International servers, and has been carefully consolidated and summarized by our team.

Once again, if you have any thoughts or questions about what we've discussed today, please don't hesitate to voice them in the Community. Your feedback will continue to be invaluable as we fine-tune our plans for the future.

Q1: The new version of Crystal technologies is an improvement, but it makes it very hard to defeat garrisons and hinders the pace of battles. I suggest improving offensive attributes.

A1: We're making some balance adjustments, such as tweaking the Past Glory buff and some of the offensive bonuses from Crystal techs. Based on the combat data we've collected from each phase, we're also designing asymmetric buffs for rallies and garrisons, which should help prevent deadlocks.

Q2: Please add a browser-based map planning tool that allows kingdom leaders to draw on, download, and share KvK maps before KvK begins. This would make planning battles much easier.

A2: We've got a variety of kingdom management tools on the way, including a kingdom/governor search, kingdom graphs, voice chat, and a wider variety of map icons. We also plan on adding map planning tools at a later date.

Q3: Why was kingdom team formation removed after the Pioneer Test?

A3: The team formation rules in the Pioneer Test were balanced for the Storm of Stratagems story. Based on the feedback we've received, we found that these rules were not a great fit for 4-camp stories like Heroic Anthem. We've temporarily taken the feature offline while we make adjustments.

Q4: KvK matchmaking needs work. There are situations where the matchmaking logic is not clear and camps are severely mismatched.

A4: We are sorry that you've had a negative experience with KvK matchmaking. We have a few changes planned to help address matchmaking balancing issues:

1. In the near future, we'll be launching a "Kingdom Info" tool to give you a more objective evaluation of your kingdom's actual strength. We'll continue to expand this tool in the future with new features (e.g. power graphs for kingdoms and domains), and we welcome any feedback you might have.
2. We'll relaunch the Pioneer Test for kingdom team formation as soon as we can, which should help reduce unsatisfactory camp pairings.

Q5: Please release more historical and realistic city themes in the future.

A5: History has always been at the heart of RoK, and rest assured we plan on releasing more realistic, historically-themed city themes.

Q6: Please modify the Zenith of Power event. Granting city themes based on rankings motivates everyone to raise their power by hoarding resources instead of fighting. What's more, those who don't rank in the top 10 don't earn a city theme and get made fun of!

A6: We're planning on adding a new exchange currency to ensure all governors have a chance of earning the event city theme. Here's how it works:

1. During Zenith of Power, you'll be able to earn the new currency by increasing your power.
2. Once the rankings are finalized, you'll be able to use this currency to redeem the current Zenith of Power city theme, the theme effect, and other items in the event shop.
3. Governors in the top 10 will still receive the event city theme, but the top 3 will no longer receive the event theme effect. Instead, the theme effect will be available in the event shop.
4. There will be a limit on how much of this currency you can earn per event. Any unused currency will be lost at the end of the event.

Q7: Please release more unique cosmetics. I'd like to be able to differentiate myself from other players.

A7: We've got several things in the works to improve the range of customization options:

1. New Legendary city themes to redeem in the Season Shop.
2. We plan on adding a new "RoK level" system, which can be increased by purchasing bundles. Increasing your level will allow your character to acquire and upgrade exclusive cosmetics. These cosmetics will not be permanent, but can be renewed by meeting certain conditions.
3. New paid customization feature unlocked by reaching the highest RoK level—create a new and exclusive city theme on the basis of an existing one.

Q8: There’s too much piloting in open-field battles, making it impossible for kingdoms without pilots to keep up. The devs need to get involved.

A8: We are dedicated to providing governors with a fair and balanced playing field. Right now, we're reviewing the impact of piloting on the competitive landscape and are working on a plan to address it. Once the plan is finalized, we'll communicate the details to the community through a Face-to-Face With the Developers and other announcements.

Q9: The attack march feature is better than it used to be, but it still needs improvement.

A9: We have additional improvements to attack marching on the way. These include improving the core logic of the feature and adding customization options to further reduce micromanagement.

Q10: Please make regular events less grindy. Some of them now take way too long to complete.

A10: We've made some adjustments to events, such as the Golden Kingdom, and are looking to improve the pacing of events like Trial of Kau Karuak and Arms Training. We welcome any further feedback our governors may have.